Applies to: Exchange Server 2007 SP3, Exchange Server 2007 SP2, Exchange Server 2007 SP1, Exchange Server 2007
Topic Last Modified: 2007-08-25

The Exchange 2007 Management Pack runs diagnostic cmdlets at set intervals to monitor the Exchange environment. The diagnostic cmdlets are derived from Exchange Management Shell cmdlets. To make sure that the cmdlets that are used by the Exchange 2007 Management Pack can trigger alerts and collect data for reports, you must configure the system as follows.

Enabling Remote Unified Messaging connectivity monitoring

The Exchange 2007 Management Pack uses the Test-UMConnectivity cmdlet to test Unified Messaging (UM) connectivity. Test-UMConnectivity will monitor local connectivity out-of-the-box without any additional configuration. To monitor remote voice connectivity, you have to modify the parameters of the script that executes Test-UMConnectivity to provide a telephone number and an IP gateway.

The Test-UMConnectivity cmdlet checks connectivity to Unified Messaging servers in several ways, depending on the parameters that are passed to it. For voice connectivity, there are three modes of testing:

  • Local   The cmdlet tries to establish basic VoIP communication with the Unified Messaging server that runs on the same computer.

  • Local with TUI login   The cmdlet tries to establish VoIP communication with the Unified Messaging server that runs on the same computer. If it connects, it tries to log on to one or more UM-enabled mailboxes by signaling the extension and PIN of the mailbox under test.

  • Remote   The cmdlet tries to dial in to a Unified Messaging server (which may be running on another computer) by putting a call through a VoIP gateway. If it connects, it performs some basic checks on the media paths.

To perform remote connectivity checks, the administrator must provide the details that are required to enable the Test-UMConnectivity cmdlet to dial in to a Unified Messaging server. The details required will depend on the telephony arrangements at the site. These arrangements are as follows:

  • Extension numbering plan   To place a call to a Unified Messaging server, the cmdlet must know which telephone number to call and it must be a number that will be answered by a Unified Messaging server.

  • Name and number of IP gateways   To place the call, the cmdlet must know the identity of an IP gateway that connects it to the telephone network. The IP gateway must both:

    • Have an IP address that can be accessed from the cmdlet host.

    • Be configured to allow outgoing calls that are enabled by default. The Get-UMIPGateway cmdlet can be used to discover the gateways, their IP addresses, and whether they support outgoing calls.

  • How incoming calls are distributed by the IP gateways to the Unified Messaging servers   Distribution of incoming calls is not as simple to relate to connectivity testing. However, it can be important in configurations where Unified Messaging servers are not all doing the same kind of call processing. Essentially, there are two ways that Unified Messaging servers can answer incoming voice calls.

    • Users who call in to a subscriber access number on a dial plan and hear the default prompt, “Welcome. You are connected to Microsoft Exchange. To access your mailbox, enter your extension…” and so on. This gives users who are logged on with Outlook Voice Access, access to their Exchange 2007 mailbox, and directory search to unauthenticated callers.

    • Users who call in to a telephone number that is configured on an auto attendant and hear the default prompt “Welcome to the Microsoft Exchange Auto Attendant.” This provides callers with access to the directory, custom menus, and so on. This is an optional Unified Messaging feature that must be created and configured separately.

By default, all Unified Messaging servers that are associated with a dial plan will answer both voice calls that are placed to the dial plan’s subscriber access number and calls that are answered by one or more auto attendants that are associated with the dial plan. However, some customers may decide to configure their IP gateways and Unified Messaging hunt groups so that a single Unified Messaging server answers only calls to the dial plan subscriber access number, and another Unified Messaging server answers only incoming calls answered by one or more auto attendants. In such configurations, connectivity checks to a given Unified Messaging server will have to take its configured function into account. Consider the following:

  • For Unified Messaging servers answering calls to the subscriber access number for a dial plan pilot number, remote connectivity checks should specify the dial plan pilot number as the Phone parameter. A list of dial plans can be obtained with the Get-UMDialPlan cmdlet. A list of subscriber access numbers for each dial plan can be obtained from its AccessTelephoneNumbers property.

  • For Unified Messaging servers that provide Auto Attendant service only, remote connectivity checks must specify in the Phone parameter a number answered by an auto attendant. The auto attendant pilot numbers are displayed in the PilotIdentifierList property. This is displayed as part of the default listing obtained with Get-UMAutoAttendant.

After you have identified the appropriate UMIPGateway and Phone parameters, follow these steps to create an override for the script parameters in the MOM 2005 Administrator Console.

  1. In the MOM 2005 Administrator Console, locate Management Packs\Rule Groups\Microsoft Exchange Server\Exchange 2007\Unified Messaging\UM Connectivity\Event Rules.

  2. Right-click Execute: Test-UmConnectivity (Remote Voice) diagnostic cmdlet. (Report Collection), select the This rule is enabled check box, and then click Properties.

  3. On the Responses tab, select the Script response, and then click Edit.

  4. Select the parameter cmdlet Command, and then click Edit Parameter.

  5. Copy the text in the Value field. This text is the command that will be executed by the script.

  6. Select the check box Enable overrides for this script parameter, and then click Set Criteria.

  7. Click Add.

  8. In the Target field, select the appropriate Unified Messaging server, or Computer Group that contains Unified Messaging servers.

  9. In the Value field, paste the text for the command.

  10. Replace {gatewayname} (including the braces) with the name of your Unified Messaging IP Gateway.

  11. Replace {extension} (including the braces) with the appropriate number as identified previously.

  12. Click OK five times to save your changes to the rule.

  13. In the Navigation Pane of the MOM 2005 Administrator Console, right-click Management Packs, and then click Commit Configuration Change.

Note:
Repeat these steps for each server, if you have more than one Unified Messaging server.

Enabling Outlook Web Access, Exchange ActiveSync, and Exchange Web Services connectivity monitoring

Test-OwaConnectivity, Test-ActiveSyncConnectivity, and Test-WebServicesConnectivity are the cmdlets used by the Exchange 2007 Management Pack to test Microsoft Office Outlook Web Access, Exchange ActiveSync, and Exchange Web Services connectivity from Client Access servers to Mailbox servers. The cmdlets require that a test mailbox be created on each Exchange 2007 Mailbox server that is to be tested.

To create the test mailbox, log on to the Exchange 2007 Mailbox server with a user account that is an Exchange Mailbox administrator. Open the Exchange Management Shell, locate the Scripts directory under the installation path for Exchange 2007 (usually \Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\Scripts) and execute the script New-TestCasConnectivityUser.ps1. Repeat this process on each Exchange 2007 Mailbox server that is to be tested.

Enabling External Outlook Web Access connectivity monitoring

The rule is enabled by default. However, you must set an external URL on your Outlook Web Access virtual directory. To set an external URL, you need to run the Set-OwaVirtualDirectory Exchange Management Shell command. The syntax of the command is:

  • set-owavirtualdirectory "<Server name>\owa (Default Web Site)" -externalurl:"https://<Fully Qualified Domain Name>/owa"

For example, if the name of the server is Server01 and the domain is named “Domain.contoso.com”, you would run the following command:

  • set-owavirtualdirectory "Server01\owa (Default Web Site)" -externalurl:"https://Server01.Domain.contoso.com/owa"

Note:
These examples assume that SSL is enabled. If SSL is not enabled, use http:// instead of https://.