Backup Exec 12 - Exchange 2007 Email Notification

Backup Exec 12 Not Sending Email Notification through Exchange 2007
#550 5.7.1 RESOLVER.RST.AuthRequired; authentication required

Diagnostic information for administrators:
Generating server: exchange.yourdomain.local
#550 5.7.1 RESOLVER.RST.AuthRequired; authentication required ##
Original message headers:

When you're encountering a problem sending Backup Exec 12 email notification alerts through an Exchange 2007 server, check the following

Test that you can access port 25 (SMTP port number) on the Exchange server by using telnet.

telnet ip-address-of-exchange-server 25
ehlo domainname.gr
mail from:backup@domainname.gr
rcpt to:administrator@domainname.gr
data
backup exec
.
Your will then get a confirmation the mail has been queued for delivery

If the mail gets delivered you know port 25 in not blocked or restricted in any way you have permission to send e-mail.

If you do not connect, check to see if there is any software blocking the connection like software or hardware firewalls. Antivirus programs now come with firewall features to stop worms from sending out email from the computer they are infecting. Stop the services and try again. Once you have successfully telneted and sent the test email but backup exec still does not send email notifications then check the following.

The Backup Exec software might not be authenticating properly so be sure you have used an actual real email address with an active domain account as the sender address. The name is a description and can be anything but the email address has to an account in the domain - Exchange wants it that way. If you already have an active domain account as the sender address in backup exec, like administrator@domainname.gr, check the account's inbox and look for NDR (non-delivery reports as they may provide an important clue to why your email not being delivered.

Other tools that are handy to utilize when troubleshooting this problem is the the transport receive logs in exchange, they will determine if the email has even been received by the exchange server. When email is accepted into the Exchange email organization by the transport server (it could be the same server as the mailbox server), it will be logged. A simple log generated by exchange is very useful for problems such as this one.

Another tool I often used for determining if a program is trying to communicate information to another system over the network is a simple little program call Active Ports. This is a free program hat show you the running processes and what they are doing in terms of sending or receiving data. It has a very small foot print and installs in seconds so it is worth a look at. You can accomplish the same thing with a command line command but this GUI based tool gives you nearly realtime information which is important for something like SMTP send that could take only less than a second to occur.

The NDR information shown at the top of this email is an example of what someone was getting when they called for assistance. After going through the regular trouble shooting options as discussed above for determining the problem. If you are reading this you most likely have Symantec Backup Exec 12 and Exchange 2007. The way Backup Exec sends their email notifications has not changed in years and version 12 or 12.5 has also not changed. the new culprit is Exchange 2007. There are some additional security options included in the groups and users that are implemented through the domain schema update that has to be run in order to install Exchange 2007. One of those new options is in the domain group properties especially if you are using a distribution list to send the notification to. Uncheck the option to authenticate all users in group. That was the cure for the problem described in the NDR report shown at the beginning of this blog.
Microsoft Exchange email delivery issues as well as issues on the client side can be resolved using online remote support software.  Online remote support accounts for a majority of help-desk solutions. Microsoft Exchange can be repaired remotely as well as email clients like Micrsooft Outlook.

Server Error in '/owa/auth' Application - Outlook Web Access

Server Error in '/owa/auth' Application.
Runtime Error

Among other error messages received while trying to get Outlook Web Access working on IIS6/Exchange 2007 , this one was the worse:

Server Error in '/owa/auth' Application. Runtime Error

The reason it was one of the worst ones was because I knew I was close. Close to getting the thing working and after already trying so many things to make Outlook Web Access work from the Internet or an external computer and on the internal LAN network, this was the final hurrah to the trouble.

I checked the web for answers and hit so many forums with guru after guru after wan-be guru. Even the forums that charge to allow you to see the answers. You know the ones. They want you to pay a yearly subscription to see answers to questions. Yes they have answers to a lot of things but so many times you can tell the guys answering are giving the quickest cheesiest answers they can and hope they score the points for the answer.

They didn't have the answer. The usual spay of links to Microsoft technet and other places were there but no one had the answer. I found it myself. Trial and error and yes this server was hot - there were people waiting to use it.

Outlook web access for Exchange 2007. IIS6 running the front end OWA. This is a recipe for trouble don't you think? Things don't change and people who've been around know that the more complex the OS and services get, the more complex the problem. There are times you can throw some old fashioned techniques into the problem and score a win.

Trouble shooting this OWA Exchange 2003 problem was a brute force attack. I knew that at some point the right combination of security and permissions settings would hit and they did. Struggling to get outlook web access to work from external or the Internet but see it working on the LAN or internal network then try this. Don't be scared. Exchange has some new features that will put things right as Exchange 2007 actually manages Outlook web Access directory security from the web browser. Also, it isn't working anyway that's why your reading this. IIS manages the web site but exchange is looking out on the Outlook web access folder and everything else structure underneath.

All the folders under OWA need to not have the cog look. They should look like folders. If your have the cogs, get rid of them. How? Right click them one at a time and then at the bottom of the default property page it should read OWA but greyed out. the next field should read script and executables not grayed out and the last field, application pool, should be grayed out too. Now each of the fields should have in them Application Name: OWA , Execute Permissions : Scripts and Executables and the last, Execute Permissions: MSExchageDefualtAppPool.

All the folders underneath OWA should say the same thing in these three fields. You may be asking, what about directory security? What do I put there? Put anything you like. Exchange is managing that portion of it and will change whatever you do there anyway.

This solution also fixed these errors too:

• Outlook Web Access encountered an unexpected error and was unable to handle your request.
• Page cannot be displayed Internal server error .
• Url: http://exchange.yourdomain.com/owa/auth/error.aspx?aspxerrorpath=/owa/auth/logon.aspx
  

For one of the best spyware removers that I've used, check out this post - SupperAntiSpyware - Desktop support at work . I used to use Adaware SE but after several disappointments with it, I searched and found another product. This one also has a free version, installs faster, works faster, has a smaller foot print, and most importantly - works much better. The few times this program had trouble removing any malware I used combofix.exe in conjunction but that is rare. Superantipyware alone has done the job many times.

For online remote desktop support software try this site - http://www.4remotesupport.com. They have a very inexpensive solution for remote control access of client computers, desktops and servers. There's never a cost increase and updates and upgrades are also included with no additional subscription charge or fee. Remotely Control host keyboard and mouse online, work as if you're there and provide remote support through the web. Their solution even works on the LAN or the web, same account, same low cost.