XADM: Troubleshoot offline address book download issues (811870)



The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server
  • Microsoft Exchange Server 5.5

SUMMARY

This article describes how Microsoft Outlook locates and downloads the offline address list or the offline address book from a Microsoft Exchange 2000 computer or a Microsoft Exchange Server 5.5 computer. You can use the procedures and information provided in this article to help you troubleshoot situations where Outlook users cannot download the offline address book.

MORE INFORMATION

The offline address book that Outlook downloads depends on whether the mailbox is homed on Exchange 2000 or Exchange Server 5.5. Exchange 2000 mailboxes download the offline address list for the mailbox store. By default, the following offline address list is downloaded:

/o=Organization/cn=addrlists/cn=oabs/cn=Default Offline Address List

Exchange Server 5.5 mailboxes use the following EX-type offline address book:

EX:/o=Organization/ou=Site

If you cannot download the offline address book in Outlook, you may receive the following error message:
An error occurred while opening the Microsoft Exchange offline address book files on the Microsoft Exchange Server. See your administrator.

Unable to download the Offline Address Book. The Microsoft Exchange Address Book could not be accessed.

Use the Mdbvu32.exe Tool to Locate the Offline Address Book

If you cannot download the offline address book in Outlook, use the Mdbvu32.exe tool to locate the offline address book, and then troubleshoot any download issues. To do so, follow these steps:
  1. Verify that you can access the replica of the offline address book or offline address list for the mailbox.
  2. Use the Mdbvu32.exe tool to determine the PR_ENTRYID value for the offline address book. To do so, follow these steps:
    1. Insert the Exchange 2000 or Exchange Server CD-ROM into the computer's CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive.
    2. Start Windows Explorer, and then locate the drive:\Server\Support\Utils\i386 folder, where drive is the computer's CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive.
    3. Double-click Mdbvu32.exe.
    4. In the MAPILogonEX(MAPI_LOGON_UI) dialog box , under Flags, click to select the MAPI_NEW_SESSION check box, and then click OK.
    5. In the Choose Profile dialog box, click the appropriate profile, and then click OK.
    6. On the MDB menu, click OpenMessageStore.
    7. In the Select Message Store To Open dialog box, click Public Folders, and then click Open.
    8. On the MDB menu, click MDB Properties.
    9. In the MDB Properties dialog box, locate the 0x6626 entry. Make a note of the property data value that is displayed next to it.

      This property data value starts with *pb: and is followed by a series of alphanumeric characters .This value provides the PR_ENTRYID value for the offline address book that Outlook downloads.
    10. Click Close.
    11. On the MDB menu, click Open Root Folder.
    12. In the Child Folders box, double-click NON_IPM_SUBTREE, and then double-click OFFLINE ADDRESS BOOK.

      A list of offline address book folders is displayed in the Child Folders box.
    13. Locate the offline address book folder that uses the same PR_ENTRYID value that you noted in step 2i. To determine the PR_ENTRYID value, double-click each offline address book entry in the Child Folders box, locate the PR_ENTRYID entry in the Folder Properties box, and then compare the value that is displayed next to it with the value that you noted in step 2i.
    14. After you identify the correct offline address book, double-click OAB Version 2 in the Child Folders box.
  3. Verify that you can see the messages in the OAB Version 2 folder.

    If you cannot see the messages, the offline address book was either not generated or not replicated to this copy of the folder.
  4. If you can see the messages in the OAB Version 2 folder, locate the message where the PR_OAB_MESSAGE_CLASS (ptag 68030003) property is set to 0x1. This is the message that Outlook tries to download.

Troubleshoot Download Issues

The 0x1 message is much larger than the other messages in OAB Version2 folder. The message size can be a problem in some environments. For example, if the Internet Mail Service is used to connect two sites, any size restrictions that are configured on the connector can prevent replication of the 0x1 message. To resolve this issue, use one of the following methods, as appropriate to your situation:
  • Remove the replicas of the offline address book in Exchange 2000, generate an offline address book for each site, and then point the mailbox stores to the offline address book in the local site.
  • Remove the message size restrictions that are configured on the Internet Mail Service. Restrictions on message sizes do not affect system messages on the message transfer agent (MTA) or X.400 Connectors. However, limits that are set on external connectors, such as the Internet Mail Service, apply to all messages including replication messages and can disrupt replication.
Outlook users may not be able to download the offline address book if the PR_ADDRBOOK_FOR_LOCAL_SITE_ENTRYID property is not updated to use the latest value. This can occur after you use the Guidgen.exe tool to generate globally unique identifiers (GUID) for site folders. To resolve this issue, restart the information store service.

For additional information about how to troubleshoot the Exchange 2000 offline address list, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

311742 XADM: Troubleshooting the Exchange 2000 offline address list


Modification Type:MinorLast Reviewed:8/17/2005
Keywords:kbprb KB811870