Exchange and .NET Framework 4.7

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Ex2013 Logo A quick heads-up on that .NET Framework 4.7 has recently been released and will be made available through Windows Update channels. The current versions of Exchange Server are not supported with this version of the .NET Framework, and you should not install or update to this version.

Similar to the situation with .NET Framework 4.61 around a year ago, you can prevent  (accidental) upgrades of the .NET Framework by creating the following registry key on your Exchange servers:

HKLM:\Software\Microsoft\NET Framework Setup\NDP\WU\BlockNetFramework47 = 1 (REG_DWORD)

To report on the currently installed .NET Framework version on one or more computers, you can use this PowerShell script, Get-DotNetVersion.ps1. It will not only report the .NET Framework version information, but also if those registry entries to block .NET Framework 4.6.1 or .NET Framework 4.7 upgrades are present.

[PS] C:\> .\get-DotNetVersion.ps1 -ComputerName ex1,ex2 | ft -a

Computer Release NetFramework Net461Block Net47Block
-------- ------- ------------ ----------- ----------
ex1      461268  4.7          False       True
ex2      461268  4.7          False       False

The related article by the Exchange Team on this topic contains steps on how to recover the situation, in case you did upgrade. Of course, with all the dependencies on the .NET Framework by Exchange Server, you may prefer migrating contents to a new Exchange servers with a supported .NET Framework, and decommission servers where you had to remove the unsupported .NET Framework from.

More information can be found in KB4024204.

PS: The updated Unattended Exchange 2013 & 2016 Installation script will now also set the .NET Framework 4.7 blockade registry key.

The UC Architects Podcast Ep63

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iTunes-Podcast-logo[1]Episode 63 of The UC Architects podcast is now available. This episode is hosted by Pat Richard, who is joined by Steve Goodman who’s joined by John Cook. Editing was done by Andrew Price.

Topics discussed in this episode are:

Exchange

  • Exchange 2007 was end of life on April 11th

Office 365

  • Microsoft Teams is GA
  • Microsoft Teams Bandwidth Calculator
  • Microsoft Advanced Threat Protection
  • Google Suite vs Office 365

Lync/Skype for Business

  • Skype for Business updates for Mac
  • Skype for Business Online Trusted Application API
  • Consult Transfer option
  • Lync 2013 CUs for March 2017
  • Skype for Business 2015 CUs
  • RUCT updated
  • Convert-SonusSBCConfigToWord

Events

  • MS Cloud UG
  • UC and Cloud Day UK
  • Office 365 Engage

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.

Speaking at Office 365 Engage 2017

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I am happy to announce I will be co-hosting a workshop, as well as present a session at the Office 365 Engage conference. The event will be held in the beautiful city of Haarlem, The Netherlands, from June 19 to June 22.

For an independent event in Europe, track chair Tony Redmond managed to come up with a pretty impressive line-up with lots of Microsoft MVPs, consisting of folks such as Michael van Horenbeeck, Jaap Wesselius, Ingo Gegenwarth, Siegfried Jagott, Brian Reid, Vasil Michev, Paul Robichaux, Chris Goosen, Alan Byrne, Brian Desmond, and last but not least Steve Goodman who I am finally going to meet in person after missing each other for several reasons for the last 5 years.

The single day workshop will be hosted together with Jaap, and we will discuss managing Office 365 and its workloads using PowerShell, and its part of the Office 365 Administration track. The day after, I will be giving a session on Managing Exchange Online using PowerShell – Tips & Tricks, part of the Exchange Online track. If you would like to see something specific addressed, leave it in the comments section or pop me an e-mail.

For visitors, the city of Haarlem, a small distance from Amsterdam or The Netherlands – well, everything in The Netherlands is near, is also a nice city to spend some leisure time. You can check out the Office 365 Engage schedule here. I hope to see you there!

PS: The people behind the conference gave me discount code which you can use when registering. Use code SPRMR467 to get 20% off. You can register here.

Michel de Rooij 728x90

Exchange Updates – March 2017

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Ex2013 LogoToday, the Exchange Team released the March updates for Exchange Server 2013 and 2016, as well as Exchange Server 2010 and 2007. The latter will receive its last update, as Exchange 2007 will reach end-of-life April 11, 2017.

As announced in December updates, Exchange 2013 CU16 and Exchange 2016 CU5 require .NET 4.6.2. The recommended upgrade paths:

  • If you are still on .NET 4.6.1, you can upgrade to .NET 4.6.2 prior of after installing the latest Cumulative Update.
  • If you are on .NET 4.52, upgrade to Exchange 2016 CU4 or Exchange 2013 CU15 if you are not already on that level, then upgrade to .NET 4.6.2, and finally upgrade to the the latest Cumulative Update.

The Cumulative Updates also include DST changes, which is also contained in the latest Rollups published for Exchange 2010 and 2007.

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

Exchange 2016 CU5 15.1.845.34 KB4012106 Download UMLP
Exchange 2013 CU16 15.0.1293.2 KB4012112 Download UMLP
Exchange 2010 SP3 Rollup 17 14.3.352.0 KB4011326 Download
Exchange 2007 SP3 Rollup 23 8.3.517.0 KB4011325 Download
  • KB4015665 SyncDelivery logging folders and files are created in wrong location in Exchange Server 2016
  • KB4015664 A category name that has different case-sensitivity than an existing name is not created in Exchange Server 2016
  • KB4015663 “The message content has become corrupted” exception when email contains a UUE-encoded attachment in Exchange Server 2016
  • KB4015662 Deleted inline picture is displayed as attachment after you switch the message to plain text in Exchange Server 2016
  • KB4015213 Email is still sent to Inbox when the sender is deleted from the Trusted Contacts list in Exchange Server 2016
  • KB4013606 Search fails on Exchange Server 2016 or Exchange Server 2013
  • KB4012994 PostalAddressIndex element isn’t returning the correct value in Exchange Server 2016

Exchange 2013 CU16 fixes:

  • KB4013606 Search fails on Exchange Server 2016 or Exchange Server 2013

Exchange 2010 SP3 RU17 fixes:

  • KB4014076 Migration ends and errors reported when you on-board or off-board a mailbox through Exchange Online in an Exchange Server 2010 hybrid environment
  • KB4014075 UNC path does not open in OWA when the path contains non-ASCII characters in an Exchange Server 2010 environment
  • KB4013917 You cannot search in a shared mailbox through OWA in an Exchange Server 2010 Service Pack 3 (Update Rollup 15 or 16) environment
  • KB4012911 Culture element is added in the wrong order when you use the ResolveNames operation in EWS in Exchange Server 2010

Notes:

  • Exchange 2016 CU5 doesn’t include schema changes, however, Exchange 2016 CU5 as well as Exchange 2013 CU16 may introduce RBAC changes in your environment. Where applicable, use setup /PrepareSchema to update the schema or /PrepareAD to apply RBAC changes, before deploying or updating Exchange servers. To verify this step has been performed, consult the Exchange schema overview.
  • When upgrading your Exchange 2013 or 2016 installation, don’t forget to put the server in maintenance mode when required. Do note that upgrading, before installing the Exchange binaries, setup will put the server in server-wide offline-mode.
  • Using Windows Management Framework (WMF)/PowerShell version 5 on anything earlier than Windows Server 2016 is not supported. Don’t install WMF5 on your Exchange servers running on Windows Server 2012 R2 or earlier.
  • When using Exchange hybrid deployments or Exchange Online Archiving (EOA), you are allowed to stay at least one version behind (n-1).
  • 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.

Caution: As for any update, I recommend to thoroughly test updates in a test environment prior to implementing them in production. When you lack such facilities, hold out a few days and monitor the comments on the original publication or forums for any issues.

MS17-015: Security Fix for Exchange 2013 SP1+CU14 & 2016 CU3

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Ex2013 LogoMicrosoft published security fixes for the issue described in bulletin MS17-105. Fixes have been released for the following product levels:

You are reading it correctly: the later Cumulative Updates are not affected. Earlier builds will not receive a security fix, as support is provided up to N-2 generation builds. Reason for Exchange 2013 SP1 being in there is that Service Packs are on a different support scheme.

Note that this Rollup or security fix replaces MS16-108 (kb3184736) – you can install MS13-105 over installations containing this security fix (no need to uninstall it first).