Config Helper

Smartphone unable to sync with Exchange

Written by admin on December 16, 2009 – 11:31 am -

I recently encountered an issue while trying to sync a T-Mobile Dash Smartphone (with Windows Mobile 6 Standard) to an Exchange 2007 server. While researching the issue I noticed that many people were having the same problem. After finding a solution I thought it would be helpful to write out the steps I used to troubleshoot the issue and the solution that finally worked.

Problem Overview

Using Exchange 2007 with SSL certificate from GoDaddy.com. You can successfully connect to OWA using a web browser. You configure Activesync on your Smartphone to sync email from your Exchange server to your phone. When ActiveSync tries to connect you receive the following error message:

The security certificate on the server is invalid. Contact your system administrator or ISP to install a valid certificate on the server and try again.
Support Code:
0x80072F0D

Knowing that the certificate worked fine when using a regular web browser I first wondered if the Godaddy certificate was not compatible with Windows Mobile 6. I checked the Microsoft Technet site on Windows Mobile 6 and Godaddy is listed as a trusted vendor. http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc182295.aspx

Just to make sure, I re-installed the certificate using Godaddy’s instructions for installing an intermediate certificate, see below:
1. Click the Start menu and click Run.... Type mmc in the Run window and click OK to start the Microsoft Management Console (MMC).
2. In the Management Console, select File then Add/Remove Snap In.
3. In the Add or Remove Snap-ins dialog, click the Add button and then select Certificates.
4. Choose Computer Account then click Next.
5. Choose Local Computer, then click Finish.
6. Close the Add or Remove Snap-ins dialog and click OK to return to the main MMC window.
7. If necessary, click the + icon to expand the Certificates folder so that the Intermediate Certification Authorities folder is visible.
8. Right-click on Intermediate Certification Authorities and choose All Tasks, then click Import.
9. Follow the wizard prompts to complete the installation procedure.
10. Click Browse to locate the certificate file. Change the file extension filter in the bottom right corner to be able to select the file. Click Open after selecting the appropriate file.
11. Click Next in the Certificate Import Wizard.
12. Choose Place all certificates in the following store; then use the Browse function to locate Intermediate Certification Authorities. Click Next. Click Finish.
NOTE: If the Go Daddy Class 2 Certification Authority root certificate is currently installed on your machine you will need to disable it from the Trusted Root Certification Authorities folder.
13. Expand the Trusted Root Certification Authorities folder
14. Double-click the Certificates folder to show a list of all certificates.
15. Find the Go Daddy Class 2 Certification Authority certificate.
16. Right-click on the certificate and select Properties.
17. Select the radio button next to Disable all purposes for this certificate.
18. Click OK.
19. Repeat steps 13 to 18, using Starfield Class 2 Certificate Authority as the certificate name to disable.

Next, I verified that the OWA site was accessible using IE and that there were no certificate errors, which confirmed that the site was working and the server certificate was valid.

After re-installing the certificate the phone still would not sync so I called Godaddy. After trying several different troubleshooting steps the phone still was not working. They told me to download the file gd_iis_intermediates.p7b and to install that on the server and that should resolve the issue. I imported the p7b file using the same steps as above, but still not luck.

I read some posts that people were able to resolve this issue by coping the certificate to the phone by connecting it to a computer with ActiveSync installed and then manually installing the certificate. The suggested method was to connect to the OWA site, then to view the certificate and export it to a file, and then to copy that file to the phone. I tried this method first but it did not work.

The Solution
Finally I resolved the issue. I copied the gd_iis_intermediates.p7b file to the phone using ActiveSync and installed the certificate, on this phone all I had to do was click the certificate and it installed by itself. I disconnected the cable from the phone, launched ActiveSync and then initiated a sync. Boom! It finally started working. It prompted my that it would have to re-download everything again. This took some time, but I did not care because I was just happy to get it working. If you have any trouble getting to work at this point, verify that the gd_iis_intermediates.p7b file show up on the phone under Intermediate certificates. You can view the certificates by going to Settings, then Security, then Certificates.

Tags: 0x80072F0D, activesync, certificate, Exchange, GoDaddy, OWA, smartphone, SSL
Posted in Exchange | 1 Comment »