Applies to: Exchange Server 2013

Topic Last Modified: 2013-02-23

Outlook Web App in Microsoft Exchange Server 2013 provides rich attachment preview functionality. All attachments in an email message are displayed in a filmstrip that includes a thumbnail of each attachment. Users are able to preview attachments online in full fidelity. For Office attachments, this means users can use a rich user interface to preview and modify the attachment online. This functionality is made possible by the integration of Microsoft Office Web Apps Server.

By default, the following file types are displayed using Office Web Apps Server:

Note:
Office Web Apps Server won’t be used to render attachments in IRM protected messages.

In Exchange 2010, the attachment previews were displayed using the web-ready document viewing technology, which is built in to Exchange. With Office Web Apps Server integration in Exchange Server 2013, when the user wants to preview an Office attachment, Exchange makes a call to the Office Web Apps Server which renders the document instead. This provides a richer preview experience for the user.

Office Web Apps Server integration for attachment previews is available to all Exchange Online customers. Exchange on-premises customers need to deploy an Office Web Apps Server to enable the functionality.

Configure Office Web Apps Server integration

This section provides detailed steps for configuring Office Web Apps Server integration with Exchange Server 2013 for on-premises customers. This procedure doesn’t apply to Exchange Online customers because the functionality is already enabled in Exchange Online.

What do you need to know before you begin?

  • Estimated time to complete each procedure: 5 minutes.

  • Procedures in this topic require specific permissions. See each procedure for its permissions information.

  • You have Office Web Apps Server deployed in your organization. For more information, see Deploy the infrastructure: Office Web Apps Server

  • Your Office Web Apps Server is accessible from the Internet. If it isn’t accessible from the Internet, Office Web Apps Server integration will work only when users access Outlook Web App within your corporate network.

  • You can’t use the Exchange Administration Center (EAC) to perform these procedures. You must use the Shell.

  • For information about keyboard shortcuts that may apply to the procedures in this topic, see Keyboard Shortcuts in the Exchange Admin Center.

Tip:
Having problems? Ask for help in the Exchange forums. Visit the forums at: Exchange Server, Exchange Online, or Exchange Online Protection

What do you want to do?

Use the Shell to configure the Office Web Apps Server URL

To use Office Web Apps Server to render attachments in Outlook Web App, you must specify the URL of your Office Web Apps Server. Use the Set-OrganizationConfig cmdlet to configure the URL.

You need to be assigned permissions before you can perform this procedure or procedures. To see what permissions you need, see the "Exchange server configuration settings" entry in the Exchange and Shell Infrastructure Permissions topic.

This example sets the Office Web Apps Server URL to https://Server1/hosting/discovery.

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Set-OrganizationConfig -WACDiscoveryEndPoint https://Server1/hosting/discovery

For detailed syntax and parameter information, see Set-OrganizationConfig.

How do you know this worked?

To verify that you have configured the Office Web App Server URL correctly, do the following:

  1. Run the following Shell command:

    Copy Code 
    Get-OrganizationConfig | Format-List WACDiscoveryEndPoint
  2. Verify that the correct URL is listed for the WACDiscoveryEndPoint attribute.

Use the Shell to enable or disable Office Web Apps Server rendering

You can enable rendering of attachments using Office Web Apps Server for both public and private computers. Use the Set-OwaVirtualDirectory cmdlet for both options.

You need to be assigned permissions before you can perform this procedure or procedures. To see what permissions you need, see the "Outlook Web App virtual directories" entry in the Clients and Mobile Devices Permissions topic.

This example enables Office Web Apps Server rendering on the default Outlook Web App virtual directory on server Server01 for users who logged on to Outlook Web App using the Private option:

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Set-OwaVirtualDirectory "Server01\owa (Default Web Site)" -WacViewingOnPrivateComputersEnabled $true

This example disables Office Web Apps Server rendering on the default Outlook Web App virtual directory on server Server01 for users who logged on to Outlook Web App using the Public option.

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Set-OwaVirtualDirectory "Server01\owa (Default Web Site)" -WacViewingOnPublicComputersEnabled $true

For detailed syntax and parameter information, see Set-OwaVirtualDirectory.

How do you know this worked?

To verify that you have configured Office Web Apps server rendering correctly, do the following:

  1. Run the following Shell command:

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    Get-OwaVirtualDirectory "Server01\owa (Default Web Site)" | Format-List Name,WacViewing*
  2. Verify that the WacViewingOnPrivateComputersEnabled attribute is set to True and that WacViewingOnPublicComputersEnabled is set to False.

Use the Shell to force Office Web Apps Server rendering

You can force users to render attachments using the Office Web Apps Server first before they can open them directly.

You need to be assigned permissions before you can perform this procedure or procedures. To see what permissions you need, see the "Outlook Web App virtual directories" entry in the Clients and Mobile Devices Permissions topic.

This example configures the Outlook Web App virtual directory on Server01 so that users always first view supported attachments using Office Web Apps Server before they can open them, regardless of the option they chose when logging on to Outlook Web App.

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Set-OwaVirtualDirectory "Server01\owa (Default Web Site)" -ForceWacViewingFirstOnPublicComputers $true -ForceWacViewingFirstOnPrivateComputers $true

For detailed syntax and parameter information, see Set-OwaVirtualDirectory.

How do you know this worked?

To verify that you have configured Office Web Apps server rendering correctly, do the following:

  1. Run the following Shell command:

    Copy Code 
    Get-OwaVirtualDirectory "Server01\owa (Default Web Site)" | Format-List Name,ForceWacViewing*
  2. Verify that the ForceWacViewingFirstOnPrivateComputers and ForceWacViewingFirstOnPublicComputers attributes are both set to True.