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Verify Service Configuration for an Exchange 2003 Hybrid Deployment

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Applies to: Exchange Server 2010 SP1

Estimated time to complete: 10 minutes

Now that you've configured both single sign-on and Active Directory synchronization between your on-premises organization and the cloud-based organization, it's time to make sure that everything's working correctly.

The steps below create a new test user in your on-premises organization. Active Directory synchronization is working correctly if the user is automatically synchronized to the cloud-based service. Single sign-on is working correctly if, after synchronization is complete and the user is assigned a license, you can log on to the cloud-based Outlook Web App using the user's on-premises credentials.

Important

When a user is assigned a license, a mailbox is created for the user in the cloud-based organization if the user doesn't have an on-premises mailbox. This is why it's important, for this test, to make sure that the user you create in the on-premises organization isn't configured with an on-premises mailbox.

Learn more at: Understanding Hybrid Deployment

Warning

This topic is meant to be read as part of the Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 and Office 365 Hybrid Deployment checklist. Information or procedures in this topic may depend on prerequisites configured in topics earlier in the checklist. To view the checklist, see Checklist - Exchange 2003 and Office 365 Hybrid Deployment.

How do I do this?

You need to be assigned permissions before you can perform this procedure. Here are the permissions you need:

  • To create a new Active Directory user, you must be a member of the Account Operators, Domain Admins, or the Enterprise Admins group, or you must be delegated the appropriate authority.

  • To assign a license to a user in the cloud-based service administrator portal, see the "Create, edit, and delete users and groups, and manage user licenses" entry in Assigning administrator roles.

To create a mailbox in the cloud-based organization, do the following:

  1. Open Active Directory Users and Computers on a server in your on-premises organization.

  2. Open the container or organizational unit (OU) where you want to create a new Active Directory user.

  3. Click Action in the menu bar, click New, and then click User.

  4. Enter the required user information. Because this user will be associated with a test mailbox, we recommend that you clearly identify the user as such. For example, name the user "Test User".

  5. In the User logon name field, provide the user name that the user should specify when logging into their user account. This, combined with the user principal name (UPN) in the drop-down box next to the User logon name field, makes up the Windows Live ID of the user. This typically matches the user's e-mail address. Click Next.

  6. Enter a password for the new user, specify any options you want to set, and click Next.

  7. Click Finish.

  8. Wait for directory synchronization to synchronize the new user to the cloud-based service.

    Note

    By default, directory synchronization occurs once every three hours. To force immediate directory synchronization, open C:\Program Files\Microsoft Online Directory Sync\DirSyncConfigShell.psc1 on the Active Directory synchronization server and type the following at the command prompt.

    Start-OnlineCoexistenceSync

  9. Log on to: Cloud-based service administration portal

  10. Assign a license to the new user. Learn more at: Activate synced users

How do I know this worked?

To verify that you've created a test mailbox and that the mailbox is accessible in the cloud-based organization, do the following:

  1. Log on to: Cloud-based service administration portal

  2. Verify that the user has been synchronized to the service directory. If the user has synchronized correctly, the user will appear in the user list in the administration portal.

  3. Verify that the user has an associated license by doing the following:

    1. Click the name of the user to open the user's property information.

    2. Click Licenses to view the licenses available to the user. If a license has been assigned to the user, the check box next to the license will be selected.

  4. Log out of the administration portal, and close your browser window.

  5. Open a new browser window, and attempt to log on to the user's mailbox by browsing to the cloud-based organization's Outlook Web App URL, https://www.outlook.com/owa/contoso.com, and logging on with the user's credentials.

Having problems? Ask for help in the Office 365 forums. To access the forums, you'll need to sign in using an account that's granted administrator access to your cloud-based service. Visit the forums at: Office 365 Forums

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