Mimecast Synchronization Engine - FAQ

This article details Frequently Asked Questions and Answers for the Mimecast Synchronization Engine (MSE) product.

General FAQs 

Q:

What is a Synchronization Engine Site?

A:

A Synchronization Site is where the Mimecast Synchronization Engine is installed in your environment. Each instance can be viewed by accessing the Exchange Site widget on the Exchange Services Dashboard or the Administration Console.

Q:

How do I display my bound Synchronization Engine Sites in the Administration Console?

A:

To list your synchronization sites:

1. Log in to the Mimecast Administration Console.
2. Select the Services | Synchronization Engine Sites menu item.

This page provides a glance view of the description, version, status, and last active time of each Mimecast Synchronization Engine installation bound to your Mimecast account. Selecting a Site from the list provides additional information, such as the Site Code and host operating system.

You can Enable or Disable a Site from this screen.

Q:

What does a "Failed to execute main procedure" error in the ADR task log mean?

A:

This is caused by the Directory tab being incorrectly configured for your environment on the Mimecast Synchronization Engine Site Configuration Application | Accounts tab.

Review your configuration and ensure you have specified your environment's correct directory type. If you have an On-Premise Active Directory, select Microsoft Active Directory. If you are using Microsoft 365, select Microsoft 365 Directory.

More details can be found on the Mimecast Synchronization Engine: Enabling Active Directory Synchronization page. 

Q:

What versions of TLS does Mimecast Synchronization Engine support?

A:

Mimecast officially supports TLS 1.2 & TLS 1.3

Q:

Can I use older TLS versions if required? 

A:

Yes! Although Mimecast does not officially support this and is also not recommended.

To support older TLS version(s), select an appropriate Security Protocol code from the below table to use in your global.ini file for step 2.

1. In the directory below, create a file called global.ini. Ensure that the file extension is .ini:

"C:\ProgramData\Mimecast Synchronisation Engine\State"

2. Edit the global.ini file using Notepad, and add the entry below:

(e.g., Mse.Core.Bridge.SecurityProtocol=3072)

CODE	TLS 1.0	TLS 1.1	TLS 1.2
3072	✗	✗	✓
3840	✗	✓	✓
4032	✓	✓	✓

Q:

How do I assign a user the role of Synchronization Engine Sites Administrator?

A:

The steps below require a user account with the Manage Application and Basic Administrator permission. See the  Managing Administrator Roles and Understanding Administrator Roles pages for further information.

To assign the Synchronization Engine Administrator role to a user:

1. Log in to the Mimecast Administration Console.
2. Navigate to the Account | Roles menu item.
3. Select the Synchronization Engine Administrator role.
4. Click on the Add User to Role button.
5. Select the Check Box to the user's left to be allocated the role.
6. Click on the Add Selected Users button. The user's account is listed as a member of the Synchronization Engine Administrator role. 

Q:

Does Mimecast Synchronization Engine offer any reporting functionality?

A:

Yes! MSE offers an automated reporting function; you must comply with the following requirements to configure this.

Automated Reporting Requirements

• A Mimecast Synchronization Engine v4 (or later) site.
• Read and edit permissions on each Mimecast Synchronization Engine site. See the Mimecast Synchronization Engine - Requirements page for further details.

How to configure Automated Reports

1. Log in to the Mimecast Administration Console.
2. Navigate to the Services | Synchronization Engine Sites menu item.
3. Select the desired Synchronization Engine Site.
4. Complete the Automated Reporting and Alerts configuration options as required:

Field / Option	Description
Scheduled Task Reports	Administrators receive a high-level overview of scheduled tasks to reduce overlaps. Reports are generated hourly; if multiple sites are configured, they are consolidated into a single report.
Scheduled Task Alert Type(s)	Administrators can receive real-time alerts of scheduled task results based on one or more of the following statuses: Error Warning Success These alerts are triggered when a task has finished executing and report its status to Mimecast with a detailed task summary.
Task Report & Alert Recipient(s)	Enter a single email address or a comma-separated list (without spaces) of email addresses to receive reports.

5. Click on the Save Automated Alerts Settings button.

Q:

How do I display my current Synchronization Engine Site configuration?

A:

Yes! To display the configuration of your MSE site:

1. Open the Site Configure utility on the server where MSE is installed.
2. Click the Site tab. The tab displays the following configuration details:

Field / Option	Description
Server Name	This is automatically populated with the server's hostname.
Display Name	By default, this is set to the server's hostname. However, you can change this by clicking in the field, entering the required value, and clicking the Apply button.
Site Code	An automatically generated code populates this to identify the Site uniquely.
Region	This is automatically detected based on your Mimecast account's hosting region.
Company	This is automatically populated once your Site is bound with the company name registered to your Mimecast account.
Version	Displays the application's version.

Q:

Can I make changes to an existing Synchronization Engine site?

A:

Yes! FOR EXAMPLE, the MSE site can be re-configured if required when requiring a proxy server for connections from the host server to Mimecast.

To do this:

1. Open the Site Configure utility on the server where MSE is installed.
2. Click the Connection tab.
3. Complete the tab as follows:

Field / Option	Description
Use Proxy	Select this option to enable you to enter your proxy connection settings.
Proxy Host	Enter your proxy host.
Proxy Port	Enter the port number of your proxy host.
Requires Authentication	Select this if your proxy server requires authentication for outbound connections.
Username	If the "Requires Authentication" option is selected, enter a user with permission to connect outbound mail to Mimecast in the format your proxy server expects.
Password	If the "Requires Authentication" option is selected, enter the password for the user entered in the "Username" field.

4. Click the Apply button.
5. Begin the Site Binding process to rebind the site.

Q:

What IPM Class Types will be processed by Mailbox Folder Replication?

A:

By default, Mailbox Folder Replication will replicate the following:

• All folders of type IPF.Note
• All messages of message class:
• IPM.Note
• IPM.Note.MimecastStub

Considerations:

• Messages sent with the Personal or Private sensitivity option will not be replicated.
• Items deleted from a folder will be replicated under the deleted items folder in the archive.
• When a folder is deleted, it (and its contents) will not be replicated underneath the deleted items folder. Instead, they will remain in the location it was deleted from when looking at the folder in the archive.
• If a folder does appear under deleted items in the archive, that folder will have been explicitly created under the deleted items folder in the user's mailbox. Anything then dragged to that folder will be replicated. Should anything in the created folder then be deleted (and end up in the deleted items folder), that will replicate to the archive, and you will end up with 2 copies, 1 in the deleted items folder and 1 in the folder created under deleted items.

IPM Class Types refers to the types of messages stored in Microsoft Exchange that the Mimecast Synchronization Engine will sync by default. Additional classes can synced by adding them to the Global.ini file.

Q:

Can I override the IPM Class types for Mailbox Folder Replication?

A:

Yes! Suppose you want to include specific message classes that don't fall under the default classes listed above (e.g., you have a third-party service that changes the default message classes of mailbox items). In that case, you can override the default settings by following these steps:

1. Create a file in the STATE directory on your Mimecast Synchronization Engine server named global.ini. By default, the path is: C:\ProgramData\Mimecast Synchronisation Engine\State
2. Add the following line and save the file:

IncludeIpmClasses=IPM.Note, IPM.Note.MimecastStub, IPM CLASS TO INCLUDE 

Where "IPM CLASS TO INCLUDE" is the name of the IPM class (e.g., IPM.Note.EnterpriseVault)

• IPM classes are case-sensitive.

• To enter multiple IPM classes, use a comma-separated list.

3. The next time the Mailbox Folder Replication policy task runs, the IPM classes specified will be included.​​

Q:

What IPM Class Types will be processed by Managed Folders?

A:

By default, the following IPM message classes are considered and processed by Managed Folders:

• IPM.Note
• IPM.Note.* (any class under the IPM.Note namespace).

This includes:

• Messages with embedded email attachments.
• Mimecast stubbed messages.
• Third-party message stubs.
• Messages that are processed by document management systems.

Q:

Can I override the IPM Class types for Managed Folders?

A:

Yes! If you want to exclude specific message classes from a Managed Folder task (e.g., you want to maintain 3rd party stubs in your users' mailbox), you can override the default settings by following these steps:

1. Create a file in the STATE directory on your Mimecast Synchronization Engine server named global.ini. By default, the path is:

C:\ProgramData\Mimecast Synchronisation Engine\State.

2. Add this line and save the file:

Mse.Fbr.ExcludeClasses=IPM CLASS TO EXCLUDE

Where IPM CLASS TO EXCLUDE is the name of the IPM class (e.g., IPM.Note.EnterpriseVault.Shortcut.

• IPM classes are case-sensitive.
• To enter multiple IPM classes, use a comma-separated list.

3. The next time the Managed Folder policy task runs, the IPM classes specified will be excluded.

Q:

Can I include message classes that do not fall under IPM.Note or IPM.Note.* ?

A:

Yes! To ensure other message classes are added correctly and with no unintended data loss, we recommend contacting our support team for assistance.

Message Retention Impact

Certain Mimecast features can affect a message's retention after its original expiry date has been calculated. Compliant protection cannot be enabled until they are disabled or terminated. These include:

• Folder Location: Mimecast Synchronization Engine and administrator-defined policies can adjust the retention of a message based on its folder location in the Exchange mailbox.
• Retention Adjustments: A retention adjustment allows you to modify the original expiry date for messages in your organization's Mimecast archive.
• Legal Hold: Messages placed on legal hold are retained for at least the duration that the legal hold is active, even if this is longer than the message's original expiry date. The expiry date of a message on legal hold cannot be changed by the granular retention folders or retention adjustments features.

See the Validating Your Minimum Retention Setting article page for additional details.

With minimum retention active, you cannot create new managed folder tasks or retention adjustments if the day value is below the minimum retention value.

Q:	What happens if my organization fails to confirm the minimum retention setting?
A:	Failure to validate your organization’s retention policy can lead to Mimecast retaining data outside of your organization’s record keeping requirements.
Q:	What if no one within my organization is a member of a suitable Administrator Role?
A:	Contact our Support Team to inform them that your organization requires a Super, Full, or Partner Administrator account to validate the minimum retention of your account. They will respond with the appropriate procedure to follow. See the Understanding Administrator Roles page for more details.
Q:	What if the password for an account with a suitable Administrator Role has been forgotten?
A:	Contact our Support Team stating which account requires a password reset and what administrator role it has. They will respond with the appropriate procedure to follow.
Q:	Where can I see who has a suitable administrator role in my organization?
A:	Select the Account | Roles menu item in the Administration Console to list your organization's administrator roles. Click on a role to see who the members of the role are.
Q:	Will we have to go through this process every time there is a change to the minimum retention of our Mimecast account?
A:	Yes! After the initial confirmation, Mimecast will seek further confirmation of the minimum retention setting after each update of this value. Minimum retention cannot be decreased from the original value but can be increased at any time.
Q:	What if nobody within my organization knows what the minimum retention of our Mimecast account should be?
A:	Contact your internal Legal and Compliance teams. They will assist you with your query.
Q:	What if the current minimum retention is incorrect?
A:	Contact our Support Team or your Mimecast Account Manager immediately. They ensure that the minimum retention gets updated after appropriate checks have been carried out.