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Configure Outlook Web App for an Exchange 2010 Hybrid Deployment

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Applies to: Exchange Server 2010 SP1

Estimated time to complete: 5 minutes

When you configure a hybrid deployment between your on-premises Exchange 2010 organization and the cloud-based organization, your users will see two Outlook Web App URLs. The first URL refers to your on-premises Exchange 2010 Client Access server, and the second URL is the cloud-based URL used by mailboxes that you move to the cloud.

If you want to make the transition easier for users whose mailboxes are moved to the cloud, you can configure the Exchange 2010 hybrid server to handle all Outlook Web App requests using a single, common URL. Here’s what happens when an Outlook Web App request arrives at the hybrid server:

  • Request for an Exchange 2010 mailbox   The hybrid server automatically redirects Outlook Web App requests for Exchange 2010 mailboxes to the Internet-accessible Exchange 2010 Client Access server.

  • Request for a cloud-based mailbox   The hybrid server displays the Outlook Web App URL in the cloud-based organization and instructs the user to use the new URL. The user has the option to add the new URL to their browser's Favorites list.

To configure Outlook Web App for a hybrid deployment, you must also do the following:

  • Make both your Exchange 2010 Client Access and Exchange 2010 hybrid servers accessible from the Internet and configure external FQDNs for each server. This task is covered later in this checklist.

  • When you're ready for your hybrid server to accept incoming Outlook Web App requests, reconfigure your primary Outlook Web App URL to reference the hybrid server external FQDN. We recommend that you use owa.<domain> for your primary Outlook Web App URL. For example, owa.contoso.com. This task is covered later in this checklist.

Learn more at: Understanding Access to Outlook Web App with a Single URL for an Exchange 2010 Hybrid Deployment

Warning

This topic is meant to be read as part of the Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 and Office 365 Hybrid Deployment checklist. Information or procedures in this topic may depend on prerequisites configured in topics earlier in the checklist. To view the checklist, see Checklist - Exchange 2010 and Office 365 Hybrid Deployment

How do I configure on-premises Outlook Web App redirect?

You need to be assigned permissions before you can perform this procedure. To see what permissions you need, see the "Outlook Web App virtual directories" entry in Client Access Permissions.

For the hybrid server to redirect Outlook Web App requests from users who have mailboxes on an Exchange 2010 on-premises server, the InternalUrl and ExternalUrl properties on the Exchange 2010 Client Access servers must be set correctly. Set the InternalUrl property to the URL that's used by users to access their Exchange 2010 mailbox from your internal network. Set the ExternalUrl property to the URL that's used by users to access their Exchange 2010 mailbox from the Internet.

On each Exchange 2010 Client Access server, do the following in the Shell:

  1. Check the configuration of Outlook Web App ExternalUrl and InternalUrl properties.

    Get-OwaVirtualDirectory "Ex2010\OWA (Default Web Site)" | Format-Table InternalUrl, ExternalUrl

  2. Verify that the values set in the InternalUrl and ExternalUrl properties are set correctly.

  3. If the values aren't set correctly, configure the correct URLs.

    Set-OwaVirtualDirectory "Ex2010\OWA (Default Web Site)" -InternalUrl "https://ex2010.corp.contoso.com/owa" -ExternalUrl "https://mail.contoso.com/owa"

  4. Repeat for each Exchange 2010 Client Access server in your organization.

How do I configure cloud-based Outlook Web App redirect?

You need to be assigned permissions before you can perform this procedure. To see what permissions you need, see the "Organization relationships" entry in Mailbox Permissions.

To enable the hybrid server to display the Outlook Web App URL for the cloud-based organization to users whose mailboxes have been moved to the service, use the following command on the hybrid server:

Important

Don't add a trailing slash ( / ) to the end of the URL in the following command.

Set-OrganizationRelationship "To Cloud" -TargetOWAUrl "https://outlook.com/owa/contoso.com"

How do I know this worked?

Use the following steps to validate that you've correctly set up Exchange 2010 Outlook Web App and cloud-based Outlook Web App redirection.

Important

You haven't reconfigured your primary Outlook Web App DNS CNAME to reference the hybrid server yet. To test your configuration, you'll need to reference the externally accessible FQDN of the hybrid server. You'll reconfigure your primary Outlook Web App DNS CNAME at a later step in the checklist.

To verify whether you've correctly configured Exchange 2010 redirection, do the following:

  1. Browse to the Outlook Web App URL of your hybrid server. You need to use the externally accessible FQDN of the hybrid server. For example, https://mail.contoso.com/owa.

  2. Enter the credentials of a mailbox that's located on your Exchange 2010 mailbox server.

  3. If Exchange 2010 redirection is working, the hybrid server will automatically redirect your request to the Exchange 2010 server and log you on to the mailbox automatically.

To check whether you've correctly configured cloud-based redirection, you’ll have to wait. You can’t use the test mailbox you created at the beginning of this checklist in the Verify Service Configuration step to verify cloud-based redirection. You’ll need to use the test mailbox that will be created in the Create Test Mailbox step later in this checklist. Don’t worry; we’ll remind you when you get there.

Having problems? Ask for help in the Office 365 forums. To access the forums, you'll need to sign in using an account that's granted administrator access to your cloud-based service. Visit the forums at: Office 365 Forums

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