Troubleshooting Cayosoft Administrator Exchange On-premises Connections

Published: March 23, 2017

Updated: June 5, 2018

Applies to: Cayosoft Administrator 3.x and above

Licenses needed: Enterprise or Exchange On-premises

Summary: There are three items that need to be correctly configured to establish a successful connection from Cayosoft Administrator to a Microsoft Exchange On-premises Server. These three items are:

1. The Exchange Server
2. The security settings on the two servers
3. The connection settings within  Cayosoft Administrator

---

In this article:

Test connection to Exchange on-premise Server outside of Cayosoft Administrator

Run the following script with Exchange Server Administrator credentials. Replace <ServerFQDN> with the fully qualified name of the Exchange on-premise Server:

###
$ExchangeOnPrem_ConnectUri="http://<ServerFQDN>/PowerShell/"
$ExchangeOnPrem_Cred = (Get-Credential)
###

[Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol=[Net.SecurityProtocolType]::Tls12 -bor [Net.SecurityProtocolType]::Ssl3
$connectionParams = @{}
if($ExchangeOnPrem_ConnectUri.Trim() -like "http:*"){ $connectionParams.Add("Authentication", "Kerberos") }else{ $connectionParams.Add("Authentication", "Basic") }
$url = $ExchangeOnPrem_ConnectUri.Trim()
if ($url.EndsWith("/") -eq $false) { $url = $url + "/" }
$global:OnPremisesSession = New-PSSession -ConfigurationName Microsoft.Exchange -ConnectionUri $url -AllowRedirection -SessionOption (New-PSSessionOption -SkipRevocationCheck) -Credential $ExchangeOnPrem_Cred @connectionParams
$tmpImported = Import-PSSession $global:OnPremisesSession -Prefix 'OnPrem'
###

 

Troubleshooting Exchange On-Premises Settings

Verify the TrustedHosts setting on the Exchange Server:

1. Open a Powershell prompt and run the command:

WinRM get winrm/config/client

2. See the example results below:

PS C:\> WinRM get winrm/config/client
Client
    NetworkDelayms = 5000
    URLPrefix = wsman
    AllowUnencrypted = false
    Auth
        Basic = true
        Digest = true
        Kerberos = true
        Negotiate = true
        Certificate = true
        CredSSP = false
    DefaultPorts
        HTTP = 5985
        HTTPS = 5986
    TrustedHosts

3.  If the results are empty like they are in the example above continue to step 4. Otherwise, move to the next section of this guide.

4. Run the following command on the Exchange Server.

 Set-item wsman:localhost\client\  trustedhosts -value * 

5. Check that the settings are applied, running the command again

WinRM get winrm/config/client

6. See the example results below:

PS C:\> WinRM get winrm/config/client
Client
    NetworkDelayms = 5000
    URLPrefix = wsman
    AllowUnencrypted = false
    Auth
        Basic = true
        Digest = true
        Kerberos = true
        Negotiate = true
        Certificate = true
        CredSSP = false
    DefaultPorts
        HTTP = 5985
        HTTPS = 5986
    TrustedHosts = *

 

Verify the Cayosoft Administrator Configuration

Restart the Cayosoft Administration Server - Reboot the Cayosoft Administrator Server. This is to make 100% certain that we didn't have some cached credentials somewhere.

Verify service account permissions - In the Exchange Admin center Verify the Exchange connection account holds the Exchange Role Organizational Management.

Verify the credentials are correct - In Cayosoft Administrator Console in Microsoft Exchange Extension settings, reenter the username and password for the Exchange connection account, then restart the Administrator Service.

Verify firewall settings are set for Remote Powershell - The remote Powershell connection from Cayosoft Administrator to Exchange is done over Port 80 to the Exchange Server. Port 80 traffic must be allowed through the firewall on both computers. For more information see https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd335083%28v= exchg.160%29.aspx 

 

Connectivity error after installing Windows Update KB4103725

Symptoms: you installed Windows Update KB4103725 on Exchange Server or Cayosoft Administrator server. After that you start to get the connectivity error message in Cayosoft Administrator Console:

"Sessions to 'Microsoft Exchange' could not be established. Please read the platform returned error message(s) to identify the problem. The Check Settings Action, located on each extension's configuration page, may be useful for troubleshooting connections issues.

Error Details: [<exchange.domain.com>] Connecting to remote server <exchange.domain.com> failed with the following error message: The WinRM client received an HTTP server error status (500), but the remote service did not include any other information about the cause of the failure. For more information, see the about_Remote_Troubleshooting Help topic."

Solution: By default, after KB4103725 is installed, patched clients cannot communicate with unpatched servers. So, you need to install it on both the Cayosoft Administrator server and Exchange Server and reboot both of them.

More information about KB4103725 you can be found here:

• May 8, 2018—KB4103725 (Monthly Rollup)
• CredSSP updates for CVE-2018-0886

 

Connectivity error with Failure category 'Cafe-SendFailure'

Symptoms: you start getting an error from Microsoft Exchange extension:

Error: [<server name>] Connecting to remote server <server name> failed with the following error message : [ClientAccessServer=CHWT11BA21066,BackEndServer=<server name>,RequestId=7e62cc75-46d2-46c7-a96f-ad2a7a4610ae,TimeStamp=6/11/2018 1:26:05 PM] [FailureCategory=Cafe-SendFailure]  For more information, see the about_Remote_Troubleshooting Help topic.

Solution: the most possible reason is a binding error on IIS for the Exchange Web Service. To fix it, follow the steps below:

1. Open IIS on the Exchange server:
   1. Press the Windows+R keys to open the Run dialog.
   2. Type inetmgr and press Enter.
   3. Navigate to the server name > Sites.
   4. Right-click on Exchange Back End.
   5. Select Edit Bindings:
      
      
2. In the new window, select https and then click Edit...
3. If SSL certificate field has the option 'Not selected' change it to a valid certificate, for example, 'Microsoft Exchange':
   
   
4. Click Ok.
5. Close Site Bindings dialog.

 

Enumeration error in Cayosoft Web Portal

Symptoms: When performing some actions with Active Directory users with Exchange on-premise mailbox, you may get the error: Cannot bind parameter 'ErrorAction'. Cannot convert value 'Ignore' to type 'System.Management.Automation.ActionPreference' due to invalid enumeration values. Specify one of the following enumeration values and try again. The possible enumeration values are 'SilentlyContinue, Stop, Continue, Inquire'. Solution:

1. In Cayosoft Administrator Console navigate to Microsoft Exchange extension
2. In Connect URI check the server name where Microsoft Exchange Server is installed 
3. Login to the machine with Microsoft Exchange Server
4. Check the installed PowerShell version. The PowerShell version should be 5.1. Please see How to determine the current PowerShell version.

If these items do not resolve the issue, please send a request via email to support@cayosoft.com.