Question : iPhone and Droid cannot access Exchange on SBS2003

I had a recent run-in with installing PHP and FastCGI on my clients SBS 2003 server (at their request) and was able to get the main parts of the Exchange Web components reconfigured by following Sunnyc7's advice (See: Q_26316703). I notified the client that the Exchange Web was back up again, but he immediately called me back and said that neither his Droid nor his Lead Sales guy's iPhone could sync with the server now. Each time they try, you can see the following three lines in the web server log file:

2010-07-09 23:27:19 W3SVC1 192.168.1.2 PROPFIND /exchange-oma/WSpiegel@skylineoregon.com/NON_IPM_SUBTREE/Microsoft-Server-ActiveSync/Android/droid1264127306202 - 80 - 192.168.1.2 Microsoft-Server-ActiveSync/6.5.7638.1 401 1 0 2239 439
2010-07-09 23:27:19 W3SVC1 192.168.1.2 PROPFIND /exchange-oma/WSpiegel@skylineoregon.com/NON_IPM_SUBTREE/Microsoft-Server-ActiveSync/Android/droid1264127306202 - 80 SKYLINEPDX\WSpiegel 192.168.1.2 Microsoft-Server-ActiveSync/6.5.7638.1 501 0 0 173 640
2010-07-09 23:27:19 W3SVC1 192.168.1.2 POST /Microsoft-Server-ActiveSync Cmd=Sync&User=skylinepdx%5Cwspiegel&DeviceId=droid1264127306202&DeviceType=Android&Log=V4TNASNC:0A0C0D0FS:0A0C0D0SP:1C1I473S346R0S0L0H0P 443 skylinepdx\wspiegel 97.160.177.6 Android/0.3 500 0 0 313 514

Similar lines appear for the iPhone users. I have gone through this system file and directory and configuration line by line comparing it with another client's that does work and can find nothing wrong with the permissions and settings. I had this happen once before and had to pay a MS technician to go through the system for about 4 hours, until he finally rebooted the system and said "Hey it works now". I had him show me what he checked and did that time and believe I have checked all the same places, but am still stumped. Can somebody help me NOT give MS another $250 to fix this again. Any hints on what would cause the permission denied at the creditials point of the transaction (Status 401 on the first log line above)?

The client has some blackberrys also that still work just fine as does the web mail interface.

Answer : iPhone and Droid cannot access Exchange on SBS2003

Please have a read through my Exchange 2003 / Activesync article which should be all you need to get Activesync working on your server.

http://www.experts-exchange.com/Software/Server_Software/Email_Servers/Exchange/A_1798-Exchange-2003-Activesync-Connection-Problems-FAQ.html

Following the above article will not get you to remove any virtual directories.  The above article is all about creating the exchange-oma virtual directory which SBS has by default.

There are some circumstances where deleting and re-creating the virtual directory are necessary, but without testing Activesync on https://testexchangeconnectivity.com and reviewing any errors, that step is premature.

My article covers errors and their relevant fixes.