Category Archives: General Stuff

Rui J.M. Silva posted a cool script on his blog for migrating distribution list objects between Exchange organizations. The script is meant to be run against an Exchange 5.5 directory, from which it extracts the DLs with ldifde. It then extracts the 5.5 directory with csvde, matches the display and account names, and outputs a file that can imported using ldifde. The last step actually imports the DLs as universal distribution groups. If you want the DLs to be populated, you must already be using the ADC so that user accounts are synchronized, but the script is still a nice bit of work.

As has been widely reported elsewhere, MS has released the public beta of their new anti-spyware tool. Go get it and try it out; I’ve been running a test build for a while now and have been very impressed with it.

I’ve been using the Google toolbar for a long time, but no more. Now I’m using the MSN toolbar instead. Why? Six simple reasons, five of which are security-related:

1. The MSN toolbar doesn’t index the browser cache or history file. That means that it won’t find cached information like credit card or online banking statements.
2. Every user on a multi-user machine has a separate set of index processes and files.
3. The MSN toolbar never sends any data back to Microsoft. Google’s toolbar, of course, sends tons of data back to Google, although they’re up-front about it.
4. Index files are obfuscated, raising the bar for casual snoopers (of course, snooping requires admin privileges in the first place 🙂
5. MSN never automatically downloads updates. You can ask it to do so, but you don’t have to.
6. It searches Outlook.

This is a pretty good deal: 50% off new licenses of Trend’s ScanMail suite if you’re migrating from Exchange 5.5 to Exchange 2003. You have to have more than 1,000 seats, and you have to have proof of migration (evidenced by a current SA license or Exchange 2003 CALs purchased after 6/15/04), and the offer is only good until 12/31/04.

Microsoft today released a hotfix for the Windows 2003 SMTP stack that provides tarpitting for SMTP. (If you don’t already know what tarpitting is, check this explanation). The idea is that you install software that intentionally slows down SMTP throughput for bogus requests. This helps make it uneconomical for spammers to ply their trade. The hotfix requires you to install a package and set a registry key, then you’re done. Highly recommended.

What do you call a hotfix that doesn’t actually fix the problem it’s supposed to cure?

I vote for notfix, but I welcome your suggestions. The best suggestion posted as a comment here by December 15th wins… uh… something cool. Yeah, that’s it– your choice of a signed copy of one of my books or a $25 donation to the charity of your choice. Get those creative juices flowing.

So, here’s a question for Ed and any other Lotus-Knowledgeable readers out there. What’s the best way to start learning about Workplace Messaging? So far I’ve learned some peripheral facts, like that it has outrageous system requirements (quad 2GHz procs + 2 GB of RAM), that it’s licensed per-processor (so you need 4 server licenses for that 4-proc machine), and that every initial license includes 12 months of maintenance. However, I haven’t found a clear, comprehensive source of getting-started information, apart from this tutorial. That’s probably just because I don’t know where on IBM’s gargantuan web site to look, hence this post. If you do know, please share.

Update: I just spoke to a friendly IBM sales rep who made it very clear that Workplace products are not licensed per-server or per-CPU, but per-user. My earlier post was based on something I saw at vowe.net. Caveat lector.

Now this is interesting: Motorola has announced that they’ve licensed Exchange ActiveSync and will start supporting it when they release the A780 phone next year. That means that Exchange ActiveSync will be available on a Linux-based device, along with the PalmOS-based Treo 650. While this might seem like the kind of thing to give the Windows Mobile apoplexy, Motorola sees (and has labeled) the A780 as a midtier device that doesn’t compete with the feature-rich(er) Windows Mobile devices now on the market. EAS will be integrated with Motorola’s propietary MOTOSYNC protocol; it’s too early for me to tell what form the integration might take.

I’m working on an article on Exchange ActiveSync for the magazine. Unfortunately, I don’t have it working for my device yet– John’s iPaq 6315 works on 3sharp’s server, but something is funny with my server here at home, and I’m going to be troubleshooting it this week. A couple of resources that look useful: this extremely detailed TechNet webcast and Chris De Herrera’s troubleshooting guide (which mostly covers “regular” ActiveSync) on CEWindows.net.

I have re-enabled comments, with the added requirement that you use TypeKey (which, fortunately, is free). As soon as I can get MT-Blacklist to work properly, I’ll enable unregistered comments, but for now you’ll need to sign in before commenting. Sorry about the inconvenience.

The publisher was kind enough to send me a review copy of Tony Redmond’s latest book, Tony Redmond’s Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 : with SP1. I haven’t had a chance to even open it yet, but I can say this: at $37.77 from Amazon, and at 4.3 lbs, it comes in at a very respectable US$8.78/lb. By way of comparison, Stanek’s Exchange Server 2003 Administrator’s Pocket Companion costs $14.13/lb, and my security book weighs in at $14.34/lb. Tthat’s just because it’s packed full of so much information. Or something.

Jeremy Kelly is reporting an unusual interaction between Entourage and Exchange 2003. The symptom: transaction log bloat. The problem seems to occur when an Entourage client tries to submit a message that’s too large for the maximum message size limit set on that user’s mailbox store. Instead of reporting the error (and not resubmitting the message), Entourage happily tries to send the message each time it connects. If the message is large enough, and if this goes on long enough, the server will eventually run out of log space. Jeremy recommends a temporary fix of turning off httpdav, removing the offending message from the client, and re-enabling httpdav; no word yet on an ETA for a better fix.

I just ordered an AT&T Audiovox SMT5600, so I went digging for development information. Then I found this page, which will keep me in reading material until at least this time next year. Wow. If you’re at all interested in the .NET Compact Framework, this would be a great place to start.

Next week is Windows Mobile webcast week. There are two webcasts of particular interest for Exchange 2003 administrators: one on best practices for Windows Mobile deployments, and one for Windows Mobile/Exchange troubleshooting.

Tom Laciano has a new blog focused on Live Communications Server. Based on what he’s posted so far, this will be one to watch. For example, this post on using certificates for mutual TLS authentication in LCS 2003 is pure technical gold. I plan to follow it regularly.