RPC over HTTP requires port 135 Initial Configuration?

[dfoxley]

Howdy,

I just configured a new laptop with RPC over HTTP to an
existing/working Exchange server with RPC over HTTP configured. I had
to connect via a VPN to get the intial connection to Exchange working.
Opening TCPView showed that the XP / Outlook 2003 client was trying to
connect via port 135.

Did I miss-configure the client so that it needed to do this? Is this
a known requirement of the RPC over HTTP configuration, that you must
make the initial with port 135?

I haven't seen any documentation refer to this limitation of the
initial connection, can anyone point me to some documentation on this?

Thanks,
Dan Foxley

 

[neo [mvp outlook]]

You didn't miss anything. Outlook always cycles thru all protocols to
connect to a Microsoft Exchange server. The next time you have to set up a
profile, you might find it easier to set it up w/ no network connection of
any kind. This way you don't incur the long delay in getting to the "more
settings" section in order to setup the rpc/https options.

/neo

ps - I will warn you now, when setting up the profile and are not on the
corporate network, the user must specify the exact exchange server name and
mailbox userid/alias. Outlook can't do any type of referral lookups across
a rpc/https connection.

 

[Stephen Bausch]

Dan,
I don't know if Microsoft has a specific documentation on the setup of
the outlook client for RPC over HTTP, but I just setup a client in this
configuration the other day. The client has a certificate that has been
accepted. The RPC IIS tab is set to force SSL and 128 bit encryption. RPC
is set to use basic as well as Windows authentication on the server end.
In order to get the laptop to connect in outlook, I go through the
normal profile setup routine. When I am asked to enter a server name, and
check the account name against that server, I enter the fqdn of the exchange
server, and the account name. At this point, it will fail to find the
server. I cancel whatever error message comes up, and then I go into the
more settings tab, and at this point I can get to the RPC over HTTP
connections tab, and configure those options. Once this is complete, I can
get back into the previous box, where it asks for the mailbox name and server
name. Now I can successfully find the server and it completes the setup.
Hope this helps.