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Troubleshooting on-premises Exchange backup issues

The following are a few errors that might occur when backing up on-premises Exchange mailboxes and configuring related settings. Refer to the troubleshooting guide below to resolve them.

401 unauthorized/anonymous request disallowed

Cause:

Resolution:

Connecting to remote server <Server Name> failed with the following error message: The user name or password is incorrect

Cause: This error occurs when incorrect administrator credentials are used while configuring Exchange Server with RecoveryManager Plus.

Resolution:

Connecting to remote server <Server Name> failed with the following error message: WinRM cannot process the request. The following error occurred while using Kerberos authentication: The computer <Server Name> is unknown to Kerberos. Verify that the computer exists on the network, that the name provided is spelled correctly, and that the Kerberos configuration for accessing the computer is correct. The most common Kerberos configuration issue is that an SPN with the format HTTP/<Server Name> is not configured for the target. If Kerberos is not required, specify the negotiate authentication mechanism and resubmit the operation

Cause: This error occurs when:

  1. The specified server name is incorrect.
  2. The system cannot resolve the server in the network.
  3. There is an issue with Kerberos or Service Principal N ame (SPN) configuration.

Resolution:

  1. Confirm that the Exchange Server name specified in the account configuration matches the actual hostname in the network.
  2. Check the Kerberos configuration and confirm that the required SPN is correctly set.

403 Forbidden

Cause:

This error occurs when:

  1. The configured account may not have sufficient permissions for authorization.
  2. Exchange Web Services (EWS) may be blocked or disabled in the environment.

Resolution:

  1. Ensure that the service account is assigned to the Organization Management role group.
  2. Confirm that EWS is enabled and accessible in the environment.
  3. Check for any security policies or restrictions that could block EWS access.

The primary SMTP address must be specified when referencing a mailbox

Cause: This error occurs when there is a change in the primary SMTP address of a mailbox.

Resolution:

  1. Navigate to the Exchange tab in RecoveryManager Plus.
  2. Select On-premises from the Exchange Type drop-down menu and click Create Backup.
  3. In the Select Mailboxes field, click the add icon add.
  4. In the pop-up that appears, click Refresh Mailboxes.
  5. Once the mailbox enumeration is complete, the mailbox will be updated with the new SMTP address.
  6. Retry the backup after the update is completed.

If the issue persists, contact support@recoverymanagerplus.com.

507: Insufficient storage

Cause: This error occurs when the message size limit is insufficient to perform a restoration.

Resolution: Change the message size limit in your Exchange Server by following these steps.

500 Internal server error

Cause: This is an internal error encountered on the Exchange Server side and can occur due to Exchange service disruptions, configuration issues, resource constraints, or application-level exceptions.

Resolution:

  1. Log in to the Exchange Client Access Server (CAS) or Mailbox (MBX) Server where the issue is occurring.
  2. Open Event Viewer from Windows Administrative Tools or launch it by running eventvwr.msc.
  3. Review the Exchange logs:
    • Navigate to Application and Services Logs > MS Exchange Management.
    • If required, review the following logs:
      • Windows Logs > Application.
      • Windows Logs > System.
  4. Check for errors such as service-related failures, authentication and connectivity issues, and verify whether the timestamps match the time when the issue occurred.
  5. Based on the identified logs, perform the necessary corrective actions, such as:
    • Restarting failed Exchange services.
    • Resolving authentication or permission issues.
    • Verifying Exchange Server health and connectivity.
    • Checking disk space and server resource utilization.
    • Applying pending Exchange or Windows updates if applicable.
  6. Once the issues are resolved, retry the operation.

503 Service unavailable

Cause: This error occurs when the Exchange Information Store service is not running.

Resolution:

  1. In Exchange Server, open Run, type services.msc and press Enter.
  2. In the Services window, locate Exchange Information Store.
  3. Right-click the service and select Restart.

If the issue persists, contact support@recoverymanagerplus.com.

Mailbox has exceeded the maximum mailbox size

Cause: This error occurs when a mailbox message exceeds the allocated size limit.

Resolution:

Change the message size limit in your Exchange Server by following these steps.

This message exceeds the maximum supported size

Cause: This error occurs when the item being restored is larger than the maximum message size allowed by the target Exchange Server.

Resolution: Increase the message size limit configured on the target Exchange Server by following these steps.

The mailbox requested does not support the specified RequestServerVersion

Cause: This error occurs when RecoveryManager Plus attempts to back up a mailbox in Exchange Server 2007.

Resolution:

RecoveryManager Plus does not support backup and recovery of mailbox items in Exchange Server 2007. For more information on the supported Exchange versions and minimum system requirements required to run RecoveryManager Plus, click here.

An internal EWS error occurred. Please try again

Cause: This error occurs when RecoveryManager Plus is unable to establish a proper connection with Exchange Server through EWS. This may happen due to Exchange service issues, connectivity problems, high server resource utilization, authentication failures, or temporary server-side interruptions.

Resolution:

  1. Access the affected mailbox using Outlook Web Access (OWA)
    • Attempt to access the affected mailbox through OWA.
    • If the mailbox does not open, verify mailbox permissions and check whether Exchange Server is accessible.
    • Resolve any mailbox access or server availability issues before proceeding.
  2. Check Exchange Server health
    • Verify the health and status of Exchange Server.
    • Ensure all required Exchange services are running correctly, including Microsoft Exchange services, EWS-related services, and IIS services.
  3. Monitor server resource utilization
    • Check the CPU and memory utilization on Exchange Server. Reduce resource usage if necessary and retry the operation.
  4. Review Event Logs
        5. Open Event Viewer in Exchange Server and review:
      • Windows Logs > Application.
      • Windows Logs > System.
      • Application and Services Logs > MS Exchange Management.
    • Look for warnings, errors, or service failures related to Exchange, IIS, authentication, or EWS connectivity, and address the issues identified in the logs.
  5. After resolving the identified issues, retry the operation.

Appendix A: Increasing Exchange message size limits

The following two-step process is required to increase the message size limit in Exchange and resolve the following errors:

Step 1: Increase Exchange message size limits

1.1 Check current message size limits

  1. Open the Exchange Management Shell.
  2. Run the following commands:

Get-TransportConfig | Format-List -Property MaxReceiveSize, MaxSendSize

Get-SendConnector | Format-List -Property Identity, MaxMessageSize

Get-ReceiveConnector | Format-List -Property Identity, MaxMessageSize

Get-Mailbox | Format-List -Property PrimarySmtpAddress, MaxSendSize, MaxReceiveSize

1.2 Increase message size limits on Exchange Server

  1. Open the Exchange Management Shell.
  2. Run the following commands:

Set-TransportConfig -MaxReceiveSize 150MB -MaxSendSize 150MB

Get-SendConnector | Set-SendConnector -MaxMessageSize 150MB

Get-ReceiveConnector | Set-ReceiveConnector -MaxMessageSize 150MB

Get-Mailbox | Set-Mailbox -MaxSendSize 150MB -MaxReceiveSize 150MB

Step 2: Increase IIS limits to allow larger payloads

The following IIS parameters must also be increased to support larger Exchange message sizes:

2.1 Update IIS settings on the client access server

  1. Open Windows Explorer.
  2. Navigate to %ExchangeInstallPath%\FrontEnd\HttpProxy\ews\
  3. Open the Web.config file using a text editor such as Notepad.
  4. Locate the XML tags corresponding to the following values and update them:
    • maxRequestLength="200000"
    • maxAllowedContentLength="200000000"
    • maxReceivedMessageSize="200000000"

    The maxReceivedMessageSize entry may appear multiple times (up to 12 occurrences). Update each instances for every authentication method.

    Example:

    <httpsTransport maxReceivedMessageSize="200000000" authenticationScheme="Anonymous" maxBufferSize="81920" transferMode="Streamed" />

    <httpsTransport maxReceivedMessageSize="200000000" authenticationScheme="Basic" maxBufferSize="81920" transferMode="Streamed" />

  5. Save the file.
Note:
  • If the server is running IIS7 and Windows 2008, additional WCF settings may also need to be increased.
  • IIS reset is not required. The web.config changes are applied automatically on the next connection.

2.2 Update IIS settings on the mailbox server

  1. Open Windows Explorer.
  2. Navigate to %ExchangeInstallPath%\ClientAccess\exchweb\ews\.
  3. Open the Web.config file using a text editor such as Notepad.
  4. Locate the XML tags corresponding to the following values and update them:
    • maxRequestLength="200000"
    • maxAllowedContentLength="200000000"
    • maxReceivedMessageSize="200000000"

    The maxReceivedMessageSize entry may appear multiple times (up to 12 occurrences). Update each instances for every authentication method.

  5. Save the file.

Note: IIS reset is not required. The web.config changes are applied automatically on the next connection.

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