RPC over HTP – Outlook 1

[maya14]

I’m having trouble getting Outlook to connect to SBS Exchange with RPC over HTTP. I read several documents on this but is still missing something.
Can you guys please provide some troubleshooting pointers please.
I have used this link to setup:

http://www.petri.co.il/configure_rpc_over_https_on_a_single_server.htm

 

[mofusjtf]

Can you be more specific on "having trouble" connecting? If you ran the SBS install I believe your issue is with the client. Do you get a specific error message?

 

[maya14]

After going through all settings i think the problem is with the certificate. I didn't buy cert from 3rd party. Used cert from SBS. If that the case is it realy necessary to use RPC over HTTP for one user that prefers remote connect Outlook and not OWA.
The problem is with OWA is that you cant access your local PST files stored under Outlook.

 

[58sniper]

.pst files are antiquated technology, and shouldn't be used. Move the mail back into the mailbox. This will solve a lot of problems, not the least of which is accessing that email from OWA.

Pat Richard
Microsoft Exchange MVP

 

[mofusjtf]

You don't need to buy a 3rd party Cert for RPC over HTTP to work in SBS.

I agree with 58sniper. PST files are old and are not necassary to use with Exchange.

 

[maya14]

How can i check to see if my SBS cert is working.What is the prefered method for remote access to Exchange - OWA or RPC via HTTP?
I can connect with OWA no problem.

 

[maya14]

I have double check my settings again and everything seems ok, so how can i verify that my local certificate is working. I realy need to get RPC over HTTP working.

 

[58sniper]

The certificate is working ok if it's a third party certificate, and you're not given any certificate related prompts when going to OWA.

RPC over HTTPS is better than OWA because you get the full Outlook feature set.

Pat Richard
Microsoft Exchange MVP

 

[maya14]

I'm using local SBS cert.I have verified cert according to MS troubleshooting steps but still Outlook RCP over HTTP fails. "Unable to connect to Exchange server"
I dont have static IP and use dyndns to resolve IP.

 

[maya14]

I have also tested this internally on LAN and it fails to connect via RPC over HTTP. It only connects with TCP when checking Outlook connection status.
What am i missing here?

 

[maya14]

Can anyone please assist me with this RPC over HTTP setup. I cannot get this to work. Outlook keeps on connecting with TCP and not HTTP

 

[58sniper]

Internally, it SHOULD use TCP.

What do the event logs say?

Pat Richard
Microsoft Exchange MVP

 

[maya14]

Outlook with RPC over HTTP only works externally if i have VPN connected to SBS.

 

[ShackDaddy]

It's probably because you are trying to connect to your server via the internal server name and not the external server name. Once you are sure your are hitting the external name from the outside, you can run Outlook from the Run menu using this syntax: OUTLOOK.EXE /rpcdiag

That will give you more information about what is failing, if it continues to fail.

I would also spring for a 3rd-party cert if I were you. Since they only cost $20 at GoDaddy, there's no great reason not to get one and save yourself the extra hassles that working with a self-signed cert will cause you.

Dave Shackelford
Shackelford Consulting

 

[maya14]

Can i use public IP from Internet to connect to Exchange as we have domainname.local.I'm using Vista Ultimate and Outlook 2003 to connect.
It only works if i first establish a VPN connection.

 

[ShackDaddy]

You would need to BUY a cert ($26 for three years at GoDaddy) that uses the same name as your PUBLIC server name. So if you have "server.domain.local" on the inside and "mail.crapshoot.org" on the outside, you'd get a cert for the latter one. Once you have put that cert in place on your default web site, and tested OWA to make sure that outside users aren't getting certificate errors anymore, then you're probably ready to configure RPC-over-HTTPS.

When you do configure it, you'll use "mail.crapshoot.org" or whatever as the name in the configuration. If you stick to the internal name, you'll always have to use VPN.

This is why I totally advocate using your real live domain name on the internal network, to make these scenarios easier. This whole .local or .int fad that Microsoft started was a bad idea. A little decent DNS education would have made it a non-issue.

Dave Shackelford
Shackelford Consulting

 

[maya14]

Thanks. Your previous post clears up everything for me.I was using the public IP to connect to SBS.

 

[ShackDaddy]

Yeah, certs always go with real domain names, so connecting via IP doesn't the cert to work, and that breaks Exchange ActiveSync and RPC-over-HTTPS.

Dave Shackelford
Shackelford Consulting