When you log on to Outlook Web Access (OWA), you can use an
explicit logon by supplying your user name in the request URL as seen in the following examples:
- http://exchangeserver/exchange/username/
- http://exchange.widgets.microsoft.com/exchange/username/
If you have configured a different Active Directory account name and Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) alias for a user, you must use one of the following URL formats:
- http://exchangeserver/exchange/SMTP-alias/
- http://exchange.widgets.microsoft.com/exchange/SMTP-alias/
Explicit
logons are required when the front-end server is not configured to authenticate
users, or when users try to access mailboxes that are not their own, but for
which they have access.
When the front-end server receives an explicit
logon request, the user name is extracted from the URL. The user name is then
combined with the SMTP domain name that is
associated with the virtual directory or virtual server. This combination is
created when the virtual directory or virtual server is created or when the
default recipient policy's primary SMTP address is modified. This combination
creates a fully qualified SMTP address that is a searchable property of a
mail-enabled user object.
The front-end server then looks up this
address in Active Directory and determines which server houses the mailbox that
is associated with the address. The request is then forwarded to that
server.