Modifying/creating objects seems to set Exchange attributes?

Question

Bit confused here - yesterday I renamed a service account using Adaxes, nothing special just a normal domain account, no mailbox or Exchange attributes.

Today I came to do some work in Exchange Command Shell and as part of running "get-addresslist | update-addresslist" I was warned that it couldn't process the service account plus a bunch of other random groups (which have all been created or modified in Adaxes) which seemed strange as they shouldn't have any Exchange attributes.

Looking at the account in Adaxes it had the Exchange attributes set, though the logging shows that all that happened was that the account was renamed.

Right-Clicking and removing the Exchange attributes has fixed it but does anyone know if we've encountered a bug or what exactly?

We were on 2013.2 and I just grabbed the very latest 2013.2 build - didn't see anything in the release notes.

Any thoughts before I log it with Support?

Answer 1

Hello,

It is a well-known issue that we'll fix by the next release to be available soon. The thing is that in Adaxes 2013.2, we've made some changes in how Adaxes resolves value references. Now, when you rename a group or a user, and the built-in User Pattern or Group Pattern are enabled, this causes Adaxes to generate an Exchange Alias for the group/user. Thus, the user/group has an Exchange property set, which causes Exchange to try to include them in e-mail address lists. However, since no other property is set besides Exchange Alias, the user or group is not considered by Exchange as a valid mail-enabled user, mailbox or distribution list.

To remedy the issue for now, we can suggest the following workaround: you can create two Scheduled Tasks, one for users and one for groups. The Scheduled Tasks will remove the Exchange Alias from a user or group, if the user/group doesn't have e-mail addresses in Exchange. To create such Scheduled Tasks:

1. Create a new Scheduled Task.

2. On the 3rd step of the Create Scheduled Task wizard, select:

   • User - to create a Scheduled Task for users,
     
   • Group - to create a Scheduled Task for groups.
     

3. On the 4th step, select:

   • Update the User action - when creating a Scheduled Task for users,
     
   • Update the Group action - when creating a Scheduled Task for groups.
     

4. Click Add.

5. Select the Exchange Alias property.

6. Switch the radio button to Remove property.
   

7. Click OK two times.

8. Now, you need to add conditions when Exchange Alias should be deleted. Right-click the action that you've just created and click Add Condition.
   

9. Select the If <property> <relation> <value> condition type.

10. Select the Exchange Alias property.

11. Select is not empty and click OK.
    

12. Right-click the action and click Add Condition again.

13. Select the If <property> <relation> <value> condition type.

14. Expand the <property> drop-down list and select Show all properties.

15. Select the Email Proxy Addresses property.
    

16. Select is empty and click OK.
    

17. Click OK and finish creation of the Scheduled Task.

Comments

Thank you - appreciate the detailed instructions but I think given the timing and the low impact it seems simpler to wait for 2014 - when is it due please (Feb was last I heard)?

Thanks :)

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Hello,

We had to shift the release date a bit. The release will be available by mid-March.

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Hello,

The issue has been fixed in Adaxes 2014.1 released today. Starting from this version, the Exchange Alias property is not generated automatically by Property Patterns for objects that don't have this property set. You can download the latest build here.

Upgrade Instructions.

For a complete list of new features and improvements, see What's New.