Exchange 2003 RPC over HTTP

Freakish_05 · 15 Sep 2007 at 18:11

Hi Guys,

On the really off chance that some genius here has managed to get this working....

I've got an exchange server which I access locally at home. I want to set my gf up an account for a number of reasons but as we don't live together yet she'll need to access it over the web.

I've spent about 20 hours this week reading page after page of tutorials and how-tos of how to get RPC over HTTP to work. My efforts have been in vain!

If there is anyone out there who could help me I'd really appreciate it!

Cheers,
Freakish_05

Street · 15 Sep 2007 at 19:13

I had this problem with one of our clients and for the life of me could not get it to work.. Think I ended up telling them to use OWA instead!

I'd also be interested in how to get it working.. Sorry I haven't been much help though!

Carling · 15 Sep 2007 at 19:41

You need a front end for it, its not a simple thing to set up.

You will need a front end server in a DMZ

SteffenFreund · 15 Sep 2007 at 19:51

You don't need a FE server for it, what certificate are you using?

Freakish_05 · 15 Sep 2007 at 20:01

I'm using a self-made certificate using Windows 2003's CA.

Everything seems to be working fine with that though as I don't have any trouble connecting to OWA with it (i.e. I've imported the root certificate of the CA to the client and don't get any SSL warnings when I browse to OWA).

The RPC proxy seems to be configured properly too as when I browse to the RPC virtual directory on my web server it asks me for authentication.

Freakish_05

SteffenFreund · 15 Sep 2007 at 20:05

Have you installed (imported) a copy of the certificate into the client's certificate store so that it is trusted? It won't work until you have....

Freakish_05 · 15 Sep 2007 at 20:23

I've just imported the certificate into the client certificate store. Still nothing

Why can't microsoft just make something that works

Street · 15 Sep 2007 at 23:41

That would take half the fun away!

stoofa · 16 Sep 2007 at 02:50

It does work because I have it running at work.
However we used a proper certificate from a trusted certificate issuer rather than issuing a self made one.
I currently have around 5 user's who all come into our Exchange system RPC over https - which is of course great as all they need is any internet connection and they can use Outlook to collect and send their mail.

What events are being written in the log for your Exchange Server when somebody tries to connect via RPC/https?
If none (unlikely) what events are being logged on the client machine attempting to make the connection?

Freakish_05 · 16 Sep 2007 at 10:00

Thanks for all the help guys but I've given up.

I'm gonna try one of the linux based alternatives instead.

Microsoft are getting a very bad reputation with me for rolling out stuff that is nowhere near ready!

Cheers,
Freakish_05

oddjob62 · 16 Sep 2007 at 10:02

Freakish_05 said:
Microsoft are getting a very bad reputation with me for rolling out stuff that is nowhere near ready!

It's been out for years. I've had it working in the past, but never tried with a self signed cert.

marin · 16 Sep 2007 at 11:08

I have it working on about 25 SBS 2003 Systems - dead easy to setup - with my own self signed certificate.

So it does work !

Try using DMZ on your router to the IP of your Server.

Then in Outlook - Exchange Proxy Settings enter:-

https://your.server.net

msstd:your.server.net

Tick slow networks and use basic authentication.

Then when you logon to your Server with Outlook:-

User Name: domain\Username
Password: password

and it should connect.

5tephen · 16 Sep 2007 at 12:57

I have it running on quite a few systems too. Go to rapidssl.com or godaddy.com (godaddy is a fair bit cheaper but harder to get authenticated) and get yourself a proper SSL certificate, that's what stumped me in the past. I had loads of hassle getting it working any other way - this way you don't have to worry about installing the certificate at the client's end and any other messing about.

One way you could get round needing RPC over HTTP is to create a PPTP VPN forwarded to the server for the person to dial into - once connected via the VPN you can open outlook. But I wouldn't be keen on doing this every time I wanted email.

Once you get your certificate installed, follow what marin has said in the post above (particularly remembering domain\username). If you give up you won't have learned anything!

stoofa · 16 Sep 2007 at 14:09

With Exchange 2003 you can use your e-mail address as the login name which makes life even easier.
Almost all RPC over HTTPS issues are either firewall or certificate related.

Microsoft don't have a reputation at all for releasing things that don't work.
However there are a great many people out there who think they can be a Windows Administrator in a corporate environment or doing more advanced things and they can't.
MS Exchange is an extremely powerful tool - used by many millions of people around the world.
There isn't an e-mail system around that comes close to being able to offer all of the features that Exchange does.
However it does take some learning.