XADM: How to Access the Directory Through LDAP When Search Control is Set (Exchange)

ID: Q192306

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Exchange Server, version 5.5
Microsoft Active Directory Service Interfaces, version 2.5

SYMPTOMS

A Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) client querying the Exchange directory using LDAP may fail with an access denied error when the search control is set to restrict access to the Global Address List as described in the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q182902 XADM: How to Set Up Container Level Search Control

This can happen even though the LDAP client authentication method appears to be correct, using either Windows NT LAN Manager (NTLM) or simple authentication (cn=<nt account>, cn=<nt domain>), and the Exchange Server computer is configured to accept those LDAP authentication methods.

When you try to access the Exchange Server directory with Outlook Express using the LDAP protocol, you get the following error message:

The specified Directory Service has denied access. Check the Properties
for this Directory Service and verify that your Authentication Type
settings and parameters are correct.

On the server you see the event:


   Event ID: 1354
   Source: MSExchangeDS
   Description: "LDAP search request failed with error: 50."

CAUSE

This happens because your LDAP client tries to connect to the directory using a search base for which you don't have permissions.

MORE INFORMATION

To access through LDAP a directory with search control enabled, perform the following steps:

Set the search rights and Address Book views in the Exchange Server directory according to the Knowledge Base article Q182902, "XADM: How To Setup Container Level Search Control."

Set the search base in your LDAP client to match the Address Book view you have access to. For example, if you create an Address Book view named "By City," in the organization Microsoft, the search base will be:
"Cn=By City,ou=_ABVIEWS_,o=Microsoft" (or
"LDAP://SERVER:389/Cn=By City,ou=_ABVIEWS_,o=Microsoft" using ADSI)
For Outlook Express, the search base is configured in the advanced properties of the directory account.

If the simple authentication method is chosen, you will have to add the account which has the search control at the organization level into the Windows NT global group, Domain Admin.

NOTE: Simple rights modifications in the directory take effect immediately, but you will have to stop and start the directory service if something has been changed in the Windows NT security database, which is the case when you add the account with the search control in the Windows NT global group, Domain Admin.

Additional query words:

Keywords : kbADSI
Version : winnt:2.5,5.5
Platform : winnt
Issue type : kbprb