Setting Up Servers to Support Offline Address Books
To create offline address books, Exchange Server 2003 must have access to at least one of each of the following server types:
Global catalog server If you have multiple global catalog servers, make sure that Active Directory replication is functioning correctly so that Exchange retrieves accurate information regardless of which server it contacts. Also, be aware of the time that is required for Active Directory replication. A new account may not be immediately available on all of the global catalog servers. For more information about Active Directory replication, see Microsoft Windows Help.
Public folder server This server is the Exchange server that supports the default Public Folders tree. If you have multiple public folder servers, and especially if you have multiple routing groups or administrative groups, for information about how to manage multiple instances of the offline address book folders, see "Offline Address Book Folders" later in this topic.
Language Locales and Public Folder Servers
You can set sort order and code page configurations at the server level. Exchange Server 2003 uses the locale settings of the offline address book server when generating the offline address book. The locale settings of the Outlook profile do not affect the offline address book. By default, when running in Cached Exchange Mode, Outlook uses the offline address book in place of the global address list, so users may observe differences in behavior between the two types of address books.
Differences Between the Offline Address Book and the Global Address List
Sometimes users may have different experiences with Outlook depending on whether they are working with an online address list (such as the global address list) or an offline address list.
When an Outlook user requests information from the global address list, Outlook requests that the information be provided using the locale information stored in the Outlook profile and in the Windows registry. The request goes to a global catalog server which, if correctly configured, returns the information to Outlook using the appropriate locale information. If the global catalog server does not support the requested language, it returns the information to Outlook using English locale information.
When an Outlook user requests information from the offline address book, Outlook uses the downloaded offline address book files to respond to the request. The locale information for these files is static. Exchange Server 2003 determines what locale information to use when it generates the offline address book files, and the files do not change when Outlook downloads them. Exchange Server 2003 only requests and generates the offline address book for one language.
When the user's computer and the offline address book server use the same locale information, this difference in behavior is not visible. However, if you have users who are configured to use a locale other than that of the offline address book server, these users may notice the difference. If you have users with this type of configuration, especially if they are using Cached Exchange Mode, you might need to warn them of the differences between the two types of address books.
The primary locale settings involved are the following:
Code page
The ANSI offline address book versions 1 and 2 are generated using the server's system-default ANSI code page.
For example, suppose that an English server generates an offline address book, and then that offline address book is downloaded by a Russian Outlook user. The offline address book still uses western European characters. If the Russian Outlook user is connected to the global address list, that address list would use Cyrillic characters.
Sort order
All offline address books generated on a particular server will use that server's sort order.
For example, suppose that an English server generates an offline address book, and then that offline address book is downloaded by a German Outlook user. The offline address book still uses the English sort order. If the German Outlook user is connected to the global address list, that address list would use the German sort order.
Verifying and Configuring the Default Offline Address Book Locale
Outlook users can verify the locale of the offline address book by checking the following registry keys on the computer running Outlook:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Exchange\Exchange Provider\OAB Sort LocaleU The Locale ID for the UNICODE offline address book in hex and stored as binary, for example, 09 04 00 00 for English (US).
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Exchange\Exchange Provider\OAB Sort Locale The Locale ID for the ANSI offline address book in hex and stored as binary, for example, 09 04 00 00 for English (US).
Important
Do not attempt to modify these registry keys.
The offline address book uses the default locale of the offline address book server. You can change the default locale information, but remember that the server can only use one default locale at a time. The Locale value is a hexadecimal string, for example 00000409 for English (US). For more information about Locale ID values, see the Microsoft Windows Server 2003 documentation.
For detailed steps about how to change the default server locale, see How to Change the Default Server Locale.
Offline Address Book Folders
When Exchange Server 2003 generates offline address book files, it attaches the files to mail messages and places the messages in special public folders. Outlook retrieves the messages from the folder and downloads the attached files.
The offline address book messages are stored in subfolders of the OFFLINE ADDRESS BOOK folder, which is one of the system folders in the default Public Folders tree. This folder contains a subfolder for each administrative group (or site) in your topology. By default, a content replica of a specific administrative group folder resides on the first server that is installed in the administrative group (named the Site Folder Server).
For detailed steps about how to view system folders, see How to View the System Folder for a Public Folder Tree.
Note
The Site Folder Server is responsible for ensuring that site folders exist. If you need to remove the Site Folder Server from the site, first make sure that the site folders have been replicated to a new server that can take over as the Site Folder Server.
You can replicate system folders to additional servers if necessary. You can also configure individual offline address books to reside on specific servers. To support the offline address book folders, a server must have the default Public Folder Store. For more information about system folders, see "Managing Mailbox Stores and Public Folder Stores" in Exchange Server 2003 Administration Guide.
If a server in a mixed-mode environment is upgraded to Exchange Server 2003, you may have to create new folder replicas. For more information about creating new replicas of the offline address book folders, see Microsoft Knowledge Base article 817377, "Offline Address Book Replication Does Not Work After You Upgrade to Exchange Server 2003."
Offline Address Book Files
When it generates an offline address book, Exchange Server 2003 produces several sets of files. With these files, Exchange Server 2003 can support several different formats for the offline address book:
OAB Version 1 If the offline address book is configured with the Exchange 4.0 and 5.0 compatibility option, Exchange generates a set of files in the offline address book version 1 format (OAB Version 1). These files are attached to messages in the root offline address book folder (usually /o=First Organization/cn=addrlists/cn=oabs/cn=Default Offline Address List). The DOS, Windows 16 bit, and Exchange 4.0 clients use OAB Version 1 information. This information is not used with Outlook clients.
OAB Version 2 For non-Unicode (ANSI) clients, Exchange generates files in the offline address book version 2 format (OAB Version 2). These files are attached to messages in the OAB Version 2 folder. All Outlook clients can use these files.
OAB Version 3a For Unicode Outlook clients, Exchange generates files in the offline address book version 3a (OAB Version 3a) format. These files are attached to messages in the OAB Version 3a folder, as shown in the following figure. Outlook 2003 clients can use these files.
Messages in one of the offline address book folders
The following table lists the files that Exchange Server 2003 generates for the different offline address book formats.
Files generated by Exchange Server 2003 for offline address books
ANSI OAB Version 1 (root folder) | ANSI OAB Version 2 | Unicode OAB Version 3a | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Browse.oab |
Browse2.oab |
Browse2_u.oab |
This file is the centerpiece of the offline address book. This file keeps the pointers to the data in the other .oab files. |
Details.oab |
Details2.oab |
Details2_u.oab |
This file contains the details records. For a list of attributes contained in this file, see "User Attributes Stored in Offline Address Book Files" later in this topic. You cannot customize the attributes included in the details records. Outlook users can specify whether to download the details file by selecting the Full Details option in Outlook. If the Outlook client is running in cached mode, it is recommended that you select Full Details. If the client has limited hard disk space, the user may choose to select No Details. |
Rdndex.oab |
Rdndex2.oab |
Rdndex2_u.oab |
Outlook uses this index when looking up distinguished names. Outlook builds the rdndex and pdndex files from this information. |
Anrdex.oab |
Anrdex.oab |
Anrdex2_u.oab |
Outlook uses this index file to help resolve ambiguous names. |
Lngxxx.oab |
Lngxxx.oab |
Lngxxx.oab |
These files contain the Display and Addressing template data for localized (language) information. Templates contain information about how Outlook displays the properties of the object. In the template, xxx is the locale ID, which is used to identify the language. Outlook renames this to Tmplts.oab at download time. |
Macxxx.oab |
Macxxx.oab |
Macxxx.oab |
This file contains the Display and Addressing template data for Macintosh information, where xxx is the code page. The client renames this to Tmplts.oab at download time. At the time of this guide's publication, the Macintosh clients, including Outlook 2001, use the non-Unicode offline address book. The Unicode file is created for possible future use. |
Changes.oab |
Changes.oab |
Changes.oab |
This file is also known as the diff (or difference) file. It contains the differences between the current offline address book and the previously generated offline address book. Outlook uses the information in this file to determine whether to download an update to its copy of the offline address book or a complete new offline address book. This file is included as an attachment in a separate message. |
User Certificates in the Offline Address Book Files
The details files in an offline address book include user certificates. However, in Exchange Server 2003, unnecessary certificates are filtered out. There are three different certificate attributes in Active Directory. Only some of these certificates are used for encrypting and signing e-mail messages. Therefore, Outlook uses these certificates but not the others. Certificates that are not used by Outlook, such as Encrypted File System and 802.1x authentication, are filtered out of the offline address book. Expired certificates are also filtered out of the offline address book.
For detailed steps about how to disable certificate filtering, see How to Disable Certificate Filtering in the Offline Address Book Files.
User Attributes Stored in Offline Address Book Files
With Outlook, users can view address attributes of other users when using the offline address book. The attributes that are available depend on the Outlook configuration.
To view the attribute settings, in the Outlook Tools menu, point to Send/Receive, and then click Download online address book. Outlook provides two options:
**Full Details **Outlook downloads all address attributes.
**No Details **Outlook downloads a subset of the address attributes.
The following table lists the address attributes that are included in the offline address book, including whether they are downloaded as part of the No Details version of the offline address book.
Address attributes in the offline address book, organized by Address Book tab
Tab | Display name | Attribute name | No Details | Full Details |
---|---|---|---|---|
Not applicable |
Not applicable |
PR_OBJECT TYPE |
X |
X |
|
|
PR_ENTRYID |
X |
X |
|
|
PR_DISPLAY_TYPE |
X |
X |
|
|
PR_SEND_RICH_INFO |
X |
X |
|
|
PR_USER_CERTIFICATE |
|
X |
|
|
PR_USER_X509_CERTIFICATE |
|
X |
|
|
PR_EMS_AB_X509_CERT |
|
X |
|
|
PR_EMS_AB_HOME_MDB_A |
|
X * |
General |
First |
PR_GIVEN_NAME_A |
|
X |
|
Initials |
PR_INITIALS_A |
|
X |
|
Last |
PR_SURNAME_A |
X |
X |
|
Display |
PR_DISPLAY_NAME_A |
X |
X |
|
Alias |
PR_ACCOUNT_A |
X |
X |
|
Address |
PR_STREET_ADDRESS_A |
|
X |
|
City |
PR_LOCALITY_A |
|
X |
|
State |
PR_STATE_OR_PROVINCE_A |
|
X |
|
Zip code |
PR_POSTAL_CODE_A |
|
X |
|
Country/Region |
PR_COUNTRY_A |
|
X |
|
Title |
PR_TITLE_A |
|
X |
|
Company |
PR_COMPANY_NAME_A |
|
X |
|
Assistant |
PR_ASSISTANT_A |
|
X |
|
Department |
PR_DEPARTMENT_NAME_A |
|
X |
|
Office |
PR_OFFICE_LOCATION |
X |
X |
|
Phone |
PR_BUSINESS_TELEPHONE_NUMBER_A |
|
X |
Phone/ Notes: |
Business |
PR_BUSINESS_TELEPHONE_NUMBER_A |
|
X |
|
Business 2 |
PR_BUSINESS2_TELEPHONE_NUMBER_A |
|
X ** |
|
Fax |
PR_PRIMARY_FAX_NUMBER_A |
|
X |
|
Assistant |
PR_ASSISTANT_TELEPHONE_NUMBER_A |
|
X |
|
Home |
PR_HOME_TELEPHONE_NUMBER_A |
|
X |
|
Home 2 |
PR_HOME2_TELEPHONE_NUMBER_A |
|
X ** |
|
Mobile |
PR_MOBILE_TELEPHONE_NUMBER_A |
|
X |
|
Pager |
PR_PAGER_TELEPHONE_NUMBER_A |
|
X |
|
Notes |
PR_COMMENT_A |
|
X |
E-Mail Addresses |
Not applicable |
PR_ADDRTYPE_A |
X |
X |
|
Not applicable |
PR_EMAIL_ADDRESS_A |
X |
X |
|
Not applicable |
PR_SMTP_ADDRESS_A |
X |
X |
|
Not applicable |
PR_EMS_AB_PROXY_ADDRESSES |
|
X |
|
Not applicable |
PR_EMS_AB_TARGET_ADDRESS |
|
X * |
* V3 represents offline address book version 3a. Currently this is available only with Exchange Server 2003 and Outlook 2003.
** Business2 and Home2 are available as a single value in Microsoft Exchange Server version 5.5 and as a multi-value in Exchange Server 2003 V3 only. These values are not available in Exchange Server 2003 ANSI (V2) or Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server.
The following table lists attributes that are not included in either the No Details or Full Details version of the offline address book.
Attributes not available in the offline address book
Tab | Display name | Attribute name |
---|---|---|
Organization |
Direct Reports |
directReports |
Member of |
Group Membership |
groupMembershipSAM |
Not applicable |
Custom Attributes |
Not applicable |