The Content of The Autodiscover Server Response - Part 11 of 36

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The content of the Autodiscover server

response | Part 11#36
n the current article, we will review the subject of the Autodiscover response
content.
The term Autodiscover response relates to the Autodiscover information that
the Exchange CAS server provides to his Autodiscover client.
Written by Eyal Doron | o365info.com | Copyright 2012-2015
In this article, we will relate to the Exchange server Autodiscover response content
from the perspective of the three Outlook providers EXPR, EXCH and ExHTTP.
Article Series - Exchange and Autodiscover infrastructure | Table of
content
For most of us, the content of the Autodiscover response is a mystery and, most of
the time we are not able to understand the complete meaning of this mystery.
The purpose of the current article is to remove some of the fog that relates to the
content of the Autodiscover Exchange CAS server response so, we will be able to
get more information about the interesting process of Autodiscover.
In addition, to have the ability to solve the advanced problems that relate to the
communication channel and the Autodiscover process that is implemented
between the Autodiscover client and the Exchange CAS server.
Autodiscover response
Q1: Question what is the meaning of Autodiscover response?
A1: The Autodiscover response is the answer that the Exchange CAS server
provides to his Autodiscover clients.
A metaphor that we can use that will help us to understand the relationships that
exist between Exchange server, and his Autodiscover client is a metaphor of a
person that feeds his Children.
The Autodiscover client needs a well (Autodiscover information), and they address
Exchange server asking him to feed them (providing the Autodiscover response).
Q2: How does the client (Outlook) know what are the required parameters that he
needs to use for communicating with the Exchange server?
A2: The Exchange server provides all the required information to the Outlook client
as part of Autodiscover response. The Autodiscover answer, include the required
information that relates to the different communication parameters.
The main advantage of the Autodiscover method is that there is no need for using a
complex manual setting for configuring Outlook client to use the required
parameters.
Instead, Outlook uses the Autodiscover protocol for locating the required Exchange
server, and the Exchange server knows how to Pack and ship the information
using the Autodiscover response to the Autodiscover client.
The Outlook configuration setting is sent to Outlook Automatically by Exchange and
Outlook client know how to use this information for an automatic creation of an
Outlook mail profile.
Q3: Who are the Exchange Autodiscover clients?

A3: The most prominent Autodiscover client that fully depends on the Exchange
Autodiscover services is the Outlook mail client.
Exchange Autodiscover information is relevant to Exchange mobile client
(ActiveSync client) and also for the Exchange web client (OWA).
Q4: What are the building block or the major parts of the Autodiscover response?
A4: The Autodiscover response includes the following parts:
1. Information about the available Exchange web service
2. Information that is needed for Outlook mail client for creating a new mail profile
3. Information about the communication parameters the Exchange dictate to the
Outlook client. For example the communication protocol, the authentication
protocol, etc.
Q5: Can you provide a detailed explanation for each of the parameters that are
included in the Exchange Autodiscover response?
A5:
The answer to this question is not so simple, and even to me, some of the content
look as a mysterious words.
There are two main reasons for the phenomenon of this mystery
1. Dynamic environment
The Exchange infrastructure is a very dynamic environment, each of the Exchange
software updates adds an additional type of services or updates to the existing
Exchange services.
This Exchange updates, are registered in the Autodiscover file and as long that the
client side such as Outlook knows how to relate to this update its OK.
2. Lack of documentation or a public information
When I sat down to write this article, I have searched for public articles that will
include a detailed description about each of the data fields that appear in the
Exchange Autodiscover response.
The result there are very few articles about the subject of the Autodiscover
response content and, regarding the Autodiscover key that Im not familiar with, I
could not find additional or meaningful information.
So what is my point?
My point is that despite the mysterious parts in the Autodiscover response file,
there are many other parts that we can understand and use in a troubleshooting
scenario.
Note many times in the Autodiscover article series, I use the term Autodiscover
file.
If we want to be more accurate, actually there is no such thing as an Autodiscover
file.The Exchange server answer described as Autodiscover response and this
response include the content which I describe as Autodiscover file.
Technically, it doesnt matter much as long as its easier for us to look at the
Exchange server response as a file.
The file format of the Autodiscover file

The information that delivered by the Exchange server to his mail client is based on
an XML format.
The XML format is implemented by using XML tags and, the data that is included
between the XML tags.
Each of and XML sentence began with an opening XML tag and end with a
closing XML tag (the close tag is defined by the slash forward character /).
The data or, the information, resides between this XML tag.
The basic assumption is that the client side, the element that the request for the
information knows what is the meaning of the XML tag and how to use the
information that resides between this XML tag.
When the Outlook client gets the Autodiscover information that is provided by the
Exchange server, the client knows or to relate to each of the XML tags.
In the following diagram, we can see an example for a piece of information that
was taken from a standard Autodiscover response.
In our example, the XML tag <EwsUrl> define the URL address of the element (the
Exchange server) that provides EWS services. The Exchange server hostname who
provides the EWS services is mail.o365info.com and, the URL address of the
Exchange web services are
https://mail.o365info.com/EWS/Exchange.asmx
The client such as Outlook, need to know or understand what the Exchange EWS
services is and know how to access the specified URL when he needs the Exchange
EWS services.
Types of Autodiscover requests

Autodiscover client addresses the Autodiscover Endpoint (Exchange server) asking
for Autodiscover information.
In an Exchange environment, the request for Autodiscover information by the
Autodiscover client can be implemented by using three types of format or
standard:
1. EWS Managed API
2. SOAP Autodiscover
3. POX Autodiscover
The more advanced or preferred Exchange interface is the SOAP Autodiscover and
the EWS Managed API.
The decision, which interface to use, depends on the Exchange client that
addresses the Exchange CAS server (Autodiscover Endpoint).
Exchange server can answer or provide the required information for each of this
different type of client request.
The term Exchange client can relate to the mail client such as Outlook, mobile
devices, other Exchange server or any Exchange-aware application.
An exchange mail client such as Outlook, use the SOAP Autodiscover interface or
the POX Autodiscover interface for submitting a request for the Autodiscover
information.
When mail client address Exchange CAS server asking for Autodiscover
information, using the POX Autodiscover interface, the client request is for a file
named xml
When mail client address Exchange CAS server asking for Autodiscover
information, using the SOAP Autodiscover interface, the client request is for file
named svc
Note in this article series when describing the flow in which Autodiscover client
request for Autodiscover information, we will use the autodiscover.xml naming
convention for describing the Autodiscover client request for Autodiscover
information.
In reality, the Autodiscover client request could also refer to the file named
autodiscover.svc
Additional reading
Autodiscover for Exchange

How to: Generate a list of Autodiscover endpoints
EWS Managed API, EWS, and web services in Exchange
Exchange Outlook Providers

Exchange server needs to provide his client a detailed information about the
Exchange infrastructure. The information that is needed for creating a new Outlook
mail profile, the information that is needed for communicating with the Exchange
server and information about the existing Exchange web services.
To make it even more complicated, the set of details that need to be provided to
the internal Outlook client is markedly different than the details that need to be
provided to external Outlook clients.
An Exchange server, know how to pack and ship the required information for
Outlook client via the Autodiscover response.
The information is divided into sections.
Some of the sections include relevant information for internal Outlook clients.
Some of the sections include relevant information for external Outlook
clients.
The method in which the Exchange server divides the information into sections for
the different type of Outlook client, meaning external versus internal Outlook
clients, described as Outlook providers.
OUTLOOK PROVIDERS AND EXCHANGE SERVER VERSION

Exchange 2007\2010 server version supports two types of Outlook providers
The Autodiscover response section (Outlook Provider) that includes relevant

information for internal Outlook clients described as EXCH
The Autodiscover response section (Outlook Provider) that includes relevant
information for external Outlook clients described as EXPR
Exchange 2013 server version supports the former type of Outlook providers,
meaning EXCH and, EXPR and in addition, a new type of Outlook provider named
ExHTTP.
Two interesting things about the Exchange 2013 server ExHTTP Outlook provider
1. Identical ExHTTP section for internal + external Outlook clients
The Exchange 2013 Autodiscover response, include two sections named ExHTTP for
external + internal Outlook client versus Exchange 2007/2010 that use the different
naming convention for Outlook providers (EXCH for internal Outlook client
and EXPR for external Outlook client)
In case that you are wondering, how the Outlook client understand if the
information is related to the internal Outlook client or the for the external Outlook
client, the answer is that the first ExHTTP section is for internal Outlook clients and
the second ExHTTP section is for external Outlook clients.
2. The content of the ExHTTP section

Most of the ExHTTP section content, is inherited from the content that exists in
the EXCH section and, from the content that exists in the EXPR.
Attached a quote from Microsoft article
In Exchange 2007/2010, the way Outlook Anywhere was implemented is that you
had one namespace you could configure. In Exchange 2013, you have both an
internal host name and an external host name. Think of it as having two sets of
Outlook Anywhere settings, one for when you are connected to the corporate
domain, and another for when you are not.
You will see this returned to the Outlook client in the Autodiscover response via
what looks like a new provider, ExHTTP.
However, ExHTTP isnt an actual provider, it is a calculated set of values from
the EXCH (internal Outlook Anywhere) and EXPR (External Outlook Anywhere)
settings. To correctly use these settings, the Outlook client must be patched to the
appropriate levels (see the Exchange 2013 System Requirements for more
information). Outlook will process the ExHTTP in order internal first and external
second.
[Source if information Client Connectivity in an Exchange 2013 Coexistence

Environment]
In the following diagram, we can see the logic of the Exchange Outlook providers.
Exchange 2013 server provides the old Outlook providers and the new Outlook
providers.
The ExHTTP Outlook provider is used for external + internal Outlook client at the
same time. The secret is that the first section of ExHTTP is aiming to internal
Outlook clients and the second section of ExHTTP, is aiming to external Outlook
clients
In case that you want to view the Outlook provider whom a specific Exchange
server provide, you can use the following PowerShell command
Get-OutlookProvider | Select Identity
In the following diagram, we can see that the Exchange 2013 support the former
Outlook providers in addition include a new type of Outlook provider named
ExHTTP
Exchange Autodiscover response XML structure and

content
The Exchange Autodiscover response is built by using a specific structure.
An example to a standard structure of an Autodiscover response (the XML file)
that is provided by the Exchange 2013 server is presented in the following diagram.
VIEWING THE CONTENT OF THE EXCHANGE AUTODISCOVER RESPONSE

FILE
To be able to understand better the content of the Autodiscover response, we will
use an example of Exchange 2013 Autodiscover response that located in
environments that have the following characters:
The Exchange 2013 is a Public facing Exchange server, meaning, the Exchange
server provides services to be internal + external mail clients.
The namespace infrastructure is based on a separation between the internal

namespace and the external\public namespace.
The internal namespace of the Exchange server is o365info.local

The external namespace of the Exchange server is o365info.com
In the following section, we will review some of the content that is included in the
Exchange Autodiscover response.
1. EXPR section information for external Outlook clients
The XML information is based on block of information.
The section of the EXPR (that is relevant to external Outlook clients) has a beginning
and an end (number 1).
The EXPR section is built from a collection of XML tags
Each XML tag has also a starting tag and Ending tag (number 2).
The content that needs to be read by the client is positioned between the XML
tags (number3).
The Exchange server provides to the Outlook client about his host name (his
identity). Outlook client will use this name for addressing the Exchange server
(number 4).
Exchange server inform Outlook client what protocol he should use as a
communication protocol. In our scenario, the communication protocol is SSL
(number 5).
Most of the Exchange Autodiscover response content includes information about

the different Exchange web services and other Exchange services.
The information about the specific services is presented in the XML tag and the
information about the host who provides the specific services + the URL address of
the specific service is included between the opening and the closing XML tag.
For example, The following XML tag appears in the EXPR section
<ASUrl>https://mail.o365info.com/EWS/Exchange.asmx</ASUrl>
Information about the Exchange availability services (Free\Busy time) is

provided by using the XML tag <ASUrl>
In our specific example, the Exchange host name who provides the Exchange
availability services is mail.o365info.com
The URL address that Outlook client need to use when he needs to consume
Exchange availability services is https://mail.o365info.com/EWS/Exchange.asmx
Note that the EXPR section is relevant to external Outlook clients. For this reason,
the information about the services that the Exchange server provide will be based
on the public identity of the Exchange server. In our scenario, the Exchange server
present himself by using the host name mail.o365info.com
In the following screenshot, we can see we can see an example of different
Exchange services that are offered to Outlook clients.
Note that Exchange provides different services using the same URL address.
For example, Exchange availability services represented by the XML tag
<ASUrl> and Exchange OOO (out of office) services, are represented by the XML
tag <OOFUrl> have identical URL address
https://mail.o365info.com/EWS/Exchange.asmx
The yellow arrows point Outlook different Exchange services that are provided by
using the same URL address (number 1).
An example of additional Exchange services could be:
OAB the OAB stand for Outlook offline address book. The XML
tag <OABUrl>, inform the Outlook client about the URL address that they need
to use when that need to access Exchange server and download a local copy
of the Outlook offline address book. In our specific scenario, the URL address
is https://mail.o365info.com/OAB/45831dde-e32e-4a86-926386ce0df67038 (number 2).
ECP the Exchange web management interface. The Autodiscover response
includes a dedicated XML tag named <EcpUrl> that tell Exchange web client
such as OWA, what is the URL address that should be used when there is a
need to access the Exchange web management. In our scenario, the URL
address is https://mail.o365info.com/ecp (number 3).
2. EXCH section information for internal Outlook clients

In the following screenshot, we can see we can see an example of the EXCH section.
This section is relevant to internal Outlook clients.
For this reason, the information about the services that the Exchange server
provide will be based on the private identity of the Exchange server.
In our scenario, the Exchange server present himself by using the host name
exo1.o365info.local
3. ExHTTP section information for internal + external clients

As mentioned, Exchange 2013 server adds to the Autodiscover response file
additional section that includes a new type of Outlook provider, the ExHTTP section.
In the following screenshot, we can see that the Autodiscover response includes
two different sections of ExHTTP
The XML tag name who is used for the two sections is identical.
The first ExHTTP section (number 1) includes information related to internal

Outlook clients.
The second ExHTTP section (number 2) includes information related to external
Outlook clients.
4. WEB section information for OWA clients

The Exchange Autodiscover response includes a dedicated section for WEB mail
clients (OWA clients).
We can see that the information that is provided to the WEB mail clients also
includes reference to the subject of internal versus external clients.
Some examples for the content of the Autodiscover XML file

In case that you will have the desired to look at the content of a standard Exchange
Autodiscover response, you will be amazed by the amount of the data.
As I have mentioned before, Im not familiar with all the information and the XML
Tags that appear in the Autodiscover response.
But, there are some famous XML Tags in the Autodiscover response that we
should know about because they represent the most important and essentials
Exchange web services.
In the following diagram, we can see an example for these famous XML Tags.
By looking at the structure of the URL address we can use a couple of observations:
The access to Exchange EWS folder (Exchange Web Services) is implemented

by requesting a file named asmx
The Exchange web services URL is represented by the XML Tag <EwsUrl>
Different Exchange web services, are represented by the same URL address.
For example- The URL address of the automatic reply (represented by the
XML Tag <OOFUrl> ) and the calendar sharing URL (represented by the XML
Tag <SharingUrl>) are leading or pointing to the same URL address.
Examples of Exchange web services that paper on the Autodiscover

response.
1. Offline address Book the Exchange services that enable Outlook client to
download a local copy of the Global address list is represented by the XML Tag
<OABUrl>. The URL address includes the file name that the client should ask for
(in our example https://mail.o365info.com/OAB/45831dde-e32e-4a86-926386ce0df67038)
2. Unified messaging the URL address for the Exchange unified messaging is
represented by the XML Tag <UMUrl>
3. Exchange ECP the ECP is the web address of the Exchange control panel. The
ECP is used by web mail client (OWA) for managing and accessing their personal
details.
Additional reading
The Autodiscover Service and Outlook Providers how does this stuff work?
When, if and how do you modify Outlook Providers?
Autodiscover Response

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The content of the Autodiscover server

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Q3: Who are the Exchange Autodiscover clients?

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The file format of the Autodiscover file

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Types of Autodiscover requests

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Autodiscover for Exchange

Exchange Outlook Providers

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OUTLOOK PROVIDERS AND EXCHANGE SERVER VERSION

The Autodiscover response section (Outlook Provider) that includes relevant

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2. The content of the ExHTTP section

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[Source if information Client Connectivity in an Exchange 2013 Coexistence

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Exchange Autodiscover response XML structure and

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VIEWING THE CONTENT OF THE EXCHANGE AUTODISCOVER RESPONSE

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The namespace infrastructure is based on a separation between the internal

The internal namespace of the Exchange server is o365info.local

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Most of the Exchange Autodiscover response content includes information about

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Information about the Exchange availability services (Free\Busy time) is

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2. EXCH section information for internal Outlook clients

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3. ExHTTP section information for internal + external clients