Exchange Failover with 2003

Have you configured the exch2k.dll to change the location of the user mailboxes after the failover? exch2k.dll during failover connects to the AD and then changes the location of every user mailbox from source server to the target server. Hopefully you don't have a huge number of them.

Yes, by checking AD.
What you can do is to run the command manually in the CLI and see if there is any error that you get in return.
Now at least you know the source of the problem, the only thing that is missing is the cause.

It is not as simple as moving the alias name across, the mailbox locations need to be updated in the AD as well.

The Outlook client should be accessing the Exchange server through the alias name. When the failover occurs the alias is transferred to the failover box so Outlook can continue accessing Exchange as if nothing has happened.

It is normal that they revert to the physical name, but I understand you correctly they always revert to the source system name? Have you checked if the mailbox locations are actually changed in AD?
Are the Outlook clients 2000 or 2003?

I have used the exch2k.dll - in the After acvitivating failover command "exch2k.dll|Takeover %SOURCESITENETBIOS% %TARGETSITENETBIOS% %ALIAS%

In the Before Remove Alias I have "exch2k.dll|Initialize"

When trying to change the outlook client properites to point to the alias server it reverts to the production server hostname.
When I failover all the clients are still pointing to the production server. I have to manually change the clients to point to the dr box instead (still using the alias name).

No this is a case I am working on in Ireland.

They are outlook 200 clients.

I have checked AD and the changes have not been made. I am not getting any errors from RepliStor to say that this failed however.

Is there a way to ensure the changes have been made?

Thanks,

Stephen

No, just start the exch2k.dll with the appropriate options in the cli, for example:
exch2k.dll|Takeover [server1] [server2] [alias]

...and check if it reports any errors and changes the mailbox locations. Of course replace the server names and alias with the correct values. I also recall that the dll itself is invoked using additional tool so the command above may not be accurate.

I'm not sure what syntax to use for the CLI for example:

rep_srv cmd addalias ex-alias dr-box 255.255.0.0 /manual [/scriptaddafter exch2k.dll|Takeover %SOURCESITENETBIOS% %TARGETSITENETBIOS% %ALIAS%] [/scriptremovebefore exch2k.dll|Initialize] /addtodns /domain [/servicetostart all exchange services]

Does this look correct?

I have tested the Failover and Failback with Replistor 6.1 and Replistor for exchange support 6.1. It is working fine. Users are able to connect DR Sever automatically when the failover happens.

Before installing the Replistor AD Modification needs to be done using ADSIEDIT.

In outlook 2003 you need to configure with Alias Name.

Here are the commands you will want to use in your Alias. The first differs slightly from the one's that have been posted thusfar:
Commands: Adding Alias
After: exch2k.dll|TakeoverNoStart %SOURCESITENETBIOS% %TARGETSITENETBIOS% %ALIAS% -d

Commands: Removing Alias
Before: exch2k.dll|Initialize

Notice that TakeoverNoStart is used instead of just Takeover. This will not allow the exch2k.dll to control the services. Instead it is controlled by the Alias.
You will want to be sure that you have all of the Exchange services listed in the Services tab of the Alias. Also be sure to add the SMTP protocol, if necessary.

By the way, NO changes should be necessary in AD for this type of failover. The exch2k.dll does all of this work for you. You can use ADSIEDIT to validate the changes.

Also, be sure to add these registry settings. Copy these entries into a file and give it a *.reg extension. You can then merge these into the registry of the Exchange box:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\MSExchangeTransport\Parameters]
"SkipPublicMDBRestriction"=dword:00000001

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\MSExchangeIS\ParametersSystem]
"Ignore zombie users"=dword:00000001

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Lsa\]
"DisableLoopbackCheck"=dword:00000001

The above does the following:
SkipPublicMDBRestriction
This allows one Exchange server to replicate public folders to another even if they are not authenticated in AD.
This key must be added to any Exchange server that is replicating either to or from a RepliStor controlled Exchange instance.

Ignore zombie users
This is an optional key and only affects certain configurations
Only needs to be added to Exchange instances running in Mixed Mode.
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/exchange/guides/WorkingE2k3Store/8c34a2a5-3b24-4d8d-88fb-c41c03c35b93.mspx?mfr=true

DisableLoopbackCheck
This is the key that allows the Exchange console to utilize the shared folders that Exchange creates and uses for administrative purposes. If it is not set to 1, then certain functions within the Exchange Management Console are denied access to these folders. It is strictly a function of Windows and Exchange and has nothing to do with RepliStor directly.
Unless this key is set to 1, Windows also blocks access to connecting to locally owned shares in Explorer of any other application, not just Exchange. For example, SQL also requires this to be set to 1 if you try to connect to Query Analyzer from the local machine.
Needs to be set on any machine connecting to its own shares.