[Solved in 11.4] 11.3 Outlook connector can't connect

[TheDude]

In case you deleted your old 11.2 Connector and now find yourself unable to use Outlook, here is the old 11.2 Connector http://rapidshare.com/files/85213195/setup112.exe.html Note: This hosting service is Free, but, they try to get users to click on a "for pay" version, do not.

Cheers!

[les]

Hi TheDude,

please note that if i don't tick the box 'Use SSL' in the Outlook 'Scalix Server' Profile setup, i get the same error. So, it seems one's doomed to use SSL

you dont need to use ssl. you can specify that in the connector. However its better if you do of course ;).

You do need to install and configure stunnel so that 5767 becomes a visible port.

The 11.3 connector only communicates via 5767. so you need to have stunnel configured on the server to redirect port 5767 to 5729. stunnel configuration is easy, plenty of posts on the forums and the docs in the scalix wiki.

Once its configured you can choose to enable or disable ssl in advanced scalix properties of the connector.

[dyna]

The 11.3 connector only communicates via 5767.

I disagree, my server doesn't have 5767 open and i have no stunnel configured/running. However, thanks to a crash, i just reinstalled this workstation with 11.3 connector and get connected right away using the hosts fix.

Netstat on the server tells me i'm connected to 5729.

[Valerion]

5767 is the SSL encrypted port (requiring stunnel), while 5729 is the non-encrypted port. I believe the 11.3 connector tries them both, and will connect to which ever one is available during profile creation.

If you unselect "Use SSL" it will connect to 5729 exclusively, and if you select the option it will connect to 5767 exclusively. Or should, at least.

[les]

5767 is the SSL encrypted port (requiring stunnel), while 5729 is the non-encrypted port. I believe the 11.3 connector tries them both, and will connect to which ever one is available during profile creation.

If you unselect "Use SSL" it will connect to 5729 exclusively, and if you select the option it will connect to 5767 exclusively. Or should, at least.

on the couple of sites i have upgraded i did the server, then the outlook connector. The outlook connector was 11.1 or higher, so just an upgrade there. Initially i had no stunnel configured, and it didn't work post upgrade.

When i read the forums and watched the firewall logs on the server i only saw attempts at 5767 when i started outlook. reading further i realized that 5767 was needed, checked with netstat and found nothing on that port...then read some more, configured stunnel and it started working. And i never ticked "Use SSL" in the connector.

So in my experience it appears 5767 is the main port and the only one scalix connects to.

I could be wrong though ;)

[Valerion]

Very interesting. I upgraded my home machine, without installing stunnel (didn't do it until I read about it here) from 11.2.0 (server and client) to 11.3.0 and I was able to use the server.

I need to reconfigure my VMWare machine to test this.

[TheDude]

I upgraded my home machine, without installing stunnel (didn't do it until I read about it here) from 11.2.0 (server and client) to 11.3.0 and I was able to use the server.

I have 11.3 server and have not installed Stunnel and upgraded over my 11.2 connector with 11.3 and it worked... until I rebooted the connector machine... Then it stopped working and thats when I rolled back to 11.2 connector, then it works again... strange behavior...

The Dude

[les]

I upgraded my home machine, without installing stunnel (didn't do it until I read about it here) from 11.2.0 (server and client) to 11.3.0 and I was able to use the server.

I have 11.3 server and have not installed Stunnel and upgraded over my 11.2 connector with 11.3 and it worked... until I rebooted the connector machine... Then it stopped working and thats when I rolled back to 11.2 connector, then it works again... strange behavior...

The Dude

I've got another upgrade to do this afternoon, from 11.0.4 to 11.3. Being later than 11.0.3 means that i should be able to just upgrade the connectors without creating new profiles.

I'll check more closely what goes on with the server and communication from the connector and report back.

[les]

I upgraded my home machine, without installing stunnel (didn't do it until I read about it here) from 11.2.0 (server and client) to 11.3.0 and I was able to use the server.

I have 11.3 server and have not installed Stunnel and upgraded over my 11.2 connector with 11.3 and it worked... until I rebooted the connector machine... Then it stopped working and thats when I rolled back to 11.2 connector, then it works again... strange behavior...

The Dude

I've got another upgrade to do this afternoon, from 11.0.4 to 11.3. Being later than 11.0.3 means that i should be able to just upgrade the connectors without creating new profiles.

I'll check more closely what goes on with the server and communication from the connector and report back.

OK, now i'm confused, must have got my wires crossed previously!!

Today's upgrade - worked without a hitch. I didn't have to do any stunnel setup and the connector worked fine after upgrade. Now i'm not sure about what happened before ;}

The only difference i can see....the client from the other day was using a FQDN such as mail.scalix.com as the server name in the connector and connecting remotely. Today it was all internal - mail.local.
Cant imagine that would cause a different behavior though. I must have got it wrong.

[TheDude]

Les, Did those connectors still work even AFTER restarting the machine? As I said, I installed the 11.3 conector OVER 11.2 and the install continued to work (with no stunnel or ssl and a FQDN) BUT after a reboot I get the cannot detect network errors, etc. Are you suggesting if I use a local IP instead of the FQDN it might work? Edit, in the thread I found below, Florian says local IP does not work, but suggests a local hosts file as part of the solution. Exactly what do I need to put in the hosts file?

I just found a different thread were Scalix support is responding to this, here: http://www.scalix.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=9855

The Dude

[les]

Les, Did those connectors still work even AFTER restarting the machine? As I said, I installed the 11.3 conector OVER 11.2 and the install continued to work (with no stunnel or ssl and a FQDN) BUT after a reboot I get the cannot detect network errors, etc. Are you suggesting if I use a local IP instead of the FQDN it might work? Edit, in the thread I found below, Florian says local IP does not work, but suggests a local hosts file as part of the solution. Exactly what do I need to put in the hosts file?

I just found a different thread were Scalix support is responding to this, here: http://www.scalix.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=9855

The Dude

hmmmm......

everyone rebooted and this morning all hell has broken loose!!!

the previuosly working pc's who had scalix connectors upgraded have stopped working.

What has happened.......

some the connector has changed the servername from "server.local" to server.mydomain.com.au" which doesn't have a record.

I've never seen that happen before and always thought that when you first install scalix connect and configure an account it sets the servername in "stone". You cannot change it once you set the profile up. These were upgraded connectors, from 11.0.4 to 11.3, keeping the same profiles, using non cache mode.

I have to visit site to ascertain exactly whats going on but putting a hosts entry in the local pc hosts file does work.

It smells of a DNS issue, but nothing has changed on the network......only the connector.....problem there i think....

[TheDude]

Les,

I think your solution has something to with changing the local hosts files, but, everyones posts about this are imposible for me to understand since no one will use a real world example on WHAT your supposed to put in the hosts file. (By the way, I DID warn you about the reboot problem, see earlier post, I had exact same results, works until reboot if you install 11.3 over a working 11.2 connector).

If my server is dudesserver.com and I put that in the connector it always worked, until 11.3.

However, now, dudesserver.com has to have some kind of alias stuck in the local hosts file. I know how to edit a local hosts file, I just don't know what to add. I added all the samples from other peoples posts in this thread and no luck.

The Dude

[les]

Les,

I think your solution has something to with changing the local hosts files, but, everyones posts about this are imposible for me to understand since no one will use a real world example on WHAT your supposed to put in the hosts file. (By the way, I DID warn you about the reboot problem, see earlier post, I had exact same results, works until reboot if you install 11.3 over a working 11.2 connector).

If my server is dudesserver.com and I put that in the connector it always worked, until 11.3.

However, now, dudesserver.com has to have some kind of alias stuck in the local hosts file. I know how to edit a local hosts file, I just don't know what to add. I added all the samples from other peoples posts in this thread and no luck.

The Dude

a local hosts file is an awful hack, and it certainly wasn't necessary in the past.

I have got around my issues by adding a dns record for my server that resolves the external fqdn as a local private IP. I just dont think i should have needed to do it when previously all the connectors used an internal "server.local" address and it worked fine.

I wont be too specific just yet because i plan another post.

But i will make this request for Scalix to explain exactly what is supposed to happen with the scalix connector and resolving scalix-default-mail and or any other address as the doc's dont fully say whats going on and the behavior has definitely changed in 11.3.0, whether that be an enhancement or a bug.

When i post the new topic i will reference it in this thread....

[les]

Les,

I think your solution has something to with changing the local hosts files, but, everyones posts about this are imposible for me to understand since no one will use a real world example on WHAT your supposed to put in the hosts file. (By the way, I DID warn you about the reboot problem, see earlier post, I had exact same results, works until reboot if you install 11.3 over a working 11.2 connector).

If my server is dudesserver.com and I put that in the connector it always worked, until 11.3.

However, now, dudesserver.com has to have some kind of alias stuck in the local hosts file. I know how to edit a local hosts file, I just don't know what to add. I added all the samples from other peoples posts in this thread and no luck.

The Dude

See my full detailed post here....

viewtopic.php?p=45119#45119

Hopefully i'll get some answers as to what has changed in 11.3 to cause this issue.

"TheDude", If you're still stuck PM me and i'll help you out.

[jaime.pinto]

So Scalix support engineers that read this post (Florian???)
What is the deal with all this mess on the new 11.3 scalix connector for Outlook?

TAKE THIS ISSUE SERIOUSLY OR YOU WILL LOOSE POTENTIAL NEW CUSTOMERS AND DISAPPOINT THE ONES YOU ALREADY HAVE!!!

Having said that, the server is 11.3.0, and everything works fine with 11.2.0 connector. We don't have stunnel on the server, we don't care about it, we don't want to use it or bother with it as this particular time, we don't care about SSL of any kind. We have VPN but we don't want to use it. We also don't have any problems with DNS, so the message "Server not found on network" doesn't mean anything in the obvious sense.

SO WHEN CAN WE DOWNLOAD A 11.3.0 VERSION OF AN OUTLOOK CONNECTOR THAT WORKS WITH THE EXISTING PORT 5729 WITHOUT ANY AGGRAVATION (NEW INSTALLATION OR UPGRADE, SMARTCACHE OR NOT)?