Using Exchange 2007, when we add a new distribution group, it doesn't appear in Global Address List. If I change 'Show Names from the' combo box to either All Groups or GAL then it appears. The clients are Outlook 2003 connected in cached mode. If I turn off cached mode the group appears in the right place, if I switch back to cached mode, the group dissapears again. Can anyone advise? Thanks in advance Paul

Is OAB generation successful on the server? Is generation set for everyday at 5AM or more often? WHen did you add this group? How long ago? THe reason you can see the DL in the All Groups Address list from Outlook is because that isnt in the OAB. The client contacts the server directly to get that info.

The group added about a week ago, and I have removed and added it again earlier today. I believed that the OAB was being Updated/Regenerated but I actually noticed that it was extremely quick (not even a second) to complete. Checking the Event log on the server revealed some warnings, the two that look like they may help are: OALGen is configured to generate version 2 or version 3 OAB files for offline address book '/o=First Organization/cn=addrlists/cn=oabs/cn=Default Offline Address Book' but there is no public folder server available. OAB versions prior to version 4 require a public folder server and cannot be generated at this time. Please ensure that a public folder server with a replica of the Offline Address Book system folder is online and mounted, or disable all OAB versions other than version 4. and OALGen is configured to generate version 2 or version 3 OAB files for offline address book '/o=First Organization/cn=addrlists/cn=oabs/cn=Default Offline Address Book' but there is no public folder server available. OAB versions prior to version 4 require a public folder server and cannot be generated at this time. Please ensure that a public folder server with a replica of the Offline Address Book system folder is online and mounted, or disable all OAB versions other than version 4. Thanks

Ok, lets start from the beginning. Do you use public folders? Are you using a web-bsed OAB? Can you increase diagnostic logging on the OALGenerator for the server that generates the OAB and update it again to attempt the regeneration? Check the event logs afterwards and see if the OAB is successfully generated despite those warnings. If not, post the errors here. I assume that simply downloading the OAB from the Outlook client is not fixing this.

From one clients try deleting their .oab files and redownload to see if it's a corrupted oab file. The oab files are located in their window outlook profile like below or similar depending on OS. C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook After you delete and redownload if the group doesn't show up then it's likely the server and need to perform more troubleshooting. James Chong MCITP | EA | EMA; MCSE | M+, S+ Security+, Project+, ITIL msexchangetips.blogspot.com

Andy, We do not use Public Folders and the Event log flags up a warning recognising that fact: OALGen did not find any recipients in address list '\Public Folders'. This offline address list will not be generated. - Default Offline Address Book We push the address book out to OWA though I'm not sure this has ever been working correctly. If I choose 'Default Global Address List' from the Address Book I can see everything, if I choose 'All Global Address Lists' I see nothing! Not too worried about this at the moment unless it is part of the problem. I increased logging for OAL Generator to Medium and apart from some warnings about a single contact not being added due to an invalid SMTP address everything seems fine. OALGen skipped some entries in the offline address list '\All Contacts'. To see which entries are affected, event logging for the OAL Generator must be set to at least medium. - Default Offline Address Book The last event entry shows that it was rebuilt succesfully: Process MSExchangeFDS.exe (PID=5328). Offline Address Book data synchronization task has completed successfully. OAB name: "Default Offline Address Book", Guid: 0067721a-4bbf-43ac-840a-68f78cfed8f0 I am manually selecting to Download Address Book through Tools>Send and Recieve>Download Address Book... Still getting the errors I mentioned in the previous rely. Thanks

The plot thickens. James, I did as you suggested. I deleted six files with the .oab extension from C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook\ When I opened outlook after this the Global Address list appeared as normal. However I noticed that the .oab files had not been recreated. I went into Tools>Send and Recieve>Download Address Book... but still no .oab files. When I turn Outlook to Work Offline mode, the Global Address list is empty. So far it would seem as though the OAB IS being created, but IS NOT downloading to clients. Any further suggestions?

If you using Outlook 2003 clients, then you MUST use public folders and use the system public folders for the OAB and free/busy information.

Andy, I apologise I know we have no Public folders set up as mailboxes etc but on second glance I think we are using one for the OAB. (My knowledge of Public Folders is slim to none) When I right click on our OAB, click properties and then the Distribution tab, Version 3 and version 4 client support are both ticked. Also enable Public Folder distribution is ticked. Is this enough, or do I need to check in another area to see if this is functional? I'll read up on Free/Busy information. Again sorry for the confusion.

Open EMC, Toolbox, public folder mgmt console. When console comes up, click the connect to...and choose your exchange server. Then Expand System Public Folders. Verify that offline address book exist and below that you should have some DNs for your org. Next go to EMC, Server config, mailbox. Higlight each mailbox, properties, client settings. Make sure they are pointing to valid default public folder database and OAB. James Chong MCITP | EA | EMA; MCSE | M+, S+ Security+, Project+, ITIL msexchangetips.blogspot.com

With powershell: Get-PublicFolderDatabase. That will tell you right away about your pf installation or lack of. Also, Get-MailboxDatabase | fl offlineAddressBook,Name This will tell you which offline address book is assigned to what database.

By the way, when did this start? Has it always been this way or did something change?

Guys thank you so much for pointing me in the right direction. The Public Folder Database was not mounted. Once I had mounted it and Regenerated the OAB the new changes got sent down to the client machine. I think this must have happened after the server was rebuilt following a HDD failure about 2 months ago. Thanks again for taking the time to answer this.