0x8004011D--Microsoft Exchange Error "The Server is Not Available"

Everything worked fine (for about two years) until three weeks ago. At
this point, we started to get the 0x8004011D error on our laptops when
we are connected remotely over VPN. Everything works fine when we are
in the office.

We have Cisco Pix 515, SBS 2003 (exchange) and Outlook 2003 on laptops.
When we dial in through broadband and VPN, it seems to connect fine.
However, when I start Outlook, it begins by "Trying to connect..." and
then ends with the 0x8004011D error.

A couple of observations of the new behavior:

1. Reviewing the VPN connection statistics, many more bytes are being
sent than are being received. Currently, for example,I have about 20K
bytes having been sent, with only 300 bytes (not K) received.

2. Before the problem started, I would periodically get a domain login
prompt,and it seemed that this was being driven by the outlook/exchange
connection. Once this problem started, I no longer get this prompt.

3. I tested all of the connectivity (Remote ISP, Office ISP, ADSL
modem, etc...) all either checked out, or if not, were resolved with
the problem still occuring.

One change that has occured recently is the upgrade of exchange to
service pack 2, and enabling the Windows Mobile push email solution
using the SSL certificate. To make this work,we had to change the
server name in the system generated SSL certificate from an internal
name ( mail.domain.com) to an external IP address. Could this have
something to do with it????

It seems as though I am not able to see the server remotely.....

My favorite question is can you ping the server by name? But the next from
a brief google is do you have the latest service packs on Outlook/office?

All service packs applied. Which server name should I use?
servername.domain.local or servername.domain or just plain old
servername?

If the pinging does not happen properly, what are the adjustments I
need to make to get this to work?

Thanks for your help!

again, just checking, I mean service packs to the OFFICE products, not SBS

Just ping plain old servername. If it does not work a host file will "patch
it"

all service packs (office, SBS and XP) were applied.

Pinging works on the server name.(0% loss, 20ms average)

but wait a second...somewhere it is resolving the server name to the
external IP address (through the hosts file). Pinging doesn't get us
all the way. Isn't the answer in why I am not authenticating to the
domain???

Please let me know your thoughts.....

Could this have something to do with my SSL certificate for the server
(which is now named with the external IP address)

OK. When I Ping the server name it resolves to the external IP
address. When connected to the VPN, and I try to ping the internal IP
address, it times out. I guess this is the problem since when
connected ot the VPN, the internal IP scheme should be active,and in my
case it clearly is not.

Any ideas???

Are you using Cisco VPN Client or SBS PPTP VPN (Connect to Small Business
Server)? If Cisco VPN, is split tunneling enabled?

Just because you can't ping the server it doesn't mean it's not accessible
otherwise. Blocking ICMP is fairly common. Try Start -> Run ->
\\servername -> OK from the VPN-connected laptop. If that doesn't work (be
patient) try Start -> Run -> \\internal.ip -> OK. If either of those work,
try Start -> Run -> \\domain.local\Netlogon -> OK

It's time to review the event logs on the server.

Additionally, from the VPN-connected laptop

Start -> Run -> CMD -> OK
CD C:\
ipconfig /all > ip.txt
notepad C:\ip.txt
Paste the content of that file to us here please.

We need to make sure that your DNS server is the internal IP of your SBS
server. We also need to be sure that any software firewalls on the laptop
are turned off. That would be Windows firewall, Symantec (norton) Internet
Security, McAfee personal firewall etc.

You can also setup Outlook to use HTTPS over RPC, but let's take care of the
VPN stuff first.

check this out and see if it helps

Hi !


This problem occurs because Outlook has saved some information about the Exchange server name that it connects to during the synchronization process.
you can easily solve this error using karnal software that is very powerful and works really good.