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MS Exchange Push Email on Nokia phones

By admin ⋅ March 24, 2008 ⋅  Email this post ⋅  Print this post ⋅ Post a comment

Nokia have released push mail for number of Nokia phones ‘Mail for Exchange’ download link. Push email is a service where email is delivered to your device as soon as it arrives at the central mail server (be it your company, an ISP, or a third party server). On the E61i, you just need to add in the Mail for Exchange application, the latest version is a free download from Nokia. In some markets Mail for Exchange will be pre-installed. Some companies already have Exchange servers and enterprise users and will be able to get help from their IT support group if the device is not already pre-configured when they receive it. It is possible for consumers to take advantage of the Exchange push email experience too.

I tried to install it for a client, it seems very easy at first, but came a cross number of issues. According to Nokia MFE manual setting up the device to use push email from an MS Exchange server requires only a few details (username and password, server name and domain). These are entered into a profile in the Mail for Exchange application (essentially a configuration utility), and you are ready to go. Mail for Exchange can also optionally be configured to synchronise Contacts and Calendar entries from the same Exchange server as your email.

But one essential part is missing, and no one talks about is what do you need to do on your Exchange Server or do you need to do anything to your Exchange server to send the mail to your device, and how does Exchange know what device to send the email to. After spending a long day I finally started receiving the email to the Nokia E61i. Here are the settings I have collated and used to get my device working.

Setting the Nokia E61i - as soon as you install the MFE it will prompt you for setting up profile

When prompted to Install Mail for Exchange select
‘Yes’
Once installed, within the Installations folder, the application Mail for Exchange should be
listed. Upon selecting this, the program will prompt you to setup a Mail for Exchange
profile. Select ‘Yes’
Once the new profile option has been selected, a list showing the application sub folders
appears.
Select the ‘Connection’ option
Page 2
The following values must be entered into the connection
fields to ensure synchronization with the Mail for Exchange
Server
Exchange Server (this is mail server address, if you use OWA with mail server/exchange then this is just the server name do not include /exchange)– mail.yourexchangeserver.com
Secure Connection – Yes (enable this if you have SSL on your server)
Access Point – GPRS/Internet
Sync while Roaming – No
Once entered, using the handsets navigation buttons, move to the next tab
The ‘Credentials’ section ensures the profile synchronizes
with your account on the Mail for Exchange Server
Username – firstname.lastname
Password – your password
Domain – mail.yourexchangeserver.com (this is optional, try without it first)
Sync Content.
Synchronize Calendar – Yes
Synchronize Contacts – Yes
Synchronize Email – Yes
In Case of Conflict – Server Wins
Sync Schedule. The values within this menu are customizable depending on your needs and requirements.
The Peak Sync Schedule will determine how often the handset Synchronizes with the Exchange server to download new mail, calendar entries and contacts. It is possible to alter what you would classify as peak and off peak hours Calendar and Contacts Within the ‘Calendar’ menu, it is possible to determine how far back you wish your entries to appear on the handset.
Initial Sync – Keep Items on Phone
Page 3
Email - When sending an email from the handset, it will appear to be sent by the address specified in this menu
Email Address – firstname.lastname@mail.yourexchangeserver.com
Show New Mail Pop Up – Yes
Use Signature – (User Defined)
Signature – (Enter a signature which will automatically appear at the foot of all new messages)
When Sending mail – Send Immediately
Sync Messages Back – (User Defined)
Once all the values have been entered, press the ‘Back’ button on the handset. The status ‘Saving Mail for Exchange Profile’ will appear. After a successful implementation of the profile, the Mail for Exchange program will appear on the homepage of your Handset. From here you can view your two most recently received emails and most recent calendar entry. The program will also appear within the message option.
Check Nokia E61i Error log, to access these you need to go to ‘File Manager’, then ‘MailForExchange’. You’ll see one or more admin_logN.txt files, and if you’ve ad a successful sync also a pdu_log.txt. These might help you with more debugging.

Server side configuration
Exchange System Manager - Exchange Server 2003 SP2 already comes pre-configured for ActiveSync operations. Unless you fool around with your settings, this is what you should see when going to Exchange System Manager > Global Settings > Mobile Services properties:

Active Directory Users & Computers - As stated above, Exchange does a decent job in configuring ActiveSync on it’s own, so as long as you don’t change any setting, things should work out fine. To make sure, check the Exchange Features tab in Active Directory Users & Computers for each user account that needs this feature. It should show Enabled for the User Initiated Synchronization feature.
Important: when you run the mail synchronise on your device, check for error in the server events log, this will point you to right direction for trouble shooting, when you don’t get any error you need to check error in your device.

Important This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs, Microsoft Knowledge Base: 322756 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/322756/) How to back up and restore the registry in Windows

Important :Method should be used only in an environment that has no Exchange Server 2003 front-end server. The registry changes should be made only on the server on which the mailboxes are located.

Create a secondary virtual directory for Exchange that does not require SSL, and then add a registry value to point to the new virtual directory. To create a secondary virtual directory for Exchange that is based on steps 1 to 4 in the following procedure, make sure that forms-based authentication is disabled for the Exchange virtual directory before you make the copy. Before you follow these steps, disable forms-based authentication in Exchange System Manager, and then restart IIS.

Additionally, you must use Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager to create this virtual directory for Exchange ActiveSync and Outlook Mobile Access to work. If you are using Windows Server 2003, follow these steps.

Note These steps affect both Outlook Mobile Access connections and Exchange ActiveSync connections. After you follow these steps, both Outlook Mobile Access and Exchange ActiveSync connections use the new virtual directory that you create.
1. Start Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager.
2. Locate the Exchange virtual directory. The default location is as follows:
Web Sites\Default Web Site\Exchange
3. Right-click the Exchange virtual directory, click All Tasks, and then click Save Configuration to a File.
4. In the File name box, type a name. For example, type ExchangeVDir. Click OK.
5. Right-click the root of this Web site. Typically, this is Default Web Site. Click New, and then click Virtual Directory (from file).
6. In the Import Configuration dialog box, click Browse, locate the file that you created in step 4, click Open, and then click Read File.
7. Under Select a configuration to import , click Exchange, and then click OK.

A dialog box will appear that states that the “virtual directory already exists.”
8. In the Alias box, type a name for the new virtual directory that you want Exchange ActiveSync and Outlook Mobile Access to use. For example, type exchange-oma. Click OK.
9. Right-click the new virtual directory. In this example, click exchange-oma. Click Properties.
10. Click the Directory Security tab.
11. Under Authentication and access control, click Edit.
12. Make sure that only the following authentication methods are enabled, and then click OK:
• Integrated Windows authentication
• Basic authentication
13. Under IP address and domain name restrictions, click Edit.
14. Click Denied access, click Add, click Single computer, type the IP address of the server that you are configuring, and then click OK.
15. Under Secure communications, click Edit. Make sure that Require secure channel (SSL) is not enabled, and then click OK.
16. Click OK, and then close the IIS Manager.
17. Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK.
18. Locate the following registry subkey:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\MasSync\Parameters
19. Right-click Parameters, click to New, and then click String Value.
20. Type ExchangeVDir, and then press ENTER. Right-click ExchangeVDir, and then click Modify.

Note ExchangeVDir is case-sensitive. If you do not type ExchangeVDir exactly as it appears in this article, ActiveSync does not find the key when it locates the exchange-oma folder.
21. In the Value data box, type the name of the new virtual directory that you created in step 8. For example, type /exchange-oma. Click OK.
22. Quit Registry Editor.
23. Restart the IIS Admin service. To do this, follow these steps:
a. Click Start, click Run, type services.msc, and then click OK.
b. In the list of services, right-click IIS Admin service, and then click Restart.
Note If the server is Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003 (SBS), the name of the Exchange OMA virtual directory must be exchange-oma.

The integrated setup of Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003 creates the exchange-oma virtual directory in IIS. Additionally, it points the ExchangeVDir registry key to /exchange-oma during the initial installation. Other SBS wizards, such as the Configure E-mail and Internet Connection Wizard (CEICW) also expect the virtual directory name in IIS to be exchange-oma.

MORE INFORMATION
To access the contents of a user’s mailbox in Exchange Server 2003, the Microsoft-Server-ActiveSync and the Outlook Mobile Access virtual directories make an explicit DAV logon to the Exchange virtual directory. The call is similar to the following:
http://netbios_name_of_mailbox_server/exchange/mailbox_alias
The Microsoft-Server-ActiveSync and Outlook Mobile Access virtual directories cannot access the contents of the user’s mailbox if the Exchange virtual directory is configured to require SSL. The Microsoft-Server-ActiveSync and Outlook Mobile Access virtual directories only try to connect with the Exchange virtual directory over TCP port 80 (HTTP), not over TCP Port 443 (HTTPS).

Outlook Mobile Access tries to connect to the Exchange virtual directory by using all the following authentication methods:
• Kerberos
• NTLM
• Basic
When you configure forms-based authentication on the Exchange Server 2003, the authentication method for the Exchange virtual directory is set to Basic authentication, and the default Domain is set to the backslash character. The Microsoft-Server-ActiveSync virtual directory can only connect to the Exchange virtual directory by using Kerberos authentication.

Lists of Error I came across getting it working

Check Nokia E61i Error log, to access these you need to go to ‘File Manager’, then ‘MailForExchange’. You’ll see one or more admin_logN.txt files, and if you’ve ad a successful sync also a pdu_log.txt. These might help you with more debugging.
I get a message saying ” Unable to check certificate validity online, check settings”.
If you have AND you have enabled it for an SSL connection only, then check your server log for error code 3029
i get an error “Mail for Exchange server does not support always on sync schedule”.
I have noticed that we get a System Error -15003 several times and usually when the device is switching from Off-peak to Peak times.
I am getting one error which is “Cannot sync with server. Please try again later”
“Server requires secure connection. Change Profile > Connection > Secure connection to yes”
“System error. Please try again later.” Then I look at the “admin_log1.txt” file and it tells me “HTTP error code =440″ and then “System Error 440″
If the user experiences a “System error” and admin logs include HTTP 500 Error, it could be a
variety of server problems. Check a complete set of admin logs in Nokia N61i: and .
Nokia E61 Mail for Exchange error -15002

If you experience any Technical problems when installing either the software or the Mail for Exchange profile you can contact the En Route Support Team using the following details Technical Support Helpline - 0845 207 2244, Email - support@enroute.it. We may be able to help with some simple issues.