Attempting to ping RPC endpoint 6001 (Exchange Information Store)

Question

I have Exchange 2003 running on a Windows Server 2003 box. I am trying to use Microsoft Remote Connectivity Analyzer which is failing with an error while attempting to ping RPC endpoint 6001 (Exchange Information Store)

I can see that many people have had the same issue, and I have tried the following advice to no avail: (see http://www.systemadminthings.com/2013/03/outlook-anywhere-rpc-over-http-failing.html)

1. Checking the registry key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Rpc\Rpcproxy\ValidPorts
2. Adding host entries to the C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc file - see although in my case the NetBIOS Name of Exchange Server and the FQDN name seem to be identical

Testing RPC/HTTP connectivity. The RPC/HTTP test failed. Additional Details Elapsed Time: 5670 ms.

Test Steps Attempting to resolve the host name owa.mycompany.com in DNS. The host name resolved successfully. Additional Details IP addresses returned: 199.203.XXX.XXX Elapsed Time: 15 ms.

Testing TCP port 443 on host owa.mycompany.com to ensure it's listening and open. The port was opened successfully. Additional Details Elapsed Time: 197 ms.

Testing the SSL certificate to make sure it's valid. The certificate passed all validation requirements. Additional Details Elapsed Time: 651 ms.

Test Steps The Microsoft Connectivity Analyzer is attempting to obtain the SSL certificate from remote server owa.mycompany.com on port 443. The Microsoft Connectivity Analyzer successfully obtained the remote SSL certificate. Additional Details Remote Certificate Subject: CN=owa.mycompany.com, OU=Domain Control Validated - RapidSSL(R), OU=See www.rapidssl.com/resources/cps (c)13, ..... Elapsed Time: 583 ms.

Validating the certificate name. The certificate name was validated successfully. Additional Details Host name owa.mycompany.com was found in the Certificate Subject Common name. Elapsed Time: 0 ms.

Certificate trust is being validated. The certificate is trusted and all certificates are present in the chain. Test Steps The Microsoft Connectivity Analyzer is attempting to build certificate chains for certificate CN=owa.mycompany.com, OU=Domain Control Validated - RapidSSL(R), OU=See www.rapidssl.com/resources/cps (c)13, .... One or more certificate chains were constructed successfully. Additional Details A total of 1 chains were built. The highest quality chain ends in root certificate CN=GeoTrust Global CA, O=GeoTrust Inc., C=US. Elapsed Time: 33 ms.

Analyzing the certificate chains for compatibility problems with versions of Windows. Potential compatibility problems were identified with some versions of Windows. Additional Details The Microsoft Connectivity Analyzer can only validate the certificate chain using the Root Certificate Update functionality from Windows Update. Your certificate may not be trusted on Windows if the "Update Root Certificates" feature isn't enabled. Elapsed Time: 3 ms.

Testing the certificate date to confirm the certificate is valid. Date validation passed. The certificate hasn't expired. Additional Details The certificate is valid. NotBefore = 7/23/2013 3:25:57 AM, NotAfter = 9/24/2014 1:35:21 AM Elapsed Time: 0 ms.

Checking the IIS configuration for client certificate authentication. Client certificate authentication wasn't detected. Additional Details Accept/Require Client Certificates isn't configured. Elapsed Time: 779 ms.

Testing HTTP Authentication Methods for URL https://owa.mycompany.com/rpc/rpcproxy.dll?mail.mycompany.com:6002. The HTTP authentication methods are correct. Additional Details The Microsoft Connectivity Analyzer found all expected authentication methods and no disallowed methods. Methods found: Basic Elapsed Time: 565 ms.

Testing SSL mutual authentication with the RPC proxy server. Mutual authentication was verified successfully. Additional Details Certificate common name owa.mycompany.com matches msstd:owa.mycompany.com. Elapsed Time: 0 ms.

Attempting to ping RPC proxy owa.mycompany.com. RPC Proxy was pinged successfully. Additional Details Completed with HTTP status 200 - OK Elapsed Time: 182 ms.

Attempting to ping RPC endpoint 6001 (Exchange Information Store) on server mail.mycompany.com. The attempt to ping the endpoint failed.
Tell me more about this issue and how to resolve it Additional Details The RPC_S_SERVER_UNAVAILABLE error (0x6ba) was thrown by the RPC Runtime process. Elapsed Time: 3279 ms.

Solution

I realized what the problem was. (I saw a similar problem on http://www.experts-exchange.com/Software/Server_Software/Email_Servers/Exchange/Q_27654858.html)

When I was manually specifying the server settings, I did not put in the internal host name for the Exchange Server

(I had also not applied all Windows Updates. I am not sure if this made a difference)

Comments

[Ƭᴇcʜιᴇ007]

Did you install the "RPC over HTTP Proxy" Windows Feature on the server? Did you enable basic authentication for the RPC virtual directory in IIS?

[gordon613]

Hi techie007. I don't think 'RPC over HTTP Proxy' is relevant for me because I am running Exchange 2003/Windows Server 2003. (According to technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd776122(v=exchg.141).as‌​px this is only relevant for Exchange 2010) With regard to your second comment, basic authentication was indeed enabled. Do you have any other ideas? Thanks!

[Ƭᴇcʜιᴇ007]

support.microsoft.com/kb/833401

[gordon613]

RPC over HTTP proxy was already installed (Windows components/Networking Services). Do you have any other ideas? Thanks