Create an Offline Address Book Virtual Directory

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Applies to: Exchange Server 2010 SP3, Exchange Server 2010 SP2

You can use the Shell to create an offline address book (OAB) virtual directory.

The OAB virtual directory is the distribution point used by the Web-based distribution method of the OAB. By default, when Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 is installed, a new virtual directory named OAB is created in the default internal Web site in Internet Information Services (IIS). If you have client-side users that connect to Microsoft Outlook from outside your organization's firewall, you can add an external Web site. Alternatively, when you run the New-OABVirtualDirectory cmdlet in the Shell, a new virtual directory named OAB is created in the default IIS Web site on the local Exchange server.

Although Web-based distribution is enabled by default and doesn't require further configuration, we recommend that you enable Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) for the OAB distribution point. For more information, see Require SSL for Offline Address Book Distribution.

Creating an OAB virtual directory isn't a common task. Exchange allows for one OAB virtual directory named OAB, and you should create an OAB virtual directory only if there is a problem with the existing OAB virtual directory, and the previous OAB virtual directory was removed. For more information, see Remove, Re-Create, and Reconnect an Offline Address Book Virtual Directory.

Looking for other management tasks related to OABs? Check out Managing Offline Address Books.

Important

Before you create an OAB virtual directory, make sure that your users are aware of the changes you are making. This procedure may interrupt the OAB downloading process for your users.

Prerequisites

  • The local Exchange server has the Client Access server role installed.

  • There is a default IIS Web site, for example, /w3svc/1/root.

  • A virtual directory named OAB doesn't already exist.

Use the Shell to create an OAB virtual directory

You need to be assigned permissions before you can perform this procedure. To see what permissions you need, see the "OAB virtual directory" entry in the Mailbox Permissions topic.

Note

You can't use the EMC to create an OAB virtual directory.

To create an OAB virtual directory with all of the default settings, you can run the New-OABVirtualDirectory cmdlet without any parameters. Use the following procedure to create an OAB virtual directory with custom settings.

Note

When creating an OAB virtual directory, we recommend that you have SSL enabled.

To create an OAB virtual directory, use the following syntax.

New-OABVirtualDirectory -DomainController <Fqdn> -ExternalUrl <Url> -InternalUrl <Url> -Path <String> -PollInterval <Int32> -RequireSSL <$true | $false> -Server <ServerIdParameter> -WebSiteName <String>

This example creates an OAB virtual directory on the Client Access server named CAS_SERVER01 that has SSL enabled and an external URL.

New-OABVirtualDirectory -RequireSSL $true -ExternalURL "https://www.contoso.com/OAB"

After you create a new OAB virtual directory, you must edit the settings on each OAB that uses Web-based distribution to reconnect to the OAB virtual directory. For more information, see Configure Offline Address Book Properties.

For detailed syntax and parameter information, see New-OABVirtualDirectory.

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