Troubleshoot Exchange Admin Center access issues in Exchange 2013

By Brian Posey, SearchExchange.TechTarget.com

One of the most common problems with Exchange Server 2013 is not being able to access the Exchange Administration Center (EAC). This problem usually has an easy fix. Let's look at some troubleshooting techniques you can use if you're having problems with the EAC.

What happens when you access the EAC?

You should base your troubleshooting efforts around what happens when you try to access the Exchange Admin Center. You'll need to use different troubleshooting techniques that are based on how the browser behaves.

You may discover you can log in to the Web portal, but are unable to access the Exchange Admin Center. For example, you might see a generic message indicating something went wrong.

If you get this type of error, there are a few things to check. First, make sure your client access server can communicate with your domain controllers and back-end mailbox servers. If your firewall is configured to allow Internet Control Message Protocol traffic, you could use the ping command to verify connectivity.

If the client access server can communicate with the domain controllers and any back-end mailbox servers, then check Exchange-related services. There are a number of Exchange-related services that must be running for the EAC and Office Web App (OWA) to work properly. Any service with an Automatic startup type should be running. If a service isn't running, try to manually start the service by right-clicking on it and selecting the Start command from the shortcut menu.

It's worth noting that although the Client Access Server hosts the Exchange Admin Center, the problem might not always be on the Client Access Server itself. Theoretically, it's possible for a mailbox server service failure to cause the EAC to malfunction.

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