subject: exchange

Recently I was asked if I knew a method that would allow some users of my Organization to modify the information displayed in the Global Address List (GAL).

I immediately thought on the GAL Modify tool (GALMOD), a nice piece of software from Microsoft, available on the Exchange Resource Kit. There's a KB article with detailed instructions on how to use GALMOD.

But GALMOD has some limitations, for instance it has to be installed on every desktop from which you want to allow GAL editing.

To overcome some of these limitations, fellow MVP Jim McBee (or should I say, his company) developed a web replacement of GALMOD: Directory Update.

The Directory Update service is a .NET web application written in C# that provides an authenticated user the ability to update some of their Active Directory attributes. Features of Directory Update include:

• Improved directory accuracy: City, State, Department, Company, Office, and Country attributes must be selected from a customizable validated drop-down list
• Drop-down lists can be converted to text fields and vice versa - New!
• Fields or entire sections can be hidden from the user interface - New!
• Administrator can restrict which attributes can be updated
• Customizable help string and help page
• Customizable page and window titles
• Customizable attribute labels

If you are an Exchange Admin and you've never used ESEUTIL, that probably means one of two things:

• You are really good at your job, follow all the best practices and recommendations, keep your backups up to date, always test before installing a new patch, and so on, and so on, and that pays off by never having a single problem in your Exchange DBs.
• You are a lucky son of a gun!

In my case, although I like to consider myself good in what I do, unfortunately I had to use ESEUTIL for a couple of times.

If you want to know more about this tool, read the Microsoft Exchange Server Database Utility Guide.

As usual, every month Eileen posts about the upcoming webcasts. Here's the list:

TechNet Webcast: Regulatory Compliance, Archiving, and Electronic Discovery with Exchange Server 2007 (Level 200)
Tuesday, September 12, 2006 - 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM Pacific Time
David Sengupta, Exchange MVP, Product Manager, Quest Software
Martin Tuip, Exchange MVP, Product Manager, Quest Software

TechNet Webcast: Best Practices for Managing Exchange Server 2007 and SharePoint Environments (Level 200)
Thursday, September 14, 2006 - 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM Pacific Time
David Sengupta, Exchange MVP, Product Manager, Quest Software
Kathleen Lundgren, Product Manager, Quest Software

TechNet Webcast: How Microsoft IT Defends Against Spam, Viruses, and E-Mail Attacks (Level 300)
Tuesday, September 19, 2006 - 9:30 AM - 10:30 AM Pacific Time
Omesh S Desai, Microsoft IT Systems Engineer, Microsoft Corporation

TechNet Webcast: Managing and Migrating to Exchange Server 2007 (Level 200)
Tuesday, September 19, 2006 - 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM Pacific Time
David Sengupta, Exchange MVP, Product Manager, Quest Software
Ron Robbins, Product Manager, Quest Software

Microsoft Office System Webcast: Top 10 Tips to Save Time in Office Outlook 2003 (Level 200)
Tuesday, September 12, 2006 - 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM Pacific Time
Andy Reed, Senior Training Specialist, Total Project Management

Microsoft Office System Webcast: A First Look at Office Outlook 2007 (Level 100)
Tuesday, September 26, 2006 - 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM Pacific Time
Andy Reed, Senior Training Specialist, Total Project Management

Momentum Webcast: Best Practices for Exchange Server 2003 Consolidation (Level 100)
Thursday, September 14, 2006 - 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM Pacific Time
Hollis Beall, Solutions Development Manager, HP

• Microsoft Outlook script: Banish blank email subject lines
• What Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Brings to Users and IT Administrators
• Optimizing Exchange Server disk performance
• A ban on dynamic IP addresses for Exchange Server
• The new Exchange 2007 Management Console overview
• Recipient Management in Exchange 2007 - Overview
• Records Management: Why Do We Care?
• Top Exchange 2003 Recipient Problems and how they're fixed in Exchange 2007
• Creating a portable calendar RSS feed for Exchange with SSE extensions – version 0.5
• Using ADModify.net to Recover an Exchange Hardware Failure
• System Centre Capacity Planner 2006
• More Powershell (MONAD) Stuff
• How do you deal with all that email?
• How to programatically mail-enable an Exchange public folder
• Beta-Testing: Use Your Resources, and Report Bugs
• Creating a Virtual Exchange Server for Exchange 2003 Clustering
• Installing a Two Node Exchange Server 2007 Single Copy Cluster (SCC) in a Virtual Server Test Environment - Part 1: Preparing the virtual environment
• Exchange storage and compaction

Approaches to Fighting Spam in an Exchange Server Environment is a technical guide designed to provide the midsize business IT Pro/Generalist with approaches to fighting spam in an Exchange Server environment.

Overview:

The Approaches to Fighting Spam in an Exchange Server Environment technical guide consists of four main sections (Introduction, Definition, Challenges, and Solutions) that discuss options and solutions to provide practical approaches to fighting spam (junk e-mail) within the Exchange Server environment. This guide includes the introduction of a framework (Exchange Server 2003 Antispam Framework) which combines different methods for fighting spam within either a single or multiple Exchange Server environments and is comprised of connection-level, protocol-level, and content-level filtering. Approaches within this framework allow both administrators and end users to precisely filter and categorize spam and decide on their end whether it is spam or legitimate business e-mail. This technical guide describes these approaches in detail, demonstrates how each approach within the framework functions, and how each of these approaches works collectively. Presented in the guide are assessment and development plans and a step-by-step guide in the deployment and management section.

• The Inheritance Tax
• Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Beta 2 Transport Server Role Architecture Diagrams available
• Determining the Number of Users an Exchange 2007 Unified Messaging Server Can Support
• Firewall Timeouts and Direct Push
• Connector for Lotus Notes Directory Synchronization- Part 3- Frequently Asked Questions
• Securing Exchange 2007 Edge Transport Servers
• Configuring the Intelligent Message Filter (IMF) v2 to exclude recipients from spam filtering
• Using Microsoft's IIFP (Identity Integration Feature Pack) to sync GALs / Active Directories
• Exchange in resource forest and public folder access problems
• Trivia - Why is OOF - OOF?
• Reporting on Meeting Delegate Forward Rules in Outlook
• Failed to register Service Principal Name for exchangeRFR; error code c10379bc.
• Exchange 2007 and X400
• Powershell 101: IF .. Else
• Exchange 2007 Powershell: Get-Tip

• Is Microsoft Exchange The Right Answer For Your Firm?
• 'Exchange killers' are successfully stalking Microsoft messaging
• Mail Flow Troubleshooter in Exchange Troubleshooting Assistant (ExTRA) - A closer look
• The Secret Decoder Ring - The Hidden Truth in the Exchange 2007 Admin and Routing Group Names
• Additional Exchange Server 2003 Technical Library Documentation Changes - August 2006
• Connector for Lotus Notes Directory Synchronization- Part 1
• Connector for Lotus Notes Directory Synchronization- Part 2
• Special Preview: Microsoft Exchange 2007
• SharePoint and Public Folders, Part 2: Migration Options
• Public Folder Basics (Part 1)
• Drilldown of the new OWA Direct File Access Feature in Exchange Server 2007: Part 2 (Client-side)
• GALMOD - What is it?
• Exchange 2007 ignite training
• Cached mode Outlook users do not see the Assistant field data when downloading the OAB
• How to deal with multiple OAB public system folders of the same type
• How to Work out What a MONAD Command Does..!
• The Changing Landscape of E-mail Security
• Windows PowerShell Help Tool
• BlackBerry hacking peril exposed
• Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Release Notes
• Messaging and Collaboration: Security Challenges and Solutions
• Improve the Security of Remote Access to Exchange Server with RPC over HTTP
• Spam Management

Microsoft has just released the August update for the Outlook 2003 Junk E-mail Filter.

"This update provides the Junk E-mail Filter in Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 with a more current definition of which e-mail messages should be considered junk e-mail."

• Description of the Update for Outlook 2003 Junk Email Filter (KB920907)

Technorati : outlook, junk email, spam
Del.icio.us : outlook, junk email, spam

• Proving Which Spam Filters work Best
• Windows PowerShell .. Updated 3 Aug 2006
• How does Microsoft Exchange support utilize the MPS Reports diagnostic tool information?
• Exchange 2007 Readiness Check now available in ExBPA
• Exchange 2007 Language Support
• Exchange Server 2003 Technical Library Documentation Changes - August 2006
• Free Busy generation process
• Does Exchange 2007 ask for too much RAM?
• Is Office Communicator a pre-Outlook 2007 client?
• Using the /recoverserver switch
• Monad RC0 vs PowerShell RC1
• Drilldown of the new OWA Direct File Access Feature in Exchange Server 2007: Part 1 (Server-side)
• Installing Exchange 2007 (Part 2)
• E2K3 SP2 Database Size Improvements Not Working?
• Exchange 2007: What's the big deal?
• FAQ: Exchange Server non-delivery reports
• Exchange Server 2007 Beta 2 Review
• Reporting on what System Policies are applied via a script
• AD and Exchange InterOrg Migration - A Real World Example Part 1
• Outlook 2007 cool new thing
• Free anti-spam on Exchange
• Exchange Security resources

The Exchange Troubleshooting Assistant v1.0 was released earlier this week.

"The Microsoft Exchange Troubleshooting Assistant can help to determine the cause of performance, mail flow and database mounting issues on computers running Microsoft Exchange Server. The tool automates specialized troubleshooting steps for identified symptoms.

Harold Wong will be the instructor for some Exchange 2007 labcasts. What is a labcast? Well, it's a combination of a webcast and a virtual lab.

The TechNet Webcast and Virtual Labs teams are joining forces and offering three special featured Exchange Server 2007 Guided “Hands-On” Live Meeting webcasts!  Be one of the first to join this Live Meeting as we walk through the benefits of using Exchange Server 2007.  As the presenter guides you through different tasks step-by-step, we’re providing you a Virtual Lab to follow right along.  The hands-on aspect will help you gain a valuable experience-based knowledge.

More information at the TechNet Webcast Blog.