SBS 2008 OWA not working

Hi, new boy to SBS 2008, but very familiar with SBS 2003...

Just setup my SBS 2008 server, all seems to be working fine, when I test my
OWA internally on the server console it all works fine...

However, when I try to access it from the web I get the message saying
"Internet Explorer cannot display the Web page"...?

Opened up port 443 on my firewall and directed it to the internal address of
the server..., so that is okay...

At the web browser trying to connect to https://myipaddress/owa

That should work...?, but it doesn't.., can some one point me in the right
direction..?, I've run the internet connection wizard etc.., and that went
thro fine and users are accessing the web..., but cannot get OWA from the
internet... :-(

Thanks

Colin

"ColinA" <> wrote in message
news:...
> Hi, new boy to SBS 2008, but very familiar with SBS 2003...
>
> Just setup my SBS 2008 server, all seems to be working fine, when I test
> my OWA internally on the server console it all works fine...
>
> However, when I try to access it from the web I get the message saying
> "Internet Explorer cannot display the Web page"...?
>
> Opened up port 443 on my firewall and directed it to the internal address
> of the server..., so that is okay...
>
> At the web browser trying to connect to https://myipaddress/owa
>
> That should work...?, but it doesn't.., can some one point me in the right
> direction..?, I've run the internet connection wizard etc.., and that went
> thro fine and users are accessing the web..., but cannot get OWA from the
> internet... :-(
>
> Thanks
>
> Colin


Do you have an external record created for your external domain name that
points to your OWA? If so, does it work by
https://mail.yourDomainName.com/owa? OWA is based on hostheaders, and using
the IP is not the best way to do this.

--
Ace

This posting is provided "AS-IS" with no warranties or guarantees and
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Ace Fekay, MCT, MCTS 2008, MCTS Exchange, MCSE, MCSA 2003 & 2000, MCSA
Messaging
Microsoft Certified Trainer

For urgent issues, please contact Microsoft PSS directly. Please check
http://support.microsoft.com for regional support phone numbers.

Hi, no I've not had time to hook up an A record yet...., how critical is
that?, it always works okay with SBS 2003...?

Regards

As Ace said, OWA works by host headers.

Like any web server that uses host headers (IIS isn't the only one), if the
header doesn't match then it doesn't know which page (if any) to serve up.
So yes, it is critical. As far as it working in SBS 2003, that didn't use
host headers, but was also a lot more fragile.

-Cliff


"ColinA" <> wrote in message
news:...
> Hi, no I've not had time to hook up an A record yet...., how critical is
> that?, it always works okay with SBS 2003...?
>
> Regards

"Cliff Galiher" <> wrote in message
news:...
> As Ace said, OWA works by host headers.
>
> Like any web server that uses host headers (IIS isn't the only one), if
> the header doesn't match then it doesn't know which page (if any) to serve
> up. So yes, it is critical. As far as it working in SBS 2003, that didn't
> use host headers, but was also a lot more fragile.
>
> -Cliff
>

Agreed with SBS 2008. There are too many things going on in IIS possibly
using the same port.

Ace

So, if I just add the A record, remote.mydomian.com, which points to my
external facing IP addresss that should clear up the probs...?

Thanks in advance..

As long as that was the address you gave during the install, yes.

-Cliff


"ColinA" <> wrote in message
news:...
> So, if I just add the A record, remote.mydomian.com, which points to my
> external facing IP addresss that should clear up the probs...?
>
> Thanks in advance..

Well, I've setup the A record and it points to remote.mydomain.com , when I
connect to https://remote.mydomain.com/owa I still cannot connect...?, same
as before...

Works fine internally and I can get on to the server via other methods such
as RDP, they are all okay...

Port 443 is forwarded to the internal address of the server..., so that is
fine...

Bit lost with all this....

Is there any other test I can run to check...?

Regards
Col

Since you didn't have an A record set up, I'm guessing that you may not have
even given the website a URL for external access. I'd start by running the
"Fix My Network" wizard. Should be a good start on straightening you out.

-Cliff



"ColinA" <> wrote in message
news:...
> Well, I've setup the A record and it points to remote.mydomain.com , when
> I connect to https://remote.mydomain.com/owa I still cannot connect...?,
> same as before...
>
> Works fine internally and I can get on to the server via other methods
> such as RDP, they are all okay...
>
> Port 443 is forwarded to the internal address of the server..., so that is
> fine...
>
> Bit lost with all this....
>
> Is there any other test I can run to check...?
>
> Regards
> Col
>
>
>

"Cliff Galiher" <> wrote in message
news:...
> Since you didn't have an A record set up, I'm guessing that you may not
> have even given the website a URL for external access. I'd start by
> running the "Fix My Network" wizard. Should be a good start on
> straightening you out.
>
> -Cliff
>


Cliff,

Will the wizard set the appropriate URL in the CAS portion of Exchange (for
OWA, ActiveSync, Exchange, etc ExternalURL attribute for the virtual
servers)?

If not, I would check Exchange 2007 Server Config\Client Access and check
each virtual server properties and make sure the ExternalURL attribute is
set to https://remote.mydomain.com/owa.

Ace