The Autodiscover service makes it easier for users of Entourage 2008 for Mac Service Pack 1 (SP1) or a later version and Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1 (SP1) to configure their Exchange accounts in Entourage 2008. The Autodiscover service uses a user's e-mail address to configure his or her profile automatically. Depending on the kind of authentication that is configured on the server, an Entourage user typically has to know just his or her e-mail address and account credentials during Exchange account configuration. When a user provides the credentials to configure the Exchange account, Entourage connects to the ExchangeAutodiscover service, and the user account is automatically configured to use the Exchange mailbox.
In Entourage 2008, Web Services Edition, the Autodiscover service keeps user account settings up-to-date after the account setup. When a user's Exchange Server information changes, Entourage reconfigures the user's profile automatically. Entourage checks for updates to the account settings at the following times:
Every time Entourage is started.
At a server-defined interval (by default, every hour) to make sure that the Exchange Server settings are always kept up-to-date.
When a user's mailbox is moved to another server. Autodiscover service detects the move and updates the settings.
After a network failure when Entourage tries to connect to Exchange Server.
If Entourage can connect to the Exchange Server that has updated settings from the Autodiscover service, those settings are stored and used for future connections.
The following steps describe how Entourage uses the Autodiscover service to configure user accounts:
A user opens the Account Setup Assistant in Entourage and provides an e-mail address and network credentials, such as user name and password, to configure a new Exchange Server account. The Account Setup Assistant uses the Autodiscover service to configure the user’s profile.
The Autodiscover service on the client computer tries to contact the Autodiscover service on the Exchange 2007 server to obtain the user's connection settings. It uses one of the following methods: It queries a set of predefined URLs based on the domain information in the user’s e-mail address, it performs an HTTP redirect check, or it uses a DNS Service Location (SRV) lookup.
NoteWhen Entourage connects to the HTTP redirection site or when it uses the DNS SRV method, users will see a dismissible warning message that asks them to verify that they are being redirected to a trusted URL. In this case, you must advise users to accept this warning message and allow Entourage to connect to this trusted URL.
The Autodiscover service returns the Autodiscover XML response over HTTPS, which includes the connection settings and URLs for the available Exchange services. This XML is used as a configuration template for Entourage and contains two groups of URLs for connecting to Exchange services, such as data synchronization (for mail, contacts, notes, and tasks), free/busy information, and Out of Office settings. Typically, the first group contains the URL for connecting within your organization’s network (internal), and the second group contains the URLs for connecting from outside your network (external). The user is not informed about the internal or external connection settings.
Entourage uses the configuration information and connection URLs to connect to the Exchange Server.
NoteEntourage always tries to use the internal URL first. If that fails, it tries to connect to the external URL.
The user is successfully connected to the Exchange Server.
Considerations for successfully connecting to the Autodiscover service
When Entourage tries to connect to a user's Exchange Server messaging environment, it locates the Autodiscover service by using the primary SMTP domain address from the user's e-mail address. Unlike Microsoft Office Outlook 2007, Entourage does not support the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) Service Connection Point (SCP) method to obtain account settings. Instead, it uses only the predefined URLs, the HTTP redirect check, or the DNS SRV lookup method. This is similar to what Outlook uses when it runs Autodiscover from outside the organization’s network.
Based on how you have configured the Autodiscover service, the Autodiscover service URL to which Entourage connects is either https://<smtp-address-domain>/autodiscover/autodiscover.xml or https://autodiscover.<smtp-address-domain>/autodiscover/autodiscover.xml. For example, if the user's e-mail address is user@contoso.com, the Autodiscover service should be located at either https://contoso.com/autodiscover.xml or https://autodiscover.contoso.com/autodiscover/autodiscover.xml.
Note: A valid SSL server certificate is required for the host name of the Autodiscover service. The Autodiscover service silently rejects the certificate mismatches.
To make sure that users can successfully use the Exchange features, such as Exchange Web Services data synchronization, Out of Office functionality, and free/busy information, you must configure both the internal and external URL values correctly. For more information, visit the White Paper: Exchange 2007 Autodiscover Service
Web site.
