[ls1norcal]

My work uses an exchange server with BES capabilities, but since im not on a company phone, I dont want to have to pay the extra 15 bucks/mo to get on it. Im trying to access by setting it up with outlook web access, however the security certificate is bad. I dont think they have any intention on fixing it, since its not really affecting anytihng, except for of course the browser telling you everytime you login via the web.

Validation keeps failing, im definitely putting in the correct information, and the bad certificate is the only thing I can think of that is messing this up. Is there any way to get around this?

[JRSCCivic98]

Blackberries don't care about bad certificates or self signed ones when it comes to BIS email implementation. BIS most definitely supports the OWA conduit, but where I find that most people have the wrong info is the mailbox name or the server name.

By default (if the admins set up Exchange and Active Directory correctly) all you should have to do is supply the BIS email wizard with your email address and password. The wizard then takes into account that the server url should be mail.domainname.com/exchange and the mailbox name is the same as the beginning part of the email addess (i.e. the part before the @). However, sometimes admins will setup the mailbox name as different then the email address. For example, your name may be Jane Doe with an email address of [email protected]. However, when you go to work, your login name on the PCs to log into Active Directory will be JDoe instead. In this case, the mailbox name will be jdoe and not janed, which will cause the BIS email wizard to fail on authentication.

So, to figure out what it should be, open up your browser and hit up the OWA website link they gave you to check your email via a browser when outside of the office. Log in as you normally do and remember the login name you used (this will be the mailbox name). Then also make sure that the website you hit to login really is mail.companydomain.com/exchange. If it's not, you'll need to correct that as well. Once you have these settings, just go into the Manual Setup link when the normal BIS wizard fails and put in all the right stuff.

There should be no reason this wouldn't work, except if they're using an authentication server in front of the OWA box.

[ls1norcal]

Blackberries don't care about bad certificates or self signed ones when it comes to BIS email implementation. BIS most definitely supports the OWA conduit, but where I find that most people have the wrong info is the mailbox name or the server name.

By default (if the admins set up Exchange and Active Directory correctly) all you should have to do is supply the BIS email wizard with your email address and password. The wizard then takes into account that the server url should be mail.domainname.com/exchange and the mailbox name is the same as the beginning part of the email addess (i.e. the part before the @). However, sometimes admins will setup the mailbox name as different then the email address. For example, your name may be Jane Doe with an email address of [email protected]. However, when you go to work, your login name on the PCs to log into Active Directory will be JDoe instead. In this case, the mailbox name will be jdoe and not janed, which will cause the BIS email wizard to fail on authentication.

So, to figure out what it should be, open up your browser and hit up the OWA website link they gave you to check your email via a browser when outside of the office. Log in as you normally do and remember the login name you used (this will be the mailbox name). Then also make sure that the website you hit to login really is mail.companydomain.com/exchange. If it's not, you'll need to correct that as well. Once you have these settings, just go into the Manual Setup link when the normal BIS wizard fails and put in all the right stuff.

There should be no reason this wouldn't work, except if they're using an authentication server in front of the OWA box.

The server address does not begin with "mail.companyname.com", its sac.companyname.com/exchange. Would that have anything to do with it? I've tried just about every combination that makes sense, like domain\bsimas for username, changing my mailbox name (my login name for the OWA is not the same as the beginning of my email address). I emailed the company that setup our server a few months back. We'll see what they say.

Thanks for your help!

[JRSCCivic98]

The server address does not begin with "mail.companyname.com", its sac.companyname.com/exchange. Would that have anything to do with it? I've tried just about every combination that makes sense, like domain\bsimas for username, changing my mailbox name (my login name for the OWA is not the same as the beginning of my email address). I emailed the company that setup our server a few months back. We'll see what they say.

Thanks for your help!

That's probably why it doesn't work right. Log into the BIS portal here https://bis.na.blackberry.com/html?brand=vzw or do it from your BB, but let the BIS wizard fail and go into Manual setup mode. Change the server address to sac.companyname.com/exchange and make sure you specify http:// or https:// depending on what it normally is on your web browser when you access it that way. Then match up the login with the same userid that you use when you log into the OWA account or your office PC. The mailbox name should be the same as this, but could differ if they set it up weird. The email address will of course be whatever your email address syntax is now. Good luck...

[ls1norcal]

That's probably why it doesn't work right. Log into the BIS portal here https://bis.na.blackberry.com/html?brand=vzw or do it from your BB, but let the BIS wizard fail and go into Manual setup mode. Change the server address to sac.companyname.com/exchange and make sure you specify http:// or https:// depending on what it normally is on your web browser when you access it that way. Then match up the login with the same userid that you use when you log into the OWA account or your office PC. The mailbox name should be the same as this, but could differ if they set it up weird. The email address will of course be whatever your email address syntax is now. Good luck...

Yeah, ive been using http://sac.companyname.com/exchange, (the same URL for OWA). It finds the server address, but authentication is still failing. My mailbox name must be something strange or something.

[JRSCCivic98]

Yeah, ive been using http://sac.companyname.com/exchange, (the same URL for OWA). It finds the server address, but authentication is still failing. My mailbox name must be something strange or something.

Log into OWA via a PC browser. Pull up the Global Address book and find your name in it. Then click on Properties and look at it. The alias listed is usually what gets put in the Advanced Screen for Email Account in BIS. Under General, the username is the same as you use to log into OWA via the browser. Try that.

[ls1norcal]

Log into OWA via a PC browser. Pull up the Global Address book and find your name in it. Then click on Properties and look at it. The alias listed is usually what gets put in the Advanced Screen for Email Account in BIS. Under General, the username is the same as you use to log into OWA via the browser. Try that.

I cant find anything that is exactly titled Global Address Book, I just have "contacts", and its not very organized. Mainly just people ive emailed and vice versa...

[JRSCCivic98]

I cant find anything that is exactly titled Global Address Book, I just have "contacts", and its not very organized. Mainly just people ive emailed and vice versa...

Look at the top icon bar. The little address book rolodex looking icon. Looks like the address book icon in Outlook. You can always bring up the same info if you click New email and click To button and then pull up your name (making sure you have Global Address Book chosen from the dropdown). You can then highlight your name and hit Properties there as well to bring up the info. If you're using IE, you will probably need to hold down CTRL or ALT to allow for the scripting to process right in that window, otherwise it may error out with a script debug, again depending on how its set up.

[ls1norcal]

Look at the top icon bar. The little address book rolodex looking icon. Looks like the address book icon in Outlook. You can always bring up the same info if you click New email and click To button and then pull up your name (making sure you have Global Address Book chosen from the dropdown). You can then highlight your name and hit Properties there as well to bring up the info. If you're using IE, you will probably need to hold down CTRL or ALT to allow for the scripting to process right in that window, otherwise it may error out with a script debug, again depending on how its set up.

Okay, so my username to login to OWA is my first initial and my last name, and my alias (what ive been using for mailbox name) is just my first name. I tried it again with no luck.

Assuming im doing everything correct on my end, what could be the problem on the exchange server's end?

[JRSCCivic98]

Okay, so my username to login to OWA is my first initial and my last name, and my alias (what ive been using for mailbox name) is just my first name. I tried it again with no luck.

Assuming im doing everything correct on my end, what could be the problem on the exchange server's end?

If all the info is correct, then the only thing that would keep this from working properly is if there's an ISA server before the Exchange/OWA server. You can usually tell if this is the case because the URL will change in the browser from the URL you have when you hit the login page for OWA. Does it change from sac.companyname.com to something else?

BTW, you indicated security certificate in the OP. If that's the case, the URL should be https:// since it should be SSL. Is the OP wrong or are we talking about another certificate here?

[ls1norcal]

If all the info is correct, then the only thing that would keep this from working properly is if there's an ISA server before the Exchange/OWA server. You can usually tell if this is the case because the URL will change in the browser from the URL you have when you hit the login page for OWA. Does it change from sac.companyname.com to something else?

I go to http://sac.companyname.com/exchange, it warns me about the security certificate, I click continue to this website, and this is the URL.

https://sac.companyname.com/exchweb/...hange&reason=0

[JRSCCivic98]

Yep, change the server to be https://sac.companyname.com/exchange for the URL in Advanced on BIS page.

[ls1norcal]

Yep, change the server to be https://sac.companyname.com/exchange for the URL in Advanced on BIS page.

Tried that, and within a few seconds it says it cannot find the server.

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[JRSCCivic98]

PM me the actual URL if you can. I obviously won't be able to do anything without a proper userid and password, but I want to see if the URL is correctly resolving. I don't need anything else, just the URL for the site (i.e. the domain name). If you'd rather not give it out, that's fine, I understand. Hopefully the IT staff can help you tomorrow, but chances are good they'll just tell you they don't support it and BES is your only option. BTW, don't freak out when you see a bunch of RIM emails about failed account setup in your email tomorrow. That happens whenever a failed attempt is made on BIS setups to said account.

[ls1norcal]

PM me the actual URL if you can. I obviously won't be able to do anything without a proper userid and password, but I want to see if the URL is correctly resolving. I don't need anything else, just the URL for the site (i.e. the domain name). If you'd rather not give it out, that's fine, I understand. Hopefully the IT staff can help you tomorrow, but chances are good they'll just tell you they don't support it and BES is your only option. BTW, don't freak out when you see a bunch of RIM emails about failed account setup in your email tomorrow. That happens whenever a failed attempt is made on BIS setups to said account.

Well it looks like iit finally worked. I ran the BIS site from my phone and it took forever and right when I thought it was going to time out, it worked with the https address. So strange though because I tried numerous times on the BIS site via PC with the https address. Thanks for all your help!

One weird thing though, the icon for the email is noticeably smaller than my gmail icon...

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[JRSCCivic98]

Well it looks like iit finally worked. I ran the BIS site from my phone and it took forever and right when I thought it was going to time out, it worked with the https address. So strange though because I tried numerous times on the BIS site via PC with the https address. Thanks for all your help!

One weird thing though, the icon for the email is noticeably smaller than my gmail icon...

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

lol, does it happen to be the first one on the left top row of icons on your home screen (when Zen is set to two rows)? If so, that icon scrunches down. If you hit Menu once to bring up all the icons, it should show up normal. It's a known bug on the recent OS5 builds on the Storm.

[DD1968]

If all the info is correct, then the only thing that would keep this from working properly is if there's an ISA server before the Exchange/OWA server. You can usually tell if this is the case because the URL will change in the browser from the URL you have when you hit the login page for OWA. Does it change from sac.companyname.com to something else?

BTW, you indicated security certificate in the OP. If that's the case, the URL should be https:// since it should be SSL. Is the OP wrong or are we talking about another certificate here?

A question - related to the ISA server comment...
I set up my work email OWA through BIS manually as was described above, no problem. Get my mails fine.
A friend at work has tried a few months later to do his - exactly the same way with no sucess.
My question is this:
IF my company has set up an ISA server between the time I set up OWA and the time of the later unsuccesfull atempts, would my settings still work? That is, I still get mail, have changed passwords and validated the account many times and have restored backed up settings for this mail account too after both OS installs and even between devices and all works fine still.
To me, logically, I would have thought my account would have stopped working had this been the case - and that it is unlikely that a ISA server is in place and it is user error setting up the BIS account that is preventing my friend from getting his account on his device...?

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[JRSCCivic98]

A question - related to the ISA server comment...
I set up my work email OWA through BIS manually as was described above, no problem. Get my mails fine.
A friend at work has tried a few months later to do his - exactly the same way with no sucess.
My question is this:
IF my company has set up an ISA server between the time I set up OWA and the time of the later unsuccesfull atempts, would my settings still work? That is, I still get mail, have changed passwords and validated the account many times and have restored backed up settings for this mail account too after both OS installs and even between devices and all works fine still.
To me, logically, I would have thought my account would have stopped working had this been the case - and that it is unlikely that a ISA server is in place and it is user error setting up the BIS account that is preventing my friend from getting his account on his device...?

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

Your logic is strong...

[DD1968]

Your logic is strong...

Lol, cool thanks for the reply. Guess he'll have to give it another go. I think the prob lies in that he has a common name and there are more than one person at our company with that same name. Our IT dept usually add something like an X or number in there to differentiate between people eg. "[email protected]" and mailbox being "DOE, john x"...
So I think this has made the set up more difficult than maybe it would be normally.
Will give it another go and see what happens :-)

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[JRSCCivic98]

Lol, cool thanks for the reply. Guess he'll have to give it another go. I think the prob lies in that he has a common name and there are more than one person at our company with that same name. Our IT dept usually add something like an X or number in there to differentiate between people eg. "[email protected]" and mailbox being "DOE, john x"...
So I think this has made the set up more difficult than maybe it would be normally.
Will give it another go and see what happens :-)

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

If you follow some of the info in this thread, you should be able to make some headway into the correct settings.

[ls1norcal]

PM me the actual URL if you can. I obviously won't be able to do anything without a proper userid and password, but I want to see if the URL is correctly resolving. I don't need anything else, just the URL for the site (i.e. the domain name). If you'd rather not give it out, that's fine, I understand. Hopefully the IT staff can help you tomorrow, but chances are good they'll just tell you they don't support it and BES is your only option. BTW, don't freak out when you see a bunch of RIM emails about failed account setup in your email tomorrow. That happens whenever a failed attempt is made on BIS setups to said account.

You called that. They responded to my email telling me Blackberry's dont support OWA.

[DD1968]

If you follow some of the info in this thread, you should be able to make some headway into the correct settings.

Hey, what do you know... Managed to get it set up for him tonight. It was the mailbox name he had been doing wrong...
Thanks for the help!

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