Resolving ‘The service request GetUserConfiguration is only valid for Exchange version Exchange2010 or later’ errors from Signature Manager Office 365 Edition

Problem:

When using Signature Manager Office 365 Edition and deploying signatures to Office 365, you may see the following error for one or more users:

16:46:01.727: Error: Unable to connect to Office 365 via EWS
    16:46:01.727: Information: Microsoft.Exchange.WebServices.Data.ServiceVersionException: The service request GetUserConfiguration is only valid for Exchange version Exchange2010 or later.
    at Microsoft.Exchange.WebServices.Data.ServiceRequestBase.ThrowIfNotSupportedByRequestedServerVersion()

Reason:

There are a number of possible reasons for this error, as detailed below:

1. The user account configured to deploy signatures via Update OWA from server options has never logged on to OWA. See solution 1.
2. A hybrid environment is used and the error is caused by ‘linked’ mailboxes. Please see solution 2.
3. Any environment with Office 365 is used and the error is caused by mailboxes held in the recycle bin, or by litigation hold. See solution3.
4. The username and/or password for the Office 365 account specified in the Exclaimer console is out of date. See solution 4.
5. Permissions on the Office 365 account specified in the Exclaimer console are missing. See solution 5.

Solutions:

Solution 1: Issue caused by the account being used to deploy signatures

To resolve this issue, please log on to OWA using the account configured to deploy signatures via Update OWA from server options.

Solution 2: Issue caused by ‘linked’ mailboxes

To resolve the issue caused by ‘linked’ mailboxes, you must convert the mailboxes into ‘user’ mailboxes. To do this:

1. Open the Exchange Management Shell on your Exchange server, and run the following PowerShell command:




Set-User -Identity "user" -LinkedMasterAccount $null

Where:

• If the error is occurring for all users, replace “user” with the account being used to deploy signatures to OWA.
• If the error only occurs for one, or some of your users, replace “user” with the username of the account which has this error.


2. Repeat for each account which has this error in the Exclaimer event log.

Further details are available on the MSDN here.

Solution 3: Issue caused by mailboxes held in recycle bin or by litigation hold

If the issue is caused by mailboxes held in the recycle bin or by litigation hold, you must purge the mailbox from the recycle bin and/or remove the litigation hold.

When you delete a user from the Office 365 control panel, they are moved into a recycle bin for 30 days so that they can be recovered easily if the deletion was made in error. However, this can conflict with Signature Manager Office 365 Edition.

If the error occurs for all users, it’s likely that there is a deleted or litigation hold mailbox matching the account you are using to update your OWA signatures. If the error only occurs for one or some of your users, you are likely to find a deleted or litigation hold mailbox matching those accounts.

Note: For this task you will need the Azure ActiveDirectory for PowerShell module installed on your computer. Once this is installed, follow steps below:

1. Open PowerShell and connect to your Azure Active Directory by running the following command:




Import-module MSOnline; Connect-MsolService

2. Enter your Office 365 administrator credentials when prompted.
3. To see the full list of deleted users, run the command below:




Get-MsolUser –ReturnDeletedUsers

4. If you see a deleted mailbox with the same email address as the user who has this error, you will need to purge the deleted mailbox using the command below:




Remove-MsolUser -UserPrincipalName "user" –RemoveFromRecycleBin

Caution: Do not proceed unless you are completely sure that you want to remove the deleted mailbox permanently.





5. You can purge all deleted mailboxes using the command below:




Get-MsolUser -ReturnDeletedUsers | Remove-MsolUser -RemoveFromRecycleBin –Force

Caution: Be very careful using this command, as the result is permanent.





6. Once purged, please verify if signatures are being deployed correctly. You can force Signature Manager Office 365 Edition to redeploy signatures by restarting the Exclaimer Outlook Settings Connector Office 365 Edition service.

Further details can be found here.

If the problem persists

If you still have a problem with one or more users, you will need to check for mailboxes held by litigation hold in Office 365.

1. Open PowerShell and add credentials for Office 365 using the following command:




$credential = (get-credential)

When prompted, please enter account details for an Office 365 administrator.





2. Then run the following command to connect to Office 365:




Import-PSSession (New-PSSession -ConfigurationName Microsoft.Exchange -Credential $credential -ConnectionURI https://ps.outlook.com/powershell -Authentication Basic -AllowRedirection) -AllowClobber

3. Log on using an Office 365 administrator when prompted.
4. Run the following command to display the hold information for all inactive mailboxes in your organization:




Get-Mailbox -InactiveMailboxOnly | FL DisplayName,Name,IsInactiveMailbox,LitigationHoldEnabled,InPlaceHolds

5. To remove the litigation hold, run the following command:




Set-Mailbox -InactiveMailbox -Identity <identity of inactive mailbox> -LitigationHoldEnabled $false




6. You will then need to delete the mailbox from the recycle bin - see step 4 for the linked mailboxes solution.

Further details are available here.

Solution 4: Issue caused by out of date username and/or password

If the username and/or password for the Office 365 account specified in the Exclaimer console is out of date, you need to update it. To do this:

1. Open the Exclaimer console.
2. Navigate to: Signature manager Office 365 Edition > Settings and click the Configure button.
3. Update the username and/or password for the specified Office 365 account.

For further information on these settings, please see this help topic.

Solution 5: Issue caused by missing permissions

When Exclaimer Signature Manager Office 365 Edition is first installed and set up, you are required to enter an administrator account - this account has impersonation rights for everyone in the organization, so all Office 365 mailboxes can be accessed.

To configure this account, account details must be entered and then a process is run to grant required permissions. If the required permissions are missing (most likely because account details have been changed but the grant permissions process was not completed), please follow instructions in this help topic to check account details and grant permissions.