Exchange 2016 URL for Services configuration

Here we are the final article for this series dedicated to Exchange installation. The purpose of this one is to configure the internal and external Exchange 2016 URL to access the Exchange Services, namely:

• OWA (Outlook Web Access)
• ActiveSync
• ECP (Exchange Control Panel)
• OAB (Offline Address Book)
• MAPI over HTTP
• AutoDiscover

Now in my scenario for this lab I’m using  a single-split DNS configuration so I have to create a CNAME record in just one location which will be internal DNS Server for my lab. Of course for production scenarios or when an “external” pointer is needed then the necessary records have to be created in the external DNS servers as well. For my lab I will be using something classic like mail.domainname.com to access services internally and “externally” for my lab. Here we go:

Configure OWA Service

From the Exchange Control Panel page let’s go into Servers > virtual directories and double-click on each one of the components we want to configure starting from OWA service

In my case the URL will look to something like https://mail.domalab.com/owa I will use it for both internal and external URLs

Configure ActiveSync

Exchange ActiveSync is a protocol which allows for mobile devices to synchronize data with Exchange mailboxes. Synchronizing is a process of reconciling data between a device and the pertinent Exchange mailbox. This protocol synchronizes emails, calendar, contacts items and tasks over the internet directly with the Microsoft Exchange Server.

Configure ECP

The Exchange Control Panel is a Web application that runs on a Client Access Server providing services for the Exchange organization. This Exchange Control Panel is installed automatically when you install a Client Access server. To manage Exchange from just about anywhere, you simply need to enter the URL path for the application in your browser’s Address field. You can then access the Exchange Control Panel. By default, the Exchange Control Panel URL is https://yourserver.yourdomain.com/ecp.

Configure OAB

An Offline Address Book (OAB) is a downloaded copy of a Microsoft Outlook user’s address list which allows the user access to email addresses when disconnected from Exchange Server

Configure EWS

EWS provides access to much of the same data that is made available through Microsoft Office Outlook. EWS clients can integrate Outlook data into Line-of-Business (LOB) applications. SOAP provides the messaging framework for messages sent between the client application and the Exchange server.

Configure MAPI over HTTP

We can actually configure this through a single PowerShell command

“Set-MapiVirtualDirectory -Identity “ExchangeServerName\mapi (Default Web Site)” -InternalUrl https://mail.domalab.com/mapi -ExternalUrl https://mail.domalab.com/mapi -IISAuthenticationMethods Negotiate”

To verify the MAPI configuration

“Get-MapiVirtualDirectory -Identity “ExchangeServerName\mapi (Default Web Site)” | select server, internalurl, externalurl”

Configure AutoDiscover

To help to automatically discover Exchange 2016 URL services let’s use PowerShell again!

“Set-ClientAccessService -Identity ExchangeServerName -AutoDiscoverServiceInternalUri https://autodiscover.domalab.com/Autodiscover/Autodiscover.xml”

To verify the configuration

“Get-ClientAccessService | select AutoDiscoverServiceInternalUri”

And we’re done! Now we can use a simpler address to access the Exchange 2016 URL Services!