Microsoft has published an official support document detailing the workarounds for an issue affecting its Exchange E-mail Servers following iOS 6.1 update. The software update is causing iOS devices to continuously loop when synchronizing a recurring calendar meeting invitation on Microsoft Exchange. The iOS 6.1.1 update did not include a fix for this error.

Defining the bug as "Rapid growth in transaction logs, CPU use, and memory consumption in Exchange Server 2010 when a user syncs a mailbox by using an iOS 6.1-based device," Microsoft offered workarounds for iOS 6.1 Exchange errors including blocking and throttling iOS users.

"When a user syncs a mailbox by using an iOS 6.1-based device, Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 Client Access server (CAS) and Mailbox (MBX) server resources are consumed, log growth becomes excessive, memory and CPU use may increase significantly, and server performance is affected. Additionally, Office 365 Exchange Online users receive an error message that resembles the following on an iOS 6.1-based device: Cannot Get Mail or The connection to the server failed," Microsoft detailed the issue.

Providing a workaround for this issue, Microsoft advised its customers not to process Calendar items such as meeting requests on iOS 6.1 devices. Customers are requested to immediately restart the iOS 6.1 device when the problem occurs.

However, if the problem recurs, Microsoft recommends three workaround methods. In the first method, customers are recommended to remove and recreate the device partnership, the second method involves creating a custom throttling policy for iOS 6.1 users and third one is to block iOS 6.1 users entirely.

Microsoft said its working with Apple to find a permanent fix for the issue and meanwhile, the advised customers to open an Enterprise Support case with Apple. "Apple and Microsoft are investigating this issue. We will post more information in this article when the information becomes available. Currently, we recommend that you open an Enterprise Support case with Apple, either through an Enterprise agreement or through a "Cross-Platform Integration and Command-Line Interface" pay-per-incident case to report and diagnose the behavior in iOS 6.1," Microsoft said.