Exchange 2013 - Offline address book issue

Jack Chuong 856 Reputation points
2021-09-23T02:52:54.177+00:00

Hi all,
My environment : 3 Exchange servers 2013 CU23 in 1 DAG , 7 mailbox databases.
I recognize that "address book" in my MS Outlook is not updated, trying to download "address book" task hanging like forever.
So I tried to "test e-mail autoconfiguration", this is result:
134478-1.png

134437-2.png

I found OAB internal and external URLs was wrong somehow, that's why I cannot download address book, I fixed them , restart IIS service , but issue still exist.
I run

Get-Mailbox -Arbitration | where {$_.PersistedCapabilities -like "*oab*"} | ft name,servername,database  
  
Name                                    ServerName                              Database  
----                                    ----------                              --------  
SystemMailbox{bb558c35-97f1-4cb9-8ff... ex01                               Mailbox Database 01  

So OAB is handled by a mailbox call "SystemMailbox{bb55..." , this mailbox was created at server ex01 , in database "Mailbox Database 01", the server which has the database that has the arbitration mailbox only that generates the OAB and is the generation server.
"Mailbox database 01" is replicated between ex02 (active/mounted) and ex03(passive/healthy)
I found out that the status of "C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\V15\ClientAccess\OAB" folders on Exchange servers : ex01 , ex02 , ex02 are different.
ex02's is up to date :
134415-3.png

ex03's is not up to date :
134416-4.png

ex01's is not existed
134466-5.png

So, are these "C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\V15\ClientAccess\OAB" folders normal ?
I login to OWA and check Global Address List, it's fine.
Then I disable/enable "cached mode" in my MS Outlook profile to force it update newest config from server
Now, my MS Outlook can download address book and "test e-mail autoconfiguration" run ok
Please give me some advice, thank you very much.

Exchange Server Management
Exchange Server Management
Exchange Server: A family of Microsoft client/server messaging and collaboration software.Management: The act or process of organizing, handling, directing or controlling something.
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Accepted answer
  1. Joyce Shen - MSFT 16,671 Reputation points
    2021-09-24T03:45:07.38+00:00

    Hi @Jack Chuong

    Can OAB work on your outlook client now?

    Could you please provide the result running command(Note to clear your personal information): Get-OfflineAddressBook | fl

    In Exchange 2013 CU7 or later, we recommend that you set this parameter to $null, and then set the GlobalWebDistributionEnabled parameter to $true, because the Client Access services on any Mailbox server can proxy incoming OAB download requests to the correct location. Refer to this official document to get more information.

    Set-OfflineAddressBook -Identity "identity" -VirtualDirectories $null -GlobalWebDistributionEnabled $true  
    

    In Exchange 2013, the OAB is generated by each Exchange 2013 Mailbox server(s) that hosts a special type of arbitration mailbox, called organization mailbox. OAB generation is not bound by the Server parameter anymore. So we think this is an expected behavior. For detailed information: OAB in Exchange Server 2013


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