MailEnable ActiveSync logging and how to associate a device/mailbox to the ActiveSync conversation log files.


SUMMARY

This article explains how to enable MailEnable ActiveSync logging and how to associate a device/mailbox to the ActiveSync conversation log files.

DETAIL

When connecting from devices supporting the Exchange ActiveSync (EAS) protocol and a synchronization error occurs, the device itself may not provide enough information to determine the cause of the problem. Tracing through the ActiveSync conversation log files and reviewing the incoming requests sent by the device and the outgoing responses sent from the MailEnable ActiveSync server until the error occurs can help determine if this is a client or server side issue.

To enable the ActiveSync log files:

  • Navigate within the MailEnable installation path to the "ActiveSync" folder.
  • Double click on the file "MEEASMGR.EXE" to open the MailEnable ActiveSync management tool. You can also access this under the Windows Start menu.
  • Navigate to the "Advanced" tab in the utility and tick the ActiveSync checkbox (within the conversation logging section).
  • The default path is C:\ActiveSync but be changed to an alternative path (this needs to be specified prior to enabling the logging).

The utility also provides means of filtering the conversation logging to specific criteria. The filtering can be set using the dropdown menu for "filtering". I.e.:

  • Device identifier
  • Mailbox name
  • Postoffice name
  • Login (username)

In the textbox next to the dropdown you enter the device identifier, mailbox name, etc. to match what you are searching for. You can enter partial names if needed (so entering "tom" when the mailbox option is set will log "tom", "tommy", "atom" mailboxes). The easiest method to capture the conversation log files for a mailbox experiencing problems is to set the filtering to "mailbox". Once the conversation logs start logging you will see within the ActiveSync logging path a folder that will represent the "devices" unique ID identifier. Usually the ID can be found on the device settings. Each device is different and therefore you need to consult within the devices documentation or FAQ guides to locate the ID of the device.

Understanding the conversation logs will require understanding the mechanisms and commands used within the incoming requests and outgoing responses. MailEnable provides the conversation logging so that the administrator can enable the option on the server and then provide copies of the logs when lodging a support ticket with MailEnable.

The MailEnable ActiveSync conversation log files that are most important and used to troubleshoot issues are the "xxxxxx-(mailboxname)-Request.XML" and "xxxxxx-(mailboxname)-Response.XML" files. When an error occurs on the device the first step is to inspect the "request" to see what type of request was sent to the server and the command/data the device sent up to the server and then associate that request with the response to determine what type of response MailEnable sent back to the device. It may be difficult to determine if the problem lies within the request or response, however once the request and responses have been associated with the date/time of error on the device you can forward the files to MailEnable support for further analysis. An ActiveSync log viewer is also located in the ActiveSync directory, called MEEASLOG.EXE. When you run this you can select a directory which contains the EAS logs and view the logs in an easy manner.

Troubleshooting ActiveSync Synchronization issues:

Single Device Only:

The most common issue where only one device is experiencing problems and synchronization issues. If you are able to connect to the same mailbox on another device running similar operating systems then the problem maybe that the device needs to be updated and is bug within the devices firmware. Therefore would require updating the devices firmware to the latest version to eliminate this being a factor since connecting to the same mailbox works on another device. Also backing up the device and resetting the device to factory defaults may also work. If the device is running the latest firmware and have reset the device to factory defaults and the problems persist then enabling the MailEnable ActiveSync conversation log files is needed to troubleshoot further.

All Devices not able to synchronise:

In order to determine if the problem is a server wide issue where no device is able to connect and synchronise the ActiveSync management utility "Verification" tests can be used. If the verification tests fail then this will most likely be why no device is able to synchronise and will point to a server wide problem. The tests will also return specific errors why the tests failed.

 



    Product:MailEnable (Pro-Any Ent-Any)
    Category:Other
    Article:ME020611
    Module:Other
    Keywords:ActiveSync,activesync,EAS,Exchange,Microsoft,logging,logs,Logs,Logging
    Class:HOWTO: Product Instructions
    Revised:Friday, January 15, 2021
    Author:
    Publisher:MailEnable