Microsoft KB Archive/283195

= XWEB: Passing 'FRONT-END-HTTPS: on' Custom Header from F5 Networks SSL Gateway to the Front-End Server Does Not Enable an SSL Session in OWA =

Article ID: 283195

Article Last Modified on 2/21/2007

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server Standard Edition

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This article was previously published under Q283195





SYMPTOMS
When you use F5 Networks Big-IP to support a hosted commercial e-mail service that runs Microsoft Outlook Web Access (OWA) over Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), the SSL gateway (F5 Networks Big-IP) may stop the SSL session between OWA and the F5 Networks computer. Communications between the F5 Networks computer and the front-end servers work correctly.

When SSL is used with F5 Networks Big-IP, F5 Networks Big-IP passes the following custom header to the front-end servers:

FRONT-END-HTTPS: on

However, this procedure does not work with OWA. The back-end server generates &quot;http://&quot; Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) to OWA instead of &quot;https://&quot;.



CAUSE
This problem occurs because F5 Networks Big-IP passes the custom header &quot;FRONT-END-HTTPS: on&quot; to the front-end servers. The front-end servers generate an additional &quot;FRONT-END-HTTPS: on&quot; header; therefore, the front-end server passes &quot;FRONT-END-HTTPS: on,on&quot; to the back-end server. The back-end server cannot process this header, which results in the generation of &quot;http://&quot; URLs to OWA.



RESOLUTION
To resolve this problem, obtain the latest service pack for Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server. For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

301378 XGEN: How to Obtain the Latest Exchange 2000 Server Service Pack

The English version of this fix should have the following file attributes or later:

Component: HTTP-DAV

NOTE: To fix this problem, you must be using F5 Networks Big-IP version 3.3.1 or later. This fix needs to be applied to all of the front-end servers.



STATUS
Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server. This problem was first corrected in Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server Service Pack 1.

Additional query words: BIG IP, Hosting

Keywords: kbbug kbfix kbqfe KB283195

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