Exchange 2013 Event ID: 106 The case of the missing Performance counter

Well actually it's not missing, there is just a big fat typo in the file.
And that typo is the reason why the eventlogs are filling up with event id 106 error's faster than you can blink an eye.

There is a Technet Article showing you how to update the Performance counter all at once with a PowerShell script, but if you do this then you get the following error:


Well that doesn't help, But now we know which performance counter to deal with.
Let's have a look at the file it self:

Open C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\V15\Setup\Perf\InfoWorkerMultiMailboxSearchPerformanceCounters.xml

In there you have to search for: "> Searches"

The one space is causing all the trouble.

Find/replace "> Searches" with ">Searches" and save the file on all your exchange 2013 Servers.

-Note This seems to be going on from the RTM up to CU12, so don't think i've got the most recent CU so i'm fine, no your not, this is one of the many issues that just don't ever get fixed until the Office365 team or the Exchange dev team wants to or get's told to do so.

In the mean time use this.

After the file has been saved on all Exchange 2013 servers go to the EMS:

[PS] C:\windows\system32>Add-Pssnapin Microsoft.Exchange.Management.PowerShell.Setup
[PS] C:\windows\system32>New-PerfCounters -definitionfilename "C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\V15\Setup\Perf
\InfoWorkerMultiMailboxSearchPerformanceCounters.xml"
[PS] C:\windows\system32>

Source

Disable SSL 3.0, Weak Ciphers and enable TLS 1.1 and 1.2

Windows Server 2008 (R2) using IIS 7 allows SSL 2.0 and SSL 3.0 by default. Unfortunately, this means you will fail a PCI Compliance scan by default. To properly secure your server and ensure that you pass your PCI-DSS scans, you will need to disable SSL 2.0 and disable weak ciphers. In order to disable SSL 2.0 and SSL 3.0 in IIS 7 and make sure that the stronger TLS 1.0 is used, even better enable TLS 1.1 and TLS 1.2.

Below you can find how to disable SSL 3.0 and the weak Ciphers, and enable TLS 1.1 and TLS 1.2.

Remember that this only works after a server reboot, stopping services or IIS is not enough

UPDATE: 27-05-2016 I found an error in the registry key settings, below are the correct settings.

Disable SSL3.0. and Weak Ciphers and Enable TLS 1.1 and 1.2

Copy the text below and paste in to a .reg file:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SecurityProviders\SCHANNEL]
"EventLogging"=dword:00000001
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SecurityProviders\SCHANNEL\Ciphers]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SecurityProviders\SCHANNEL\Ciphers\AES 128/128]
"Enabled"=dword:ffffffff
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SecurityProviders\SCHANNEL\Ciphers\AES 256/256]
"Enabled"=dword:ffffffff
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SecurityProviders\SCHANNEL\Ciphers\DES 56]
"Enabled"=dword:00000000
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SecurityProviders\SCHANNEL\Ciphers\DES 56/56]
"Enabled"=dword:00000000
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SecurityProviders\SCHANNEL\Ciphers\NULL]
"Enabled"=dword:00000000
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SecurityProviders\SCHANNEL\Ciphers\RC2 128/128]
"Enabled"=dword:00000000
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SecurityProviders\SCHANNEL\Ciphers\RC2 40/128]
"Enabled"=dword:00000000
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SecurityProviders\SCHANNEL\Ciphers\RC2 56/128]
"Enabled"=dword:00000000
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SecurityProviders\SCHANNEL\Ciphers\RC4 128/128]
"Enabled"=dword:00000000
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SecurityProviders\SCHANNEL\Ciphers\RC4 40/128]
"Enabled"=dword:00000000
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SecurityProviders\SCHANNEL\Ciphers\RC4 56/128]
"Enabled"=dword:00000000
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SecurityProviders\SCHANNEL\Ciphers\RC4 64/128]
"Enabled"=dword:00000000
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SecurityProviders\SCHANNEL\Ciphers\Triple DES 168/168]
"Enabled"=dword:ffffffff
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SecurityProviders\SCHANNEL\CipherSuites]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SecurityProviders\SCHANNEL\Hashes]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SecurityProviders\SCHANNEL\Hashes\MD5]
"Enabled"=dword:00000000
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SecurityProviders\SCHANNEL\Hashes\SHA]
"Enabled"=dword:ffffffff
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SecurityProviders\SCHANNEL\Hashes\SHA256]
"Enabled"=dword:ffffffff
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SecurityProviders\SCHANNEL\Hashes\SHA384]
"Enabled"=dword:ffffffff
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SecurityProviders\SCHANNEL\Hashes\SHA512]
"Enabled"=dword:ffffffff
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SecurityProviders\SCHANNEL\KeyExchangeAlgorithms]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SecurityProviders\SCHANNEL\KeyExchangeAlgorithms\Diffie-Hellman]
"Enabled"=dword:ffffffff
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SecurityProviders\SCHANNEL\KeyExchangeAlgorithms\ECDH]
"Enabled"=dword:ffffffff
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SecurityProviders\SCHANNEL\KeyExchangeAlgorithms\PKCS]
"Enabled"=dword:ffffffff
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SecurityProviders\SCHANNEL\Protocols]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SecurityProviders\SCHANNEL\Protocols\Multi-Protocol Unified Hello]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SecurityProviders\SCHANNEL\Protocols\Multi-Protocol Unified Hello\Server]
"Enabled"=dword:00000000
"DisabledByDefault"=dword:00000001
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SecurityProviders\SCHANNEL\Protocols\PCT 1.0]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SecurityProviders\SCHANNEL\Protocols\PCT 1.0\Server]
"Enabled"=dword:00000000
"DisabledByDefault"=dword:00000001
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SecurityProviders\SCHANNEL\Protocols\SSL 2.0]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SecurityProviders\SCHANNEL\Protocols\SSL 2.0\Client]
"DisabledByDefault"=dword:00000001
"Enabled"=dword:00000000
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SecurityProviders\SCHANNEL\Protocols\SSL 2.0\Server]
"Enabled"=dword:00000000
"DisabledByDefault"=dword:00000001
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SecurityProviders\SCHANNEL\Protocols\SSL 3.0]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SecurityProviders\SCHANNEL\Protocols\SSL 3.0\Server]
"Enabled"=dword:00000000
"DisabledByDefault"=dword:00000001
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SecurityProviders\SCHANNEL\Protocols\TLS 1.0]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SecurityProviders\SCHANNEL\Protocols\TLS 1.0\Server]
"Enabled"=dword:ffffffff
"DisabledByDefault"=dword:00000000
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SecurityProviders\SCHANNEL\Protocols\TLS 1.1]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SecurityProviders\SCHANNEL\Protocols\TLS 1.1\Server]
"Enabled"=dword:ffffffff
"DisabledByDefault"=dword:00000000
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SecurityProviders\SCHANNEL\Protocols\TLS 1.2]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SecurityProviders\SCHANNEL\Protocols\TLS 1.2\Server]
"Enabled"=dword:ffffffff
"DisabledByDefault"=dword:00000000

Change cipher order and remove unsafe ciphers:

Open gpedit.msc =>> go to Administrative Templates =>> Network =>> SSL Configuration Settings =>> double click SSL Cipher Suite Order.



In the SSL Cipher Suite Order screen select "Enabled" and under options select and delete everything in that text field.



Then copy this line in that text field:

TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_128_GCM_SHA256_P521,TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_128_GCM_SHA256_P256,TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA256_P521,TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA256_P256,TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_256_GCM_SHA384_P521,TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA384_P521,TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA256_P521,TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA256_P384,TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA256_P256,TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA384_P521,TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA384_P256,TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA256,TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA256,TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA_P521,TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA_P256,TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA_P521,TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA_P256,TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA_P521,TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA_P256,TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA_P521,TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA_P256,TLS_RSA_WITH_RC4_128_SHA,TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA,TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA

Click "Apply" and "OK".

Now you have to reboot the server in order to activate these changes,
After the reboot go to https://www.ssllabs.com/ssltest/ and see if you get any errors or warnings.

Another way to do this is by using IISCrypto by Nartac Software, this freeware does the same but in a GUI. But for some reason it didn't do what i axpected it to do, so this way you can do it manually.