Possible to Connect Workgroup Machine to Exchange Server?

[rcm...@hotmail.com]

I have several client machines using Outlook 2003 to connect to our
Exchange Server using RPC over HTTP. No problems, everything is working
well.

Now, I have a laptop machine that is NOT part of the domain that I
would like to connect to the Exchange Server using my domain login. The
laptop is part of a workgroup. Is it possible to connect a workgroup
machine? If so, I would love to have some advice on how to do it. I
feel like I've tried everything I can think of, all with no luck. I've
searched
around on the groups and seem to find things that look promising, but
still no luck.

I can't get past the "Check Name" dialog when seeting up the client
machine. No matter what I try, I get the "Your Exchange Server is not
availabable" or "No connection to the Exchange Server" or similar.

I've tried setting up a VPN connection using the domain account, but
that seems to have no effect. I've tried various options for the user
name, as in domain\username, user...@domain.com, FirstName LastName,
etc. I've tested using the rpings.exe and rpingc.exe utilities, and RPC
communications seem fine.

I also have a second laptop machine that is connecting fine, so I am
able to compare the two, and as best I can tell everything is exactly
the same on the two with the big exception that one is on the domain
and one is not.

Thanks for any advice!

Robert

I've tri

[Chris Calderon]

You definitely should be able to have a client connect to Exchange using RPC
over HTTPS although the workstation is not part of the domain. Technically,
all you need to do is configure the Outlook Profile to connect to the
Exchange Server which you will need to authenticate against before making
the connection. (domainname\username)

You can try firing up Outlook using the /rpcdiag switch to see if the server
are even being resolved. Can the other client you tested connect to Exchange
from outside the trusted network using RPC over HTTPS?

Chris

<rcm...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1152416654....@m79g2000cwm.googlegroups.com...

[Robert]

Good to know that it should be possible. So I've just got to figure
out what I'm doing wrong...

I've tried the /rpcdiag and the client is definitely NOT connected. So
that seems the place to start. But, I've used the rpings/rpingc
utitlities and this client connects with no problem.

My guess is that the client is not properly authenticated. Is there any
way I can verify this? I've tried connecting to the domain server using
VPN, and that works fine. And of course when I connect, I use the
proper credentials with domain\user and password. But no luck with the
Exchange connection, even though all these work.

But remember, from the machine that is not connecting, I can
successfully ping all variants on domain.com, abc, abc.domain.com
(where abc is the machine name of the Exchange Server), etc. So that
would point back to authentication I would think.

I should be more specific on the two client machines I am working with.
They are here at my house, so not on the domain network, and both
running XP Pro SP2 and Outlook Pro 2003. To the best that I can tell,
everything is the same on the two with the exception that the one that
works is on the domain, and the one not working is part of a workgroup.

You asked

> Can the other client you tested connect to Exchange
> from outside the trusted network using RPC over HTTPS?

Yes, the working machine can connect when not on the domain LAN. But I
get confused even on that. It *is* logged on to the domain to the
extent that (I guess this is the correct wording) the credentials are
cached. That is to say, when I'm here at the house and turn on the
machine and logon to it, I use the domain user and password.

Thanks,
Robert

[Alan Drown]

I'm sure you know about all these but some of these have tripped me up
before...

Are you getting prompted to Authenticate wth the exchange server on the
workgroup laptop?
you should be, if not then theres some misconfiguration/type0 or you have'nt
imported the SSL certificate.
When you go to OWA via https, do you get prompted with a warning about the
website? you shouldnt be.

the exchange server name - right abo ve where you put the user account and
where if you were in the office you could use the "check name" button- is
the internal name of the exchange server - if it is different from the
pulicly available name.

The name used in the rpc over http settings HAS TO BE IDENTICAL TO THE NAME
ON THE SSL CERT YOU'VE IMPORTED and available via external DNS

I've had this problem before as well , where I could see no apparent typeO.
try retyping in by hand the rpc over https settings.
if that doesnt work, try testing by creating a new profile in outlook.

you can Control + right click on the Outlook system tray icon to get the
connection status to see if it's successfully trying to connect via https.

"Robert" <rcm...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1152456618.2...@b28g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...