282 Chapter 5 • Managing the Client Access Server All right, I better stop here! Be sure to explore the new OWA 2007 UI intensely since there are lots of great features buried within. Simplifying the URL to Outlook Web Access As was possible with previous versions of Exchange, you can simplify the URL to OWA in order to provide an even easier experience for your end users. As mentioned earlier in this section, the default URL to OWA 2007 is https://server.domain.com/owa. Although your users have to type fewer characters compared to previous versions of OWA, why not skip the /owa part and just use https://server.domain.com? Possibly because it may be more complicated to confi gure than it is a benefi t to end users, I hear some of you grumbling. Actually, however, this is extremely easy to confi gure. Simply perform the following steps: 1. Log on to the server upon which the Client Access Server role has been installed. 2. Open the IIS Manager by clicking Start | All Programs | Administrative Tools | Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager. 3. In the IIS Manager, expand Server (local computer) | Web Sites, and then right-click the Default Web Site and select Properties. 4. Click the Home Directory tab, as shown in Figure 5.38. Figure 5.37 Mark All Messages in a Folder as Read Managing the Client Access Server • Chapter 5 283 5. Select A redirection to a URL, and then type /owa in the Redirect to: fi eld. 6. Check A directory below URL entered. 7. Click OK and exit the IIS Manager. You can now tell your end users they can access the Web mail client using https://mail.domain. com, or whatever URL you use to access OWA from the Internet. Although the preceding solution should be suffi cient for most end users, several of you may have end users who don’t understand they must type https instead of http before the actual URL. Most of them probably don’t know the difference between a secure and a nonsecure site. In order to eliminate frustrations for the end user, you can confi gure OWA in such a way that they simply need to type http://mail.domain.com to be redirected to the proper OWA URL. In order to both Figure 5.38 Specifying Redirection URL 284 Chapter 5 • Managing the Client Access Server simplify the OWA URL as well as redirect from HTTP to HTTPS, you must create a custom HTML page. In order to do so, perform the following steps: 1. Create the HTML page. You can do so in a Notepad document. Enter the HTML code shown in Figure 5.39. Figure 5.39 Code Snippet Used for Redirection 2. Save it as SSL_OWA.HTM (remember to select All Files in Save As type: drop-down box). 3. Open the IIS Manager by clicking Start | All Programs | Administrative Tools | Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager. 4. In the IIS Manager, expand Server (local computer) | Web Sites, and then right-click the Default Web Site and select Properties. 5. Click the Home Directory tab and select A redirection to a URL. 6. In the Redirect to: fi eld, type /owa and then check A directory below URL entered. 7. Click the Custom Errors tab. 8. In the HTTP Error table, select 403;4, as shown in Figure 5.40. Managing the Client Access Server • Chapter 5 285 9. Click Edit and then point to the SSL_OWA.HTM fi le you saved earlier, as shown in Figure 5.41. Figure 5.40 Modifying the 403-4 Custom Error Message File 286 Chapter 5 • Managing the Client Access Server 10. Click OK twice and exit the IIS Manager. 11. Open a Command Prompt windows and type IISRESET /noforce in order to apply the changes. Your end users should now be able to access OWA using http://mail.domain.com or whatever the URL is to OWA in your environment. Managing Exchange ActiveSync One of the features that have really been improved upon in Exchange Server 2007 is, without doubt, the Exchange ActiveSync communication protocol. Exchange Server ActiveSync is still based on the DirectPush technology, (sometimes also referred to as AUTD v2) introduced fi rst in Exchange Server 2003 SP2, improving the mobile messaging experience for your users by providing close to real-time over-the-air access to your e-mail messages, schedules, contacts, tasks lists, and other Exchange server mailbox data. Actually, DirectPush is the only method available when synchronizing your mailbox using Exchange ActiveSync (EAS) in Exchange Server 2007, and is thus enabled by default. That means AUTD v1, based on text messaging (SMS), has offi cially been dropped. But who would miss it? I seriously doubt anyone, as AUTD wasn’t very widely used, especially since very few mobile carriers (especially in Europe) supported this method. To refresh your memory, I thought it would be a good idea to include Figure 5.42, showing you how DirectPush works behind the scenes. Figure 5.41 Specifying the New HTM File . Manager. 4. In the IIS Manager, expand Server (local computer) | Web Sites, and then right-click the Default Web Site and select Properties. 5. Click the Home Directory tab and select A redirection to. Information Services (IIS) Manager. 3. In the IIS Manager, expand Server (local computer) | Web Sites, and then right-click the Default Web Site and select Properties. 4. Click the Home Directory tab,. Chapter 5 • Managing the Client Access Server 10. Click OK twice and exit the IIS Manager. 11. Open a Command Prompt windows and type IISRESET /noforce in order to apply the changes. Your end