Blackberry Controller Service stops with error error 5003 (0x138B)

On one of my SBS 2003 servers, I run Blackberry Professional Server Express. All of a sudden, last night at about 7 pm, I got this in my application event log:

EVENT ID 20000
COMPUTERNAME SERVER1
DATE / TIME 2/25/2010 7:05:00 PM
MESSAGE Could not connect to Service Control Manager at \\127.0.0.1: 1722

and then I got this error when trying to start the Blackberry Controller Service - which was stopped:
The BlackBerry Controller service terminated with service-specific error 5003 (0x138B).

Long story short . . .

For some reason, the DNS Server service causes some problem with the Blackberry Controller service. It's easily fixed by stopping the DNS Server service and then starting the Blackberry Controller service. And then you can restart the DNS Server service. It's not a big deal - but it looks like I'm going to have to go through this stupid rigmarole each time I reboot the server from this point forward.

Blackberry troubleshooting with SQL issues

Today, I dealt with an issue where I ended up rebuilding my entire Blackberry Professional Express server on an SBS 2003 box.  Here is my nightmare and what I did to address it.

First, I had an existing user that got a new Blackberry.  I deleted the user from Blackberry Manager, as I had done many times before.  But this time, I could not add him bacl.  It kept telling me "User 'username' is in delete pending state on server 'servername', please recover the user before adding user to server"

As far as I can tell, there is no option to recover a user in Blackberry Professional, only in Blackberry Enterprise.  So then I read about options to delete the user from the SQL database.  I saw this for MDSE:

http://www.blackberryforums.com.au/forums/general-bes-discussion/2018-bes-professional-recover-user.html

And I was advised to do this in SQL Express 2005:

Log on as your besadmin account and select Windows trust authentication.
Open table "dbo.UserConfig" and delete the entry where appear your old BlackBerry user.

But that didn't help either.  But somehow when I was in SQL Express in the appropriate database for the Blackberry, something got corrupted and now none of my Blackberries were working.  

To make a long story short - what I eventually did was redownload and reinstall the Blackberry Professional Express software, create a new SQL instance, and install it there.  The steps needed an SBS box are documented here and here.

BES install guide for SBS 2003 or Domain Controller

This content is reproduced for future reference from:
http://www.blackberryforums.com.au/forums/microsoft-exchange/281-bes-sbs-2003-a.html

Gary's BES install guide for SBS 2003 or Domain Controller

1. Ensure the port 3101 TCP is open on the firewall (Outbound ONLY).

2. Create a new user called BESadmin and ensure you create a mailbox. Ensure this user is ONLY a member of "Domain users"

3. Make BESadmin a local Administrator of the server. This is done in AD via the "Built-in" Administrators group

4. Go to Admin Tools on open "Domain Controller Security Policy" and expand the "Local Policies" and "User Right Assignment". You need to add BESadmin to "Allow Log on Locally" and "log on as Service".

5. Open Exchange System Manager and right mouse click on "DOMIANNAME (Exchange)" and select Delegate Control. Follow the steps and add BESadmin as an Exchange View Only Administrator.

6. In Exchange manager expand the servers folder and right mouse click on your server and select properties. On the properties windows select BESadmin and add the permissions "Administer Mailbox Store, Receive As, Send As"

7. Open Active Directory and from the View menu select "Advanced Features". Then go to each user that will be added to the BES and open their properties, go to the security tab and add the user BESadmin and add the security permission "Send As". (This will overcome some MS patches that prevent BES sending emails)

8. Log on as BESadmin and install the BES software, normally you just install "BlackBerry Enterprise Server" as most sites don't use the MDS services (MDS is a much heavier install). Follow the prompts of the install and the server will be required to restart half way through the install. Restart the server and log back on as BESadmin and the install will continue. (Make sure the Connect Test works and the SRP ID etc is validated during the install)

9. After the install is finished open BlackBerry Manager, an error will appear about MAPI client which you can just hit OK. The MAPI setting windows will appear so just add the server name back in and select "Check Name", if it resolves just hit OK and the manager will start.

10. Within Blackberry Manager click on Blackberry Domain in the left column and then the users SERVERS tab in the center section, select your server within this tab and view the properties below. Ensure that "SRP Status:" is Connected (This can take a few minutes the first time so refresh the screen a few times). Once your status is connected you can start adding users.

11. Within Blackberry Manager click on you server name in the left column and then the users TAB in the centre section, just add a user and the click on that user. You will see all the users’ properties and a drop down menu called "Service Access” and select “Set Activation Password” and set a password of “a” for example.

12. Turn on you BlackBerry device and ensure Wireless is enabled. Go into “Options/Settings” and “Time & Date” and set the correct zone and time etc. Then from the home screen go to enterprise activation and enter the users email address and enter the password that was set in step 11. Press the track wheel and select Activate. Within a minute you should get data returned which indicates the process is functioning correct.

Extra

Note: Sites running SBS 2003 premium will need to change the BES "Web Server Listen Port" from 8080 to another available port (e.g. 8090 or 9090) as soon as it is installed. This port needs to be changed as the BES Web Server will be listening on the same port as ISA. To change this setting open Blackberry Manager, select MDS and then "edit Properties" and change the "Web Server Listen Port" to the desired port number.

a. Also ensure you review the IT Policy in BlackBerry Manager. This can be found in BlackBerry Domain > Global TAB > Edit properties. It is recommended that in the IT Policy you go into “Device Only Items” and set “Enable WAP config” to FALSE, this will force user to use the free browser (It uses the internet connection of your BES server). It is also highly recommended that you configure a password policy prior to rolling out any handhelds.

b. If you are unable to activate devices wirelessly you can test your connectivity to Blackberry buy running the following app from the command prompt:
C:\Program Files\Research In Motion BlackBerry Enterprise Server\Utility\BBSrpTest.exe
This will send a signal to BB and wait for a response, it this fails check your firewall settings (open and/or direct port 3101 TCP to you BES server)

c. If you have Domain Admins using BlackBerry devices you may have to run the following script if you are unable to send email for those users devices:
dsacls "cn=adminsdholder,cn=system,dc=domainname,dc=c om " /G "DOMAINNAME\BESadmin:CA;Send As"