How to Remove, Re-Create, and Reconnect an Offline Address Book Virtual Directory

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Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 will reach end of support on April 11, 2017. To stay supported, you will need to upgrade. For more information, see Resources to help you upgrade your Office 2007 servers and clients.

 

Applies to: Exchange Server 2007, Exchange Server 2007 SP1, Exchange Server 2007 SP2, Exchange Server 2007 SP3

This topic explains how to use the Exchange Management Shell to remove, re-create, and then reconnect 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 2007 is installed, a new virtual directory named OAB is created in the default internal Web site in Internet Information Services (IIS).

Note

You cannot use the Exchange Management Console to remove an OAB virtual directory.

Before You Begin

To perform the following procedure, the account you use must be delegated the following:

  • Exchange Organization Administrator role

For more information about permissions, delegating roles, and the rights that are required to administer Exchange Server 2007, see Permission Considerations.

Also, before you perform this procedure, be aware of the following:

  • When you remove an OAB virtual directory, the OABs that use Web-based distribution will lose their connection to the OAB virtual directory. After you re-create the virtual directory, you must edit the settings on each OAB that uses Web-based distribution to reconnect to the OAB virtual directory. For information about how to edit OAB settings, see How to View and Modify Offline Address Book Settings.

  • If you create a new OAB virtual directory, make sure that your users are aware of the changes you are making. You may interrupt the OAB downloading process for your users.

Procedure

To use the Exchange Management Shell to remove and re-create an OAB virtual directory

  1. To get the default OAB virtual directory's settings, run the following command:

    Get-OABVirtualDirectory -Identity "OAB (Default Web Site)" | fl | Out-File -filePath "C:\OAB_DefWS_Settings.txt"

  2. Record the settings for the PollInterval, OfflineAddressBooks, RequireSSL, Path, InternalURL, and ExternalURL parameters.

  3. To delete the default OAB virtual directory, run the following command:

    Remove-OABVirtualDirectory -Identity "OAB (Default Web Site)"

  4. Type Y to confirm that you want to remove the OAB virtual directory, and then press ENTER. If the OAB virtual directory that you are removing has OABs connecting to it, you will receive another warning indicating that you must designate another OAB virtual directory.

  5. Type Y to confirm that you want to delete the OAB virtual directory, and then press ENTER.

  6. Create a new OAB virtual directory that has the same settings as the OAB that you removed, except the settings for the OfflineAddressBooks parameter. You will reconnect the OABs in the next step. For instructions about how to create an OAB virtual directory, see How to Create an Offline Address Book Virtual Directory.

  7. Reconnect any OABs that use the Web-based distribution method to the new OAB virtual directory. For instructions about how to reconnect OABs to a virtual directory, see How to View and Modify Offline Address Book Settings.

For detailed syntax and parameter information, see the Remove-OABVirtualDirectory reference topic.

For More Information

For more information about managing OABs, see the following topics: