Sync Windows Mobile 6.1 with Exchange Server

[jthomas8946]

I am posting this, because I finally got it to work for me. I have seen numerous posts on this, but with no solution.

Since Windows Mobile 6.1 people have had problems getting their email, contacts, and calendar to sync correctly OTA (over the air). I was able to get my email to sync, but not my contacts and calendar.

There seems to be a change with Active Sync in the new WM 6.1. Some say it is more secure and that it needs to download the certificate directly from the server. I have also seen a post that says it maybe an ISA issue. Either way, there is a way to make it work.

Solution:

1. Setup Active sync on your device to sync with your OWA (Outlook Web Access Server) or whatever frontend server you use for exchange.

2. Once this is setup, sync your device directly to your computer via a USB cable.
* If this is a work email account, you may need to do this on your
work computer that is connected to your domain.
* If you or your employer uses a web proxy server you will need to set
this up on your device. Start - Settings - Connections - Connections - Advanced - Select Networks - My Work Network
(Edit this) - Proxy Settings (Check both boxes) - Select Advanced
Select HTTP Webproxy:80 - Enter in your domain username and
password - OK - OK - Ok - OK

3. Without making any changes to any of the settings you should now be able to sync OTA.

This is what worked for me. This may not work for you, but if you need this capability it is worth a try!

I would like to thank Keith at the following link. He was working on this just as hard as I was and we both came up with a way to make it happen until the solution is resolved by Microsoft.

[Loki007420]

Originally Posted by jthomas8946

I
There seems to be a change with Active Sync in the new WM 6.1. Some say it is more secure and that it needs to download the certificate directly from the server. I have also seen a post that says it maybe an ISA issue. Either way, there is a way to make it work.

It the cert, easier way is to get a cert from your exchange server, thats what i did and it works flawlessly.. I just have my cert in my internal storage for anytime i put a new rom on..

[jthomas8946]

Originally Posted by Loki007420

It the cert, easier way is to get a cert from your exchange server, thats what i did and it works flawlessly.. I just have my cert in my internal storage for anytime i put a new rom on..

This actually did not work for me and a lot of other people also... I used to do this on WM 6.0 and it was very nice. When I attempted this after upgrading to 6.1 on my Mogul, this did not work. Microsoft is focusing on the issue is related to Exchange 2007, but I had the issue on Exchange 2003 also. I just thought I would post what worked for me.

[nttdemented]

Originally Posted by Loki007420

It the cert, easier way is to get a cert from your exchange server, thats what i did and it works flawlessly.. I just have my cert in my internal storage for anytime i put a new rom on..

Precisely... You just need to install the certificate into the phone before trying to sync. Should work just fine as long as your company has OWA properly setup with a third party SSL certificate (won't work if they don't) and with the proper rules programmed into their corporate firewall to allow Active Sync traffic.

I for one do not have our exchange server published onto the web and I access it through VPN. So that setup in a WM6.1 phone is a little bit more tedious as you have to setup a work VPN AND an exception rule under connection settings/advanced to the internal address that I use to reach my exchange server through my internal LAN. That way whenever Active Sync tries to sync WM will detect that I'm trying to use that address and activates the vpn automatically for the duration of the sync. The only drawback that it takes a while for the first few active sync timeouts to actually come into effect because it starts sending packets to request data while the VPN is connecting. During this time the phone won't reach the exchange server and will wait for these packets to timeout before trying again. When they timeout active sync proceeds normally, this usually takes about 4 minutes. I haven't looked into lowering this timeout but I think that could be a good project for tonight.

[jthomas8946]

Originally Posted by nttdemented

Precisely... You just need to install the certificate into the phone before trying to sync. Should work just fine as long as your company has OWA properly setup with a third party SSL certificate (won't work if they don't) and with the proper rules programmed into their corporate firewall to allow Active Sync traffic.

On my attempt, I installed the root certificate of my OWA server and it did not work. I also attempted to install the backend certificate as well and that did not work. I had to direct connect to get the sync OTA to work. After I did this I looked in my certificates and nothing had changed. I am not sure what the isssue is exactly.

[jthomas8946]

Originally Posted by nttdemented

Precisely... You just need to install the certificate into the phone before trying to sync. Should work just fine as long as your company has OWA properly setup with a third party SSL certificate (won't work if they don't) and with the proper rules programmed into their corporate firewall to allow Active Sync traffic.

I for one do not have our exchange server published onto the web and I access it through VPN. So that setup in a WM6.1 phone is a little bit more tedious as you have to setup a work VPN AND an exception rule under connection settings/advanced to the internal address that I use to reach my exchange server through my internal LAN. That way whenever Active Sync tries to sync WM will detect that I'm trying to use that address and activates the vpn automatically for the duration of the sync. The only drawback that it takes a while for the first few active sync timeouts to actually come into effect because it starts sending packets to request data while the VPN is connecting. During this time the phone won't reach the exchange server and will wait for these packets to timeout before trying again. When they timeout active sync proceeds normally, this usually takes about 4 minutes. I haven't looked into lowering this timeout but I think that could be a good project for tonight.

That maybe why it worked for you by just installing the certificate. I do not use a VPN and I sync OTA using GPRS.

[nttdemented]

when you setup the exchange server on your phone how did you input the owa address and the domain name?

if your owa address is mail.company.com/owa you only use mail.company.com without the /owa. Also if your organization's domain name is comany.local you only use company without the .local. This was a source for some confusion to me when I started setting up phones with Exchange 2003 and 2007.

[nttdemented]

Originally Posted by jthomas8946

That maybe why it worked for you by just installing the certificate. I do not use a VPN and I sync OTA using GPRS.

Hehehe I offered my example as a totally different configuration setup, my setup does not require a certificate because I'm using PPTP VPN. But OTA PUSH Sync with Exchange 2003 and 2007 does require to have a third party certificate setup on your IIS server for your OWA site and the site must obviously be published to the internet. And that certificate is the one that you need to install into your phone.

[jthomas8946]

Originally Posted by nttdemented

when you setup the exchange server on your phone how did you input the owa address and the domain name?

if your owa address is mail.company.com/owa you only use mail.company.com without the /owa. Also if your organization's domain name is comany.local you only use company without the .local. This was a source for some confusion to me when I started setting up phones with Exchange 2003 and 2007.

You can just use mail.company.com as your OWA address. When you go into menu in Active Sync on your device, you can configure your server. Enter in your OWA address and hit next, you will then have the ability to enter in your user credintials and domain name.

[SeanRinVA]

I've followed Ricky Spears' advice, and I still cannot get two Touch Pro's (my users') to sync either via USB or OTA with our Exchange server (2003, sp2, on WS2003R2). My lone WM6.0 user works fine, so I know Exchange Active Sync works.