Topic Last Modified: 2007-10-23

The Client Access server may not always redirect users whose mailboxes are on a computer that is running Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 to the /owa virtual directory when they try to access Microsoft Office Outlook Web Access through the /exchange virtual directory.

For example, a mailbox is located on an Exchange 2007 server and the user associated with that mailbox tries to access Outlook Web Access by entering the URL https://<local host>/exchange. Exchange should redirect the user to https://<local host>/owa. However, it does not. The user sees the authentication page but, after entering their logon information, they receive the following error message: HTTP/1.1 503 Service Unavailable.

Cause

The World Wide Web Publishing Service has been disabled or stopped on the Exchange 2007 server on which the user's mailbox is stored. The service may not be set to start automatically when the server restarts.

Resolution

To resolve this issue, manually start the World Wide Web Publishing Service on the Exchange 2007 Mailbox server. Verify that its startup type is set to automatic and change it if it is not.

To perform this procedure, the account you use must be delegated membership in the local Administrators group.

For more information about permissions, delegating roles, and the rights that are required to administer Exchange 2007, see Permission Considerations.

To use the Services snap-in to control the World Wide Web Publishing Services

  1. Click Start, click Administrative Tools, and then click Services.

  2. Find the World Wide Web Publishing Service and check its status. If the service is not started, right-click the service, and then click Start.

  3. Check the Startup Type of the service. If it is not set to Automatic, right-click the service, and then click Properties.

  4. In the Startup type section, in the drop-down list, click Automatic.

  5. Click OK to save your changes and close the properties window.