Exchange 2010 - Offline Address Book and Global Address List Issue!

Question

I don't think I'm going crazy but cant find out why this is happening?
When I search the Address book in cached mode (OAB) in outlook for "Jackie W"
I get a number of users which include "Jackie W***"
but some are "Jackie K***" or "Jackie B***"
but their Office is set to "Westminster"
But this is the strange part when I search on the address book with Cached mode disabled (GAL) I only get users with Surnames begging with
"W" so only "Jackie W***" show up and if I just type in "Westminster" I get users form that location! but not a mix like on the OAB! Also when using the OAB if I type
"Jackie West" it brings up the Jackie from Westminster but this dose not happen when using the GAL because there is no
"Jackie West" in the Address book?
To my knowledge the OAB is just a Copy of the GAL that updates every 24 hours, and should be the same (give or take a few starters and leavers in the last 24 hours) and should pull up the same information when searching is this correct or am I going crazy!
:D
Technical Beta Tester || Matthew John Earley BSc (hons) || www.o0MattE0o.myby.co.uk

Answer 1

Hi MattE,
Does it happen for each Outlook profile you have, from every user account which is on Cached Mode.
A.If not then I believe OAB copy is either corrupted or Out of date.
Checking it on OWA would confirm the actual GAL data.(Similar to Online Exchange)
Client side update runs by default at Startup and every 24hrs , if skipped it will wait for next day or manual update.
1.In Outlook 2010, select the File tab in the upper left corner, then Download Address Book from the Account Settings drop down menu.
Outlook 2007 users should select Tools from Outlooks uppermost menu, then Send/Receive and Download Address Book from the Tools drop down menus.
2.The Offline Address Book window will appear. Make sure the following options are selected:
##De-check the Download changes since last Send/Receive option
##Make sure Full Details is selected
##Make sure the \Global Address List is selected from the Choose address book drop down menu
Q: How frequently is the offline address book updated on the Outlook client?
A: If left constantly running, Outlook in cached mode automatically updates the offline address book on the client every 24 hours. The 24-hour time period is measured from the time that the offline address book was last downloaded successfully. For example, if you complete an offline address book download at 09:00 today, Outlook will start the offline address book download the next day at approximately 09:00. Therefore, different people will receive updates at different, random times.
Note The default setting on the Exchange computer is to generate an offline address book differential file every morning at 04:00. For a change that is made in Active Directory to reach the client computer, the following events must occur:•The change must be picked up by the Exchange computer that generates the offline address book files. This can take several hours. At worst, it can take 24 hours. This variable will be referred to as "x."
•The Outlook clients must download the offline address book updates every 24 hours. This update can take several hours. At worst, it can take 24 hours. This variable will be referred to as "y."
The update reaches the client machines x+y hours later. It would be rare for a client to ever experience a 48-hour delay or more unless there were some Active Directory or public folder replication issues.
B.If yes, then there is a issue with OAB generation, that needs further troubleshooting depending on the distribution structure used Public Folder based or EWS.
• Try following:
EMC > Organization configuration > Mailbox > Offline address book.
Then right click on "Default offline addressbook" and select properies.
Click on "Distribution" tab, and untick "Enable public folder distribution". Click "Apply" and "OK"
Update the Address Book. Let replication finish.
Now go back to same location and tick "Enable public folder distribution" back again. Click "Apply" and "OK".
Here is a old times article I like:
Offline Address List Generation Overview
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/dgoldman/archive/2005/03/31/overview-of-the-oabgen-process.aspx
One More Old but relevant:
Administering the offline address book in Outlook
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/841273
Regards,
Satyajit
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