cannot connect to exchange online via powershell

Anonymous
2020-06-24T16:23:06+00:00

I am unable to access exchange online via powershell anymore. it has been about 2 or 3 months since i have tried but this used to work with no issues. 

I have tried connecting 3 ways, all of which fail with the same error

#1

$UserCredential = Get-Credential

$Session = New-PSSession -ConfigurationName Microsoft.Exchange -ConnectionUri https://outlook.office365.com/powershell-liveid/ -Credential $UserCredential -Authentication Basic -AllowRedirection

Import-PSSession -Session $Session -DisableNameChecking

the progress bar comes up, it says importing and counts up to 6 or 700 commands as expected then the unexpected error message:

Import-PSSession : Data returned by the remote Get-FormatData command is not in the expected format.

After that, none of the commands work - example Get-Mailbox 

#2

Connect-EXOPSSession -UserPrincipalName ******@x.com

same deal. same error

Import-PSSession : Data returned by the remote Get-FormatData command is not in the expected format.

At C:\Users\x\AppData\Local\Apps\2.0\A53V0WOT.PE1\6Y7OL9NA.H46\micr..tion_1f16bd4ec4c2bb19_0010.0000_673f37

c317fb5976\CreateExoPSSession.ps1:311 char:40

  • ...      $PSSessionModuleInfo = Import-PSSession $PSSession -AllowClobber

+                                 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    + CategoryInfo          : InvalidResult: (:) [Import-PSSession], ArgumentException

    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : ErrorMalformedDataFromRemoteCommand,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.ImportPSSessionCommand

#3

Connect-ExchangeOnline -UserPrincipalName ******@x.com -ShowProgress $true

same deal. same error

The module allows access to all existing remote PowerShell (V1) cmdlets in addition to the 9 new, faster, and more reliable cmdlets.

|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|

|    Old Cmdlets                    |    New/Reliable/Faster Cmdlets       |

|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|

|    Get-CASMailbox                 |    Get-EXOCASMailbox                 |

|    Get-Mailbox                    |    Get-EXOMailbox                    |

|    Get-MailboxFolderPermission    |    Get-EXOMailboxFolderPermission    |

|    Get-MailboxFolderStatistics    |    Get-EXOMailboxFolderStatistics    |

|    Get-MailboxPermission          |    Get-EXOMailboxPermission          |

|    Get-MailboxStatistics          |    Get-EXOMailboxStatistics          |

|    Get-MobileDeviceStatistics     |    Get-EXOMobileDeviceStatistics     |

|    Get-Recipient                  |    Get-EXORecipient                  |

|    Get-RecipientPermission        |    Get-EXORecipientPermission        |

|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|

To get additional information, run: Get-Help Connect-ExchangeOnline or check https://aka.ms/exops-docs

Send your product improvement suggestions and feedback to ******@service.microsoft.com. For issues related to the module, contact Microsoft support. Don't use the feedback alias for problems or support issues.


Import-PSSession : Data returned by the remote Get-FormatData command is not in the expected format.

At C:\Program Files\WindowsPowerShell\Modules\ExchangeOnlineManagement\1.0.1\ExchangeOnlineManagement.psm1:454 char:40

  • ... oduleInfo = Import-PSSession $PSSession -AllowClobber -DisableNameChe ...

+                 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    + CategoryInfo          : InvalidResult: (:) [Import-PSSession], ArgumentException

    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : ErrorMalformedDataFromRemoteCommand,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.ImportPSSessionCommand

At this point effectively unable to admin exchange online via powershell. Anyone have any ideas?

Microsoft 365 and Office | Subscription, account, billing | For business | Other

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  1. Anonymous
    2020-07-14T12:58:53+00:00

    Thanks to everyone for this incredible thread! I am also experiencing the exact same issue on all 3 of my runbooks that were running flawlessly the past 4 days, and now continue to throw back the error: Data returned by the remote Get-FormatData command is not in the expected format. (Data returned by the remote Get-FormatData command is not in the expected format.) 

    I did update the connection URI to include the "SerializationData=Full" but it throws the same error. I will go ahead and fill in the survey as well. This is affecting our organization at a massive scale, so I hope this is resolved quickly.

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  2. Anonymous
    2020-07-14T12:26:05+00:00

    Workaround also not working

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  3. Anonymous
    2020-07-09T07:56:57+00:00

    Hi folks,

    a quick update from engineering:

    This is a known issue with only some of the service endpoints, which is why some of you are affected, some not, and why it can go away after some time.

    Engineering is working on a fix for this and will patch this as soon as possible (Since we are still narrowing it down, I can't give you a solid ETA yet, sorry), at which point everything should be back to normal. Once the problem has been resolved, I will most definitely post an update here.

    In the meantime, there is a workaround to get you unblocked:

    You can update the connection Uri to explicitly include the "SerializationLevel=Full" parameter.

    For example:

    Connect-ExchangeOnline

    would become:

    Connect-ExchangeOnline -ConnectionUri "https://outlook.office365.com/powershell-liveid?SerializationLevel=Full"

    While this will keep working indefinitely, it increases the bandwidth use, potentially slowing execution at scale. I would recommend to not use this as a permanent update to your code and undo it once the issue has been resolved.

    Note: We have received reports of this workaround not working for everybody and were able to reproduce the issue.

    If the workaround above fails to work for you, there is another workaround option that will fully redirect you to another server:

    Connect-ExchangeOnline -DelegatedOrganization TENANT.onmicrosoft.com

    This is a less ideal solution, as it affects the target server selection, preventing our session performance optimization to fully apply, so only use this if option one fails you.

    I'll try to keep you updated on this once I have any news on the issue :)

    If you are affected by this and want to help us troubleshoot this, please fill out this quick survey. It helps us with developing a pattern and tracking down affected sessions.

    Update: Fixed error in workaround

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  4. Anonymous
    2020-07-08T18:41:07+00:00

    Good to know...I guess Microsoft is playing with things again...hahah

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  5. Anonymous
    2020-07-08T18:32:40+00:00

    using

    -ConnectionUri https://ps.outlook.com/powershell-liveid?DelegatedOrg=<customer tenant domain name>

    worked for our company too

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