[Solved]: OWA and ECP Stops Working After You Install A Security Update

Summary: This article will provide solution and help users to solve the issue “owa and ecp stops working after you install a security update” by using the method described here.

Microsoft Exchange Server is extensively used around the globe by many users, IT companies, and other industry verticals for business and communication purposes. When the users install the security update on the server which running Exchange Server, either on OWA (Outlook on the web) or the ECP (Exchange Control Panel) or both the application that stops the working on the server.

When Outlook On the Web (OWA) stop working it displays the following error:

Something went wrong
Your request could not be completed. HTTP Status code 500.

And, when the Exchange Control Panel (ECP) stop working it displays the error message given below:

Server Error in ‘/ecp’ Application.
Could not load file or assembly ‘Microsoft.Exchange.Common, Version=15.0.0.0,
Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35’ or one of it’s dependencies.
The system cannot find the file specified.

Cause Of This Issue “OWA And ECP Stops Working After You Install A Security Update”

If any user manually installed the security update on a server that has UAC (User Account Control) enabled, but without using the elevated permissions.

Solution to Fix the Error: Exchange OWA And ECP Stops Working After You Install A Security Update

Users have to use the elevated permission to re-install the security update on the server.

1. Open the Command Prompt as administrator
2. If your UAC (User Account Control) windows appear, then select the given option to open the elevated Command Prompt window >> After that, select continue.
3. If the UAC windows do not appear then use the next step.
4. Insert the complete path of the .msp file for the security update >> Press enter
5. Restart the server when the updates are installed

Then, check users can access the Outlook on the Web (OWA) or the Exchange Control Panel (ECP) on the server without receiving the error message.

If any error message continues to display in the ECP then use the steps given below:

1. On the Server start IIS Manager

2. Then, go to the Exchange Backend Website >> Exchange Control Panel (ECP) virtual directory

3. Click on the application settings >> Binsearch folder

4. After that, check the path or location of the Exchange directories which is mentioned below. Users can also view the directory path that resembles.

“%ExchangeInstallDir%bin;
%ExchangeInstallDir%bin\CmdletExtensionAgents;
%ExchangeInstallDir%ClientAccess\Owa\bin”

5. Then, replace the provided path with the given path:

“C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\V15\bin;
C:\Program Files\Microsoft\ExchangeServer\V15\bin\CmdletExtensionAgents;
C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\V15\ClientAccess\Owa\bin”

Note: Where the Microsoft Exchange Server is installed the path must be point there

6. After that, go to the specific folder which include Exchange Server script.

Example:

For the Exchange Server 2013, by default the scripts are located in the given path:

“C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\v15\Bin”

Note: For the Exchange Server 2010 the script is located in the v14

7. Launch the EMS as admin and execute the given script:

“.\UpdateCas.ps1 and .\UpdateConfigFiles.ps1.”

8. Close the Exchange Management Shell and open the CMD as administrator

9. Then, run the iisreset

10. Finally, restart the server & verify that the users will no longer get any error message when they access the ECP.

Note: While restarting the server there could be several reasons due to which user Exchange database file gets corrupted and goes into Offline or dismounted state. Then at that time, it is very necessary to take the backup of Exchange mailboxes from this database because when users repair the database there are chances of data loss. Then, at that time the users can use the backup file to retrieve Exchange data. There is no manual solution that helps users to export the mailbox from the Offline Exchange .edb file to the Outlook PST.

Pro Tip: Users can use the advanced SysTools EDB to PST Converter tool which supports offline/dismounted Exchange database file and use by many technical and non-technical users to extract mailbox from EDB file Exchange 2016 / 2013 / 2010 to the PST file format. In addition to this, it provides Quick and Advance scan mode which repair EDB file from corruption and after recovery users can bulk export mailbox to PST Exchange 2010/2013/2016 in a simplified manner without using any cmdlet like – New-MailboxExportRequest all mailboxes to PST.

Bringing It All Together

Now users have detailed information on how to solve the OWA and ECP stops working after you install a security update issue by using the solution provided here. Also, if due to any reason users want to export mailboxes from the dismounted or offline Exchange database file to the Outlook PST then they can use the advance solution mentioned in the above section.