So you can’t send email from a fresh install of Exchange 2010? Unlike Exchange 2003, Exchange 2010 cannot send emails to external domains out-of-the-box. This feature needs to be enabled through the use of an external send connector. By default, no send connectors are configured when an Exchange 2010 system is setup with a hub transport or edge transport role (typical installation). At first it seems odd for an Exchange server to not allow external email sending by default, but this is commonplace in insurance and financial institutions where complete control over external communications is necessary. I’ll walk you through the steps to create an internet-facing send connector which will allow you to send email to any external domain.

1. Open up the Exchange Management Console. Double-click on Organization Configuration and click on Hub Transport. Click on the “Send Connector” tab. Either right-click on the whitespace or select “New Send Connector” under the Actions task list.

2. Enter a name for the send connector. Under intended use, select “Internet” in order to send to external domains. Click Next.

3. Under Address Space click “Add…” and select “SMTP Address Space…” Click Next.

4. Under SMTP Address Space -> Address, put a * (asterisk) in order to send to all external domains. This is where you may wish to customize the address space by only allowing external emails to specific vendors or customers. Click OK, then click Next.

5. If you are using a smart host to route your emails (sometimes required by an ISP), configure it here. Otherwise, check “use domain name system” to route emails (typical). Click Next.

6. For a single-server installation of Exchange 2010, the source server will be the only one in the list. If you have multiple servers with a hub transport role installed in your organization, you can select a specific server to use. Click Next.

7. This is a summary page of the send connector. Click Next.

8. After the send connector has been configured, this page will appear. The syntax shown is also the powershell equivalent to what was run. Click Next.

9. Once the send connector has been created, you’ll need to configure one last item. Right-click on the connector and select “Properties.”

10. In order to get past some of the more strict spam filters, you need to configure the Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN). This is typically the internet-facing address of your email server. Click OK. You’re ready to send email to external domains!

(average: 5.00 out of 5)

14 Comments |  Print This Post

So you’ve decided you want to use JW Player for Silverlight and IIS Media Services Web Playlists together.

One of the reasons to use Web Playlists is to hide the true path of your video. This makes it difficult for users to download a full copy of your video, perfect for streaming copyrighted or pay-per-view content. Although users can still use screen capture software (such as Camtasia) to record your video, the process is more involved and less likely.

JW for flash and most other players require the media file (.mpeg, .mp4, etc) to be in a folder below the root path accessible by visitors. Web Playlists for IIS allows you to add videos from any folder on your server, and does not directly access the video when a viewing is requested. It uses a one-time security token to obfuscate the path.

Step 1 – Add a New Playlist in IIS

Here you’ll add a new playlist by opening up the IIS Manager, selecting your website and double-clicking on “Web Playlists.” Once it is open, on the right-hand side click on “Add Playlist.”

Once you type in a name for your playlist it will generate a URL that needs to be used by your web-based player. As you can see here, we are looking at iishacks.com/VMWareCertificate.isx.

You’ll need to add the specific video file by going to “Media entries” and clicking “Add.” You can select a Physical Path (excellent for hiding a file above the root folder), a Relative URI (if the file is in the root folder or below), or a Remote URL (if it is on another server or domain). I’ve chosen Physical Path and selected a folder that is not accessible via IIS.

You’ll notice you have options to disable skip back/forward or seek. If you choose to attach multiple videos together, or have required advertisements before, between or after videos, these options are for you. Networks such as Global TV utilize these options to ensure visitors are viewing the advertisements before a video starts.

Step 2 – Add the Playlist to JW Player

Once you’ve added your video file(s) you can now add the playlist to a web-based video player such as JW Player. JW Player for Silverlight is the only free player that supports the ISX playlist format and doesn’t require ASP. IIS Web Playlists supports .asf, .avi, .flv, .m4v, .mov, .mp3, .mp4, .rm, .rmvb, .wma and .wmv.

You can download JW Player for free here: http://www.longtailvideo.com/players/jw-wmv-player/

Here is the code I used for my VMware video. This can be embedded into WordPress or any PHP/HTML file.

<center><div name="mediaspace" id="mediaspace"></div>
<p> <script type='text/javascript' src="/silverlight.js"></script><br />
 <script type='text/javascript' src="/wmvplayer.js"></script><br />
 <script type="text/javascript">
  var cnt = document.getElementById("mediaspace");
  var src = '/wmvplayer.xaml';
  var cfg = {
   file:'http://iishacks.com:80/VMWareCertificate.isx',
   height:'470',
   width:'600'
  };
  var ply = new jeroenwijering.Player(cnt,src,cfg);
 </script></center>

As you can see the ISX/ASX playlist is located at http://iishacks.com:80/VMWareCertificate.isx . If you try and open the file it will direct you to either a broken link or a text file with the following:

Notice how the ISX playlist has a tokenized session id appended to the URL? Try and open that. It’s a dead end. You’ll never be able to simply download the file. Here is a full set of features with Web Playlists.

(average: 4.88 out of 5)

No Comments |  Print This Post