15 - Managing Information with Exchange Server

• How to replicate directory information - within your site and with other sites - Learn how to keep directory information synchronized across all servers - within your site and throughout your organization.

• How to use the Exchange Client to create and manage public folders - Look here to find out how to create public folders using the Exchange Client. Learn how to set permissions and properties for public folders with the Exchange Client and the Exchange Administrator.

• How to replicate public folders to other servers and use public folders at other sites - Look here to find out how to make public folders available on multiple servers to distribute the load and improve performance.

• How to track messages and diagnose problems with Exchange Server - Look here to find the procedures for tracking messages as they flow through the system. Find out how to use link monitors, server monitors, and the Windows NT Performance Monitor to monitor the health of your Exchange Server site and diagnose problems.

One of the most important features of Exchange Server is its scalability. This applies not only to the capability to add processors, memory, and additional disk components to a single server, but also the capability to add additional servers. Exchange Server has been designed to allow a distributed system of many servers, each communicating with other servers and playing a role in the delivery of information to users.

In this chapter, you explore the techniques used to create public folders, a cornerstone of Exchange Server's information sharing capabilities. You learn the basics of implementing and using public folders and how to replicate them to other servers to balance the user load and make the best use of available network bandwidth. You also learn how to replicate directory information across all servers in your organization.

Replicating Directory Information

The architecture of the Exchange Server directory does not force all changes to the database to occur on a single server. If you want to add a new element such as a mailbox or custom recipient to the directory, you can do so at any server in the site. Exchange Server automatically processes the changes and updates all other servers within a site. This is known as intrasite replication. You do not need to take any action to make this process occur - it is the default behavior of Exchange Servers in a site. However, there is a method for forcing the servers within a site to synchronize their directories, a capability that is occasionally useful if you make an important change and do not want to wait for the normal processing interval (which is every five minutes).

You can also replicate directory information from one site to another. This is referred to as intersite replication and requires a little more work to set up, but is still a relatively straightforward process. For intersite replication, two of servers, one from each site, are designated as bridgehead servers and configured to pass directory information between each other. This is done by creating and configuring a directory replication connector, a special type of connector designed for this task. The directory changes are passed as standard e-mail messages.

Intrasite Replication

To manually start a directory replication process in the local site, follow these steps:

1. Start the Exchange Administrator if you have not already done so. Connect to a server that is in the site you want to administer.

2. In the container area (the left pane) of the display, find the site you want to administer. Click the plus sign to the left of the site name to expand the display if it is not already open. Click the plus sign to the left of the Configuration object to expand its display. You should see the Servers object. Click the plus sign to the left of the Servers object to expand its display.

3. Highlight the server object for one of the servers in the site. Any server can initiate intrasite directory replication, but if you know one of the servers carries a smaller workload due to its configuration, there may be a slight efficiency advantage in using it to launch this process.

4. In the contents pane, you should see the services on that server listed. Double-click the Directory Service. The dialog box for the Directory Service appears (see fig. 15.1).

   Fig. 15.1 - The General tab of the Directory Service for a particular server can be used to initiate intrasite directory replication.

5. Click the General tab. Two buttons will be available. For this process, use the top button labeled Update Now, to update this directory from within this site.

6. Click the Update Now button. A dialog box provides a progress report on the update process, and then an information dialog box notifies you that the process has finished.

Intersite Replication

The process of configuring directory replication connectors is simplified if the two sites are located on the same LAN (or connected with a high-speed line capable of Remote Procedure Call (RPC) communications). Both the local and the remote bridgehead servers can be configured at the same time in a single process. If the two sites are not on the same LAN, an administrator from each site must set them up separately and make sure that the pair are configured properly to communicate with each other. If the sites are joined by a connection that is not active at all times, for example the Dynamic RAS Connector, make sure that the schedule you establish for replicating intersite directory information corresponds to the availability of a connection between the sites.

Setting Up a Site Connector

• Site connector

• Dynamic RAS connector

• X.400 connector

• Internet Mail connector

The simplest of these to implement and manage is the site connector. Although connectors are covered in more detail in Chapter 16, "Exchange Server Advanced Topics," the procedures for installing a site connector are provided here. This connector is only suitable for environments where two sites are on the same LAN and can communicate over a protocol that supports Remote Procedure Call (RPC) communications. If you have two sites that meet these criteria, the site connector is a good choice for a first site-to-site link. After you have linked two sites with a messaging connector, directory replication and public folder replication can be implemented.

To implement a site connector, you will configure one or multiple servers on each site as messaging bridgehead servers. Unlike the directory replication connector, which requires that a single server be responsible for acting as a bridgehead server to the remote site, a site connector can use one or more servers in the site as messaging bridgehead servers. You can specify a particular server if you want to control which server must provide this additional messaging load, or you can indicate that any server in the site may be used. You can also control which servers in the remote site should be used as target servers and indicate a routing cost for each target server. This is nothing more than a number (from 0 to 100 with a default vaulue of 1) that provides a relative indication of which servers are most able to handle incoming messages. Servers with a value of 0 are used first; those with 100 are used last; and two servers that have the same value will receive roughly the same load. This mechanism effectively allows you to control the order in which target servers are selected.

Site connectors provide one-way message transfer. You may want to create a corresponding site connector from the remote site to the local site. Because these connectors require a LAN protocol capable of using RPC, you can use the Exchange Administrator to connect to both sites in separate windows at the same time, provided that you have granted permissions to each site for the same account. You will need Admin permissions for the Configuration container (or at least the Connections container) to create the site connector. In addition, the service account in the local site (where the connector is being defined) must have the User role for the target servers or the Configuration container in the remote site. If it does not, you can use the Override tab (described in step 9 of the following steps) to enter an account name and password that does.

To complete this task, you need the following:

• The name of a server in the remote site. It is preferable to have the names of all servers in the remote site and a ranking as to their suitability as target servers for incoming messages.

• You must log on with an account that has administrative permissions for the Configuration container in the local site. If you plan to create a site connector for the remote site to connect to the local site, you will need administrative permissions for the remote Configuration container as well.

• If the Exchange service account for the local site does not have user role permissions for the servers or Configuration container at the remote site, you must have the name and password of an account that does to use on the Override tab. Again, if defining a second site connector at the remote site, the same condition applies with the sites reversed.

Site connectors use X.400 addressing to route messages to other sites. If you have not already done so, you should check that the X.400 address properties are correct. You can find them on the Site Addressing tab of the dialog box for the Site Addressing object in the Configuration container for each site. Make sure that only valid characters are used in the addresses that were generated by default during the installation of Exchange Server. The Private Management Domain Name should be the same as your organization name or an abbreviated version using only characters that are valid in X.400 addresses.

To set up a site connector, follow these steps:

1. Start the Exchange Administrator if you have not already done so. Connect to a server that is in the site you want to administer.

2. In the container area (the left pane) of the display, find the site you want to administer. Click the plus sign to the left of the site name to expand the display if it is not already open. Click the plus sign to the left of the Configuration object to expand its display.

3. Highlight the Connections object. Choose File, New Other from the menu, and then select Site Connector. The New Site Connector dialog box appears.

4. Enter the name of the server in the remote site to which you want to connect. Click OK. A Site Connector dialog box appears (see fig. 15.2).

   Fig. 15.2 - This Site Connector dialog box allows you to specify properties for a connection between two sites over a high-speed LAN connection capable of RPC communications.

5. If you want, you can change the default Display Name and Directory Name for this connector. The directory name is used in any messages written to the event log regarding this connector. The display name appears in the Exchange Administrator's display.

   
   The only time the directory name of an object can be changed is during its initial creation. If you want to change it later, you must delete the object and re-create a new one. While this achieves more or less the same effect as renaming the object, it can be disruptive to the flow of information through the Exchange Server environment and creates opportunities for errors. It is best to get it right the first time.
   

6. Enter a routing Cost for this connector. If multiple connections between two sites exist, the active connection with the lowest cost will be used for message delivery. Therefore, if you have a large network with multiple connections between two sites, you can use this routing cost to help Exchange Server calculate the most efficient route. Connections over high-speed links should have low routing costs. As the speed of the link gets slower, a higher routing cost should be used. As long as a low-cost route is active, it will be selected before the others. If it is temporarily out of commission due to maintenance or other causes, another route will be used.

7. Select a Specific Server to act as a messaging bridgehead between the two sites, or leave the default setting of Any Server. Click the Target Servers tab (see fig. 15.3).

   Fig. 15.3 - The Target Servers tab of a site connector's dialog box can be used to specify those servers in the target site to which messages are sent directly. Messages with destination addresses on other servers in the remote site will be routed using intrasite connectivity.

8. By default, all servers in the remote site are placed in the Target Servers list. You can remove or add servers to the Target Servers list for this connector at any time. The server you initially specified when creating the site connector is given a routing cost of 1 (the lowest possible cost) by default. You can change the routing cost value for individual servers to reflect which are the most suitable as targets for incoming messages. The available server with the lowest cost will be used. Click the Address Space tab (see fig. 15.4).

   Fig. 15.4 - This dialog box is used to specify partial e-mail addresses that will be used to build routing tables. The X.400 address of the remote site itself is entered automatically.

9. Enter partial addresses that will match the types of e-mail addresses that should be routed to the remote site over this site connector. For example, if the remote site contained the only Internet Mail Connector for your organization, you would want all messages with SMTP addresses to be forwarded to that site. You would create a new Internet address with only an asterisk in the address field so that all messages with an SMTP address outside your organization would be routed to the remote site. Click the Override tab (see fig. 15.5).

   Fig. 15.5 - This dialog box can be used to enter an account and password that will provide a security context for message transfer between two sites with no domain trust relationships.

10. If both sites are in the same Windows NT domain and both use the same Exchange service account, this tab is unnecessary. If the two sites share the same master domain, you can enter a service account from the master domain in this dialog box. Otherwise, you should use the Exchange service account from the remote site. You will need to get this account information from an administrator for the remote site if you have not already done so. Enter the account ID (in the Windows NT Username text box), password, and domain name (if necessary). Click OK.

    
    If you have Windows NT administrative privileges at the remote site, you can see the account ID (but not its password) by choosing Computer, Services from the menu in the Windows NT Server Manager. Highlight a Microsoft Exchange service - Directory, Information Store, Message Transfer Agent (MTA), or System Attendant - and click the Startup button.
    

11. If your account information and permissions were set correctly, you will have an operational site connector, usually in less than a minute. If you get an error message about your account permissions, use the Exchange Administrator to review or assign permissions on the remote site's Configuration container and try again.

You may want to create a site connector from the remote site to the local site to enable bi-directional message transfer. Typically the flow of information between sites is not in only one direction. Each site has messages addressed to recipients in the other site, and so there must be a mechanism to move messages both ways. If you are planning to implement a directory replication connector, or public folder replication, this is required.

See "A Flexible Set of Services," (Chapter 2)

Setting Up Bridgehead Replication Servers

1. Start the Exchange Administrator if you have not already done so. Connect to a server in the site you want to administer.

2. In the container area (the left pane) of the display, find the site you want to administer. Click the plus sign to the left of the site name to expand the display if it is not already open. Click the plus sign to the left of the Configuration object to expand its display. Highlight the Directory Replication object.

3. Choose File, New Other from the menu, and then select Directory Replication Connector. A New Directory Replication Connector dialog box appears, as shown in figure 15.6.

   Fig. 15.6 - This dialog box is used to configure bridgehead servers for directory replication. If two sites are on the same LAN, you can configure the local and remote bridgehead servers at the same time.

4. Select the Remote Site Name in the drop-down list box, or enter its name directly. Enter the name of the Server in Remote Site you want to use as the only directory replication bridgehead server to the local site.

5. Select an option button to indicate whether the remote site is on the same LAN as this site. If it is, you can create and configure a directory replication connector on the remote site simultaneously. If not, an administrator at the remote site will need to create a corresponding bridgehead server on the remote site, using the computer you have specified. Click OK. A Directory Replication Connector dialog box appears, as shown in figure 15.7.

   Fig. 15.7 - This is the dialog box for the Directory Replication Connector being created. Both the local and remote bridgehead servers are specified on the General tab.

6. If necessary, change the selected bridgehead servers in the drop-down list boxes. If you want, you can change the Display Name and the Directory Name for this connector. As usual, after this connector is created, its directory name can no longer be changed. This is the name that will be used in messages written to the event log regarding this connection. Click the Schedule tab (see fig. 15.8).

   Fig. 15.8 - The Schedule tab is used to specify the interval at which changes to directory information are transmitted to the remote site. The default schedule is every three hours.

7. You can modify the default schedule of once every three hours if you want. If you select the Always option button, updates will be sent every 15 minutes, and the schedule will be ignored. Selecting Never disables directory replication. Click the Sites tab (see fig. 15.9).

   Fig. 15.9 - The Sites tab shows the Inbound Sites and Outbound Sites serviced by this directory replication connector. It does not display this information until the creation of the connector is complete, and directory replication has occurred at least once.

8. The Sites tab remains empty until the connector has been created and directory replication occurs. You can review this tab later to see the results. The remote site, also known as the directly connected site, should appear in the Inbound Sites list, along with any other sites with which it shares directory information through other directory replication connectors.

9. When this dialog box has been filled in by the directory replication process, you can select an inbound site and click the Request Now button. A Directory Update Type dialog box appears. You can then select to receive the changes since the last replication (Update Only New and Modified Items) or the entire directory of the selected site (Refresh All Items in the Directory).

   
   Selecting the Refresh All Items in the Directory option button begins an operation that may take several hours and can negatively impact network traffic and processing times for the servers and network links involved. This activity is best done during off-peak hours.
   

10. Click OK, and your directory replications connector(s) will be created. It may take some time before the changes are reflected in the display of the Exchange Administrator, depending on the schedule you specified. During this time, if you try to select an object that has not been completely replicated, you may get a message indicating that the recalculation of the directory hierarchy is not yet complete. Wait a few minutes and try again. If you want to manually request updated information go to step 10.

11. Because you have made a change that impacts the directory, you can open the dialog box for the Directory Service on the local bridgehead server and use the Check Now button to request a Knowledge Consistency check. This causes the directory service to discover the new site connection and request updated information. It will still take some time for the operation to complete, depending on the size of the directory at the remote site. When it is complete, you can recalculate routing tables using the General tab of the MTA to reflect the new information in the directory. This occurs automatically at the scheduled times if you do not initiate it manually.

When the directory replication operation has finished, the remote site's directory information should appear in the Exchange Administrator's display when you connect to your local site. The reverse is also true - information from your site appears in the directory of the remote site. Figure 15.10 depicts the Exchange Administrator connected to two sites, St. Louis and EXTERNAL2. In the display for the St. Louis site, you can see the site connector to the EXTERNAL2 site in the contents area for the highlighted Connections object. A similar site connector is defined in the EXTERNAL2 site to connect to St. Louis. In the display for the EXTERNAL2 site, the Directory Replication Connector is visible in the contents area of the highlighted Directory Replication object. Again, there is a corresponding connector in the St. Louis site.

Fig. 15.10 - The Exchange Administrator showing two sites that have site connectors and directory replication connectors linking them together.

Remember, if your directory display does not update immediately, be patient. This process can take some time, especially the first time when all information must be sent. With large sites containing many directory items, the process can take hours. Before you start reconfiguring elements of the process, give the process some time to complete. You can also use techniques described later in this chapter in the section, "Monitoring Your Site," to watch for signs of progress without dismantling the pieces.

Using Public Folders

A public folder created on one server can be made available to users with mailboxes on other servers in the site, or even in other sites. If the network links between the public folder server and clients are too slow, or the load placed on the server is too great due to high demand, the folder can be replicated to other public folder servers. This can distribute the load and provide high-speed access to a public folder server for all client workstations.

Folders can contain other folders. A folder at the highest level in the hierarchy is called a top-level folder. An important configuration detail is the designation of those users who can create top-level folders in the public folder hierarchy. Having too many top-level folders makes the hierarchy unwieldy, and it becomes difficult to find the items for which you are looking. It makes sense, therefore, to limit the number of people who can create top-level folders and to use the top level for broad categories that will contain many other folders.

Public folders can be designed to use standard forms provided with Exchange Server for e-mail messages or posting messages in discussion forums. You can also use custom forms created with the Forms Designer, an application provided with Exchange Server. A variety of specialized forms are provided with the sample applications provided with Exchange Server. These forms can be copied and modified to create a wide range of groupware applications. You can explicitly control which forms may be used in a public folder. For more information on creating custom forms see Microsoft Exchange Server Application Designer's Guide, part of the documentation available for Exchange Server.

In addition to forms support, you can define views, which specify the columns, grouping, and sort order of the information displayed in a folder. Custom views can be created and made available to users of the public folder, or personal views can be created by the users themselves. Different views can be applied to the same folder to better understand the information presented.

You can also set permissions on a public folder to control access to its contents. Unlike other objects in the Exchange Server directory, which have access control based on Windows NT accounts, public folders control access based on mailboxes and distribution lists. There is still an indirect correspondence to the Windows NT logon ID, because any given mailbox will have permissions for specific (usually one) Windows NT logon IDs. But when you grant permissions to use a public folder, you indicate specific mailboxes or the members of one or more distribution lists. You can assign roles to the users of a public folder such as reviewer (read only access), author (read/write access to their own items), or owner (all rights in the folder, including the capability to delete information created by other users).

Creating Public Folders

In the example, you will create a top-level folder called Programming Tools Discussions, and then a folder within that top-level folder called Visual Basic Discussions. This is done to underscore the desirability of not cluttering the top level with too many folders. Then you will create a view and set properties on the folder so that it will function as a discussion forum for issues regarding the Visual Basic programming language.

After following the example to create a public folder, you will learn how to copy forms into the various libraries that can store them, and how to use them in your public folders. Finally, in the next section you learn how to replicate public folders to other servers, including servers in another site. See Chapter 4, "Designing Microsoft Exchange Public Folders," in the Application Designer's Guide.

Creating a New Public Folder

To create a new public folder, follow these steps:

1. Start the Exchange Client.

2. Highlight the folder named All Public Folders. Choose File, New Folder from the menu. A New Folder dialog box appears.

3. Enter the name of your new folder. In the example, the folder name is Programming Tools Discussions. Click OK, and the new folder appears.

4. Now highlight the new folder and again choose File, New Folder. Enter a name for the new folder and click OK. For the example, use Visual Basic Discussions.

5. Right-click the mouse pointer on the Visual Basic Discussions folder. Select Properties from the resulting pop-up menu. A tabbed properties dialog box appears (see fig. 15.11).

   Fig. 15.11 - This dialog box is used to set properties for the public folder named in its title bar. You can use it to control the views, forms, and permissions for the folder.

6. Enter a description for the folder. Click the Views tab. Using the option buttons, you can select either Personal views or Folder views. In the example, you will create a folder view that is a modified version of the personal view called Group by Conversation Topic.

7. Select the Personal Views option button, and then the Group by Conversation Topic form in the list.

8. Click New. A New View dialog box appears with settings from the existing view.

9. Enter a name for the view (in the example it is Group by Conversation Topic with Text) and click the Folder Views option button. Click the Columns button, and the Columns dialog box appears (see fig. 15.12).

   Fig. 15.12 - The Columns dialog box allows you to specify the columns that should be included in a defined view. You can indicate their order and a column width for each.

10. Use the Add and Remove buttons to include Conversation Topic, Item Type, From, Subject, Item Text, and Received in the Show the Following list box.

11. Use the Move Up and Move Down buttons to arrange the columns in the order they are listed, or as you want. Highlight Item Text and enter 40 for the Column Width. Click OK to return to the New View dialog box.

12. For the example, no other changes should be made. If you want to examine some of the possibilities that can be selected, click the Group By, Sort, and Filter buttons on the New View dialog box.

13. Click OK to return to the Properties dialog box for the folder. Click the Administration tab (see fig. 15.13).

    Fig. 15.13 - The Administration tab is used to set administrative options for a public folder. You can specify a default view for the folder and indicate to whom the folder will be made available.

14. Select the view you just created as the Initial View on Folder. While creating and testing a new form, it is a good idea to make it available only to the owners (namely you). When you have finished the form, you can make it available to all users with permissions. You can add another owner to the form if you would like assistance with design or testing. This is done on the Permissions tab in step 12. Click the Forms tab.

15. On this tab, you can specify the forms that can be used with this folder. By clicking the Manage button on this tab you can invoke the Forms Manager, which allows you to copy forms from the Organization Forms Library, another Folder Forms Library, or your Personal Forms Library into the Forms Library for this folder. The use of forms is described in more detail in the section "Using Forms With Your Folder," later in this chapter. For this example, you will only use the standard forms, so you should not add any to the list of forms associated with this folder. Click the option button labeled Forms Listed Above and the Standard Forms. Then click the Permissions tab (see fig. 15.14).

    Fig. 15.14 - The Permissions tab is used to specify who is allowed to use this folder and designate their privileges.

16. Use the Permissions tab to set default permissions for all users and to designate specific roles for individual users or distribution lists. Click OK to complete your new public folder.

It is a good idea to test your new folder before making it available to users. To test it, choose Compose, New Post in This Folder. A New Post form appears. You can complete the form and click the Post button at the far right (which looks like a push pin). Double-click the message you just posted and click the Post Reply in This Folder toolbar button. Use ToolTips by positioning your mouse over the buttons and waiting for the pop-up tips if you don't know which button to use. This opens a reply posting form, which will be added to the folder indented under your original posting (see fig. 15.15).

Fig. 15.15 - A discussion forum public folder being tested by the owner for the first time.

When you are satisfied that it works, use the Administration tab on the properties pages for the form to indicate that it should be made available to All Users With Access Permissions instead of Owners Only using the procedures you just learned (see step 11).

Using Forms with Your Folder

Custom forms can be created with the Forms Designer, a development tool that is somewhat similar to using Visual Basic and offers a wizard to guide you through the initial design of a new form. You can use Visual Basic to automate and control the behavior of the created form. A variety of sample forms are included with the Forms Designer and can be used as the basis for additional forms development.

A sample personal folder file that demonstrates many of these forms, SAMPAPPS.PST, can be shared on a server for users to copy it to their local hard disk. They can then add it to their profile as an additional personal folder file and open it for experimentation. SAMPAPPS.PST requires approximately 17M of space to install. A read-me file included with the samples describes this process.

Forms can be stored in one of three places: the Organization Forms Library, another Folder Forms Library, or your Personal Forms Library. In this section, you learn how to create an Organization Forms Library using the Exchange Administrator and how to copy forms into the various libraries with the Forms Manager in the Exchange Client.

To create an Organization Forms Library, follow these steps:

1. Start the Exchange Administrator.

2. Choose Tools, Forms Administrator. The Organization Forms Library Administrator dialog box appears. Click New, and the Create New Forms Library dialog box appears, as shown in figure 15.16.

   Fig. 15.16 - This dialog box is used to create language-specific forms libraries that can be accessed by all users in the entire organization.

3. You can enter a name or use the default name of Organization Forms. Select the language for the library you want to create and click OK.

To copy forms into one of the forms libraries, follow these steps:

1. Start the Exchange Client.

2. Choose Tools, Options. Then select the Exchange Server tab and click the Manage Forms button. The Forms Manager dialog box is shown in figure 15.17.

   Fig. 15.17 - The Forms Manager dialog box is used to copy and install forms into one of the forms libraries.

3. Click the Set button on the left half of the display and select the library that contains the form you want to copy. Select the library you want to copy into on the right half of the dialog box. Highlight the forms you want to copy in the list at the left and click Copy. Close the Forms Manager. You now can use the form in this public folder.

You can also highlight a folder whose form library contains a form you want to copy, one of the samples provided with Exchange Server for example, and right-click the folder. Select Properties from the resulting pop-up menu. Click the Forms tab on the dialog box and then click the Manage button. The Forms Manager dialog box then appears. With this method, the library from which forms will be copied is selected on the right half of the display, and the Set button is gray indicating that you can't change this setting. Select the library to copy into on the left half of the dialog box and click Copy.

To use a special form in a folder, follow these steps:

1. Start the Exchange Client.

2. Highlight the folder you want to use. It must have properties that allow special forms to be used for the next steps to work. Not all folders allow the use of special forms. See step 12 of the procedure shown in the section "Creating a New Public Folder" earlier in this chapter.

3. If the folder has properties set to allow any form, you can select Compose, New Form and select a form you want to use from the Organization Forms Library.

4. If the folder has forms in its own library, there will be an additional choice on the bottom of the Compose menu to create a new form of this type.

5. Use the Compose menu in one of the ways described earlier and select a new form. Complete the form and click the Post button, or other activation control specific to the form. On some standard forms, the post button pictures a push pin. On others, it appears as a toolbar button with an envelope in motion (like the Send button). A sample form is depicted in figure 15.18.

Fig. 15.18 - A Help Desk form being used in the Visual Basic Discussions folder created earlier.

Replicating Public Folders

The entire public folder hierarchy showing all public folders available in a site, and the property information for those folders, is replicated to all public folder servers regardless of whether the server contains a replica of the actual public folder. Users do not need to know where a public folder is located to use it. A public folder server is any server that contains a public information store. When you remove the private information store from a server, it becomes a dedicated public folder server. Creating such a server can be a useful way to manage the resources allocated to public folder usage.

On the General tab of the Private Information Store of each server (if it has a private information store), you can designate which public folder server will be used by any mailboxes on that server. New public folders created by users of those mailboxes will be stored on the designated public folder server. They will also access this server to receive the public folder hierarchy, which allows them to view all public folders in the organization for which they have been granted permissions.

Configuring Public Folder Replication

To replicate a public folder, follow these steps:

1. Start the Exchange Administrator if you have not already done so. Connect to a server that is in the site you want to administer.

2. In the container area (the left pane) of the display, find the site you want to administer. Click the plus sign to the left of the site name to expand the display if it is not already open. Click the plus sign to the left of the Configuration object to expand its display. You should see the Servers object. Click the plus sign to the left of the Servers object to expand its display.

3. Highlight the server object for the server to which you want to add a replica. Double-click the Public Information Store object in the contents area. The dialog box for the Public Information Store appears, as shown in figure 15.19.

   Fig. 15.19 - This tabbed dialog box is used to set basic properties for the public information store on a server and to configure replication of public folders.

4. On the General tab, you can set a storage limit for all public folders on this server. If a public folder exceeds this limit, the owner of the public folder will receive storage warnings at the scheduled intervals set on the Storage Warnings tab of the dialog box for the Information Store Site Configuration object. Click the Instances tab (see fig. 15.20).

   Fig. 15.20 - This tab is used to create an instance, or replica, of a public folder on the local server.

5. If the public folder you are replicating does not yet exist in the local site, select a site where it does exist in the Site drop-down list box. If the folder is on another server in the local site, this step is unnecessary.

   
   If the site to which you want to add the public folder does not appear in the list, you must set up some sort of connector between the sites and implement directory replication connectors. See "Replicating Directory Information" earlier in this chapter.
   

6. Select the folder you want to replicate from the Public Folders list box. Click Add to move that folder name into the list box labeled Folders on this Information Store. Click OK. The folder will be replicated to this server. This process may take some time, depending on the replication schedule, the message load on the system, and other factors. You can reopen the dialog box you were just using at a later time and click the Folder Replication Status and Public Folder Resources tabs to see the current status of the replication process. For an alternative status checking method, see the next procedure.

To check the status of a particular public folder's replication and to see all the public folder severs that contain a replica, follow these steps:

1. Start the Exchange Administrator if you have not already done so. Connect to a server that is in the site you want to administer.

2. In the container area (the left pane) of the display, find the Folders object. Click the plus sign to the left of the Folders object to expand the display if it is not already open. Click the plus sign to the left of the Public Folders object to expand its display. You should see the top-level public folders. If the folder for which you want to check the status is not a top-level folder, continue to click the plus sign to the left of the folders that contain it until you find the folder in question.

3. Highlight the folder name and choose File, Properties. A dialog box for the folder appears, as shown in figure 15.21.

   Fig. 15.21 - This tabbed dialog box is used to configure and check the status of a particular public folder. An individual replication schedule can be set for this folder, and the location of all its replicas can be listed.

4. On the General tab, you can change the Display name for the folder, set an age limit for messages and postings in all replicas, and click the Client Permissions button to set permissions. Permissions can also be set using the Exchange Client, as you learned when you created a public folder. Click the Replicas tab (see fig. 15.22).

   Fig. 15.22 - This tab shows all the replicas that have been created for this public folder. Servers in other sites will be listed followed by a slash and their site names.

5. The Replicas tab can be used to create additional replicas of a folder or just to see where they already exist. Click the Folder Replication Status tab (see fig. 15.23).

   Fig. 15.23 - This tab is used to check the status of folder replication. You can use it to tell if the local folder has been modified since the last replication event left the folders "In Sync."

6. If enough time has elapsed for your folder to be replicated, the status of that event will be reflected in the Folder Replication Status tab.

You have learned how to create public folders and replicate them to other sites and servers. Now you will learn some techniques to help resolve problems and monitor the health of your Exchange Server organization.

Diagnosing Problems

Setting Up Message Tracking

When you enable message tracking for an Exchange Server element, all similar elements on other servers in the site are also tracking enabled. You can enable message tracking on the Information Stores and the MTAs for a site using the General tab of the dialog box for the Site Configuration object. Message tracking can also be enabled on MS Mail connectors and Internet Mail connectors. You must enable tracking on each connector manually. After you have enabled message tracking, the services affected must be stopped and restarted on each server for tracking to begin. Clearly this is an activity that is best done during off-peak hours.

To enable message tracking on the Information Stores and MTAs for a site, follow these steps:

1. Start the Exchange Administrator if you have not already done so. Connect to a server that is in the site you want to administer.

2. In the container area (the left pane) of the display, find the site you want to administer. Click the plus sign to the left of the site name to expand the display if it is not already open. Select the Configuration container. In the contents area (the right pane) you should see the Information Store Site Configuration object.

3. Double-click the Information Store Site Configuration object to open its dialog box. Click the General tab, as shown in figure 15.24.

   Fig. 15.24 - The General tab of the Information Store Site Configuration object can be used to enable message tracking for all information stores in the site.

4. Click the Enable Message Tracking check box. Click OK to close the dialog box.

5. Double-click the MTA Site Configuration object to open its dialog box. Click the General tab.

6. Click the check box to Enable Message Tracking. Click OK to close the dialog box.

7. You must now stop and restart these services on all servers. The best tool for this task is the Windows NT Server Manager.

8. Start the Server Manager. Highlight a server and choose Computer, Services. The Services dialog box appears, as shown in figure 15.25.

   Fig. 15.25 - The Services dialog box in Server Manager can be used to stop and start services so that message tracking can begin. Although this can also be done with the Control Panel Services icon, the Server Manager allows you to perform the task on multiple machines from a remote computer.

9. Highlight the Microsoft Exchange service you want to stop. Click Stop. When the service has stopped, click Start to restart the service and begin logging message tracking information. You should stop and restart both the Information Store and the MTA if you want full message tracking information.

After you have enabled message tracking, the information needed for this task will be captured in log files stored in the \EXCHSRVR\TRACKING.LOG directory. These files are created each day using Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). All the information in the files is date-and-time stamped using GMT. The logs contain information about the movement of messages through each component of an Exchange Server system. They can be opened using a text editor such as Notepad, imported into a spreadsheet, or used as input for the message tracking tools provided with Exchange Server. Two of those tools, the Select Message to Track dialog box and the Message Tracking Center, are explored next.

Before you can track the progress of a message, you must first find at least one instance of its presence in the log files. This process is made easier with the use of the Select Message to Track dialog box, a tool created for just this purpose. After the message has been found, you can use the Message Tracking Center to track its progress through the system and view its path in a hierarchical display.

To find and track a message, follow these steps:

1. Start the Exchange Administrator. Connect to a server in the site you want to administer.

2. Choose Tools, Track Message. A Connect to Server dialog box appears. The ideal server to enter would be the home server of the person or service that sent the message, however you can start on any server in the site if you are unsure. Enter the name of a server and click OK. Two dialog boxes open: Message Tracking Center and Select Message to Track, as shown in figure 15.26.

   Fig. 15.26 - These two dialog boxes work together to help you track messages. Use the Select Message to Track dialog box to help find the message somewhere in the system; then the Message Tracking Center dialog box finds and displays the other elements of the system that have handled the message.

3. Enter the criteria (for example, sender's name, recipient's name, or number of days to check) for the message you want to track in the Select Message to Track dialog box. Then click Find Now. The messages that match the criteria are displayed in the list at the bottom of the dialog box. You can double-click a message to view its properties.

4. You can refine your criteria and search again, or select a message to track. When you are ready to track a message, highlight the message and click OK. The Select Message to Track dialog box closes, and the properties of the selected message are automatically entered into the Message Tracking Center.

5. Click the Track button, and the Message Tracking Center dialog box appears, as shown in figure 15.27.

   Fig. 15.27 - The Message Tracking Center showing the tracking hierarchy of a message delivered in the local private information store.

6. You can click Search to find another message to track, or click Advanced Search to enter criteria for an advanced search by message ID, for a message transferred into the local site from a foreign messaging system, or for a message generated by one of Exchange Server's services. Close the Message Tracking Center using the Control Menu in the upper left corner of the dialog box when you are finished.

Monitoring Your Site

• Windows NT Event Viewer

• Link monitors

• Server monitors

The Windows NT Performance Monitor can also play an important role in monitoring Exchange Server, in addition to its many other uses. It is covered in Chapter 30, "Proactive Network Administration."

Using the Windows NT Event Viewer

The Windows NT Event Viewer is often overlooked as a troubleshooting device when it should generally be the first place you look when there is any difficulty. Although its usefulness is more reactive rather than proactive, it is important nonetheless. Most actions taken by the Exchange Server system cause entries to be made in the event log provided you have set logging levels as described in this section. They will appear in the Application log for the server. A sample of the type of message you will find is shown in figure 15.28.

Fig. 15.28 - The Windows NT Event Viewer is displaying the Application log. An Exchange Server event has been selected for viewing.

If there is a particular element of Exchange Server that you are concerned about, you can set a higher level of logging to provide additional detail for analysis. Under normal circumstances, only critical events are logged, but you can expand the level of logging provided for individual elements of Exchange Server. For example, figure 15.29 depicts the Diagnostics Logging tab for the Private Information Store on the server named INFOSRV2. As you can see, there is a very granular level of control allowing you to set a higher logging level for only those aspects in which you are most interested.

Fig. 15.29 - This tab is representative of the Diagnostics Logging tabs available on dialog boxes for the major services in Exchange Server. You can select individual areas of interest and set logging to a higher level so that more information will be recorded in the Windows NT Application event log.

Creating Link Monitors

Link monitors allow you to make sure that messages are being delivered between your server and another location. They do this by bouncing a test message, called a ping message, from your server to one or more additional servers and back again. They can also bounce ping messages with foreign messaging systems (other e-mail systems besides Exchange Server, whether PC-based or run on a mainframe or mini-computer), although the setup is slightly more involved. These test messages are routed through the system just like other messages, however they are delivered to the System Attendant on the server, which has been designed to receive and reply to ping messages.

The most reliable way to use link monitors with a foreign messaging system is to implement a utility program on the foreign system that serves the same receive-and-return function. An alternative is to allow the foreign system to return a Non-Delivery Report (NDR), which is a feature offered by most systems. You simply send a message to an address that you know is invalid and wait for the NDR. You should create a custom recipient for the invalid address that can then be used by the link monitor. It is a good idea to select the option to Hide from Address Book on the Advanced tab of the dialog box for the custom recipient to avoid having users send messages to this invalid address.

You define a link monitor by specifying the servers or custom recipients in other systems that will receive the ping messages. Then, when you start the monitor, you indicate the server that will send the messages. You can define specific actions that will occur if the return messages aren't received in a period you specify. An application can be run (to set off a beeper, for example); a mail message can be sent; or a Windows NT alert can be raised.

The actions that are triggered and the time limits for the message to make its round-trip journey are the same for all servers and recipients specified in a given link monitor. Additional link monitors can be created with a variety of time limits and resultant actions. It is up to you, therefore, to group the targets of bounced messages with others requiring similar settings and to create additional monitors to meet special needs. It makes no sense, for example, to include a server on the local site that should be responding in less than five minutes in the same link monitor with a group of recipients halfway around the world on the Internet.

To create a new link monitor, follow these steps:

1. Start the Exchange Administrator. Connect to a server in the site you want to administer.

2. In the container area (the left pane) of the display, find the site you want to administer. Click the plus sign to the left of the site name to expand the display if it is not already open. Click the plus sign to the left of the Configuration object to expand its display.

3. Highlight the Monitors object. Select File, New Other, and then select Link Monitor. A blank Properties dialog box for a new link monitor appears (see fig. 15.30).

   Fig. 15.30 - The Properties dialog for a link monitor allows you to define or modify a link monitor's characteristics.

4. On the General tab, enter a Display name and a Directory Name for the link monitor (they can be the same). Select a location for the log file to be used by this monitor. This is not required, although highly recommended. If you do not specify a log file name, no information will be logged. Next, specify the intervals at which ping messages will be sent for Normal sites and Critical sites (those in which a warning or error condition has been detected).

5. The Permissions tab for link monitors functions in the same manner as those for other objects. You can assign permissions or roles for particular Windows NT accounts. Click the Notification tab (see fig. 15.31).

   Fig. 15.31 - This tab is used to specify the actions to be taken if a ping message does not complete its round trip within the time allowed.

6. The Notification tab allows you to specify the actions to take if a round trip is not completed within the bounce message return time set on the Bounce tab, discussed later. Multiple actions can be specified. Figure 15.31 depicts a new launch process being defined and a mail message action already defined. Click the Servers tab (see fig. 15.32).

   Fig. 15.32 - The Servers tab is used to denote servers that will be the targets of ping messages when this link monitor is started. The server to send ping messages is specified as you start the monitor.

7. Select the servers that you want to use as the targets for ping messages whenever this link monitor starts. Use the Site drop-down list box to select servers at another site. As noted in the discussion at the beginning of this section, all the servers specified in a particular link monitor should provide roughly the same expected round trip for a bounced message to be effective. Click the Bounce tab (see fig. 15.33).

   Fig. 15.33 - This tab is used to specify the bounced message return times that will cause a warning state and then an alert state to be entered.

8. This tab must be set carefully for the monitor to be meaningful. You should base your settings on the results of testing, especially if you are bouncing messages off of foreign messaging systems. The value you enter should strike a balance between being so long that a problem could go unnoticed for an extensive period of time, and being so short that the monitor is too sensitive and indicates a problem even during routine heavy loads or other situations that cause only slight delays. Click OK to define your link monitor.

The next procedure shows you how to create a server monitor. The process is similar to creating a link monitor, and some of the tabs on the dialog box will be discussed only briefly because of their similarity. The following section shows you how to start and use link monitors and server monitors, and how they can be combined to provide a detailed look at the health of your system.

Creating Server Monitors

Server monitors work to ensure that the services that should be running on a server are still running. This is done through the use of RPC communications. A server monitor can only monitor the status of servers that are reachable by a high-speed communications link capable of supporting RPCs. A server monitor can detect when services have stopped and can also attempt to restart them. It is also possible to use a server monitor to synchronize the internal clocks of the servers being monitored, which can make the information used for message tracking and other data written in log files more meaningful.

Server monitors can operate on any Windows NT services running on a server, not just those used by Exchange Server. A service can be added to the list of those that should be monitored using the dialog box for the server itself. To access them, highlight the server's object in the contents area of the Servers container and choose File, Properties.

To create a server monitor, follow this procedure:

1. Start the Exchange Administrator. Connect to a server in the site you want to administer.

2. In the container area (the left pane) of the display, find the site you want to administer. Click the plus sign to the left of the site name to expand the display if it is not already open. Click the plus sign to the left of the Configuration object to expand its display.

3. Highlight the Monitors object. Select File, New Other, and then select Server Monitor. A blank Properties dialog box for a new server monitor appears (see fig. 15.34).

   Fig. 15.34 - This is the General tab of the dialog box for a server monitor. It is used to set the name, log file, and polling interval.

4. On the General tab, enter a Display Name and a Directory Name for the server monitor (they can be the same). Select a location for the log file to be used by this monitor. This is not required, although highly recommended. If you do not specify a Log File name, no information will be logged. Next, specify the intervals at which the status of services on the servers will be checked for Normal sites and Critical sites (those in which a warning or error condition has been detected).

5. The Permissions, Notification, and Servers tabs all function in the same manner as those on a link monitor's dialog box. Please see steps 5 to 7 of the procedures for link monitors outlined earlier for information about these tabs. Click the Actions tab (see fig. 15.35).

   Fig. 15.35 - The Actions tab is used to define an escalating set of actions to be taken if a server's services are found to be stopped. In addition to attempting to restart the services themselves, it is possible to attempt a shutdown and restart of the entire machine.

6. The Actions tab is used to specify the actions that should be taken when the services being monitored have stopped. You can specify no action, restart the service, and restart the computer. Before a computer restart, you can enter a message that will be broadcast to warn users logged on to that computer of the impending shutdown; however, they will not see such a broadcast warning displayed unless the are running WinPopup or a similar network message utility. Click the Clock tab (see fig. 15.36).

   Fig. 15.36 - The Clock tab is used to specify the allowable time differences between the computer running the monitor and the monitored servers. A warning or alert condition can be raised, or the clocks can be synchronized.

   
   Care should be exercised when using the computer restart option. Other services may be running on a computer that have nothing to do with Exchange Server, and an automated restart with only 60 or even 180 seconds delay before the restart may have a negative impact on the other applications using that computer. This option is most useful for computers dedicated to a single purpose.
   

7. The Clock tab can be used to indicate the difference in time that will be allowed before setting a warning or alert condition or optionally re-synchronizing the clocks.

8. Click OK to create the new server monitor.

Using Server Monitors and Link Monitors

You have learned how to create both link monitors and server monitors. Now you learn how to put them to use. Both of these diagnostic devices are run inside the Exchange Administrator program. This implies that they must be run from within a logon session started with a particular account ID and password. A number of important consequences arise from this fact.

A server monitor can check the status of running services on a server with no particular security clearance, but to restart a service or synchronize the clocks on servers, the account context the server monitor is run under needs sufficient permissions to perform those actions. Furthermore, this kind of proactive monitoring is needed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at many organizations. Because these aren't services that can run unattended without an account logging on, some means of automatically logging on to Windows NT and launching these monitors must be provided, or steps must be taken to avoid the computer being shut down or losing power and rebooting.

The Administrator's Guide for Exchange Server details the steps required to automatically log on to Windows NT and start these monitoring utilities. The security implications of a machine set up to automatically log on in an account context with sufficient privileges to stop and start services on servers and reset clocks is unsettling. At a minimum, such a machine should be provided with a screen saver with an extremely short timeout period that will lock the console, and it should be placed in an area with good physical security and regular human presence. Because a natural use for these monitors is to leave a graphic display visible so that an error condition might be noticed by a nearby operator, the use of a screen saver may be impossible. Some method of locking the keyboard could be explored instead. An obvious place for such a machine would be in a support center or operations room where the dangers mentioned earlier would be somewhat mitigated.

To start a server monitor and a link monitor, follow these steps:

1. Start the Exchange Administrator. Connect to a server in the site you want to administer.

2. In the container area (the left pane) of the display, find the site you want to administer. Click the plus sign to the left of the site name to expand the display if it is not already open. Click the plus sign to the left of the Configuration object to expand its display.

3. Highlight the Monitors object. In the contents area, highlight the monitor you want to start. If you are not sure which one you want to use, you can double-click the monitor objects to open their dialog boxes for more information. After highlighting the desired monitor, choose Tools, Start Monitor.

4. A Connect to Server dialog box appears. The server you enter here will be the server used to send ping messages for link monitors and to send RPC requests for service information for server monitors. The servers that will be the targets of those requests are defined in the monitor definitions on the Servers tab. Enter the name of a server, or use the Browse button to select a server, and click OK. A monitor window with the name of the selected monitor displayed in the title bar opens.

5. After a period of time, dependent on the definition of the monitor and the conditions of the network, the monitor will begin displaying the results of its first requests. At the interval you specified in the definition of the monitor, it resends either ping messages (link monitor) or RPC requests (server monitor). The display is automatically refreshed to reflect the results of this ongoing process. Summary results appear in tabular form, but you can also double-click a line item to open a properties dialog box for more information (see fig. 15.37).

6. You can start more than one monitor at the same time. Simply highlight another monitor in the contents area of the Monitors object and choose Tools, Start Monitor. When you have started all the monitors you want, you can minimize the Server window you originally opened to present a less cluttered display (see fig. 15.37).

Fig. 15.37 - The Exchange Administrator with an active link monitor and an active server monitor. A line item in the link monitor has been double-clicked to open a properties dialog box for more information.

From Here...

• For an overview of Exchange Server and to review basic information on this BackOffice component, see Chapter 12, "Understanding Exchange Server."

• For information on setting up Exchange Server, see Chapter 13, "Implementing Exchange Server."

• For information on using the Exchange Client, see Chapter 14, "Using Exchange Client Applications."

• For information on setting up connectors to foreign message systems and procedures for using Exchange Server's advanced security options, see Chapter 16, "Exchange Server Advanced Topics."

Table of Contents

14 - Using Exchange Client Applications

16 - Exchange Server Advanced Topics