New mpx200 user can't activesync to MS2000 Exchange server.

[Guest mparekh]

Got a new ATT wireless mpx200 hoping to sync to my Outlook 2003 with MS exchange server 2000. My IT guy is not very helpful, and I don't think my exchange server has mobile information server hooked up. Am I out of luck in active syncing via USB cable with my outlook contacts, calendar and email, or is there another way to make this work? May have to return mpx200.

Thanks,

frustrated.

[Guest Shuflie]

Have you got the ability to make a local copy of your contacts in your Outlook folder or are you restricted to using contacts from the server? The way I have my activesync set up it can work on the local contacts folder but not all companies will be as flexible as the one that I work for.

[Guest mparekh]

Unfortunately not...my IT folks won't allow local copies since it could cause complications with users using Blackberry phones to sync with the exchange server 2000. Am I correct in understanding that the Smartphone software will only sync with MS Exchange software if there is a Mobile Information server installed? If so, it's a bit different from how Palm Treo and others seem to handle it, which is to make the access to the server akin to a remote laptop accessing the Exchange server via a local copy of Outlook.

Thanks for the reply.

[Guest Shuflie]

Sorry, I can't help out there, I don't deal with the server side of things in our office.

[Guest Drewtech]

I have my own set up at home. Outlook 2002 and Exchange Server 2000. I use ActiveSynch to synch my contacts and calendar and these are not a local copy - I also do the same to a PDA with no problems (hope to lose the PDA soon). If you have ActiveSynch installed on your desktop you should be able to synch to your Exchange mailbox without having to set anything up on Exchange. I am not sure if there are any issues with permissions on the desktop.

I haven't tried it with Outlook 2003 yet but I don't see why it should be a problem.

[Guest actionj]

I have outlook 2003 and Exchange 2000 and am just waiting for my usb cable to come in the mail. I will let you know what happens with mine.

[Guest PDAZealot]

Activesync assumes you have a working Exchange server backend to sync with. If you are using an IMAP email configuration, you are screwed, as the file store is local, and the Exchange server Activesync profile goes to the local store. Such is life. Now, MS is no longer even selling MIS as a separate product to force Enterprise customers to go to Exch 2003. Sneaky, aren't they? :-) Anyway, getting Smartphone 2002 to work over Wireless Activesync can be a real pain with Exch 2k anyway, and I think that Smartphone 2003 and Exch 2003 is the real way to go, as you can't add trusted root certs in Smartphone 2002 easily anyway, and this is a problem if you don't use a CA that is already in the the Smartphone 2002 store. Trust me on this one, you'll wish you just had pop3 that is extruded outside the firewall for access. Now, short of that, you can just bug the crap out of Certicom for a Smartphone version of MovianVPN if your email is accessible inside only or via VPN.

[Guest juggernaut]

Whoa...

"Activesync assumes you have a working Exchange server backend to sync with"

- No, unles you specifically tell it you want to sync with a server. You could have Outlook open and not have it connected to anything, and ActiveSync could care less, it will sync all day.

"If you are using an IMAP email configuration, you are screwed, as the file store is local, and the Exchange server Activesync profile goes to the local store. Such is life."

- IMAP mail is stored on the server. POP3 is stored locally. You can't sync with IMAP because Smartphone 2002 doesn't support it. ActiveSync has nothing to do with this.

"Now, MS is no longer even selling MIS as a separate product to force Enterprise customers to go to Exch 2003. Sneaky, aren't they?"

- You can still get MIS for Exchange 2000. Microsoft includes the features of MIS with Exchange 2003 for no additional charge. So, you don't like getting stuff for free? Huh, well, I'm sure they'd be happy if you wanted to pay extra.... Your idea of sneaky must be different from mine.

"Anyway, getting Smartphone 2002 to work over Wireless Activesync can be a real pain with Exch 2k anyway, and I think that Smartphone 2003 and Exch 2003 is the real way to go, as you can't add trusted root certs in Smartphone 2002 easily anyway, and this is a problem if you don't use a CA that is already in the the Smartphone 2002 store."

- Ok, for one, it's not a pain but if his business doesn't have it then it doesn't matter anyway. You can use CERTCHK to disable certificate checking. This is not a secure solution, and a business should never do it. A business should already have a cert from a public root authority for OWA, which they can reuse for ActiveSync. The popular PRAs are trusted by default.

"Trust me on this one, you'll wish you just had pop3 that is extruded outside the firewall for access."

-Um, no no no no no. There are a lot of reasons not to open port 110 at the firewall, that is why ActiveSync over SSL is so cool.

"Now, short of that, you can just bug the crap out of Certicom for a Smartphone version of MovianVPN if your email is accessible inside only or via VPN."

- This point I'm less sure about, but I'm 50% sure you can PPTP from Smartphone 2002 without additional software. I haven't tried it, but maybe I'll give it a shot just to see.

LOL! :?

With ActiveSync set to talk to Outlook and not to the server, you should be able to get Inbox and Calendar no problem. You should be able to create Contacts in your mailbox seperate from your company's global address list. Try opening Outlook, Contacts, and creating a new one. If you can't it's possible your company has a policy restricting it. If that's the case you will have to address that with your company.

[Guest PDAZealot]

Hey SmartGuy! Okay, I will rephrase what I said, and reply. Here we go:

Whoa...

"Activesync assumes you have a working Exchange server backend to sync with"

- No, unles you specifically tell it you want to sync with a server. You could have Outlook open and not have it connected to anything, and ActiveSync could care less, it will sync all day.

It won’t sync the server Inbox using an IMAP server configuration, and this is what I meant. To get full functionality you must have an exchange backend, period.

"If you are using an IMAP email configuration, you are screwed, as the file store is local, and the Exchange server Activesync profile goes to the local store. Such is life."

- IMAP mail is stored on the server. POP3 is stored locally. You can't sync with IMAP because Smartphone 2002 doesn't support it. ActiveSync has nothing to do with this.

Activesync has nothing to do with this? Wrong. It has everything to do with it. If you have ever configured Outlook to work with an IMAP non-exchange backend, you will know that the Inbox has to be set to use a local PST file for the local store. Activesync does not allow for this, as it must sync with the server store. Pocket PC 2002 and WM 2003 have the same issue on iPAQ’s etc, so it’s not just a Smartphone 2002 issue.

"Now, MS is no longer even selling MIS as a separate product to force Enterprise customers to go to Exch 2003. Sneaky, aren't they?"

- You can still get MIS for Exchange 2000. Microsoft includes the features of MIS with Exchange 2003 for no additional charge. So, you don't like getting stuff for free? Huh, well, I'm sure they'd be happy if you wanted to pay extra.... Your idea of sneaky must be different from mine.

You can still get MIS for Exch 2k? Just try it friend. I did last month, and MS informed they are not longer licensing new purchases of MIS, only support of existing ones. Check your facts before posting please. They now advocate migrating to 2003, and while MIS is built in for free, if you are familiar with Exch migrations, you know that you don’t just convert your systems from Exch 2k to 2003 on the backend in 10 minutes. It’s a lot of work and planning, and since Exch 2k is still supported, I think it is sneaky to not support new MIS installs any longer and force a move to Exch 2k3.

"Anyway, getting Smartphone 2002 to work over Wireless Activesync can be a real pain with Exch 2k anyway, and I think that Smartphone 2003 and Exch 2003 is the real way to go, as you can't add trusted root certs in Smartphone 2002 easily anyway, and this is a problem if you don't use a CA that is already in the the Smartphone 2002 store."

- Ok, for one, it's not a pain but if his business doesn't have it then it doesn't matter anyway. You can use CERTCHK to disable certificate checking. This is not a secure solution, and a business should never do it. A business should already have a cert from a public root authority for OWA, which they can reuse for ActiveSync. The popular PRAs are trusted by default.

Another example of where you missed the point. If you want to use Smartphone 2002 with wireless activesync you have to kill security. A BIG no no. Many big enterprise customers have their own CA. What do you do in that circumstance? You are screwed, and this is the point I was trying to make for saying you should wait for Smartphone 2003, so you can use your own CA. Please read thoroughly what I am trying to say before posting a critical reply.

"Trust me on this one, you'll wish you just had pop3 that is extruded outside the firewall for access."

-Um, no no no no no. There are a lot of reasons not to open port 110 at the firewall, that is why ActiveSync over SSL is so cool.

I wasn’t being serious. I was just saying you would wish you only had to deal with an support POP3, due to all the issues with Activesync listed above.

"Now, short of that, you can just bug the crap out of Certicom for a Smartphone version of MovianVPN if your email is accessible inside only or via VPN."

- This point I'm less sure about, but I'm 50% sure you can PPTP from Smartphone 2002 without additional software. I haven't tried it, but maybe I'll give it a shot just to see.

Another issue where you don’t know what you are talking about. No enterprise grade company will allow the use of PPTP over VPN connections anymore. It’s like sending sensitive information via post cards. All real VPN solutions that are secure require the use of IPsec communication, and this is NOT part of Smartphone 2002’s VPN setup. If you knew what the default setup for VPN was in Smartphone 2002[proprietary MS product aka PPTP], and what the Certicom MovianVPN client was for[iPsec], you wouldn’t have posted your obviously shallow minded commentary. Feel free to “LOL!” right here again if you like.

LOL!

With ActiveSync set to talk to Outlook and not to the server, you should be able to get Inbox and Calendar no problem. You should be able to create Contacts in your mailbox seperate from your company's global address list. Try opening Outlook, Contacts, and creating a new one. If you can't it's possible your company has a policy restricting it. If that's the case you will have to address that with your company.

This is the only section where you actually said anything of worth. What if user’s don’t want to create a duplicate list? As for addressing it with your IT group, well good luck. They lock stuff down for a reason. Obviously, the best way is to enable Exchange over wireless Activesyc using Smartphone 2003 and Exch 2k3 or Exch 2k w/ MIS.

I suggest you dig into MS Technet for a few days before posting replies to this thread again, as you don’t appear to have the fundamentals down on this subject, and glib statements do a disservice to the forum as a whole.

[Guest juggernaut]

Awesome. I'm always up for a friendly debate, especially when we can hash out some of these popular items.

“It won’t sync the server Inbox using an IMAP server configuration, and this is what I meant.”

- http://www.smartphone.com.hk/web/support_faqs.htm see Mail and ActiveSync

- It would help us all if there were any good docs out on how to configure some of these things. Both the above site and the Microsoft site make mention of configuring the Inbox to sync with an IMAP server.

“To get full functionality you must have an exchange backend, period.”

- I can only assume that you are doing your thing again with not meaning what you say? You can certainly setup a partnership between a mobile device and Outlook to synchronize the Calendar, Contacts, Inbox, and Tasks. To sync over the web you need Exchange 2003 or MIS. The requirements given do not list ActiveSync over the web.

“Activesync has nothing to do with this? Wrong. It has everything to do with it. If you have ever configured Outlook to work with an IMAP non-exchange backend, you will know that the Inbox has to be set to use a local PST file for the local store. Activesync does not allow for this, as it must sync with the server store. Pocket PC 2002 and WM 2003 have the same issue on iPAQ’s etc, so it’s not just a Smartphone 2002 issue.”

- See above and abover

- You can’t sync with IMAP using ActiveSync because the mail is not delivered to the default PST. The PST given for IMAP accounts is more like an offline copy of the mailboxes stored on the server.

- http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=287574

“You can still get MIS for Exch 2k? Just try it friend. I did last month, and MS informed they are not longer licensing new purchases of MIS, only support of existing ones. Check your facts before posting please. They now advocate migrating to 2003, and while MIS is built in for free, if you are familiar with Exch migrations, you know that you don’t just convert your systems from Exch 2k to 2003 on the backend in 10 minutes. It’s a lot of work and planning, and since Exch 2k is still supported, I think it is sneaky to not support new MIS installs any longer and force a move to Exch 2k3.”

- Good call. CDW still has it posted here http://www.cdw.com/shop/products/default.a...aspx?EDC=403921 but I see you’re right, Microsoft does not sell new licenses according to their website.

- Of course migrations are definitely something to be taken seriously, but I’m not sure that I agree Microsoft is being sneaky.

This brings a more productive discussion to mind. What steps are necessary to add mobility features to an Ex 2000 org now? I believe the optimal solution with lowest amount of risk and time (just to add mobility) would be to put an Ex2003 in a 2000 org. I assume forestprep and domainprep still need to be run because the settings can be configured down to the user. You wouldn’t have to move mailboxes. Any thoughts?

“Another example of where you missed the point. If you want to use Smartphone 2002 with wireless activesync you have to kill security. A BIG no no. Many big enterprise customers have their own CA. What do you do in that circumstance? You are screwed, and this is the point I was trying to make for saying you should wait for Smartphone 2003, so you can use your own CA. Please read thoroughly what I am trying to say before posting a critical reply.”

- You can’t blame me for missing your point unless you say what you mean. :lol: Most big companies have a public cert on their server to prevent help desk calls when users access OWA from an unmanaged machine, but I agree they should have the option of using an internal CA if they need to meet more stringent security requirements.

“I wasn’t being serious. I was just saying you would wish you only had to deal with an support POP3, due to all the issues with Activesync listed above.”

- k

“Another issue where you don’t know what you are talking about. No enterprise grade company will allow the use of PPTP over VPN connections anymore. It’s like sending sensitive information via post cards. All real VPN solutions that are secure require the use of IPsec communication, and this is NOT part of Smartphone 2002’s VPN setup. If you knew what the default setup for VPN was in Smartphone 2002[proprietary MS product aka PPTP], and what the Certicom MovianVPN client was for[iPsec], you wouldn’t have posted your obviously shallow minded commentary. Feel free to “LOL!” right here again if you like. “

- You’re right about this, I was wrong.

“This is the only section where you actually said anything of worth. What if user’s don’t want to create a duplicate list? As for addressing it with your IT group, well good luck. They lock stuff down for a reason. Obviously, the best way is to enable Exchange over wireless Activesyc using Smartphone 2003 and Exch 2k3 or Exch 2k w/ MIS.

I suggest you dig into MS Technet for a few days before posting replies to this thread again, as you don’t appear to have the fundamentals down on this subject, and glib statements do a disservice to the forum as a whole.”

- No good docs have been posted yet on mobility features or I would. :D

- So, instead you would sync with the entire GAL? That’s gonna take a little more than 64Mb! (Insert LOL here, rather than above.) I know what you mean, but even with ActiveSync over the web, the user is still going to sync with the Contacts folder for their mailbox on the server, plus a lot of people like to store information in their personal contacts list for resources outside the organization.

[Guest actionj]

Activesync works like a charm with Outlook 2003 and Exchange 2000. You don't need to set anything up or change anything. If you are having problems syncing, make sure your phone is recognized in my computer as a "smartphone" and that activesync recognizes your phone as a "smartphone" Airsync is different though and is the ability to sync your phone to your exchange server from anywhere. Like everyone says, you need MIS or exchange 2003 to do that.