Yet another Device Activation Problem

[mozg31337]

Hello everyone,

For the past couple of days i've been trying to sort out the problem of device activation with Zimbra + BES. I've followed the instructions from the BES guide and the Zimbra connector guide. Installed the applications in the right order and gave BESAdmin full administrative rights and added the user in the Start as System service in the local policy. The BES is running on Windows 2003 R2 with the latest updates. The server is a standalone and not a part of the AD. As stated in the guide, I've installed the latests service packs for Windows and Office.

After the install, I deleted and created Outlook profiles for BlackBerryManager and BlackBerryServer. I have also checked that the GAL is synced (all users are there) and after provisioning two users, and stopping the BES services, both users accounts are visible in the Outlook BlackBerryServer profile, their emails are synced and I've also added the @*.blackberry.net in the safe sender's list. I've also tried stopping and staring BES services in the right order as stated in the link The correct order to stop and start BES services the back room tech . Looking at the process list and windows services, all BES services are running including Blackberry Agent. I do not see any obvious errors in the logs (attached). I've activated the BES support with my provider - T-mobile UK and after activating, I could see the Enterprise Activation option. I've also ordered Mobile support when i've ordered a Zimbra license. I've also cleaned the device many times prior to attempting the activation.

My problem is that the device does not get activated. The user receives the email from network@etp<some number>.etp.eu.blackberry.net. The <some number> bit actually changes with every activation attempt. The message stays in the user's Inbox. No filters are used (brand new account) and I can see a number of these messages piling up in the Inbox. I've also attempted to remove these messages and request a new password and try to activate again. These messages are also visible from Outlook BlackBerryServer profile.

I am running out of options here and don't know what else I could try. I've also tried to reinstall everything from scratch - same problem. Does anyone know what the problem is and how it can be fixed?

Many thanks for your help

[eugener]

Attached snippet of agent log file does not have any records confirming that activation message has arrived to the 'BlackBerryServer' mail store on BES and this could cause activation issue. First thing to check is to open up 'BlackBerryServer' profile with Outlook and check if activation message is present in the inbox of the user going through activation. If it is not there, i would check email filters, otherwise please file support case (support@zimbra.com)

[mozg31337]

Hi Eugener,

Thanks for your reply. As I have mentioned in the original post, the message arrives in the Inbox and sits there. I have double and tripple checked this. It is also visible in the Outlook BlackBerryServer profile. After waiting for 10-20 minutes of activation attempt, another message arrives in the inbox and sits there without any action. This is abrand new Zimbra account/install without any rules or filters. Any other suggestions on what could be the problem.

Thanks

[mozg31337]

Hi Eugener,

I was thinking, could it be a problem of Outlook SP2 with latest security updates? I've read the forum and some people were having problems with Zimbra connectors and Outlook with SP2.

What is the latest version of BES connector? 5.0.16? I've seen the NE 5.0.18 already out, is 5.0.18 also available for BES connector?

Andrei

[eugener]

zcb 5.0.18 is available. This release supports Outlook 2007 SP2. Have you tried to upgrade to the latest version as well as install Outlook without any service packs and see if problem persist. Also repairing of connector may help.

[mozg31337]

Eugener, I will check if 5.0.18 makes the difference. I was using 5.0.16 with Outlook SP2 plus all the latest updates.

Andrei

[mozg31337]

Hi Eugener,

thanks for your suggestion. I've completely reinstalled the entire setup, including the BES, Outlook, Zimbra BES Connector. This time, i've installed Outlook without any service packs and Zimbra connector version 5.0.18. The outcome is very similar to my previous problems. I've set up 4 accounts, all of which have been successfully added (according to the MAGT log file). Tried activating one of the accounts, did not succeed. The message arrives in the user's mailbox and stays there without activation succedding. After trying to reload/delete/recreate the account several times i've managed to activate 1 user. However, activating second user out of 4 did not work. Tried to reload/delete/recreate the second user several times and no luck ((

It just refuses to work with the second user! After all these tries I am now reluctant to believe that the Zimbra BES connector is actually a stable, production ready product. I have about 12 users that need to have a reliable BES + Zimbra service and at the moment I do not see how this can be achieved. I don't know what else to try.

Do you know if Zimbra support team would be able to sort out my problems if I open the support ticket? Is this covered under theZimbra support service?

Thanks for your help

[abhullar]

Mozg313347

Open a Support case and we should be able to help you through this.
Please include a reference of this forum post, so I may follow up with you.

[mozg31337]

Hi Abhullar,

Just before opening the case, I thought I would give it another go. As i've managed to get one user activated I thought that there should not be any difference between the two users. They are both new accounts without any filters, etc. They both have small number of emails/addresses/calendar entries.

I did notice, by pure luck, that it seems that the Blackberry Controller services often crashes. The windows services seems to be running so as the Blackberry processes like Agent and a number of others starting with Blackberry. I've noticed that during the activation process after I've restarted the Blackberry Controller service the activation has gone through. I got the confirmation of successfull activation and started receiving the emails, address books and calendars.

I've tried sending emails to/from blackberry device, created several contacts and calendar entries. All seems to sync with zimbra and all seems fine.

However, after several minutes, the emails and syncronisation stopped. I seems to successfully send emails from BB device (i presume the emails are sent either from EU blackberry service, or the BES process responsible for sending emails did not crash), but receiving emails and update of addressbook and calendar entries stopped working. I've also noticed that in the Blackberry Manager the number of Pending/Sent/Forwarded messages did not change even though I was suppose to be sending/receiving emails.

Restarting the Blackberry Controller service seems to solve the problem for a very short period of time (several minutes) and the same happens again. No emails are sent to the device.

Does anyone know what might be causing the Blackberry Controller crashes?

I've googled on the blackberry forums the zimbra integration issues and I saw the references similar to "Zimbra is not officially supported by RIM and people should get support from the Zimbra team".

Does anyone have any thoughts on how can this be fixed?

Thanks for all the help

[abhullar]

Enable ZCB logs and provide us with both ZCB and BES logs when you run into this issue. Please submit the logs through a Support case.

ZCB and BES Logs - BlackBerry - Zimbra :: Wiki