Problem:

While trying to access a Microsoft Exchange mailbox or during archiving, an HTTP 500 (Internal Server Error) or EWS 500 (Internal Server Error) error occurs.

Solution:

HTTP 500 or EWS 500 errors are very unspecific errors, indicating an internal server error while IIS is processing the request. These errors are often caused by a communication problem between IIS or Exchange. Most common reasons are incorrect mailbox names, corrupt objects in the Exchange database, misconfiguration or missing permissions.

Information on how to configure IIS 7 or higher to get more detailed logging of HTTP 500 errors can be found under https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/iis/troubleshoot/using-failed-request-tracing/troubleshoot-with-failed-request-tracing

Also HTTP 500 errors create entries under the application log of the Windows' event log system as "Exchange Web Service" application (Exchange 2007 SP1 or higher). Important stack traces are included in those entries.

If EWS 500 or HTTP 500 errors occur repeatedly, you should contact Microsoft about that issue.

Article-ID: KB20121128-0-EN (Deutsche Version)