Database Users

ActiveSync and RPC over HTTP

Heres a question for u: is it possible to connect to my exchange server using activesync via an RPC over HTTP connection? Currently i have to dial a VPN connection before connecting which is rather cumbersome (having to dial and it frequently drops). It is available in Outlook and is much more efficient. Cheers.

I am assuming that you are running an exchange 2K3 SP2 and Windows Server 2K3 SP1 right off the bat. If you are not this info may not apply.
When you install Exchange 2003, several virtual directories are created under the Default Web Site in Internet Information Services (IIS).
One of those is "Microsoft-Server-Active-sync" If I am not mistaken this is what your PPC uses when syncing. So you don't need to setup your PPC to use RPC over HTTP like you would outlook (with the http address, and the internal server name, and the MSSTD crap). Check to make sure your front end server (Web server) has that virtual directory in the default web site. If not, there are quite a few tutorials on Google that you can look up.
Hope that helped.
Later; Lew
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q="how+to"+install+"Microsoft-Server-ActiveSync"

IMAP over GPRS problems

I am trying to connect to my office server using IMAP over GPRS from my Universal.
It works fine when I am on my wireless network in the office, but then when away I switch all the connections over to using GPRS and it won't connect.
I have modified my firewall to allow incoming traffic on port 143 for IMAP, but am still getting nowhere, it just won't connect.
Something must be working right because I can synchronise my main mail account over the web via GPRS using Activesync on the Universal without any problems.
Any ideas?

its working fine here.
do you have a router? did you nat port 143 to the server?
can you use on the internal network imap?

It sounds like a firewall issue. Check what you have configured for outgoing ports on your firewall. You could be blocking the outbound data. I'm not sure whether IMAP uses the same port outbound as inbound, but it should be easy enough to check.

port 143 is for reading mail, you sent your mail through port 25 = smtp mail
most providers wil close inbound port 25, but (i have t-mobile) mail i sent is intercepted by their smtp server and send through their server. i have imap server and smtp server my mailservers ipadres but my outgoing mail is directed not through my server.
if you want to specific send your mail through yor mailserver you have to first make a vpn connection and then you can send through your own mailserver.

Port 25 isn't used by IMAP. Port 25 is used by the email server to send and receive email, and that is already configured and working I assume.
When applications connect via a tcp port, the server often responds on a different port. Therefore when you are opening ports on a firewall you often have to open the incoming AND outgoing ports (if they are different), in order to get an application to work correctly. That was what I was alluding to.

yep two ways
imap is sending over port 25 only reading mail on 143 (143 two ways open as you said)

graybo said:
It sounds like a firewall issue. Check what you have configured for outgoing ports on your firewall. You could be blocking the outbound data. I'm not sure whether IMAP uses the same port outbound as inbound, but it should be easy enough to check.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is what I was thinking. I have port 143 on the firewall open both ways and it isn't logging any other issues.
I'm wondering if there are any restrictions on the server side (Exchange 2003 on Win 2003 server).
It's not such a burning issue, but in the future I would like to get setup so that I can connect to three accounts on my mail server (two using IMAP) over a wireless connection when around the office and then when away use a VPN connection to be able to get in over GPRS or 3G - having to reconfigure the connection for each account when away is a pain.

The IMAP virtual server needs to be running, obviously, and if I remember rightly you may need to enable it for each user, or group of users.
Have you checked the settings in the Properties of the users you want to login as?

Try to run a network sniffer like Ethereal (www.ethereal.com) on your server while trying to connect from your Universal. Maybe you get some useful information on what's wrong there...
.ox

Hi,
Thanks for the responses.
The IMAP service is running fine since I can connect to it without problems over the local network, I just can't connect coming in over the web.
Interestingly whilst the IMAP doesn't seem to want to play over the web, I can use activesync over GPRS to sync my outlook folders.
Now if only I could have 2-3 outlook style accounts on the Universal and use activesync to sync them, that would make life a lot easier.

We have twelve SPV 5000's at work and non of us tinkerers can get IMAP to work over GPRS or G3.....
It's taken us flippin ages to work out how to send over POP3 and GPRS although we could always receive fine.
Technical help from orange is less useful than my mum... and the help on the website is non-existent.
Good luck in your quest Brave Warrior. 8)

activesync server sync help!!!!

Hi guys,
Right i have an XDA exec and an XDA mini , ones for work ones for personal use.
I've set up an exchange server at home for the mini however it has to listen on port 8080 (the web outlook frontend).
However I'm trying to connect the activesync client to this via
address:8080 in the server field on the device but it doesn't seem to work
I can obviously access the site via 8080 on http but not via activesync. I've tried this on both the XDA MINI and the XDA EXEC and neither can access the server and i can't move the ports .
does the client support ports?
can you override them?
help!!!!

Activesync works by default over port 80 (non-secure) and 443 (secure) only. There may be a reg hack but I am unaware of one. If your cable or phone company is blocking port 80 just install a certificate, which you REALLY should be using anyway) and connect over 443 using SSL.

this is the problem, both portss 80 and 443 are taken up already by an apache web server.
I have exchange running under a virtual machine on the linux server. The windows 2003 box intergates with the existing mail sub system giving me access to the pop3 and smtp service on the linux side of things so its transparrent.
So apache runs on both port 80 and 443 so I can't bind anything to them.
I was looking into a reg hack if there was one.
If i find anything i'll post it but until then i have the same problem...which is a real annoyance!

the other thing is that the server i'm working with is only allowing port 8080 to be directed to it. Does activesync use any other port for the sync via web? As that might be the other problem.

right i've found a partial solution.
What i've done is use mod_proxy as part of the apache2 stuff to do a reverse proxy to the server over a virtual host on the system...
soo all traffic for the virtual domain foo.com goes to 192.168.1.20 which is the server behind the firewall (which just happens to be a bridged virtual machine).
That means now I can access exchange web via http on port 80 so atcive syn now connect to it.
unforutnately the crap thing is now active sync constantly asks for a username and password all the time and doesn't sync. So I'm guess it can see the server but not get any further...
so does anyone know if active sync needs access to any other ports as I can forward them much easily through the firewall.
help and thoughts please .

HAHAHAHAH GOTCHA
right that did it...
two things..i'd made a mistake int he domain name on active sync and added an E into the domain name where I should have!
also because i'd promoted the VM to a Domain Controller after installing IIS etc I had to re-register the ASP.NET framework so OMA worked.
I now have push mail working on linux out of a VM whilst apache is running on the same box
nice

Can I challenge you to document your setup and post it on a new thread for others to learn from?

yeah i'll do that , currently however I've been having a bit of a war with the SSL setup as the first pass was "open communications"
I've hit a snag where access to to OWA works for everything bar for internet explorer. I think i know the problem and have a solution so once I've tried that I'll document it and get it up here.
I do have reversed proxy SSL working to exchange though so now everything is secure and I can access OWA via firefox so again thats cool.
The I.E thing im certain is an issue with the actually app and that when it detects I.E it trys to be all clever but unfortuantely the domains don't match atm so its https://foo.com/exchange to http://bar.com/exchange and because of the domain name difference its getting a little twitcy.
theres three solutions, re-install everything from scratch (fat chance).
try to convert the active dicrectory domain to the one that matches foo (have you READ the documentation!....80 odd pages or something). Or change the https domain name on apache and redo the certificate (nice and easy but i'll do it tuesday).
once I can get it working seamlessly i'll do the docus

Active sync - Exchange: SSL over a non-default port

My ISP blocks all ports below 1024 so I had to setup my SBS2003 Exchange server to run on port 8080 (HTTP) & 4443 (HTTPS), which works perfectly (tested locally & on remote locations).
When I add the correct secure portnumber to the server address (ActiveSync > Tools > Configure Server Source), ActiveSync cannot find our Exchange Server. When I remove the portnumber everything works fine as long as I'm on my local network.
I enter it like this: exchangeserverdomain.com:4443
I have OWA running perfectly by using the same external server address:<port>, and all needed certificates are on my WM6 device (it's the HTC Touch Dual).
Seems like ActiveSync doesn't like portnumbers.
Any tips?

Me 2
I'm having a similar problem.
Anyone can help?
Many thanks in advance.
Pozi.

If anyone has found a solution for this, I sure would appreciate knowing. As I'm sure you found, older stuff retrieved by Google makes it clear that MS just didn't provide support for ActiveSync on custom ports in previous WM versions, but couldn't they have remedied this oversight by now? Reg key?

Active sync - Exchange: SSL over a non-default port - Solved in WM65 ?
Any idea if there is a workaround for this problem in WM 6.5 ?
thanks,
Koen.

No, I don't know if WM6.5 finally added the ability to specify port number for Activesync server.
We solved this need by using "SSL host headers," which permit multiple IIS sites to use the default SSL port 443 with different host names. Although the IIS (6.0) GUI doesn't provide this capability, it can be done at the command line using adsutil.vbs found in Inetpub\adminscripts. It requires a wildcard SSL certificate, is a little tricky to get right, and results in a misleading error message in the event log every time IIS starts, but it does work reliably.
See:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/pr...108-b1a7-494d-885d-f8941b07554c.mspx?mfr=true

ISP blocks all well-known ports - server activesync not working
thanks for the information, the configuration of Exchange is indeed not an issue.
Problem is that my ISP blocks all well-known (service) ports like 443,...
I would like to configure server activesync to use a different port (above 1024).
The Activesync interface on Windows mobile does not allow to enter a port number to specify the protocol.
eg. remote.company.com:4433 is automatically changed back to remote.company.com.
Any idea of a reg-key on WM to change the port to use for server activesync ?

If there is a way to do that in WM65, I don't know about it.
What kind of ISP "blocks all well-known ports"?
Good luck.

Not a solution per se but could you use SevenBeta to get your mail pushed? i think it works as long as you can get to the OWA server from the device. probably wouldn't give you contacts but at least you'd get mail while out of the office.

It's not Exchange, but the client...
I dislike it's come to this but it's true, the iPhone handles this over custom ssl ports just fine and I have not come across anything else that does. I do not know why. With the iPhone or iPod touch too I'd guess, you just enter your email address and password. It tries the regular ports and fails, and where you enter the server you enter your port like servername:customsslport and then you have full active synch abilities, synched email, all your subfolders, and the option to synch calendar and address book too.
I recently tried an android phone and looking for a solution, at this very site found out windows phones couldn't do this either... Developers have tried to give google this code correction but they won't accept it for whatever reason. I ended up using a tether to my old iPhone just to get decent ActiveSynch over custom SSL ports until I gave in and took back the Atrix for the newer iPhone, as my old phone was falling apart and was the older slower one. I've tried 2.1 & 2.2 Android phones and when you try to enter the port using serverort syntax you get invalid server format or the save button just gets grayed out until you remove the port. There's a few buggy market apps that sorta work in a limited way. It's possible the Blackberry may allow custom ssl ports on Exchange synch setup too, but I don't know, only that Windows and Android phones had issues with this but it works perfect on the iPhone, so it can't be a limitation of Exchange exactly. I haven't run into any good desktop clients for this, but to access full mobile email, synching even sent items and pushing select custom folders, calendar and contacts the iPhone truly synchs all these fine by entering the same port you use for custom OWA ssl in the Exchange email setup. I wish even desktop Outlook handled custom ssl port synching this well, and I'm not sure how the iPhone does it, as it seems very lightweight.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=602494
Lukasss said:
My ISP blocks all ports below 1024 so I had to setup my SBS2003 Exchange server to run on port 8080 (HTTP) & 4443 (HTTPS), which works perfectly (tested locally & on remote locations).
When I add the correct secure portnumber to the server address (ActiveSync > Tools > Configure Server Source), ActiveSync cannot find our Exchange Server. When I remove the portnumber everything works fine as long as I'm on my local network.
I enter it like this: exchangeserverdomain.com:4443
I have OWA running perfectly by using the same external server address:<port>, and all needed certificates are on my WM6 device (it's the HTC Touch Dual).
Seems like ActiveSync doesn't like portnumbers.
Any tips?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

hmmm this is interesting

T-Zones port forwarding ?

If using T-Zones services, you get access to only few ports. However, ports like SSL and FTP are blocked. Is it possible to use a personal proxy server to get access to all unblocked ports somehow? Just thinking of an idea.
- TKN

tariq_niazi said:
If using T-Zones services, you get access to only few ports. However, ports like SSL and FTP are blocked. Is it possible to use a personal proxy server to get access to all unblocked ports somehow? Just thinking of an idea.
- TKN
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well mate if you are referring to using the t-zones as a free connection or hacking it then it was done and t-mobile during a big upgrade all but closed that gap. I myself have been trying for a loop hole through this as well because if they want to give me t-zones for free why not be able to utilize it fully . I do pay my cell bill every month .. lol

T-zones ssh proxy forwarding
Yes there is a way to do this.
And yes I have got this to work. Now I run skype, AIM, Remote Dektop, etc. from my T-zones EDGE connection. It is kind of slow though for things like Skype.
This is not intended to be easy, however if you spend enough time, you should be able to get it to work.
Here is the concept (For Windows XP),
Host an ssh server and a proxy server on your home computer.
I use copSSH for an ssh server (google it) and squid for windows for a proxy server (again google it and read the documentation!)
Set the ssh server to run on port 80 or port 143 (valid t-zones ports).
Set the proxy server to run on port 8118 (I just like that port number).
Use an ssh client on your windows mobile phone (such as pocketputty dev build 2007-02-28) (again, google).
Configure the ssh client to connect to your home ssh server via port 80 or 143
On the tunnel tab of pocketputty, add the ports you need to get to and direct them to localhostortno
For example, Port 8118 is my proxy server so I have tunnelled port 8118 to localhost:8118
Now I manually connect to my EDGE T-Zones connection, I run pocketputty and connect to my home server. I then login with my user credentials to my ssh server and everything validates and I get a bash shell. Now I run Skype Mobile and change it's settings to connect using an https proxy of localhost with port 8118.
You can do this with any port, such as Remote Desktop (port 3389)
then you just open Remote Desktop client on your phone and connect to the the address localhost:3389 (or localhost)
I know this is a bit much but it's not exactly a point and click process for now, so only try this if you are pretty sure you know your way around ports, ssh, and tunneling. You could always read a lot about it online if you are not. That's what I did.

drkmfdm said:
Yes there is a way to do this.
And yes I have got this to work. Now I run skype, AIM, Remote Dektop, etc. from my T-zones EDGE connection. It is kind of slow though for things like Skype.
This is not intended to be easy, however if you spend enough time, you should be able to get it to work.
Here is the concept (For Windows XP),
Host an ssh server and a proxy server on your home computer.
I use copSSH for an ssh server (google it) and squid for windows for a proxy server (again google it and read the documentation!)
Set the ssh server to run on port 80 or port 143 (valid t-zones ports).
Set the proxy server to run on port 8118 (I just like that port number).
Use an ssh client on your windows mobile phone (such as pocketputty dev build 2007-02-28) (again, google).
Configure the ssh client to connect to your home ssh server via port 80 or 143
On the tunnel tab of pocketputty, add the ports you need to get to and direct them to localhostortno
For example, Port 8118 is my proxy server so I have tunnelled port 8118 to localhost:8118
Now I manually connect to my EDGE T-Zones connection, I run pocketputty and connect to my home server. I then login with my user credentials to my ssh server and everything validates and I get a bash shell. Now I run Skype Mobile and change it's settings to connect using an https proxy of localhost with port 8118.
You can do this with any port, such as Remote Desktop (port 3389)
then you just open Remote Desktop client on your phone and connect to the the address localhost:3389 (or localhost)
I know this is a bit much but it's not exactly a point and click process for now, so only try this if you are pretty sure you know your way around ports, ssh, and tunneling. You could always read a lot about it online if you are not. That's what I did.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's relatively simple what you saying here ...but I can't understand what is the function of squid ...I don't know how you change the Skype(or other software like IM+, Agile messenger, Palringo, wmirc etc.) settings to connect using localhost port 8118 (or any other port).
Few month ago I tried something like this based on this tutorial http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=316890 ...but without succes ...

drkmfdm said:
Yes there is a way to do this.
And yes I have got this to work. Now I run skype, AIM, Remote Dektop, etc. from my T-zones EDGE connection. It is kind of slow though for things like Skype.
This is not intended to be easy, however if you spend enough time, you should be able to get it to work.
Here is the concept (For Windows XP),
Host an ssh server and a proxy server on your home computer.
I use copSSH for an ssh server (google it) and squid for windows for a proxy server (again google it and read the documentation!)
Set the ssh server to run on port 80 or port 143 (valid t-zones ports).
Set the proxy server to run on port 8118 (I just like that port number).
Use an ssh client on your windows mobile phone (such as pocketputty dev build 2007-02-28) (again, google).
Configure the ssh client to connect to your home ssh server via port 80 or 143
On the tunnel tab of pocketputty, add the ports you need to get to and direct them to localhostortno
For example, Port 8118 is my proxy server so I have tunnelled port 8118 to localhost:8118
Now I manually connect to my EDGE T-Zones connection, I run pocketputty and connect to my home server. I then login with my user credentials to my ssh server and everything validates and I get a bash shell. Now I run Skype Mobile and change it's settings to connect using an https proxy of localhost with port 8118.
You can do this with any port, such as Remote Desktop (port 3389)
then you just open Remote Desktop client on your phone and connect to the the address localhost:3389 (or localhost)
I know this is a bit much but it's not exactly a point and click process for now, so only try this if you are pretty sure you know your way around ports, ssh, and tunneling. You could always read a lot about it online if you are not. That's what I did.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
One other advantage of doing it this way is that ll your activity goes down a secure encrypted tunnel and so is unsniffable.

breakx said:
It's relatively simple what you saying here ...but I can't understand what is the function of squid ...I don't know how you change the Skype(or other software like IM+, Agile messenger, Palringo, wmirc etc.) settings to connect using localhost port 8118 (or any other port).
Few month ago I tried something like this based on this tutorial http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=316890 ...but without succes ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes it takes a while and some resources to make this work but it can save you a lot on T-mobile's slow EDGE network.
Squid is a caching proxy which runs under linux, windows, etc. I use it to have complete encrypted web access that is cached and I use it for remote pc connections as well as windows mobile. You could also use Privoxy to have an ad and spyware filtering proxy. I do not use Squid for any other apps such as Skype or Remote Desktop.
The forum link you included is a great example of how to setup this type of connection and it's a much better description. I wish I had found it a while ago.
I can't speak for every application and its ability to select a port, however here is how Skype works. After installing Skype you have to first login to Skype using a normal internet connection such as through ActiveSync or WiFi. After Skype login completes, you open the options menu and fill in the proxy port number. Then you can disconnect and use the pocketputty method. Remote desktop is even easier, you just open a new connection and goto the address "localhostortnumber".

Way beyond me. I wish I understood because this sounds like exactly what I have been looking for.

drkmfdm said:
Yes there is a way to do this.
And yes I have got this to work. Now I run skype, AIM, Remote Dektop, etc. from my T-zones EDGE connection. It is kind of slow though for things like Skype.
This is not intended to be easy, however if you spend enough time, you should be able to get it to work.
Here is the concept (For Windows XP),
Host an ssh server and a proxy server on your home computer.
I use copSSH for an ssh server (google it) and squid for windows for a proxy server (again google it and read the documentation!)
Set the ssh server to run on port 80 or port 143 (valid t-zones ports).
Set the proxy server to run on port 8118 (I just like that port number).
Use an ssh client on your windows mobile phone (such as pocketputty dev build 2007-02-28) (again, google).
Configure the ssh client to connect to your home ssh server via port 80 or 143
On the tunnel tab of pocketputty, add the ports you need to get to and direct them to localhostortno
For example, Port 8118 is my proxy server so I have tunnelled port 8118 to localhost:8118
Now I manually connect to my EDGE T-Zones connection, I run pocketputty and connect to my home server. I then login with my user credentials to my ssh server and everything validates and I get a bash shell. Now I run Skype Mobile and change it's settings to connect using an https proxy of localhost with port 8118.
You can do this with any port, such as Remote Desktop (port 3389)
then you just open Remote Desktop client on your phone and connect to the the address localhost:3389 (or localhost)
I know this is a bit much but it's not exactly a point and click process for now, so only try this if you are pretty sure you know your way around ports, ssh, and tunneling. You could always read a lot about it online if you are not. That's what I did.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds wonderful ................
Now can you please add some pictures and make a sweet how-to . I am sure many on the site will be happy to see your work . And I for one an very interested in it.

i don't know what kind of application you use on your pocket. But if your applications (like skype, fetchmail ) are able to use a socket server, you can go through easily via restricted ports of your provider.
I installed a socks server listening on an opened port, so now i can use skype and read my mails via this server.
Socks server :
With linux install : "dante"
With XP I don't know, but you can use "socksproxy" for tests (found on xda...). Take care this software is not secure ( or intall a DMZ with a firewall)...