Tools
Web Help Desk Exchange Error 401: Unauthorized
This article describes how to resolve Exchange Error 401: Unauthorized in Web Help Desk Incoming Mail Accounts
First published date
7/18/2019 4:41 PM
Last published date
10/28/2022 7:34 PM
Overview
Emails are not being processed into tickets in Web Help Desk. Saving the setup gives the Error message.
Product section
Web Help Desk
Cause
- Account credentials is invalid
- Connection issues in the exchange server relay
- Firewall or Security blocking the connection
- Authentication in the Exchange EWS site is not configured
Resolution
1. Verify that the account credentials is valid by logging in directly to the mailbox.
2. Reset the account password and enter the new credentials in Web Help Desk.
3. Ensure that there is no Firewall or Security settings that blocks the connection to the mail server.
4. Please make sure Exchange Web Services (EWS) are enabled on your mail server and that the user name and password work with that site. You can test this by pointing your browser to http(s)://<your_exchange_server>/ews/Exchange.asmx. (Typically, the exact URL is provided with the error message.)
Provide the same user name and password that you provided in the email settings in Web Help Desk. If EWS is enabled and the user name and password are authorized, you should get an XML response.
If the browser does not prompt you for a user name and password, the browser already has credentials cached for that site and you must either clear the browser cache or use a different browser so you can ensure you are providing the same credentials that you provided to WHD.
if the above test is successful, but WHD still can't connect using the same credentials, the problem is most likely the authentication scheme used for the EWS site in IIS. The third-party library WHD uses for Exchange connections requires NTLM (v1), Digest, or Basic authentication. Your server might only have NTLMv2.
To change the authentication settings, perform the following steps:
For IIS 7:
Open IIS Manager on the server running Exchange.
Navigate to the EWS site.
Double-click Authentication.
Select either Digest or Basic authentication. These can be in addition to the default Windows Authentication (NTLMv2) selection.
For pre-IIS 7:
Open IIS Manager on the server running Exchange.
Navigate to the EWS site.
Right-click on the site and select Properties.
Select the Directory Security tab .
Click the Edit... button in the Authentication and access control group.
Select either Digest or Basic authentication. These can be in addition to the default Windows Authentication (NTLMv2) selection.
Note: Authentication settings must be changed for the EWS site, not just the default IIS settings, because sometimes they don't propagate.
If you have verified the user name and password on the EWS site, and if you already have Digest or Basic authentication enabled, but are still seeing the 401 response, another cause can be the form of the user name. Exchange sometimes requires that the domain is excluded from the user name when using the EWS protocol, even though it may allow or require it for other protocols, and visa versa."
2. Reset the account password and enter the new credentials in Web Help Desk.
3. Ensure that there is no Firewall or Security settings that blocks the connection to the mail server.
4. Please make sure Exchange Web Services (EWS) are enabled on your mail server and that the user name and password work with that site. You can test this by pointing your browser to http(s)://<your_exchange_server>/ews/Exchange.asmx. (Typically, the exact URL is provided with the error message.)
Provide the same user name and password that you provided in the email settings in Web Help Desk. If EWS is enabled and the user name and password are authorized, you should get an XML response.
If the browser does not prompt you for a user name and password, the browser already has credentials cached for that site and you must either clear the browser cache or use a different browser so you can ensure you are providing the same credentials that you provided to WHD.
if the above test is successful, but WHD still can't connect using the same credentials, the problem is most likely the authentication scheme used for the EWS site in IIS. The third-party library WHD uses for Exchange connections requires NTLM (v1), Digest, or Basic authentication. Your server might only have NTLMv2.
To change the authentication settings, perform the following steps:
For IIS 7:
Open IIS Manager on the server running Exchange.
Navigate to the EWS site.
Double-click Authentication.
Select either Digest or Basic authentication. These can be in addition to the default Windows Authentication (NTLMv2) selection.
For pre-IIS 7:
Open IIS Manager on the server running Exchange.
Navigate to the EWS site.
Right-click on the site and select Properties.
Select the Directory Security tab .
Click the Edit... button in the Authentication and access control group.
Select either Digest or Basic authentication. These can be in addition to the default Windows Authentication (NTLMv2) selection.
Note: Authentication settings must be changed for the EWS site, not just the default IIS settings, because sometimes they don't propagate.
If you have verified the user name and password on the EWS site, and if you already have Digest or Basic authentication enabled, but are still seeing the 401 response, another cause can be the form of the user name. Exchange sometimes requires that the domain is excluded from the user name when using the EWS protocol, even though it may allow or require it for other protocols, and visa versa."