Microsoft Outlook users cannot download the offline Address Book in Exchange Server 5.5 (815237)



The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Exchange Server 5.5

Important This article contains information about modifying the registry. Before you modify the registry, make sure to back it up and make sure that you understand how to restore the registry if a problem occurs. For information about how to back up, restore, and edit the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

256986 Description of the Microsoft Windows Registry

SYMPTOMS

After you restrict Search permissions in your Microsoft Exchange Server 5.5 site, when you regenerate the offline Address Book (OAB), you experience all the following symptoms:
  • Microsoft Outlook users can no longer download the OAB.
  • If you view the OAB Version 2 public folder in the Public Folder Resources container in Microsoft Exchange Administrator, you notice that it does not contain any entries.
  • You notice a new public folder that has a GUID as a display name in the Public Folder Resources container in Microsoft Exchange Administrator.
For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

182902 How to set up Container Level Search Control

CAUSE

This problem occurs because when you restrict Search permissions in Exchange Server 5.5, the Exchange Server 5.5 offline Address Book generation goes into security mode. Because of this security mode-based offline Address Book generation, the offline Address Book is created in a folder that is named by using a GUID instead of being created in the OAB Version 2 folder as you expect.

RESOLUTION

Hotfix information

A supported hotfix is now available from Microsoft, but it is only intended to correct the problem that this article describes. Apply it only to systems that are experiencing this specific problem.

To resolve this problem, contact Microsoft Product Support Services to obtain the hotfix. For a complete list of Microsoft Product Support Services telephone numbers and information about support costs, visit the following Microsoft Web site:Note In special cases, charges that are ordinarily incurred for support calls may be canceled if a Microsoft Support Professional determines that a specific update will resolve your problem. The usual support costs will apply to additional support questions and issues that do not qualify for the specific update in question.

Hotfix replacement information

This hotfix does not replace any other hotfixes.

File information

The English version of this hotfix has the file attributes (or later) that are listed in the following table. The dates and times for these files are listed in coordinated universal time (UTC). When you view the file information, it is converted to local time. To find the difference between UTC and local time, use the Time Zone tab in the Date and Time tool in Control Panel.
Date         Time   Version           Size     File name
---------------------------------------------------------
18-Feb-2003  18:30  5.5.2657.23        47,376  Oabgen.dll

Hotfix installation information

After you install this hotfix, you can use a registry entry to modify the default behavior in Exchange Server 5.5 so that the OAB is generated in the OAB Version 2 folder instead of in a folder that is named by using a GUID.Warning If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using Registry Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

To use the functionality that is provided by this hotfix, modify the registry on the Microsoft Exchange Server 5.5 computer. To do this, follow these steps:
  1. On the Exchange Server 5.5 computer, start Registry Editor. To do this, click Start, click Run, type regedt32 in the Open box, and then click OK.
  2. Locate and then click the following registry subkey:

    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\MSExchangeDS\Parameters

  3. On the Edit menu, click Add Value.
  4. In the Value Name box, type OAB disable search control, click REG_DWORD in the Data Type list, and then click OK.
  5. In the Data box, type 1, and then click OK.
After you enable this registry value, OAB generation does not verify search control and creates the OAB in the OAB Version 2 folder.

Important If you use Exchange Server 5.5 to host other organizations, carefully consider the implications of this registry modification before you implement it in your organization.

WORKAROUND

To work around this problem, create a script or a program to copy the offline Address Book data from the GUID folder to the OAB Version 2 folder.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section.

REFERENCES

For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

824684 Description of the standard terminology that is used to describe Microsoft software updates


Modification Type:MinorLast Reviewed:10/13/2005
Keywords:kbHotfixServer kbQFE kbfix kbQFE kbBug KB815237 kbAudITPRO