OAB property filtering for Exchange 2003 / 2007
As most people know the new version of OAB in Exchange Server 2003 SP2 is OAB version 4. In Exchange 2003 SP2 we introduced some new code that would help make OAB version 4 smaller and more manageable. The Exchange server now enforces limits to make sure that OAB version 4 does not become too large (or "bloat"). If the Exchange server finds an attribute that exceeds the default limits or that exceeds the limits that are set by an administrator, the attribute is removed from the offline address book. An event ID 9320 is logged to indicate that information has been limited in the offline address book.
Event Type : Warning
Event Source : MSExchangeSA
Event Category : OAL Generator
Event ID : 9320
Description: OALGen could not generate full details for some entries in the offline address list for address list '\Global Address List'. To see which entries are affected, event logging for the offline address list generator must be set to at least medium.
- Default Offline Address List
When an attribute is removed, the Exchange server adds an indicator to let Microsoft Outlook know that some properties were removed. Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 Service Pack 2 (SP2) treats the removed properties as "not present" in the record that owns the properties.
Additionally, the Exchange offline address book generation process makes sure that when the record that owns the properties retrieves the attributes that Outlook requires to send messages, the attributes are never removed from the offline address book. When the diagnostic level is set to Medium or a higher level, an event ID 9359 is logged to identify the display name and the MAPI ID of the property that was limited.
Event Type : Warning
Event Source : MSExchangeSA
Event Category : OAL Generator
Event ID : 9359
Description: OALGen truncated or dropped properties for entry ' User Name ' in address list '\Global Address List' because they exceeded the configured size limits for the version 4 offline address list. The affected MAPI ids are: 800f.
- Default Offline Address List
For more information on how to turn up the diagnostic logging, follow these steps below:
1. Start Exchange System Manager.
2. Locate the Exchange server that is responsible for the offline address book generation.
3. Right-click the Exchange server, and then click Properties.
4. Click the Diagnostics logging tab.
5. In the Services list, click MSExchangeSA.
6. In the Categories list, click OAL Generator, click Medium, and then click OK.
7. If there are enough server resources available, rebuild of the offline address list. If there are not enough server resources available, wait until the next scheduled run of the offline address list.
Now to interpret event ID 9359, you must convert the MAPI ID to a property name. MAPI IDs are the properties of the offline address book that contain user data. In event ID 9359, the property name of MAPI ID 800f is PR_EMS_AB_PROXY_ADDRESSES . This value contains the proxy addresses, or e-mail addresses, for the user.
In this scenario here, the number of e-mail addresses has exceeded the specified limit. Additionally, you may see the following MAPI IDs when you interpret event ID 9359:
• 0x3A22 = PR_USER_CERTIFICATE
• 0x3A70 = PR_USER_X509_CERTIFICATE
Typically, these are the properties that may contain more data about the user.
MAPI Property Tag Identifier
MAPI Property Tag Identifier (known as "Ptag.exe") is a tool that is located on the Exchange 2000 Server CD-ROM.
Ptag.exe translates a MAPI property tag ID to a property tag name and type. PTag.exe is built with the exchange store, so for best results use a current build of Ptag.exe
With MAPI Property Tag Identifier, when you see property tag IDs, you can determine which property is being processed.
To use MAPI Property Tag Identifier, at a command prompt, type:
D:\tools>ptag 0x3001001e
The following output is displayed:
Property tag 0x3001001e = PR_DISPLAY_NAME PROP_TYPE 0x1e = PT_STRING8
How to configure OAB Registry Filters
Warning: Serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly by using Registry Editor or by using another method. These problems might require that you reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that these problems can be solved. Modify the registry at your own risk.
The following table contains the four property types that you can limit. Additionally, the table contains the default values and the lower limit values that you can configure in the registry.
| Registry value | Description | Lower limit value (bytes) | Default value (bytes) |
| OAL V4 String Limit | Single-valued text-based Active Directory properties such as Display name, Telephone number, and Office location | 32 | 3400 |
| OAL V4 String Multi Value Limit | Multi-valued text-based Active Directory properties such as E-mail addresses and Business and home telephone | 512 | 65536 |
| OAL V4 Binary Limit | Single-valued binary-encoded Active Directory properties such as userCert | 1024 | 32768 |
| OAL V4 Binary Multi Value Limit | Multi-valued binary-encoded Active Directory properties such as userSMIMEcertificate and userCertificate | 2048 | 65536 |
To add a value, follow these steps:
1. Click Start, click Run, type regedit , and then click OK.
2. Locate and then click the following subkey: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\MSExchangeSA\Parameters
3. Right-click Parameters, point to New, and then click DWORD Value.
4. Type the name of the value that you want to configure.
5. Double-click the value that you named in step 4. In the Value data field, type an appropriate value for the maximum attribute size in bytes. In the Base area, click Decimal.
6. Click OK.
7. Quit Registry Editor.
Note: These values apply only to the new offline address book format that is generated by Exchange Server 2003 SP2 and that is used by Outlook 2003 SP2 and later versions of Outlook.
These parameters are read immediately during the next offline address book generation process. You do not have to restart of the System Attendant service for the changes to take affect.
For information about other causes of MSExchangeSA event ID 9320, visit the following Microsoft Web site:
https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=26016&EvtSrc=MSExchangeSA&EvtID=9320
Dave
Comments
- Anonymous
March 26, 2007
If your organization needs to minimize the effects of the full offline address book downloads across