RSS Subscription 125 Posts and 1,332 Comments

Exchange 2010 Databases and the RPCClientAccessServer Database Parameter

When you create an RPC Client Access Array AFTER you have created Exchange 2010 databases, you need to go back to those existing databases and stamp them with the RPC Client Access Array FQDN.  That way, clients will use that RPC Client Access Array.  Otherwise, they won’t.  On the other hand, if you create the RPC Client Access Array FQDN before you create your Exchange 2010 databases, nothing else is needed on your part.

There’s a bug with Outlook 2007 and Outlook 2010 that prevent the RPC Endpoint from updating.  This is similar to the bug in which Outlook 2007 will not update its Outlook Anywhere Endpoint which was fixed in Outlook 2010 Beta 2.  Because of this bug, it is very important that you get the RPCClientAccessServer database parameter configured correctly prior to moving users to Exchange 2010.  If you make this mistake and have the RPCClientAccessServer Database Parameter incorrectly and Outlook users are already hosted on Exchange 2010, once you modify the RPCClientAccessServer parameter for those clients, those clients can do an Outlook Profile Repair to get the updated change.  I will update this article in the future when this issue gets fixed.

So before you move users to Exchange 2010, please make sure that you either:

  1. Create the RPC Client Access Array before creating your databases OR
  2. Go back on the databases and stamp those databases by running the following command:
    3. Set-MailboxDatabase -Identity “DatabaseName” –RPCClientAccessServer array.domain.com

The reason why #1 works making #2 not necessary is the way Exchange assigns the RPC Client Access Array property to a database.  It does this in 3 different ways:

  1. If there is no RPC Client Access Array and you create the database on a server that hosts the MBX and CAS role, it will choose itself, always.
  2. If there is no RPC Client Access Array and you create the database on a server where the CAS and MBX are not collocated on the same server, it will randomly pick a CAS in the same site to set as the RPCClientAccessServer.
  3. If there is an RPC Client Access Array in that site, it will automatically set the FQDN of the CAS Array for the RPCClientAccessServer.

Autodiscover will see the database the user lives on and will assign the user’s Exchange Server (RPC Endpoint) to what the RPCClientAccessServer parameter is.  That is why it’s important to make sure this setting is right before a user is moved to Exchange 2010.

  • Share/Bookmark

Elan Shudnow :: Apr.18.2010 :: , ::

13 Responses to “Exchange 2010 Databases and the RPCClientAccessServer Database Parameter”

  1. on 18 Apr 2010 at 1:22 pm1Tweets that mention eating Databases and the RPCClientAccessServer Database Parameter | Elan Shudnow's Blog -- Topsy.com

    [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Elan Shudnow. Elan Shudnow said: #Exchange 2010 Databases and the RPCClientAccessServer Database Parameter http://bit.ly/ckCZNZ [...]

  2. on 18 Apr 2010 at 7:03 pm2Ståle Hansen

    Hi, great post! According to Henrik Walther Outlook 2010 behaves like Outlook 2007, that it wont update the profile. However if you make the old RPC endpoint unavailable it will refresh the users profile on Oulook 2007 and 2010. You can also perform a profile repair to update the profile. If the user use Outlook 2003 you need to update the profile by applying a new PRF file. Check out what Henrik Walther said here:http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/ff626...

    Are you sure that Outlook 2010 will update automatically?

  3. on 18 Apr 2010 at 7:07 pm3Elan Shudnow

    So here's the thing with that. The Outlook Anywhere FQDN update was fixed with Outlook 2010 which should have fixed the RPC Endpoint issue as well but I have not confirmed that. I did talk with Ross Smith about this several months ago in the Exchange 2010 RTM TAP. Let me make an update in the SP1 TAP list and see what Ross or someone else comes back with and I will update this accordingly.

  4. on 18 Apr 2010 at 7:47 pm4Henrik Walther

    Not working with Outlook 2010 RC1. Tested myself and verified with others.

  5. on 19 Apr 2010 at 12:53 am5Elan Shudnow

    Thanks Henrik and Ståle for bringing this to my attention. I have updated the article accordingly.

  6. on 19 Apr 2010 at 8:24 am6eating Databases and the RPCClientAccessServer Database Parameter | Elan Shudnow’s Blog « JC’s Blog-O-Gibberish

    [...] eating Databases and the RPCClientAccessServer Database Parameter | Elan Shudnow’s Blog Posted on April 19, 2010 by johnacook http://www.shudnow.net/2010/04/18/creating-databases-and-the-rpcclientaccesss…; [...]

  7. on 04 May 2010 at 9:24 pm7Matt_Wade

    Elan, great post and definitely something to watch out for. I also wanted to point out that you define the CAS array using the powershell command new-ClientAccessArray.

    Reference:http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd3511...

  8. on 04 May 2010 at 9:24 pm8Matt_Wade

    Elan, great post and definitely something to watch out for. I also wanted to point out that you define the CAS array using the powershell command new-ClientAccessArray.

    Reference:http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd3511...

  9. on 04 May 2010 at 9:24 pm9Matt_Wade

    Elan, great post and definitely something to watch out for. I also wanted to point out that you define the CAS array using the powershell command new-ClientAccessArray.

    Reference:http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd3511...

  10. on 20 May 2010 at 10:37 am10Load Balancing Guidance for Exchange 2010 | a Single Point of Contact

    [...] Exchange 2010 Databases and the RPCClientAccessServer Database Parameter [...]

  11. on 28 Jun 2010 at 8:26 am11Outlook Profile not updating after creating CAS Array « Scott Feltmann's Blog

    [...] point out that after some research I did manage to find a blog article pertaining to the issue on Elan Shudnow Blog.  Thanks Elan for [...]

  12. on 27 Jul 2010 at 5:00 am12Arfan Sharif

    One of the most dissapointing thisngs about Outlook 2010 is the fact there is no method for it to see freebusy information in public folders, whereas with 2007 you could use the UseLegacyFB registry change.

  13. on 30 Jul 2010 at 12:38 am13eshudnow

    Didn't know that Outlook 2010 doesn't have UseLegacyFB anymore. Good to know though. Thanks.

Trackback this post | Feed on Comments to this post

Leave a Reply