How to configure static communication ports in Outlook 2003 (833799)
The information in this article applies to:
- Microsoft Office Outlook 2003
INTRODUCTIONThis article describes how to create a Microsoft Outlook
profile file that you can use to configure static communication ports in
Microsoft Office Outlook 2003. The static ports are used to connect to a
Microsoft Exchange server. This procedure can be used to work around the
problem that prevents Outlook from communicating through port 135 to prompt the
End Pont Mapper where to find the Exchange server.MORE INFORMATIONBoth Microsoft Outlook and Microsoft Exchange use the remote
procedure call (RPC) protocol to communicate. When an Exchange server starts,
each of its services are dynamically assigned to a port. The port number that
each Exchange server listens on can change every time that the Exchange server
starts. When an Exchange server starts, it registers itself with the End Pont
Mapper, and prompts the End Pont Mapper to assign it a port number.
When Outlook starts, it must determine the port where the TCP/IP
end-point on the Exchange server has been assigned. To find the port number
that Outlook must communicate with, Outlook contacts the Exchange server's End
Pont Mapper that tracks what service is listening on what port. The End Pont
Mapper always listens on port 135. Recently, a problem has been
discovered in the part of the RPC functionality that deals with e-mail message
exchange over TCP/IP. The vulnerability results because of incorrect handling
of malformed e-mail messages. This particular vulnerability affects the RPC
Endpoint Mapper process. The End Pont Mapper listens on TCP/IP port 135.
Therefore, Outlook cannot use port 135 to prompt the End Pont Mapper where to
find the Exchange server. To work around this problem, you can
configure Outlook 2003 and your Exchange server to communicate through a
predetermined set of identical communication ports. Additionally, this
configuration gives you access to your Exchange server over the Internet if
port 135 is blocked, and it will make sure that you are not vulnerable to the
problems that are associated with an un-patched RPC End Point Mapper. This
change in configuration is similar to RPC over HTTP communication between
Outlook 2003 and Microsoft Exchange 2003, and it will improve the performance
and the network round-trip time to establish a connection. Configure static communication ports in Outlook 2003To configure Outlook 2003 to communicate on static ports, use the
configuration settings in step 2 of the following steps to create an Outlook
profile file (.PRF). You can then import this file with the fixed port settings
in your default profile in Outlook 2003. This configures your Exchange account
in Outlook to only communicate over these ports. To do this, follow these
steps. Note Changing the RCP over HTTP port mappings should only be done
under specific circumstances with guidance from your systems administrator.
Also, doing so may interfere with future revisions of this product and may
hinder your ability to connect to the Exchange server with RPC over HTTP. - Start Notepad.
- Copy the following configuration settings in the Notepad
file:
[General]
Custom=1
DefaultProfile=Yes
OverwriteProfile=Append
ModifyDefaultProfileIfPresent=TRUE
; **************************************************************
; Section 2 - Services in Profile
; **************************************************************
[Service List]
ServiceEGS=Exchange Global Section
;***************************************************************
; Section 4 - Default values for each service.
;***************************************************************
[ServiceEGS]
; Uncomment the lines that correspond to the port values you want to configure.
;
;TCPExchangePort=6001
;TCPReferralPort=6002
;TCPDirectoryPort=6004
;HTTPExchangePort=6001
;HTTPReferralPort=6002
;HTTPDirectoryPort=6004
;***************************************************************
; Section 6 - Mapping for profile properties
;***************************************************************
[Microsoft Exchange Server]
ServiceName=MSEMS
MDBGUID=5494A1C0297F101BA58708002B2A2517
MailboxName=PT_STRING8,0x6607
HomeServer=PT_STRING8,0x6608
[Exchange Global Section]
SectionGUID=13dbb0c8aa05101a9bb000aa002fc45a
MailboxName=PT_STRING8,0x6607
HomeServer=PT_STRING8,0x6608
HTTPExchangePort=PT_I2,0x662d
HTTPReferralPort=PT_I2,0x6631
HTTPDirectoryPort=PT_I2,0x662f
TCPExchangePort=PT_I2,0x662c
TCPReferralPort=PT_I2,0x6630
TCPDirectoryPort=PT_I2,0x662e
- In Section 4 - Default values for each
service of the configuration settings that you copied to your file,
remove the comment character (;) from the beginning of the
line that contains the port setting that you want to use. The port setting you
use must be the same as the port setting that is configured on your Exchange
server.
- Save the file with a file name that has the .prf file name
extension.
- Open Microsoft Windows Explorer, and then locate the
Your_File_Name.prf file that you saved in step 4.
- Double-click Your_File_Name.prf to
configure Outlook 2003.
Configure static communication ports in Exchange
For additional information about how to configure fixed communication ports on your Microsoft
Exchange server, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
270836
Exchange 2000 and Exchange 2003
static port mappings
REFERENCES For additional
information about the vulnerability in the RPC Endpoint Mapper, click the
following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: 331953
MS03-010: Flaw in RPC Endpoint Mapper could allow denial of service attacks
Modification Type: | Minor | Last Reviewed: | 8/5/2004 |
---|
Keywords: | kbemail kbConfig kbhowto KB833799 kbAudITPRO |
---|
|