Installing Exchange 2010 Step-by-Step

This is the second part of a two part series on Microsoft Exchange 2010. In the first article we examined the changes and enhancements in Exchange 2010. This time we'll walk through the steps required to install a fully functional Exchange 2010 server on Windows Server 2008 R2.

System Requirements

First, you need to make sure that your Active Directory (AD) environment and your Exchange server meet the minimum requirements:

• AD forest functional level is Windows Server 2003 (or higher)
• AD Schema Master is running Windows Server 2003 w/SP1 or later
• Full installation of Windows Server 2008 w/SP2 or later OR Windows Server 2008 R2 for the Exchange server itself
• Exchange server is joined to the domain (except for the Edge Transport server role)

Prerequisites

In this example we are going to install Exchange 2010 on a Windows Server 2008 R2 operating system. Before installing Exchange we need to install some Windows components. It's important that you don't miss anything here because the Exchange 2010 installer does not provide very good feedback if Server 2008 R2 is missing required components.

1. Install the 2007 Office System Converter: Microsoft Filter Pack
2. Add the appropriate Windows components/features
   1. Open PowerShell via the icon on the task bar or Start >> All Programs >> Accessories >> Windows PowerShell >> Windows PowerShell. Be sure that PowerShell opened with an account that has rights to install Windows components/features.
   2. Run the following command: Import-Module ServerManager
   3. For a typical install with the Client Access, Hub Transport, and Mailbox roles run the following command: Add-WindowsFeature NET-Framework,RSAT-ADDS,Web-Server,Web-Basic-Auth,Web-Windows-Auth,Web-Metabase,Web-Net-Ext,Web-Lgcy-Mgmt-Console,WAS-Process-Model,RSAT-Web-Server,Web-ISAPI-Ext,Web-Digest-Auth,Web-Dyn-Compression,NET-HTTP-Activation,RPC-Over-HTTP-Proxy -Restart. For a full matrix of the required Windows components with regards to the Exchange server roles see: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb691354.aspx#WS08R2
3. If your Exchange server will have the Client Access Server role set the Net.Tcp Port Sharing Service to start automatically
   1. Open PowerShell via the icon on the task bar or Start >> All Programs >> Accessories >> Windows PowerShell >> Windows PowerShell. Be sure that PowerShell opened with an account that has rights to modify service startup settings.
   2. Run the following command: Set-Service NetTcpPortSharing -StartupType Automatic

Exchange 2010 Installation

Now we're ready to run the Exchange 2010 installer. We'll go through a typical installation that includes the Client Access, Hub Transport, and Mailbox roles. This is what you will want to install if you are only going to be running one Exchange server. If you scale out your Exchange architecture with multiple servers then you will want to familiarize yourself with the Exchange server roles for a proper deployment.

1. Logon to the desktop of your soon to be Exchange server with a Domain Admin account.
2. Run setup from the Exchange 2010 media.
3. Click on "Step 3: Choose Exchange language option" and choose one of the options (Install only languages from the DVD will be fine in most cases).
4. Click on "Step 4: Install Microsoft Exchange."
5. Click Next at the Introduction page.
6. Accept the license terms and click Next.
7. Make a selection on the Error Reporting page and click Next.
8. Stick with the default "Typical Exchange Server Installation" and click Next.
9. Choose a name for your Exchange Organization and click Next.
10. Make a selection on the Client Settings page and click Next.
11. If you want your Exchange server to be available externally then choose a domain name such as mail.myorganization.com, click Next.
12. Make a selection on the Customer Experience Improvement Program page and click Next.
13. If all the prerequisites are there then you can click Install.
14. Grab a cup of coffee or take a walk while the installation process does its thing.
15. When the installation has finished go back to the Exchange installation page click on "Step 5: Get critical updates for Microsoft Exchange."
16. Install Microsoft Update (if necessary) so that Windows update will check for non-OS updates, and verify that there are no Exchange updates. 

17. Post Installation Steps

    Now that you have Exchange 2010 installed, you will need to do some basic configuration in the Exchange Management console to get mail flowing to/from your server.
    

    1. Open the Exchange Management Console via Start >> All Programs >> Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 >> Exchange Management Console
    2. Expand Microsoft Exchange On-Premises so you can see: Organization Configuration, Server Configuration, Recipient Configuration, and Toolbox
    3. Under Organization Configuration >> Hub Transport >> Accepted Domains add a new Accepted Domain for the domain you wish to use for email addresses. For example, your AD domain will be listed by default (i.e. ad.myorganization.com). You will probably want to add "myorganization.com" as an Authoritative Domain.
    4. Under Organization Configuration >> Hub Transport >> Send Connectors >> New Send Connector ... >> Pick a name such as "MyOrganization Internet Send Connector" >> change the drop down to "Internet" >> Next >> Add ... >> enter "*" in the Address field and check the box to include all subdomains >> OK >> Next. Now, if you want your Exchange server to route mail directly, then click Next on the Network setting page, but if you want to route your email through an upstream provider then select "Route mail through the following smart hosts" and Add ... a mail gateway such as smtp.comcast.net. Click Next >> Next >> Next >> New
    5. Under Server Configuration >> Hub Transport >> Right-click Default *** >> Properties >> Permission Groups tab, check the box for Anonymous users. This will allow your Exchange server to accept incoming mail delivery from remote mail servers.
    6. Under Recipient Configuration >> Mailbox, create mailboxes for your existing AD users (or create a new user & mailbox)
       1. New Mailbox ... >> select User Mailbox >> Next >> Existing users >> Add ... >> select an existing AD account >> OK >> Next >> specify an alias (e.g. the AD user name) >> Next >> New
    7. If you want to use an SSL certificate for Outlook Web App, IMAP, POP, etc. click on Server Configuration and import or create the certificate

    Mail Routing Configuration

    Now the final piece you need to configure to receive mail is your external DNS records. The method for configuring your DNS records will depend on whether you host your own DNS or have a provider that hosts it for you. Either way you will need to create an "A" record that points mail.myorganization.com to the IP address of your mail server, and an "MX" record that points myorganization.com to mail.myorganization.com. You will also want to make sure that port 25 is open both inbound and outbound to your Exchange server.
    

    Conclusion

    That's it! You should now be able to browse to https://mail.myorganization.com/owa (or https://localhost/owa from the server) and logon via the Web interface to send and receive mail!
    
    Authors www.enterprisenetworkingplanet.com
     

Install Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2

Introduction

The Microsoft^® Web Platform is a powerful set of tools, servers, and technologies optimized for building and hosting next-generation Web applications and solutions. At the base of the Microsoft Web Platform is Windows Server^® 2008, Windows Server^® 2008 R2, or another Windows Server^® operating system version. Windows Server 2008 R2 comes with Internet Information Services 7.5 (IIS 7.5), a Web server and security-enhanced platform for developing and reliably hosting Web applications and services. Windows Server 2008 comes with IIS 7.0. IIS 7.0 and 7.5 (together known as IIS 7) include a componentized architecture for greater flexibility and control. IIS 7 also provides simplified management and powerful diagnostic and troubleshooting capabilities. IIS Manager extensions make it easy to administer local and remote Web servers.
IIS 7, together with the Microsoft^® .NET Framework 3.0, provides a comprehensive platform for building applications. Additionally, IIS 7 plays a central role in unifying the Microsoft Web platform technologies—Microsoft^® ASP.NET, Windows^® Communication Foundation (WCF) Web services, and Windows^® SharePoint^® Services.
This article describes general procedures for installing Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2008 R2; links for more detailed information can be found throughout the article. After installing Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2008 R2, you will need to install IIS 7.

Operating System Editions

Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2 are available in multiple editions to support the varying server and workload needs of organizations. The four main editions include Windows Server^® 2008 R2 Standard, Windows Server^® 2008 R2 Enterprise, Windows Server^® 2008 R2 Datacenter, and Windows^® Web Server 2008 R2 (or Windows Server^® 2008 Standard, Windows Server^® 2008 Enterprise, Windows Server^® 2008 Datacenter, and Windows^® Web Server 2008). See Overview of Editions for more detailed information about the various editions of Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows Server 2008.

Hardware Requirements

Processor—Processor performance depends not only on the clock frequency of the processor, but also on the number of processor cores and the size of the processor cache. The following are the processor requirements:

• Minimum: 1 GHz (for x86 processors) or 1.4 GHz (for x64 processors)
• Recommended: 2 GHz or faster

RAM—The following are the RAM requirements:

• Minimum: 512 MB
• Recommended: 2 GB or more
• Maximum (32-bit systems): 4 GB (for Windows Server 2008 Standard) or 64 GB (for Windows Server 2008 Enterprise or Windows Server 2008 Datacenter)
• Maximum (64-bit systems): 32 GB (for Windows Server 2008 Standard) or 2 terabyte (for Windows Server 2008 Enterprise, Windows Server 2008 Datacenter, or Windows Server^® 2008 for Itanium-Based Systems)

Disk space requirements—The following are the approximate disk space requirements for the system partition. Itanium-based and x64-based operating systems will vary from these estimates. Additional disk space may be required if you install the system over a network:

• Minimum: 10 GB
• Recommended: 40 GB or more
Note: Computers with more than 16 GB of RAM require more disk space for paging, hibernation, and dump files.

• DVD-ROM drive
• Super VGA (800 x 600) or higher-resolution monitor
• Keyboard and mouse (or other compatible pointing device)

See Hardware and Software Requirements for Installing SQL Server 2008 for more information.

Install Windows Server 2008 R2 or Windows Server 2008

Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2008 R2 setup works in several stages: first you are prompted for some basic information, including where you want to install Windows^®.

Figure 1: Provide basic information

Then, the setup procedure copies files and restarts the computer. The setup procedure concludes by presenting the Initial Configuration Tasks menu, which you can use to adjust the server configuration for your specific needs. Detailed instructions can be found at Installing Windows Server 2008 R2 or Installing Windows Server 2008.

Server Core Option

Note that you can choose to perform a Server Core installation—a minimal server installation of the operating system. With the addition of .NET Framework to Server Core in Windows Server 2008 R2, the Server Core installation option is even more appealing for those who want to use a very low footprint server for hosting their applications. For detailed instructions, see the Server Core Installation Option Getting Started Guide.

Figure 2: Server Core option

With the Server Core installation option, the traditional Windows interface is not installed, so you must configure the server from the command prompt. Note that if you use a Server Core installation, you cannot install some modules that rely on the .NET Framework or managed code. For more information, see Using Server Core.

Configure Windows Server 2008 R2 or Windows Server 2008

After the Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2008 R2 setup is finished, log on to the server for the first time, and the Initial Configuration Tasks window automatically opens. You can now configure the new server by using commands in the Initial Configuration Tasks window.
The configuration tasks include setting the administrator password (the default is blank), changing the name of the administrator account to improve the security of your server (the default is “Administrator”), joining the server to an existing domain (the default is “WORKGROUP”), changing the name of the computer (the default is a random-generated name), enabling Remote Desktop for the server, and enabling Windows^® Update (the default is off) and Windows^® Firewall (the default is on). For more information, see Windows Server Initial Configuration Tasks.

Authors learn.iis.net