Tag Archives: Hotfix

KB2750149 breaks WS2012 Fail-over Clustering Snap-In (Updated)

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Windows Server 2012 RC LogoA quick heads-up on Windows Server 2012, Fail-over Clustering and KB2750149, an update for the .NET 4.5 Framework. This hotfix was released on the January 8th, 2013.

After installation, this hotfix will break the Windows Server 2012 Fail-Over Clustering MMC Snap-In, resulting an error when navigating stating:

A weak event was created and it lives on the wrong object, there is a very high chance this will fail, please review and make changes on your code to prevent the issue.

WS2012FCCapture

Microsoft is currently investigating the issue. Until then,it is advised not to apply KB2750149 on Windows Server 2012 Fail-over Clusters or uninstall it when you are experiencing the issue.

Note that the Windows Server 2012 Fail-over Cluster will keep working, as well as the related PowerShell cmdlets (another reason to start using the shell instead), it’s just that the cluster can’t be properly managed from the MMC.

Regarding Exchange 2013 DAG, which can be build on top of WS2012 Fail-over Clusters, you shouldn’t notice the issue because fiddling around in Fail-over Cluster Manager is a no-no for Exchange DAGs. Nevertheless, I’d recommend following the advisory and not install or uninstall the hotfix until further notice.

More information in this and this topic on the TechNet forums.

Update (23jan2013): Hotfix KB2803748 fixes the MMC crashing issue. It’s available through Windows Update or download it directly from here.

Caution: KB2506146 and KB2506143 (Updated)

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powershellA quick word of caution on the following recently released updates:

  • KB2506143 is the WMF 3.0 update for Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 and Windows 7 SP1;
  • KB2506146 is the WMF 3.0 update for Windows Server 2008 SP2.

These updates will install Windows Management Framework 3.0 which includes PowerShell 3.0. However, Exchange 2007 nor Exchange 2010 currently works with PowerShell 3.0 and installing these updates will render your system unusable, including workstations from where you run the Exchange Management Tools.

The related updates have been published recently as optional updates through Windows Update. However, depending on your patch management methodology (e.g. WSUS), these updates might be installed automatically (e.g. accept all).

Therefor, it is advised to block these updates from being installed on your Exchange 2007 or Exchange 2010 systems when possible; Exchange 2013 requires WMF 3.0 therefor this doesn’t apply to systems running Exchange 2013.

Note that PowerShell 3.0 compatibility is announced for Exchange 2010 SP3, which is scheduled for Q1 2013; compatibility with Exchange 2007 isn’t announced nor expected.

Credits to Exchange fellow Michael B. Smith for discovering this.

Update, December 14th, 2012: Microsoft has acknowledged the problem here.

Update, December 19th, 2012: Microsoft pulled the updates from Microsoft Update / WSUS. Note that Exchange wasn’t the only product affected; WMF 3.0 also breaks Sharepoint 2010 for instance. Needless to say, WMF 3.0 should also not be installed on systems containing Small Business Server.

Rereleases of Exchange 2010 SP1 RU8 and 2007 SP3 RU7

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Besides Rollup 5 for Exchange Server 2010 SP2, the Exchange team also released updates of the following Rollups:

The KB article reads that, “This update resolves an issue in which the digital signature on files that are produced and signed by Microsoft expires prematurely as described in Microsoft Security Advisory 2749655.”  However, that should have already been fixed already in the v2 updates (refer to the same Security Advisory).

The Exchange Versions, builds & dates page has been updated accordingly, including updated product version numbers.

With all this subversioning of rereleases, one may wonder why they didn’t release Rollup 5 for Exchange as Rollup 4 v3, which perhaps would be less confusing.

Rereleases of latest Exchange 2010 and 2007 Rollups

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The Exchange team rereleased the following Rollups:

These v2 updates solve an issue with a prematurely expiring certificate used to sign the update (see KB2749655), i.e. no code changes (apart from KB2756987).

The Exchange Versions, builds & dates page has been updated accordingly, including updated product version numbers.

Important Hotfix for Outlook 2013 Preview

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Microsoft released a quick fix for a nasty bug in Outlook 2013 Preview, part of the Office Professional Plus 2013 Preview. The related knowledgebase article is kb2737132.

Note: Despite the warning that goes with pre-release software about not using it in production environments, I assume Microsoft knows people will and decided to produce a hotfix so quickly, which is quite unusual for preview software, also looking at the potential consequences.

The bug causes everything, i.e. e-mail, contacts, appointments and tasks, to be deleted permanently from an Exchange server when using the Cleanup Tools from Outlook. Nothing is recoverable through the Recover Deleted Items option.

To install the hotfix, follow one of the links below, depending on your architecture:

Exchange 2010 SP2 Language Pack Updated

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The Exchange team updated the Exchange Server 2010 2 Language Pack.

As you may or may not know, installing SP2 on Client Access Servers introduced the breadcrumb issue which I reported here.

Unfortunately, the Language Pack (included in SP2) which was updated to fix this issue introduced an annoyance on SP2 RU1 multi-role servers, by flooding the Eventlog with 10013 error messages for non-”en-us” users after installing SP2 RU1:

The Active Directory entry for mailbox CN contains an invalid locale for attribute MsExchUserCulture: nl-NL

You can download the updated language pack bundle here. Note that you only need to apply the update on Client Access Servers.

Fix for Dutch “Global Addresslist” issue w/Exchange 2010 SP2

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Today Microsoft released a fix (kb2677598) for a small cosmetic imperfection which shows up when using Outlook Web Access in Dutch, after installing Service Pack 2 on Exchange 2010.

Instead of showing up “Mail”, OWA displayed “Globale Adreslijst” (Global Addresslist) which might be confusing to end users.

To implement the hotfix, you need to apply the , dated 20 Feb, 2012, on your Exchange 2010 SP2 Client Access Servers.

You can download the Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 SP2 Language Pack Bundle (219 MB) here.

(Thanks to Jetze for the heads-up).

Forefront Protection for Exchange Rollup 4

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Microsoft released Hotfix Rollup 4 for Forefront Protection for Exchange Server (KB2619883).

Here’s the list of fixes included in this rollup:

  1. Email is sent to the Forefront Protection for Exchange UNDELIVERABLE folder instead of being delivered
  2. UNC and proxy credentials are stored in clear text in the Forefront Protection for Exchange file system
  3. The Forefront Protection for Exchange FSEMachinePrep.exe fails with a fatal error
  4. The external sender does not receive the expected Forefront Protection for Exchange generated notification
  5. Forefront Protection for Exchange generates a notification with a blank subject line
  6. Forefront Protection for Exchange virus engine updates fail between the passive node and active node in CCR clusters
  7. Forefront Protection for Exchange only accepts 7-digit License Agreement numbers
  8. Forefront Protection for Exchange generates a 2098 event ID every time the MSExchangeTransport service is restarted
  9. Email queues at startup on an Exchange server running Forefront Protection for Exchange

For more details on the fixes consult the knowledge base article. You can request the hotfix rollup directly from the support center here.

Exchange Management Console & IE9 issue fixed

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Finally, today the Exchange team made available a fix to solve the issues when using the Management Console of Exchange 2007 or 2010 in conjunction with Internet Explorer 9.

As you probably know, when using Internet Explorer 9 you can’t close the Exchange Management Console properly as it gives you the error “You must close all dialog boxes before you can close Exchange Management Console” having no dialogs open.

To solve this issue, you had to do the resort to measures like killing the EMC process using Task Manager.

To properly install the hotfix:

  1. Request hotfix ID 2624899 from support here. For a direct download link click here.
  2. Download and install MS11-081 (2586448). You can retrieve this update here.
  3. Install the hotfix ID 2624899.

Microsoft states it expects to incorporate this fix in a future update of Internet Explorer 9.

While releasing a fix for the IE9 issue is great after all these month, I can’t help but wonder why the fix has not been made public.

Exchange 2010 SP1 Rollup 4 v2

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After pulling Rollup 4 for Exchange Server 2010 SP1 on July 13th, after potential data loss issues were discovered during folders movements, and publishing an intermediate hotfix to resolve the RU4 issues without a rollup rerelease, the Exchange team decided to publish an updated version of rollup 4. This is somehow unexpected because of the expected release of rollup 5 in August. It’s good to see the Exchange team getting very open in this post about recent missteps in published rollups for such a mission critical application.

Exchange 2010 SP1 Rollup 4 v2 raises Exchange 2010′s version number to 14.1.323.6 (initial release was 14.1.323.1). The related knowledgebase article is kb2579150.

For the correct procedure on how to update a DAG and its members, check here.

You can download Exchange 2010 SP1 Rollup4 v2 here.