RPC over HTTP Configuration

The following steps will help you setup an Outlook 2003 profile that uses https to connect with your mailbox at Exchange Hosting Service. The purpose of this configuration is to enable a full-featured Outlook 2003 connection to an Exchange server over the Internet, using an Internet service which includes a firewall.

Preparation

You need:

1. Outlook 2003 will require using our normal hosts file, not the vpn hosts file, to facilitate your RPC over HTTP connection. If you skipped ahead, go back and complete the Connectivity and Hosts File Instructions.

2. If you don't already have Outlook, download it using the same username and password that you use to access your email in OWA, from ftp://ftp.webville.net or www.webville.net/ftp/  

3. Go to http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com to find out if you need service pack 2 for Windows XP.

Setup

Use the following steps to add a new RPC over HTTP profile to your computer.

1. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
2. If the option to "Switch to Classic View" appears at the left, choose it. Double-click either the Mail or the Mail and Fax icon. The following dialog will appear.

   

   

3. Click the Show Profiles button. The following dialog will appear. If you have more than one profile, they will show up in a list here. Please preserve your existing settings,  by adding a new profile, instead of modifying an existing profile. 

   

   

4. Click the Add button to bring up the wizard. Name the profile. On the first page of the wizard, select Add a new e-mail account.  

   

   

   

5. Here is the second page of the wizard. Choose Microsoft Exchange Server. 

   

   

6. This page is the heart of the matter. See illustration below. Enter the Exchange server name and your username. Your username (or a demo account username) will be provided to you by email.

   The Microsoft Exchange Server name to type is SHELLEY3.WEBVILLE.NET  

   Type the short version of your username, usually the first part of your email address, prior to the @ symbol.

    

   

7. Do not click the Check Name button. Click the More Settings button.

   If you are behind a firewall, your window will hang for a minute or so, while Outlook tries to connect to the server. It may return an error message to the effect that it could not connect to the server, as in the illustration. This is expected. Click OK.

   

   

8. After clicking OK to the error message, the following dialog will appear.

   

   

9. Click Cancel. The following dialog will appear. If it does not, click the More Settings button.

   

   

10. Go to the Connection tab page. It should look like the illustration below.

    

    

11. Place a check next to Connect to my Exchange mailbox using HTTP. If you don't see that option, you need to install Service Pack 2 or the hotfix Q331320, available at the top of this page.

    Click the Exchange Proxy Settings button. The following dialog will appear.

    

    

12. In the box labeled "Use this URL to connect to my proxy server for Exchange," type the following:
    
    shelley5.webville.net
     
13. Both options, On fast networks... and On slow networks... should be checked. The box labeled Mutually authenticate the session... needs to be unchecked.
14. Under Proxy authentication settings, click the drop down list and choose Basic Authentication. Click OK on the Exchange proxy settings dialog.
15. Click OK at the Microsoft Exchange Server dialog. That should bring you back to the Email accounts window, as shown below.
    
    

    

16. Make sure the option to Use Cached Exchange Mode is selected.
17. Click the check name button. You should get a login credentials dialog similar to the illustration below.
    
    

    

18. Your username should now resolve to your mailbox name, and become underlined. If the mailbox name you typed is less than complete, you might get a list of choices.
    
    

    

19. Click Next to see the congratulations window and click Finish to exit the wizard.
    
    

    

20. After you close the wizard by clicking Finish, you should find yourself back at this dialog box. If not, get back here by launching the Control Panel Mail or Mail and Fax icon.

    

    

21. Note the drop down list at the bottom of this dialog, just below where it says Always use this profile. Choose the new profile in the drop down list, so next time Outlook starts, it will start with the new profile. 
22. Click the Close button and you're ready to start Outlook with your new profile. 
23. Remember to use the webville\username syntax when logging in.

You can have Outlook prompt you for the profile you want to use when it starts. See the illustration immediately above. Choose "Prompt for a profile to be used" if you want to choose a profile each time Outlook starts. 

If you have trouble with these instructions, or comments about how to make this page more useful to other clients, please let us know.