If you are an Exchange Online or Outlook Live tenant administrator, then you can access the Forefront Online Protection for Exchange (FOPE) Administration Center via a hyperlink in the Exchange Control Panel. And with a few additional steps, you can login directly to the FOPE Admin Center.

Accessing the FOPE Admin Center from the Exchange Control Panel

1. Sign in to the Exchange Control Panel as an Administrator
2. Click Mail Control (left side) then click the hyperlink underneath Forefront Online Protection for Exchange (right side), e.g. “Configure IP safelisting, perimeter message tracing, and e-mail policies.”

After about 30 minutes of inactivity, the FOPE Admin Center will timeout.

When you click the “Configure IP safelisting, perimeter message tracing, and e-mail policies” hyperlink in the Exchange Control Panel, you may receive the an error saying, “We are sorry but your session has expired.” 

So, how do you login again to the FOPE Admin Center?

You could sign out of the Exchange Control Panel and sign in again. Then, click Mail Control and click “Configure IP safelisting, perimeter message tracing, and e-mail policies.” But, you may need to close all of your browser windows.

If you have as many open browser windows and tabs as I do, then this could become a major interruption. “Should I save this tab or that tab? What’s the password for the firewall’s web GUI? Should I save a Draft in OWA or send this email before closing all the browser windows?”

I’ve gone on too long…you get the idea.

Instead, why not sign in directly to the FOPE Admin Center? You can stay logged in to the Exchange Control Panel, leave open your browser windows and tabs, and simply sign in again with your user name and password.

Sign in directly to the FOPE Admin Center for the first time

1. Browse to https://admin.messaging.microsoft.com/
2. On the “Sign in” page, click the “Need your password?” link
3. Enter your Administrator’s User Principal Name (UPN) or Windows Live ID, e.g. admin@fabrikam.onmicrosoft.com (Office 365) or admin@live.contoso.edu (Live@edu), and click Send
4. Login to your Administrator’s Inbox, open the Password Change Confirmation email and follow the link in the body of the message
5. On the “Set your new password” page, enter User Name, New Password and Confirm new Password
6. Go to https://admin.messaging.microsoft.com/ and login with User Name and new Password 

Steps 1 and 2	Step 3

Step 4

Step 5	Step 6

Forefront Online Protection for Exchange – Administration Center

At this point, you can go directly to the FOPE Administration Center at https://admin.messaging.microsoft.com/

…

So, how do you pronounce FOPE?

In my previous article, How do YOU pronounce FOPE? An Introduction, I discussed some of the key features of Forefront Online Protection for Exchange (FOPE) and invited you to explore additional resources:

• TechNet Edge – FOPE
• TechNet Library – Forefront Online Protection for Exchange
• FOPE 11.1 Administration Center User Guide
• Spam Filtering and Message Hygiene

And, hopefully, you’ve had an opportunity to sign in to the FOPE Administration Center via the hyperlink in the Exchange Control Panel or by entering your user name and password at https://admin.messaging.microsoft.com/.

Okay, I didn’t spell it out. The truth is that there isn’t a right or wrong answer.

Please leave a comment to tell us how YOU pronounce FOPE. There’s bonus points for using the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) or Pronunciation Respelling Key!

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Thanks for joining us today!

Zion Brewer

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