About Michel de Rooij

Michel de Rooij, with over 25 years of mixed consulting and automation experience with Exchange and related technologies, is a consultant for Rapid Circle. He assists organizations in their journey to and using Microsoft 365, primarily focusing on Exchange and associated technologies and automating processes using PowerShell or Graph. Michel's authorship of several Exchange books and role in the Office 365 for IT Pros author team are a testament to his knowledge. Besides writing for Practical365.com, he maintains a blog on eightwone.com with supporting scripts on GitHub. Michel has been a Microsoft MVP since 2013.

The UC Architects Podcast Ep57

Posted on May 3, 2016 by Michel de Rooij

iTunes-Podcast-logo[1] Episode 57 of The UC Architects podcast is now available. This episode is hosted by Pat Richard, who is joined by Steve Goodman and Tom Arbuthnot. Editing was done by Andrew Price.

Topics discussed in this episode are:

Microsoft is rolling back the mailbox anchoring change for remote PowerShell that was introduced in 2013 CU11
Exchange 2013 and 2016 Exmon tool is now available
A friendly reminder that WMF (PowerShell) 5.0 is currently not supported with any version of #MSExchange
Exchange says no to .NET Framework 4.6.1
Hybrid Shared Mailbox access is now supported
Announcing the new Office 365 admin center
Office 365 Reporting web service and Windows PowerShell cmdlets
Office 365 Hybrid Configuration wizard for Exchange 2010
Bulk provisioning Office 365 licenses and services script
Mitel Networks (MITL) to Acquire Polycom (PLCM) in ~$1.96B Deal
Lync 2010 transitioning from mainstream to extended support
Skype for Business Cloud Connector Edition Released
Thomas Poet’s Office Cloud Connector Edition
Cloud Connector Edition Skype for Business Online Planning and Migration Guide
Microsofts Free StatsMan Released for Skype for Business and Lync
Configure OAuth between Skype for Business Server and Exchange Online
Microsoft’s Skype now works without plug-ins with Windows 10’s Edge browser
Skype for Business Hybrid–Additional Office 365 Domain
Announcing content viewing for Skype for Business on Android and updates to iOS
Skype for Business SDN Interface 2.4 Released with PowerShell Provisioning
Skype for Business Client Update Video Webcast: Announce Offline Messaging!
Skype for Business Server 2015, Capacity Calculator
CMS Changes in Skype for Business 2015
Quick Tip: SLA Errors – Just Ignore Them
Technical diagrams for Skype for Business Server 2015
Microsoft to eliminate Skype Managed Accounts feature by March’s end (Regular Skype, not Skype4B)
Displaying Network and Building Information in Call Quality Dashboard (CQD) Online
Lync 2013 Client Update Feb 2016 (KB3114732) 15.0.4797.1000.
Lync Server 2013 CU
Skype for Business Server 2015 CU2 (March)
Pat’s Get-CsUpdateVersion script
.NET Framework 4.6.1 and Skype for Business/Lync Server Compatibility
StatusKey for Skype for Business
Lync 2013 / Skype for Business Call Pickup Group Manager Version 2
UC Birmingham User Group (5/11)
UC Day mailing list for more information about a dedicated UC and cloud conference happening on 24th October in the UK
IPExpoManchester (5/19)

You can download the podcast here or you can subscribe to the podcasts using iTunes, Zune or use the RSS feed.

About
The UC Architects is a community podcast by people with a passion for Unified Communications; our main focus is on Exchange, Skype for Business or related subjects.

Exchange 2016 & Office Online Server

Posted on April 27, 2016 by Michel de Rooij

pptxicon Update (May 9th): Office Online Server is now also available through MSDN here.

Update (May 4th): Office Online Server became available today. OOS is available on VLSC, language packs are on MSDN as well (perhaps a clue OOS will be available later on MSDN as well). Document modification option comes with additional licensing requirements, consult the release article for more information.

On April 26th, I gave a session on Exchange 2016 and Office Online Server – or OOS. Creating the session contents proved to hold some challenges. After agreeing on the session around the January timeframe, when OOS was still in Technical Preview, OOS got pulled a few weeks ago without notice. It was expected it would become Generally Available (GA) shortly after the release of SharePoint 2016, but that didn’t happen. To make matters more interesting, OOS was moved to Volume Licensing Service Center only, where its predecessor was freely available on the Microsoft download center. Currently, the status of OOS is that it is GA, and available on the VLSC site. The session and demo were based on the Technical Preview.

Back to the event, which was hosted by the always friendly and hospitable people from the Belgian E-Communications Community. At the office of Microsoft in Zaventem, Belgium, sessions were presented by 8 Microsoft MVP’s, Microsoft and sponsors, divided in 2 tracks: one Exchange-oriented track, and one track with Skype for Business related topics. Around a total of 60 people turned up in person for the event, and sessions were also streamed live through Skype Meeting Broadcast. Excellent usage of available technology.

(picture by Michael van Horenbeeck)

After the opening keynote, Tony Redmond kicked off talking about Office 365 Groups, followed by fellow countryman Dave Stork talking about using Tools to deploy and manage Exchange. After the break, it was time for my session on Exchange 2016 and Office Online Server. Unfortunately, in the category 1st world problems, lack of an HDMI connector – required for presenting as well as streaming – on my laptop prevented me from doing the demo, and the remaining time was filled by a improvised Ask the Experts session on Exchange and Office 365, in which I was joined by the other Dutch MVP’s present. After that, Michael van Horenbeeck talked in his session about Advanced Identity & Authentication scenarios for Office 365. Jaap Wesselius closed the Exchange track with a session on the Do’s and Don’ts when using Exchange 2010 for Hybrid deployments.

The links above lead to the session recordings; a complete session overview including links to the recordings for the Skype for Business related sessions can be found here. My slidedeck – with caps of the demo – can be downloaded here. A page with links to all the slidedecks and recordings can be found here.

iOS 9.3 fixes Multiple Response issue

Posted on March 22, 2016 by Michel de Rooij

iPhone 6 iOS Update 5/31/16: The glitch has been addressed in iOS 9.3.1.

Note: Be advised that iOS 9.3 contains a glitch which might prevent users from opening links from applications like Safari or other browsers, Mail or Outlook. The glitch causes the link not to work or the app to hang. Apple is aware of the issue and a fix is in the works. It is reported that, as a temporary workaround, disabling Javascript support in Settings > Safari > Advanced makes links work again in Safari.

Apple released iOS 9.3 today, which contains lots of enhancements and fixes. One of these fixes solves an issue with the Calendar app (for those still not using the Outlook app), where it would send multiple responses for an invite.

The release notes of iOS 9.3 mention:

Resolves an issue for some Exchange users that caused Calendar to send multiple responses to the same invitation

The fix supposedly solves issue 1.15 from the “Current issues with Exchange ActiveSync and 3rd-party device” overview (KB2563324), “Meeting organizer receives multiple responses from attendee. The related KB article, KB3108212, also contains instructions on how to identify users experiencing this problem. Note that the problem has also been addressed server-side in Cumulative Update 1 for Exchange 2016.

It’s almost a law that, for every bug that is fixed, new ones are introduced. So, some organizations may therefor want to test and accept this iOS update before giving it the green light for their Exchange environment. To block a specific version of iOS from Exchange, consult the instructions here.

Exchange Updates – March 2016

Posted on March 15, 2016 by Michel de Rooij

Today, the Exchange Team released one big wave of Exchange updates for Exchange 2016 down to Exchange 2007.

Changes in contained in these updates:

Exchange 2016 CU1 is an uncompressed ISO file. If bandwidth is scarce where you will be deploying, be sure to download this 6GB file upfront.
Mailbox Anchoring, introduced with the previous CU for Exchange 2013 and Exchange 2016, is reverted.
Exchange 2010 supports stand-alone Exchange 2010 Hybrid wizard.
All updates will introduce updated OWA/Ootw S/MIME control.

For a list of fixes in these updates, see below.

Exchange 2016 Cumulative Update 1	15.1.396.30	KB3134844	Download	UML
Exchange 2013 Cumulative Update 12	15.0.178.4	KB3108023	Download	UML
Exchange 2010 Service Pack 3 Rollup 13	14.3.294.0	KB3141339	Download
Exchange 2007 Service Pack 3 Rollup 19	8.3.459.0	KB3141352	Download

Exchange 2016 CU1 fixes:

KB 3139730 Edge Transport service crashes when you view the properties of a poison message in Exchange Server 2016
KB 3135689 A custom SAP ODI URI is removed by ActiveSync from an email message in an Exchange Server environment
KB 3135688 Preserves the web.config file for Outlook Web App when you apply a cumulative update in Exchange Server 2016
KB 3135601 Cyrillic characters are displayed as question marks when you run the “Export-PublicFolderStatistics.ps1” script in an Exchange Server 2016 environment
KB 3124242 Mailbox quota is not validated during migration to Exchange Server 2013 or Exchange Server 2016

Exchange 2013 CU12 fixes:

KB 3143710 “Failed Search or Export” error occurs when an eDiscovery search in the Exchange Admin Center finishes
KB 3138644 Messages are stuck in the Submission queue until NDRs are returned or the server is restarted
KB 3137585 OAuth authentication fails in a proxy scenario between Exchange Server 2013 hybrid on-premises and Office 365
KB 3137581 An eDiscovery search of all mailboxes or some Distribution Groups fails when you use the Exchange Administration Center
KB 3137390 “DeviceId cannot contain hyphens” warning occurs when you use the Exchange Management Shell or the Exchange Administration Center to remove the associations in Exchange Server
KB 3137384 Error occurs when you remove an ActiveSync device in the Exchange Management Shell or from the Exchange Administration Center
KB 3137383 CafeLocalProbe fails if the Health Mailbox UPN doesn’t match its Active Directory domain name
KB 3137380 Both read receipts and Non-read receipts are generated when an email is read through IMAP or POP in Exchange Server 2013
KB 3137377 MSExchange FrontEnd Transport service crashes when email messages are processed that contain a null “X-OriginatorOrg” message header
KB 3136694 Calendar items are not synced correctly when you use Exchange ActiveSync on a mobile device
KB 3136404 Searching by Furigana in Outlook’s address book is unsuccessful in an Exchange Server 2013 environment
KB 3135689 A custom SAP ODI URI is removed by ActiveSync from an email message in an Exchange Server environment
KB 3135334 Cannot set Title in Exchange Admin Center (ECP) if it contains more than 64 characters
KB 3135269 Event ID 4999 with MSExchangerepl.exe and MSExchangeDagMgmt.exe crash in Exchange Server 2013 environment
KB 3135018 Cannot remove devices when the DeviceType property includes a forward slash
KB 3134952 EdgeTransport.exe crashes when you view details of messages in the poison message queue
KB 3134918 An IRM-protected message sent to an external contact isn’t returned in a search or discovery results when journaling is implemented in an Exchange Server 2013 environment
KB 3134894 The “Search-Mailbox” cmdlet together with the “Attachment” property keyword lists all items that contain the query string of “attachment”
KB 3128706 HttpProxy overloads a downlevel Client Access Server in an Exchange Server 2013 co-existence environment
KB 3124248 Managed Availability responders fail because of invalid WindowsService names in an Exchange Server 2013 environment
KB 3124242 Mailbox quota is not validated during migration to Exchange Server 2013 or Exchange Server 2016
KB 3124064 Event ID 1009 is logged and no Health Manager alerts on failed content indexes during migration in Exchange Server 2013
KB 3118902 Resource Booking Assistant doesn’t update the subject of a recurring meeting in Exchange Server 2013
KB 3109539 Exchange Management Shell doesn’t return the correct number of Exchange Server 2013 Enterprise CALs license
KB 3108415 Logon for POP3 client disconnects randomly in an Exchange Server 2013 environment
KB 3106236 The “Export-PublicFolderStatistics.ps1” cmdlet exports Russian (Cyrillic) characters as question marks
KB 3098561 “Error executing child request for /owa/auth/errorFE.aspx” when you browse to /ECP in Exchange Server 2013

Notes:

Exchange 2016 CU1 includes schema changes, and Exchange 2013 CU12 may introduce RBAC changes in your environment. When applicable, make sure you run PrepareSchema /PrepareAD before deploying. To verify this step has been performed, consult the Exchange schema overview.
If you have deployed KB3097966 on your Exchange server running on Windows Server 2012 R2, you may want to manually recompile the .NET assemblies before upgrading Exchange to significantly speed up the process. To accomplish this, run the following on every Exchange server on Windows Server 2012 R2:
“%windir%\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v4.0.30319\ngen.exe update”
Don’t get upset by the messy output and any error messages; if the result of this command shown in the output is ‘0’ you’re good to go.
Be advised .NET Framework 4.6.1 is still not supported; make sure you don’t install this .NET update on your Exchange servers.
The Windows Management Framework (WMF)/ PowerShell version 5 is not supported. Don’t install this on your Exchange servers.
When using Exchange hybrid deployments or Exchange Online Archiving (EOA), you are required to stay current.
If you want to speed up the update process for systems without internet access, you can follow the procedure described here to disable publisher’s certificate revocation checking.
Cumulative Updates can be installed directly, i.e. no need to install RTM prior to installing Cumulative Updates.
Once installed, you can’t uninstall a Cumulative Update nor any of the installed Exchange server roles.
The order of upgrading servers with Cumulative Updates is irrelevant.
Rollups are cumulative per service pack level, meaning you can apply the latest Rollup for Service Pack X to a Service Pack X installation.

Finally, as always for any Hotfix, Rollup, Service Pack or Cumulative Update, I’d recommend to thoroughly test this in a test and acceptance environment first, prior to implementing it in production. When you lack such facilities, hold out a week or two and monitor the comments on the original article or TechNet forum for any issues.

The UC Architects Podcast Ep56

Posted on February 16, 2016 by Michel de Rooij

iTunes-Podcast-logo[1] Episode 56 of The UC Architects podcast is now available. This episode is hosted by Pat Richard, who is joined by John Cook and Tom Arbuthnot. Editing was done by Andrew Price.

Some of the topics discussed in this episode are:

Exchange Unified Messaging Voicemails not being received in mailbox
VMWare vSphere Exchange 2016 Best Practices Guide
Cloud PBX / E5 Dec Launch
Wildcard certs and Lync/SfB
Nexthop is back
RT100 dead
Developing for Skype for Business in 30 days
Group Call Pickup can be configured via PowerShell instead of SEFAUtil
Add Skype Consumer or Skype for Business Server Audio Test Service Bot to a Cloud PBX User
Exchange UM Toll Fraud Risk, Don’t Weaken Your PIN Settings
Understanding Skype for Business Server and Online PSTN Conference ID Configuration
HDX RealTime Optimization Pack 2.0 for Skype for Business on Citrix XenApp and
XenDesktop VDI
UCBug 10 Feb
Microsoft UC User Group London 3rd March Polycom EEC London
UCExpo London, 19th – 20th April
Cloud PBX
Unified Communications Day 2016 – October 24th

You can download the podcast here or you can subscribe to the podcasts using iTunes, Zune or use the RSS feed.

About
The UC Architects is a community podcast by people with a passion for Unified Communications; our main focus is on Exchange, Skype for Business or related subjects.