Frequently Asked Questions for Administrators - Exchange Labs

[This is pre-release documentation and subject to change in future releases.]

This document is revised as new issues arise and others are resolved. For the most current
version of this document, please see the online version: Frequently Asked Questions for
Administrators - Exchange Labs.

This topic answers frequently asked questions from administrators of Exchange Labs hosted mail services.
Administrators are users who are provisioning their domain for Exchange Labs. Administrators also create
and manage user accounts.

There are some hyperlinks in the material. Internet access is recommended for full use of the
documentation. This document is revised as new issues arise and others are resolved. For the most current
version of this document, please see Frequently Asked Questions for Administrators - Exchange Labs.

Sign-up questions

• What kind of spam filtering and antivirus protection is included with Exchange Labs?

• What's the URL to my domain page for Windows Live Admin Center?

• The MX Record that Windows Live Admin Center provided is a Hotmail.com domain. Shouldn't it
be an ExchangeLabs.com domain?
DNS questions

• What are MX records and CNAME records? Why do I need them?

• The Windows Live Admin Center Web page is telling me that I need to update my MX record,
but there's no link to update my MX record. How do I update my MX record?

• How do I add an SPF record to my domain to support the Sender ID Framework?

Migration questions

• How do I migrate my users' existing messaging data to Exchange Labs?

• I migrated my existing Exchange organization to Exchange Labs. Now, when my users open
Outlook, they get a warning message that states that their mailbox has been moved, and they
are asked if they want to use a new temporary mailbox, or use old data. What's wrong?

• How do I migrate Hotmail, Google, or Yahoo! contacts into Exchange Labs?

• I want to transfer my domain from Office Live to Exchange Labs. Who do I contact?

• Where can I get a copy of CSVImport.exe?

Account maintenance questions

• I get the following warning when I try to manage a new account: "There is no data to return for
the specified mailbox <mailbox name>, because it has not been logged on to." What should I
do?

• I completed my Exchange Labs enrollment and I immediately started creating new accounts.
Now, some new accounts don't appear in the global address list. What's wrong?
 • I created a new mailbox and immediately sent test messages to it. The test messages are
returned with a non-delivery report (NDR). What's wrong?

• How do I give another user administrative rights to Exchange functionality in my Exchange Labs
domain?

• I can't re-create an account after I've deleted it. What should I do?

• I cannot enroll my child's Exchange Live account in Windows Live Family Safety Software

• Does Exchange Labs support proxy e-mail addresses?

• Does Exchange Labs support a catch-all mailbox?

• What is the deleted item retention period for deleted messages in Exchange Labs?

• Can I send a message from a distribution group?

• What is the backup and restore strategy for mailboxes in Exchange Labs?

• When you try to create a new Exchange Labs account, you receive the error: "Failed to create
Windows Live ID member <e-mail address>. Additional message: PassportError: Passport
error."
Client access questions

• I want to provide manual configuration procedures to my users who run Outlook 2007. Do I
have to use Autodiscover to connect Outlook 2007 to Exchange Labs?

• I've configured the Autodiscover CNAME record in my domain, but some users are still having
trouble accessing their Exchange Labs accounts using Outlook 2007. What's wrong?

• What Exchange ActiveSync mailbox policies are set by Exchange Labs?

• Can I access my Exchange Labs mailbox by using Outlook Mobile Access or Wireless Application
Protocol (WAP)?

• Does Exchange Labs support the IMAP4 IDLE command?

Windows PowerShell V2 questions

• Where do I learn more about the Windows PowerShell V2 remoting feature?

• How do I block messages that contain specific words in my Exchange Labs domain?

• How do I configure my Exchange Labs domain to only allow mail flow between internal
recipients?

• How do I restrict mail flow between specific recipients in my Exchange Labs domain?

• How do I create dynamic distribution groups in Exchange Labs?

• How do I use the Windows PowerShell V2 remoting feature to create Exchange Labs
administrator accounts?
Sign-up questions
What kind of spam filtering and antivirus protection is included with Exchange Labs?
Exchange Labs uses the Windows Live infrastructure to combat spam and phishing. For more information,
see Fighting Junk E-mail on the Windows Live Hotmail Postmaster Services Web site.
By default, all mailboxes that are created in Exchange Labs have junk e-mail filtering enabled. For more
information about client-side configuration of junk e-mail filtering, see Junk E-Mail Tab.

For antivirus protection, Exchange Labs relies on redundant signature-based virus scanning. All inbound and
outbound e-mail in Exchange Labs is scanned for viruses.

What's the URL to my domain page for Windows Live Admin Center?
You can get to the Domain Settings page in the Windows Live Admin Center by logging on to
https://domains.live.com and selecting the domain you have signed up with Exchange Labs.

From here, you can check DNS configuration status, cancel the Exchange Lab service for a domain, open the
Web management interface for Exchange Labs at https://exchangelabs.com/ecp, or to view general domain
status.

The MX record that Windows Live Admin Center provided is a Hotmail.com domain. Shouldn't it
be an ExchangeLabs.com domain?
Windows Live Admin Center is a Microsoft offering that supports different service initiatives at Microsoft.
When you sign up your domain with Exchange Labs, you are given the option to set up a Windows Live
Hotmail association with your domain.

If you accidentally select the Windows Live Hotmail option for your domain, Exchange Labs will not be
configured correctly.

Symptoms
The MX record that the Windows Live Admin Center service provides on the Domain Settings page for your
domain contains a hotmail.com domain, such as 117575564.pamx1.hotmail.com. A correctly
configured MX record for Exchange Labs contains an exchangelabs.com domain, such as
223189410.mail.exchangelabs.com.

Resolution

1. You must cancel your Exchange Labs enrollment, and start over. For more information, see Cancel
Your Exchange Labs Service.

2. When you enroll your domain again, be sure to select hosted Exchange mail.
For Exchange Labs with Microsoft Live@edu enrollment instructions, see Get Started with Exchange
Labs for Microsoft Live@edu Administrators.
For Exchange Labs for Friends & Family enrollment instructions, see Get Started with Exchange Labs
for Friends & Family Administrators.

DNS questions
What are MX records and CNAME records? Why do I need them?
See the following topics:

• MX Records in Exchange Labs

• CNAME Records in Exchange Labs

For more information about all the DNS records that are used with Exchange Labs, see Configure Your
Domain's DNS Records for Exchange Labs.

The Windows Live Admin Center Web page is telling me that I need to update my MX record, but
there's no link to update my MX record. How do I update my MX record?
MX records are part of the DNS records, and they are managed by the entity that hosts the DNS records for
the domain name. Because you registered the domain name, you own the domain name. You must work
with your DNS hosting service to update the MX records. In some cases, you may be able to log on to your
DNS hosting service with an administrator account and update the MX records yourself. In other cases, you
may have to contact your DNS hosting service to update your MX records.

For instructions about how to configure your DNS records with specific domain registrars, see the following
topics:

• Create DNS Records at 1&1

• Create DNS Records at CentralNic

• Create DNS Records at eNom Central

• Create DNS Records at GoDaddy.com

• Create DNS Records at Network Solutions

• Create DNS Records at Register.com

• Create DNS Records at Yahoo!

If you aren't using one of these domain registrars, see Generic Instructions for Creating DNS Records for
Exchange Labs.

If you need help finding your domain registrar or your DNS hosting service, see Find Your Domain Registrar
and DNS Hosting Service.

It's important to realize that DNS records can take time to update. Sometimes it can take up to three days
for full DNS replication of MX records across the Internet. In some cases, you will be able to send messages
from your Exchange Labs account, but you can't receive them. This is likely a DNS replication issue. The
resolution for this issue is to wait a day or two and see when mail flow starts.

How do I add an SPF record to my domain to support the Sender ID Framework?

For general information about the Sender ID framework, see Sender ID. For more information about Sender
Policy Framework (SPF) records in Exchange Labs, see SPF Records in Exchange Labs.

For instructions about how to configure your DNS records with specific domain registrars, see the following
topics:

• Create DNS Records at 1&1

• Create DNS Records at CentralNic

• Create DNS Records at eNom Central

• Create DNS Records at GoDaddy.com

 • Create DNS Records at Network Solutions

• Create DNS Records at Register.com

• Create DNS Records at Yahoo!

If you aren't using one of these domain registrars, see Generic Instructions for Creating DNS Records for
Exchange Labs.

Migration questions
How do I migrate my Outlook users' existing messaging data to Exchange Labs?
For Exchange Labs on Microsoft Live@edu, Outlook 2007 users can migrate their current Outlook mailboxes
using a Personal Folder (.pst) file. For more information, see Move an Outlook data file from one computer
to another in Outlook Help.

For Friends & Family on Exchange Labs, Outlook 2007 users can migrate their current Outlook data to
Exchange Labs using a Personal Folder (.pst) file. For more information, see Step 2 and Step 7 in Migrate an
Existing Exchange Organization to Exchange Labs for Friends & Family.

I migrated my existing Exchange organization to Exchange Labs. Now, when my users open
Outlook, they get a warning message that states that their mailbox has been moved, and they
are asked if they want to use a new temporary mailbox, or use old data. What's wrong?
The warning message may resemble the following:

Your mailbox has been temporarily moved on Microsoft Exchange server. A temporary mailbox exists, but
might not have all of your previous data. You can connect to the temporary mailbox or work offline with all
of your old data. If you choose to work with your old data, you cannot send or receive e-mail messages.

This warning is generated if your users try to open your Exchange Labs mailbox using the same Outlook
profile that they used to access their old Exchange mailbox. If cached mode is enabled in Outlook, the
Offline Folder file (OST) that is associated with the existing Outlook profile is associated to the old mailbox.
This association of an OST file to a mailbox can't be modified. To resolve the problem, tell your users to
close Outlook and do one of the following:

• Follow the instructions in Migrate an Existing Exchange Organization to Exchange Labs for
Friends & Family. Specifically, Step 7 recommends that your users should create a completely
different Outlook profile to access their Exchange Labs mailbox.

• If your users want to continue to use their existing Outlook profile, they must move or delete
the existing OST file. Outlook will create a new OST file the next time they open Outlook if
cached mode is enabled.
In Windows Vista, the OST file is in
C:\Users\<user name>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook.
In Windows XP, the OST file is in C:\Documents and Settings\<user name>\Local
Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook.
How do I migrate Hotmail, Google, or Yahoo! contacts into Exchange Labs?
Currently, there are no tools that automatically migrate contacts from other e-mail clients or instant
messaging clients into Exchange Labs mailboxes. However, if the existing e-mail client or instant messaging
client supports the export of contacts to a file, each user can export their contacts to a file, such as a CSV
file, connect to their Exchange Labs mailbox using Outlook 2007, and then import the contacts into Outlook.

The Windows Live Admin Center domain administrator account can also use the CSVImport.exe tool to
create Contacts in the address book for your Exchange Labs domain. However, everyone in the
Exchange Labs domain can see these imported contacts. Also, CSVImport.exe requires specific formatting.
The CSV file that contains your exported contacts must be modified to work correctly with CSVImport.exe in
Exchange Labs. For more information about how to create contacts with CSVImport.exe, see Create a
Contact.

I want to transfer my domain from Office Live to Exchange Labs. Who do I contact?
If you are using a free Office Live offering, you must use the following form to cancel your Office Live service
at Microsoft Office Live Small Business Cancellation.

If you are using a subscribed Office Live offering, you can use the same form, or you can use the support
telephone number that is provided when you log on to Office Live. Telephone support is available only to
customers who have paid subscriptions to Office Live.

Regardless of how you cancel your Office Live service, you must request that you want to cancel your
service immediately and completely. After you request a cancellation, your domain still exists in Office Live
for up to 90 days as a safety measure in case you want to sign up for Office Live again. During this 90 day
waiting period, you won't be able to use your domain with Exchange Labs.

If necessary, follow up on your cancellation request. It may take repeated correspondence to completely
remove your domain from Office Live. After your domain is completely removed from Office Live, you can
use the domain in Exchange Labs.

Important:

Before you cancel your Office Live service, back up all your mailbox data
to an Outlook Personal Folder (.pst) file. After you cancel your Office Live
service, all the Windows Live IDs from your domain that were using
Office Live mail may be in an unusable state. The Windows Live IDs will
exist, but they won't function. After you complete your Exchange Labs
enrollment, you must re-create these accounts in your Exchange Labs
domain by using a different length password. Also, Outlook users should
create a new Outlook profile to access their Exchange Labs mailbox.

Where can I get a copy of CSVImport.exe?

The CSVImport.exe tool is provided for you as a sample application in the Windows Live Admin Center
Software Development Kit V3.0, available for download at Windows Live Admin Center SDK V3.0.

Account maintenance Questions

I get the following warning when I try to manage a new account: "There is no data to return for
the specified mailbox <mailbox name>, because it has not been logged on to." What should I do?
This behavior is by design. Specific properties are set on the mailbox object when a user logs on for the first
time. If you try to manage a user mailbox before the user has logged on to the mailbox, you get this
warning. After the user logs on for the first time, you will not see this warning.

I completed my Exchange Labs enrollment and I immediately started creating new accounts.
Now, some new accounts don't appear in the global address list. What's wrong?
After you enroll your domain, wait at least five minutes for internal Exchange Lab updates to finish. If you
create a user account before the internal Exchange Lab updates have finished, the new users may not
appear in the global address list in Outlook 2007 or Outlook Web Access, even though the mailbox account
is displayed in the Web management interface for Exchange Labs at https://exchangelabs.com/ecp.

For the user accounts that don't appear in the global address list, you have to modify one of the properties
of the account, such as the display name or contact information. After you modify the account properties
and save the changes, the account will appear in the global address list.

Note:

Accounts that appear in the Web management interface for Exchange

Labs with the e-mail address for the display name will have problems
connecting to their mailbox in Outlook 2007. You should correctly
populate the first name, last name, and display name for any accounts in
the Web management interface that have the e-mail address for the
display name.

I created a new mailbox and immediately sent test messages to it. The test messages are
returned with a non-delivery report (NDR). What's wrong?
After you create a new mailbox, wait at least three minutes before you send messages to the mailbox. After
three minutes, the new mailbox should accept new messages.

How do I give another user administrative rights to Exchange functionality in my Exchange Labs
domain?
To create a new Exchange Labs administrator account or to promote an existing Exchange Labs account to
an Exchange Labs administrator, you must use the CSVImport.exe tool.

For more information, see the following topics:

• Create an Exchange Labs Administrator Account with the CSVImport.exe Tool

• Bulk Import User Accounts

I can't re-create an account after I've deleted it. What should I do?
For more information, see Re-create a Deleted Account in Exchange Labs.
I cannot enroll my child's Exchange Live account in Windows Live Family Safety Software
If you have created an Exchange Labs mailbox for a child under 18 years old, you will get an error if you try
to enroll the associated Windows Live ID in the Windows Live Family Safety Software. This is a known issue:
Exchange Lab accounts for users under 18 are not compatible with Windows Live Family Safety Software.

Does Exchange Labs support proxy e-mail addresses?

Supporting proxy addresses allows you to have multiple e-mail addresses for the same mailbox. There are
two basic proxy scenarios:

• Same domain User1@example.com and U1@example.com both go to the same mailbox at

User1@example.com.

• Different domain User@example.com and User@contoso.com both go to the same mailbox,

User@example.com
Exchange Labs supports both these scenarios. For more information see Proxy Addresses.

For the "Same domain" scenario, you can configure the proxy address in one of two ways:

• Mailbox rule method Create mailboxes for both User1@example.com and U1@example.com.
Log on to Outlook 2007 or Outlook Web Access for U1@example.com and create a mailbox rule
that forwards all inbound mail to User1@example.com.

• Distribution group method Create a mailbox for User1@example.com and create a

distribution group with an e-mail address of U1@example.com. After you create the distribution
group with an e-mail address of U1@example.com, open its property page and clear the Reject
e-mails sent by external users to this group check box. Add User1@example.com to the
U1@example.com distribution group.
For the "Different domain" scenario, you must enroll both domains in Exchange Labs and forward e-mail
from one domain to another by using mailbox rules.

Does Exchange Labs support a catch-all mailbox?

No, Exchange Labs doesn't support a catch-all mailbox. A catch-all mailbox accepts all incoming mail for
invalid e-mail addresses.

What is the deleted item retention period for deleted messages in Exchange Labs?
The current retention period in Exchange Labs is unlimited. Eventually, the deleted item retention period will
be 14 days.

Can I send a message from a distribution group?

Currently, you can't send a message from a distribution group because you can't configure the distribution
group permissions to allow an account to send an e-mail message with the distribution group as the sender.
What is the backup and restore strategy for mailboxes in Exchange Labs?
Traditional backups are not performed on Exchange Labs mailboxes. Instead, Exchange Labs uses highly
available mailboxes and servers.

When you try to create a new Exchange Labs account, you receive the error: "Failed to create
Windows Live ID member <e-mail address>. Additional message: PassportError: Passport error."
This error occurs when you specify a password that contains the ampersand ( & ) character or the <
character. To resolve this error, specify a password that doesn't contain the & character or the < character.

For more information about password rules and restrictions in Exchange Labs, see Password Guidelines for
Exchange Labs.

Client access questions

I want to provide manual configuration procedures to my users who run Outlook 2007. Do I have
to use Autodiscover to connect Outlook 2007 to Exchange Labs?
Yes, you must use Autodiscover. By using Autodiscover, Exchange Labs can make changes to the server
infrastructure, such as the location of your mailboxes, without affecting your Outlook clients. The
Autodiscover service requires a CNAME record in your domain. For more information, see Configure Your
Domain's DNS Records for Exchange Labs.

Manual configuration of Outlook 2007 is not supported in Exchange Labs.

I've configured the Autodiscover CNAME record in my domain, but some users are still having
trouble accessing their Exchange Labs accounts using Outlook 2007. What's wrong?
This problem occurs if the display name in Exchange Labs is the e-mail address. When users create a new
profile for their Exchange Labs mailbox in Outlook 2007, they are prompted to enter their name, their e-mail
address, and their password. Because the name that they specify in Outlook 2007 is not the same as the
display name of their mailbox in Exchange Labs, Outlook 2007 can't connect to their mailbox. The easiest
way to fix this problem is to modify the display name of the Exchange Labs mailbox from their e-mail
address to their first and last name. To do this, perform the following steps

1. Log on to the Web management interface for Exchange Labs at https://exchangelabs.com/ecp using
your Exchange Labs administrator credentials.

2. Click Organization, and verify that Mailboxes is selected.

3. Select the affected mailbox, and then click Properties.

4. In the Display name field, enter the correct first name and last name. This is the value that the
user should specify in the Your Name field in Outlook 2007 when they set up Outlook 2007 to
connect to your Exchange Labs mailbox.

5. Click Save, and then tell the user to try to connect to their Exchange Labs mailbox in Outlook 2007.

In Exchange Labs, the e-mail address is used as the display name under the following circumstances:
 • The account that you use to sign up your domain for Exchange Labs.

Note:

In Exchange Labs for Friends & Family, you can also create accounts
from the Member Accounts page in the Windows Live Admin Center.
However, any accounts that you create from the Member Accounts
page use the e-mail address as the display name. Therefore, we
recommend against using the Member Accounts page to create new
accounts.
Also, the e-mail address is used as the display name when you create
accounts using the CSVImport.exe tool without specifying a display
name.

What Exchange ActiveSync mailbox policies are set by Exchange Labs?

When a user configures a Windows Mobile device to synchronize with Exchange Labs, the user will receive a
notification that Exchange Labs has to configure policies on the device. A policy is a group of settings that
specifies how information is synchronized between the device and Exchange Labs. All devices that
synchronize with Exchange Labs have the following policy settings applied to them.

Setting Value

Allow non-provisionable devices True

Allow simple password False
Alphanumeric password required False
Attachments enabled True
Device encryption enabled False
Password enabled False
Password expiration Unlimited
Password history 0
Policy refresh interval Unlimited
Maximum attachment size Unlimited
Maximum failed password attempts 4
Maximum inactivity time lock 15 minutes
Minimum password length 4
Password recovery Disabled
UNC file access Enabled
WSS file access Enabled
These settings don't require the user to use a password on the device. However, we recommend that the
user uses a password on the device to help secure their data.

Can I access my Exchange Labs mailbox by using Outlook Mobile Access or Wireless Application
Protocol (WAP)?
No. Exchange Labs doesn't support Outlook Mobile Access or WAP. Exchange Labs supports
Exchange ActiveSync, POP, and IMAP to access and synchronize a mailbox with a mobile device. There are
third-party applications that add Exchange ActiveSync, POP, or IMAP capabilities to mobile devices that don't
natively support them.

Does Exchange Labs support the IMAP4 IDLE command?

Yes, Exchange Labs supports the IMAP4 IDLE command. The IDLE command allows IMAP4 clients to send
and receive their messages in near real-time. The IMAP4 IDLE command is defined in RFC 2177.

Windows PowerShell V2 questions

Where do I learn more about the Windows PowerShell V2 remoting feature?
Windows PowerShell V2 is available for all Microsoft Live@edu enrollments. For more information about how
to install and configure Windows PowerShell V2 and connect to Exchange Labs, see Remote PowerShell with
Exchange Labs.

How do I block messages that contain specific words in my Exchange Labs domain?
See Create Keyword Filters in Exchange Labs.

How do I configure my Exchange Labs domain to only allow mail flow between internal
recipients?
See Restrict Mail Flow to Internal Users in Exchange Labs.

How do I restrict mail flow between specific recipients in my Exchange Labs domain?
See Restrict Mail Flow Between Specific Recipients in Exchange Labs.

How do I create dynamic distribution groups in Exchange Labs?

See Create Dynamic Distribution Groups in Exchange Labs.

How do I use Windows PowerShell V2 to create Exchange Labs administrator accounts?

See Create Exchange Labs Administrator Accounts with Windows PowerShell V2.