ERM Support FAQ

General
Licensing
Permissions
Scheduling
Installation / Migration

General

1. Why aren’t my resources visible in the ERM Mailbox Browser?

A: Verify that a mailbox exists for the resource you are attempting to manage and that the mailbox resides on the ERM host server.

2. Where is the “Resources” folder in the ERM Mailbox Browser?

A: Creating an OU in Active Directory Users and Computers to contain your resource accounts is recommended, but not required.  The “Resources” folder seen in the ERM product documentation is an OU in Active Directory.

3. How do I change the Service Account Password?

A: Use the following utility for ERM 1.3 1.3 password change utility or use this utility for previous versions of ERM ERM previous version password change utility.

Licensing

3. How do I register the ERM license file?

A: Once ERM is installed, it can be registered using your license file by performing the following steps:

1. Copy the purchased license file to the main Exchange Resource Manager Directory (by default, C:\Program Files\Simpler-Webb\Exchange Resource Manager\).
2. Open the Mailbox Browser (Start->Programs->Simpler-Webb->Exchange Resource Manager-> Exchange Resource Manager)
3. Click Help->About Mailbox Browser
4. Click the "Register" Button and follow the instructions in the User's Guide to register ERM online.

Register the product on the production server that will host Exchange Resource Manager; the license cannot be registered on multiple servers.

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Permissions

4. I’m getting an error when attempting to manage a resource mailbox. What access rights are required by the ERM management account?

A. Local administrator rights along with Account Operator membership and delegation of Exchange Administrator rights at the Administrative Group level for the management account works under normal circumstances, but if changes are made to the access rights, then this may no longer suffice to manage mailboxes. Please visit the ERM Support Forum for a more detailed discussion if you are still experiencing problems managing mailboxes.

5. What access rights are needed for the ERM Service Account?

A: Exchange Resource Manager requires that the ERM Service Account have Local Administrator rights on the server running ERM. Without these rights, ERM will not respond to meeting requests and the ERM Mailbox Browser will generate errors when attempting to manage mailboxes.

Account	Access Rights
ERM Management Account (account used to logon to Windows when managing/configuring resources)	Account Operator Local Administrator (Builtin Administrator on DC) Delegation of Exchange Administrator rights (full or normal)
ERM Service Account	Local Administrator (Builtin Administrator on DC) Domain Users
Resources	“Send As” rights granted to ERM Service Account (done automatically as part of ERM-manage process)

6. My users are unable to see a resource calendar.

A. When a resource is ERM-managed, if permissions are not already set for read access to all domain users, then users will be unable to gain additional information from the resource for potential resource availability (only free/busy information is available). To resolve this, manually set ERM-managed resources to the read permissions appropriate for the organization an Outlook client.

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Scheduling

7. Events are not firing and there are DCOM errors in the Windows Application Event Log.

A: Exchange Resource Manager requires that the ERM Service Account is granted the "Log on as a batch job" right in the effective policy settings of the server running ERM. This happens automatically when ERM is installed, but if these rights are superceded by a Group Policy Object (GPO) it may cause ERM not to function. DCOM errors indicating an authentication failure are often seen in the Windows Application Event Log when meeting requests are sent to ERM-managed mailboxes given this scenario. In some cases, ERM may work for a period of time and then stop working at the point the inherited GPO is applied. See Microsoft KB article 312497 for more information on this requirement (http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;312497).

8. I changed a recurring meeting, but when the updated meeting request was declined, my meeting disappeared.

A: ERM uses the same functionality as MS Exchange so that if a user reschedules a resource and that request is declined (for whatever reason), MS Exchange will then delete the original meeting scheduled for the resource.

9. I do not receive a response when I cancel a meeting, and the meeting appears in a cancelled state rather than being removed from the resource calendar.

A: A refresh of the Exchange cache is necessary after managing a resource in order for the “Send As” rights granted to the Service Account to take effect. By default, this occurs every two hours. Any cancellations that occur after the Exchange cache has refreshed should occur normally.

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Installation Migration

10. I wasn't able to complete the installation process.

A: Check to make sure the ERM Service Account has local administrator rights and Exchange administrator rights on the server that will host Exchange Resource Manager. See the User Guide for further instructions on how to accomplish this.

11. I need to change the location of the database. How do I migrate the information?
 

A: Copy the database to the new location and update the ERM Data Location field, from the Data Storage tab of the Product Configuration, to point to the new location. The mailbox browser must be closed and re-opened after this is complete.

12. Do I need to do follow a special procedure when moving mailboxes between servers?

A: Yes. It is possible to move mailboxes between storage groups or databases on the same server without making any changes inside of ERM. However, in the event that the mailbox will move between servers additional steps are necessary to complete the move:

1. Make sure both servers are running Exchange Resource Manager
2. Note any per-resource configuration changes for the resource
3. Un-Manage the mailbox while it resides on the source server
4. Move the mailbox to the destination server
5. Re-Manage the mailbox on the destination server
6. Re-create any per-resource configuration changes

13. I need to move ERM to different machine. What do I need to do?

A: Contact Simpler-Webb Technical Support for assistance 512-322-0071.

14. I need to uninstall the product. What should I do?

A: Un-manage all ERM managed resources and then use the Install / Uninstall functionality from Windows Add/Remove Programs.

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