Introduction

The Exchange Sync is a service which synchronises data between the TriSys database and the exchange data store.

In summary the application essentially goes through the following life cycle:

Service is started, polling time is read from the Config file.

Waits for X minutes as specified in the polling time.

For each mailbox specified

Push Emails from the Exchange Data Store into the TriSys database.

Synchronise Contacts.

Synchronise Calendars.

Sleep until the next poll is due.

The service comes with an associated administration utility that provides a means to edit the list of mailboxes to be synchronised and other settings.

Utility Install

In order to install this product run the MSI and leave all of the options at default unless you need to install to another location. However the size of the install is very small therefore I can’t see this being an issue:

During the install you will be prompted to enter the account credentials for the Windows account that the service will run under. Note that this is not a true modal dialog for some reason and therefore can get lost behind another window.

The account specified must have full access to ALL of the mailboxes that are to be synchronised as well as access to all of the TriSys shares (G drives) in order to save Emails to disk.

At the end of the install the administration utility will automatically be opened so that you can enter the Mailboxes to be synchronised and then start the service:

Administering the Service

Once the install has completed a new shortcut will be available on the desktop designed to administer the service. This application is also started automatically when the install completes.

This application mirrors the prior versions of the exchange sync in most regards, but the key difference is around the fact that the main process now runs as a service. The bottom right of the UI now has controls related to administering the service:

In order to make any changes to the settings etc the service must be stopped. The UI will reflect this in that when the service is running all editing operations will be disabled.

In other words you must stop the service to make any changes and start it again afterwards. If you attempt to close the application without starting the service you will be prompted to start it:

The settings specified in this application are picked up by the service, so things like polling frequency and number of threads are edited via this application by clicking the settings button and then making the required changes:

Manual Synchronisation

Outside of this you can also run synchronisation manually using this utility. In order to do this the service must be stopped. This uses the exact same code as the service and therefore should replicate any issues etc. So, follow these steps:

Start the admin app.

If the service is running stop it.

Select the mailbox you would like to sync.

Click “Sync Selected Now”.

Once you have finished START THE SERVICE.

Uninstalling

In order to remove the service simply go to the “Add/Remove Programs” or “Programs and Features” option under control panel, find the “Exchange Synchronisation” entry in the list of programs and click “Remove”:

Troubleshooting

The exchange synchronisation tool is relatively complex, coupled with the fact that it is handling large volumes of data and relies upon users can make it troublesome.

When troubleshooting a problem with this module there are a number of things available to you. Firstly the service and admin tool both create log files listing the actions carried out. These are both placed in the install directory (by default: C:\Program Files\TriSys\Exchange Synchronisation):

These files will list significant events during the related applications life cycle.

In addition to these log files a log is created for each mailbox in a sub directory named logs (by default: C:\Program Files\TriSys\Exchange Synchronisation\Logs). Each file is named after the respective mailbox and contains detailed information on recent events related to that mailbox.

The service will also log events to the Windows Event Log:

The next place to look for relevant information is the TriSys database, in tables such as “Email”, “ExchangeAppointment” and “ExchangeContact”.

Where’d my Email go?

The most common issue raised by users is that an Email has gone missing. In order to track the said Email down you should follow its path through the system, which involves these steps:

Get the subject of the Email in question and approximate time the Email was received.

Check the log file related to this user and see if it contains entries related to that Email (You should be able to search it for the subject). This will give you an immediate confirmation of whether the Email has been processed or not. If the Email cannot be found in here then check that the mailbox has been synchronising correctly and that the Email is prior to the last sync.

The next place to check is the Email table in the database. You may find that the Email is in there but it has been marked as deleted and is therefore not showing up for the user. This may be due to a rule which can be checked using the v_IllegalEMailsIncludingDeletedAndProcessed view.

You can force the system to re-process an Email and observe the output by executing the p_ProcessEmail stored procedure and passing it the Email in question. The output from this should give you some indication of why the Email ended up where it did.