Remotely create mailbox for new user in Exchange 2010 using PowerShell and C#

thestriver — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 12:45:00 GMT

I'm currently involved in a Project to automate certain high volume house keeping activities performed by System Admins on Exchange servers, 2007 and 2010.

The challenge I faced at the onset was on deciding how to tackle cmdlets that would have to be called remotely. It took a little research to gather that my search for a solution to this task would involve PowerShell cmdlets that would be run from Domain connected remote workstations that had the RSAT tools installed. However, this would mean, I would have only one option on my hand, ie, to discount the idea of scaling the 'remote' cmdlet solution, for Exchange 2007 as well.

The reason: Exchange 2007 cannot be remotely managed using Powershell. However, with the advent of Exchange Server 2010, we can now run PowerShell cmdlets from remotely connected systems as long as they are part of the same Domain; and certain conditions met. I'll talk about these required conditions later in this article.

Below is the code: (Make sure to add a reference to 'System.Management.Automation")

            SecureString password = new SecureString();
            string str_password = TextBox2.Text;
            string username = TextBox3.Text;
            string cUri = TextBox5.Text;
            foreach (char x in str_password)
            {
                password.AppendChar(x);
            }
            PSCredential credential = new PSCredential(username, password);
            WSManConnectionInfo connectionInfo = new WSManConnectionInfo(new Uri("http://" + cUri + "/powershell?serializationLevel=Full"), "http://schemas.microsoft.com/powershell/Microsoft.Exchange", credential);
            connectionInfo.AuthenticationMechanism = AuthenticationMechanism.Basic;
            Runspace runspace = System.Management.Automation.Runspaces.RunspaceFactory.CreateRunspace(connectionInfo);
            runspace.Open();
            Pipeline pipeline = runspace.CreatePipeline();
            Command c = new Command("new-mailbox");
            c.Parameters.Add("Database", "Mailbox Database 1499472923");
            c.Parameters.Add("Name", "Tom" + " " + "Bun");
            c.Parameters.Add("Alias", "tbun");
            c.Parameters.Add("OrganizationalUnit", "Permanent");
            c.Parameters.Add("UserPrincipalName", "tbun@myserengati.com");
            SecureString pwd = new SecureString();
            string p = "owlmaster";
            foreach (char z in p)
            {
                pwd.AppendChar(z);
            }
            c.Parameters.Add("Password", pwd);
            bool rp = False;
            c.Parameters.Add(new CommandParameter("ResetPasswordOnNextLogon", rp));
            pipeline.Commands.Add(c);
            try
            {
                pipeline.Invoke();
                TextBox1.Text = "Done!";
            }
            finally
            {
                pipeline.Dispose();
                runspace.Dispose();
                runspace = null;
            }

Following conditions have to be met before running the above, on the server having the CAS role:

> You should be a Domain Admin and a Local Admin

> You should be part of the following Roles in Exchange 2010: Organization Management and Recipient Management

> In IIS, SSL settings should be Unchecked

> Run "winrm quickconfig" from an elevated Command Prompt; and enable Remote Management

> Run "winrm set winrm/config/client @{TrustedHosts="<local>"}" from an elevated Command Prompt. Make sure to modify <Local> to your workstation IP or name

> Enable Basic authentication from local Group Policy

That's it. Now, run it and enjoy!

Disclaimer: The information provided herein is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, expressed or implied, nor has been thoroughly tested for a particular purpose, not to mention any other issues, related or un-related, that could arise out of using it. It is highly recommended to test the code in a controlled test environment so it exceeds your expected levels. Please use it at your own risk.

Backup: Error returned while creating the volume shadow copy:0x8004230f

thestriver — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 09:06:00 GMT

Issue: A couple of days back I got this Backup issue. VSS would fail to create the snapshot at the start of System State Backup. We kept receiving the following error:

# In the registry, nothing seems amiss:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\VSS
    DependOnService    REG_MULTI_SZ    RPCSS
    Description    REG_SZ    Manages and implements Volume Shadow Copies used for backup and other purposes. If this service is stopped, shadow copies will be unavailable for backup and the backup may fail. If this service is disabled, any services that explicitly depend on it will fail to start.
    DisplayName    REG_SZ    Volume Shadow Copy
    ErrorControl    REG_DWORD    0x1
    ImagePath    REG_SZ    C:\WINDOWS\System32\vssvc.exe
    ObjectName    REG_SZ    .\windss00
    Start    REG_DWORD    0x3
    Type    REG_DWORD    0x10

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\VSS\Providers

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\VSS\Providers\{b5946137-7b9f-4925-af80-51abd60b20d5}
    (Default)    REG_SZ    Microsoft Software Shadow Copy provider 1.0
    Type    REG_DWORD    0x1
    Version    REG_SZ    1.0.0.7
    VersionId    REG_SZ    {00000001-0000-0000-0007-000000000001}

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\VSS\Providers\{b5946137-7b9f-4925-af80-51abd60b20d5}\CLSID
    (Default)    REG_SZ    {65EE1DBA-8FF4-4a58-AC1C-3470EE2F376A}

# Mountvol command when run in Command Prompt, shows the following: (Again nothing to report)

Possible values for VolumeName along with current mount points are:

    \\?\Volume{f23826fe-dfbc-11e1-9d83-806e6f6e6963}\
        C:\

    \\?\Volume{f23826ff-dfbc-11e1-9d83-806e6f6e6963}\
        D:\

    \\?\Volume{ede99207-eb7e-11d8-b6cf-806e6f6e6963}\
        S:\

    \\?\Volume{ede99206-eb7e-11d8-b6cf-806e6f6e6963}\
        A:\

# vssadmin list writers command in Command Prompt, shows the following:

vssadmin 1.1 - Volume Shadow Copy Service administrative command-line tool
(C) Copyright 2001 Microsoft Corp.

Writer name: 'System Writer'
   Writer Id: {e8132975-6f93-4464-a53e-1050253ae220}
   Writer Instance Id: {65d542ae-514d-4915-b147-af8fd02b198e}
   State: [1] Stable
   Last error: No error

Writer name: 'SqlServerWriter'
   Writer Id: {a65faa63-5ea8-4ebc-9dbd-a0c4db26912a}
   Writer Instance Id: {d7900060-bc7d-4030-abb3-fa7a9c4a5bca}
   State: [1] Stable
   Last error: No error

Writer name: 'SPSearch VSS Writer'
   Writer Id: {57af97e4-4a76-4ace-a756-d11e8f0294c7}
   Writer Instance Id: {863846a9-9308-41b3-96f2-eff64bece308}
   State: [1] Stable
   Last error: No error

Writer name: 'IIS Metabase Writer'
   Writer Id: {59b1f0cf-90ef-465f-9609-6ca8b2938366}
   Writer Instance Id: {889dc7ce-f3dd-4cea-877b-ed11969a165a}
   State: [1] Stable
   Last error: No error

Writer name: 'MSDEWriter'
   Writer Id: {f8544ac1-0611-4fa5-b04b-f7ee00b03277}
   Writer Instance Id: {26ee1c51-d912-4cb0-a03a-3029d3a078a1}
   State: [1] Stable
   Last error: No error

Writer name: 'Event Log Writer'
   Writer Id: {eee8c692-67ed-4250-8d86-390603070d00}
   Writer Instance Id: {3da63bc9-7da9-4622-8bd6-e3922971c34d}
   State: [1] Stable
   Last error: No error

Writer name: 'WMI Writer'
   Writer Id: {a6ad56c2-b509-4e6c-bb19-49d8f43532f0}
   Writer Instance Id: {11316d11-ec60-4aaa-8553-79c8bee3dfb2}
   State: [1] Stable
   Last error: No error

Writer name: 'Registry Writer'
   Writer Id: {afbab4a2-367d-4d15-a586-71dbb18f8485}
   Writer Instance Id: {d1892128-6c23-4fbc-aed3-4b38ca550c9a}
   State: [1] Stable
   Last error: No error

Writer name: 'COM+ REGDB Writer'
   Writer Id: {542da469-d3e1-473c-9f4f-7847f01fc64f}
   Writer Instance Id: {eebc9325-0367-4cdb-8e17-c5125963212a}
   State: [1] Stable
   Last error: No error

In the Application log, following corresponding entries could be seen:

Error 12293 VSS Volume Shadow Copy Service error: Error calling a routine on the Shadow Copy Provider {b5946137-7b9f-4925-af80-51abd60b20d5}. Routine details IVssSnapshotProvider::QueryVolumesSupportedForSnapshots(ProviderId,29,...) [hr = 0x8000ffff].\r\n
Error 12293 VSS Volume Shadow Copy Service error: Error calling a routine on the Shadow Copy Provider {b5946137-7b9f-4925-af80-51abd60b20d5}. Routine details IVssSnapshotProvider::QueryVolumesSupportedForSnapshots(ProviderId,-1,...) [hr = 0x8000ffff].\r\n

Environment: Windows 2003 Standard x86 SP2 running as vmware vm, Latest vmware tools installed. Backups running via Symantec's Backup Exec, Application server hosting SQL Server. No encryption software present. No 3rd party disk management utility present. No space issues present on system drive (C:). Anti-virus SEP from Symantec.

Resolution: Typically in such scenarios, advise would be to test a Backup using Ntbackup. Tried it, however, no go. So, the following steps were undertaken in the order presented:

> Ran batch file per (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/940032) - no go

> Applied hotfix: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/940349 - no go

> Run sfc /scannow (It may ask for windows cd). If there are integrity violations, then reboot server and run windows update till the server is fully patched to the latest versions. You may need to run windows update multiple times to get the server fully patched.

> Applied this latest hotfix for swprv.dll and other important binaries (as of this writing) (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/976461). Rebooted server.

Backups are working fine now.

On the flip-side, if the above steps didn't work, I would have tried the following troubleshooting options:

> Go to safe mode and run msconfig and disable all non-microsoft services and reboot server.
> Try ntbackup for both a few files and system state separately. If issue persists, then go to next step
> Uninstall all 3rd party applications from the server
> Try ntbackup for both a few files and system state separately. If issue persists, then go to next step
> If you have a similar functioning server in the domain that has Symantec backup working fine, you can go ahead and copy the full registry from that server to this problem server and reboot. This would be the last step before contemplating bare metal restore. Note: Similar functioning server here refers to another server having same OS, SP, Patches, Applications and is fully Ditto to the original server in question.

GoodDay!

bijuthan

Remotely create mailbox for new user in Exchange 2010 using PowerShell and C#

Backup: Error returned while creating the volume shadow copy:0x8004230f