Error “Outlook Web App didn’t initialize. If the problem continues, please contact your helpdesk.”

Recently, I faced an issue logging in to OWA on our client’s Exchange 2010 server. The error reported was as follows :

Outlook Web App didn’t initialize. If the problem continues, please contact your helpdesk.
Couldn’t find a base theme (folder name=base)

Initial troubleshooting steps were taken, like restarting the Microsoft Exchange Form Based Authentication service, re-creating OWA virtual directories etc..

Upon further researching on the issue, I found a similar post online where the OWA crashed after installing the Exchange updates..

So, in order to resolve the issue all you need to do is launch Exchange Management Shell, navigate to the location C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\V14\Bin and then execute the power shell script UpdateCas.ps1.

This script will find your OWA/ECP virtual directories, update them and make some modifications to metabase etc.. Once completed, you will be able to access your OWA/ECP like before.. 🙂

 

Reference :- https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/exchange/en-US/dd91598d-3af9-4a98-8493-34726c763c62/owa-failed-to-initialize-after-install-of-rollup-1-for-exchage-sp1?forum=exchange2010

Unable to login to Exchange 2013 OWA !!

Recently on the process of an Exchange 2007 to Exchange 2013 migration, I happen to notice an issue with the new Exchange 2013 server. A standard SSL certificate was purchased and installed on the Exchange 2013 server recently as well. When accessing the OWA URL, all I get is a blank page as shown below :

I tried accessing the Exchange Management Shell, only to receive the error “The WinRM shell client cannot process the request“.

Upon checking the event logs, noticed the following error –

The reason for the error was later found that the new SSL certificate was not bound to the Exchange backend website. This is a new website created during the Exchange 2013 installation along with the Default website and has all the virtual directories of the Exchange services.

Steps to resolve the error :-

• Login to IIS Manager
• Select the Exchange Backend Website and click on Properties
• Select Edit Bindings
• Select https binding and click on Edit

• Bind the SSL certificate to the https binding and click OK

Confirm that you are able to login to OWA successfully and that EMS works fine.

Reference:- ExchangeServerPro.com