The Exchange Autodiscover service is used to automatically configure Exchange 2007 client applications to access the Client Access server.
It returns configuration data that is required to set up client applications like Outlook to work with Exchange thus, avoids the need for users to know where to fetch the data such as: Information about the server that hosts a user’s mailbox.
The Outlook client uses two URLs to connect with the Autodiscover service:
https://mydomain.com/autodiscover/autodiscover.xml
https://autodiscover.mydomain.com/autodiscover/autodiscover.xml
Steps to Configure Autodiscover for Exchange server 2007:
Configuring Autodiscover for External Host is a three step process as shown in picture:
Step 1: Configure DNS
1. By using a SSL Certificate supporting Multiple DNS Names:
Certification Authorities (CAs) are required to support Subject Alternative Names for Configuring DNS. All DNS names required for Autodiscover are provided with CAs.
Same Unified Communications certificate must be used for both the Subject Alternative Name field and the DNS names (i.e. mail.mydomain.com, autodiscover.mydomain.com etc.)
2. By using One Single-Name Certificate and the Autodiscover SRV Record:
In this method, one single-name certificate is used for configuring DNS. This single-name certificate is installed on the Default Web Site.
This method to configure DNS is widely used to deploy Outlook Anywhere, if your DNS provider supports SRV records. This works great for both hosted and non-hosted Exchange 2007 environments.
You can create an SRV record:
Step 2: Modify the Service Connection Point (SCP)
After configuring DNS, SCP needs to be modified by using Exchange Management Shell Set-ClientAccessServer cmdlet.
This command is used to modify the default Autodiscover Service URL to make it point to the new location (FQDN) for the Autodiscover service.
If you are using DNS host record for autodiscover.mydomain.com. Then, you can point the default Autodiscover Service URL to: https://autodiscover.mydomain.com/autodiscover/autodiscover.xml
Step 3: Configure Exchange Services for Autodiscover
1. First you need to Enable Outlook Anywhere for the external host name.
2. Enable Outlook Anywhere, you need to configure the external URL:
? For Offline address book for the Autodiscover service.
? For Unified messaging for the Autodiscover service.
? For Exchange Web Services for the Availability service and Out of Office services.
To configure the external URL for offline address book for the Autodiscover service run:
To configure the external URL for Unified Messaging for the Autodiscover service run:
To configure the external URL for Exchange Web Services for the Availability service and Out of Office services run:
CNAME or alias record for your domain is must be set, if you want to use AutoDiscover with Microsoft Outlook 2007.
You have to contact your DNS provider and request the following sub domain: autodiscover.yourdomain.com. Now, Point the CNAME record for autodiscover.yourdomain.com to: ADR1.123Together.com and then, replace “yourdomain.com” with your domain.
Once you have setup Outlook with Autodiscover, you will receive a ?do you trust this site? message. You should check the box to always trust and allow this connection. Without CNAME record set up for Auto Discover, the Outlook 2007/2010 auto configuration will not work. So, it is highly recommended to set up the CNAME before configuring Auto Discover service for Exchange Server 2010 with Outlook 2007 or 2010.
