The following articles were included in our Exchange Messaging Outlook (EMO) newsletter published on October 19, 2017.
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Today's Highlights:
- iCloud is hijacking Meeting Invitations
- 'Smart Lookup' using Google search
- More on Folder Home pages
- Rules and Junk Email in Outlook.com
iCloud is hijacking Meeting Invitations
While working with a client to migrate an email account to Office 365 mailbox to replace an IMAP account and iCloud, we sent messages and meeting requests to the address to confirm everything was working correctly.
The meeting requests I sent from my Outlook arrived in the new mailbox, while requests sent from a family member’s iPhone were automatically added to the user’s iCloud calendar. The address associated with the new Office 365 account was not the user’s Apple ID but that address was configured in the native iOS mail client.
The cause: a setting in iCloud.com’s Calendar preferences tells iCloud to intercept meeting requests and add them to iCloud calendar. While this might be useful if you only use iPhone to manage your calendar, it is not helpful when you don’t want to use the iCloud or use an account that syncs a calendar to the phone.
The solution: log into iCloud.com and switch to the Calendar. In Options (the cog icon), select Preferences, Advanced. At the very bottom, in the Invitations section, choose the option to Email to [Apple ID address], not In-app notifications. (The meeting invite will be sent to the address on the invitation, not to the Apple ID address shown on the dialog.)
Note that even though the meeting invitation is not sent to the Apple ID address, it can be hijacked by iCloud if you use the iOS Mail and Calendar apps and the invitation is sent from an Apple device.
'Smart Lookup' using Google search
A user wanted to replace Bing with Google as the search engine in the Smart Lookup function. While you can’t change the search engine in Smart Lookup, you can use a macro to (mostly) replicate the feature using your favorite search engine. I say ‘mostly’ because the macro opens a new browser window, not a panel in Outlook, and it’s a button on the ribbon or in the Quick Access toolbar, not on the right click menu.
Selecting text in an Outlook item is fairly easy when you use the Word Object Library, passing it to a search engine is also easy (you can even use a different browser, if you prefer.)
Get the code sample at Replicate Smart Lookup using a macro
More on Folder Home pages
By now, I think most affected users are aware of that folder home pages don’t work in Outlook 2010, 2013, and 2016 after installing the Outlook security updates last week. Folder Homepages were removed to close a security vulnerability. This broke a lot of applications, including Microsoft's Business Contact Manager and Dynamics CRM.
Why were Folder Homepages are deprecated? Because when an Exchange mailbox is compromised, an external attacker can use the Folder Homepage to gain remote code execution within the corporate network by setting the folder homepage to a malicious URL. The folder homepage roams between clients, which means that an external attacker can set a folder homepage to an arbitrary URL, and then roam that into the Outlook client running within the corporate network. (More information on the exploit is here: Outlook Home Page – Another Ruler Vector )
The recommended fix is to use the WebView key to set a folder home page on a default folder. Because WebView doesn’t roam, it is safer. However, it only works if the home page is associated with one of Outlook's default folders, and many are not.
For example, you’d use this key to set a home page on the Inbox in Outlook 2016. (To set a home page on the other default folders, replace Inbox with the folder name.)
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Outlook\WebView\Inbox
String: URL
Value: http://url
WebView keys can be set using group policy; look for the policy option in the administrative templates for Outlook.
Because many home pages are set on other folders, users will need to set a key that disables the newly-implemented home page security.
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Outlook\Security
DWORD: EnableRoamingFolderHomepages
Value: 1
Rules and Junk Email in Outlook.com
A user had a problem with mail filters in his Outlook.com account:
I set up rules (several times) to move any emails sent to specific mailing list addresses but the messages always end up in my Junk Email folder.
This is the correct behavior – the junk email filter pulls out the junk before rules run. To prevent the messages from going into the junk email folder you’ll need to add the list addresses to the Safe senders lists, either using Outlook desktop or in Outlook on the web’s Options.
While Outlook desktop will ask if you want to add a sender to the safe list when you mark it as Not Junk, Outlook on the web just moves the messages back to the Inbox. You’ll need to add the address to the safe list yourself. Add each mailing list address to the Safe Mailing List; depending on how the list is configured, you may need to add them to the Safe Senders list as well.
Tip: if you are using the beta version of Outlook.com, switch to the Calendar module then go into Options to access the junk mail (and other) options.
New & Updated Exchange KB Articles
On-premises users can't view or download OneDrive for Business (modern) attachments
https://support.microsoft.com/kb/4041971
You can't access OWA or ECP after you install Exchange Server 2016 CU6
https://support.microsoft.com/kb/4036163
You can't change properties of a mailbox that was moved to Exchange Server 2013 in Office 365 dedicated and ITAR
https://support.microsoft.com/kb/2929198
You can't connect to Skype for Business Online, or certain features don't work, because an on-premises firewall blocks the connection
https://support.microsoft.com/kb/2409256
New & Updated Office 365 KB Articles
October 2017 Office Update Release
https://support.microsoft.com/help/4043461
Description of the security update for Office Online Server: October 10, 2017
https://support.microsoft.com/kb/3213659
Full Access permissions are not working after a migration to Office 365 dedicated/ITAR (vNext)
https://support.microsoft.com/kb/4046318
Information about profile picture synchronization in Office 365
https://support.microsoft.com/kb/3185286
Microsoft 365 Tech Series: Online Webcasts
https://support.microsoft.com/kb/3107685
Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Outlook is unable to render webpages after installing the October 2017 Microsoft Outlook security update
https://support.microsoft.com/kb/4049314
You can't change properties of a mailbox that was moved to Exchange Server 2013 in Office 365 dedicated and ITAR
https://support.microsoft.com/kb/2929198
You can't connect to Skype for Business Online, or certain features don't work, because an on-premises firewall blocks the connection
https://support.microsoft.com/kb/2409256
New & Updated Outlook KB Articles
Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Outlook is unable to render webpages after installing the October 2017 Microsoft Outlook security update
https://support.microsoft.com/kb/4049314
Description of the security update for Outlook 2016: October 10, 2017
https://support.microsoft.com/kb/4011162
Description of the security update for Outlook 2013: October 10, 2017
https://support.microsoft.com/kb/4011178
Description of the security update for Outlook 2010: October 10, 2017
https://support.microsoft.com/kb/4011196
Other Resources
BCM Errors after October 2017 Outlook Update
Fix for BCM error message: Business Contact Manager for Outlook could not complete your last action or action. Please try again.
Ignite 2017 Sessions: Outlook & Exchange
Here are a few of the sessions recorded at Ignite 2017 that pertain to Microsoft Outlook and Microsoft Exchange server, including Office 365.
Outlook Folder Homepages are missing
In the Outlook update released on October 10 2017, Folder Homepages were removed to close a security vulnerability. Folder Home pages can be restored by setting a registry key.
Replicate Smart Lookup using a macro
How to replicate the Smart Lookup feature in Outlook using a different search engine.
Start Outlook using a different VBA Project file
How to start Microsoft Outlook using a different VBA Project file.