Exchange 2010 RC: Quick Installation Guide

First version of Exchange released about fourteen years ago when IBM/Lotus dominated the messaging software space but according to a 2008 Ferris research report, Notes/Domino share has dwindled to just 10% in enterprises, while Exchange has grown to 65% market share across all organizations. Exchange is now is approaching $2B in annual revenues. If Exchange were a standalone business, it would be the 9th largest software company in the world.

Finally wait was over on 18th Aug. 2009 when Microsoft released Released Candidate build of new milestone version Exchange Server 2010, internal build number is 14.00.0639.011 and it can be downloaded from here [1].

Yes, this release is full feature build so we can test all new features of Exchange 2010 which will be available in RTM release and here are some of the exciting new things available in RC.

• Support for Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2 also now.
• In place upgrade from Exchange Server 2010 Release Candidate to Exchange Server 2010 RTM.
• Co-existence with Exchange Server 2007 and Exchange Server 2003.

So let's starts the fun begin with knowing Operating System & Active Directory Forest requirement, Pre-Requisites for various OS and Setup steps.

Operating System Requirement:

Component	Requirement
Operating system (on a computer with 64bit processor)	64-bit edition of Windows Server 2008 Standard or Enterprise with Service Pack 2. 64-bit edition of Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard or Enterprise.
Operating system for Management Tools (on a computer with 64bit processor)	Windows Vista with Service Pack 2 or later. Windows 7.

Active Directory Server Requirement:

Component	Requirement
Schema Master	32-bit or 64-bit edition of Windows Server 2003 Standard or Enterprise SP1 or later version. 32-bit or 64-bit edition of Windows Server 2008 Standard or Enterprise.
Global Catalog Server	At least one Global Catalog server in every Active Directory site where you are planning to install Exchange 2010 on, 32-bit or 64-bit edition of Windows Server 2003 Standard or Enterprise. 32-bit or 64-bit edition of Windows Server 2008 Standard or Enterprise.
Active Directory Forest	Domain Functional Level: Windows Server 2003. Forest Functional Level: Windows Server 2003.

Verify that Domain and Forest function level of Active Directory is at least "Windows Server 2003".

• Open Active Directory Domains and Trust.
• Right-Click on the name of your domain and select "Raise Domain Functional Level".
• Verify that it is "Widows Server 2003". If not, raise it.

• Open Active Directory Domains and Trust.
• Right-Click on the "Active Directory Domains and Trust [Your Domain Name]" and select "Raise Forest Functional Level".
• Verify that it is "Widows Server 2003". If not, raise it.

Exchange 2010 Pre-Requisites:

When Exchange 2010 Beta version released on 15th April this year, people were yelling that installation prerequisites is too much perplex compare to other messaging system, so Microsoft gave answer to them by making prerequisites pretty simple. Let's see how easy it is for Windows 2008 SP2 and even more for Windows 2008 R2.

I. Pre-Requisites for Windows 2008 Service Pack 2:

Before installing prerequisites make sure that you have installed Standard or Enterprise edition of Windows 2008 Service Pack 2, but NOT Core, Web Server or Foundation Serve edition.

1. Install Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1 [2].
2. Install the .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 Update KB959209 [3].
3. Install the combined PowerShell v2/Windows Remote Management package - Windows Management Framework
   Windows 6.0-KB968930.msu [4].
4. For Hub Transport and/or Mailbox roles, install the Office Filter Pack [5].
5. For Client Access Server installation change startup mode of "Net.Tcp Port Sharing Service" from Manual to Auto by running below command in cmd prompt.
   sc config NetTcpPortSharing start= auto
   
6. Open command prompt and install/enable Operating System components as per below table.

Role	Commandommandommandommandommandommandomm
Typical installation of Client Access, Hub Transport, and Mailbox role	ServerManagerCmd -ip <Path>\Scripts\Exchange-Typical.xml
For a Client Access role	ServerManagerCmd -ip <Path>\Scripts\Exchange-CAS.xml
For a Hub Transport role	ServerManagerCmd -ip <Path>\Scripts\Exchange-Hub.xml
For a Mailbox role	ServerManagerCmd -ip <Path>\Scripts\Exchange-MBX.xml
For a Unified Messaging role	ServerManagerCmd -ip <Path>\Scripts\Exchange-UM.xml
For an Edge Transport role	ServerManagerCmd -ip <Path>\Scripts\Exchange-Edge.xml

I am going to install Exchange 2010 with typical setup of Client Access, Hub Transport and Mailbox Role so I will use first command where source of Exchange 2010 setup is available at "C:\Exchange2010RC1" so my command will be below...

ServerManagerCmd -ip C:\Exchange2010RC1\Scripts\Exchange-Typical.xml

• Restart the computer before proceed to Installation.

II. Pre-Requisites for Windows 2008 R2:

Before installing prerequisites make sure that you have installed Standard or Enterprise edition of Windows 2008 R2, but NOT Core, Web Server or Foundation Serve edition.

1. For Hub Transport and/or Mailbox roles, install the Office Filter Pack [5].
2. For Client Access Server installation change startup mode of "Net.Tcp Port Sharing Service" from Manual to Auto by running below command in PowerShell (Open Powershell window with elevated rights by right-clicking it "Run as Administrator).
   Set-Service NetTcpPortSharing -StartupType Automatic
   
3. Open Powershell (Open Powershell window with elevated rights by right-clicking it "Run as Administrator) and import server module first with "Import-Module ServerManager" command then install/enable Operating System components as per below table.

Role	Commandommoasd
Typical installation of Client Access, Hub Transport, and Mailbox role	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
For a Client Access role	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
For a Hub Transport role	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
For a Mailbox role	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
For a Unified Messaging role	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,Desktop-Experience
For an Edge Transport role	Add-WindowsFeature NET-Framework,RSAT-ADDS,ADLDS

I am going to install Exchange 2010 with typical setup of Client Access, Hub Transport and Mailbox Role so I will use first command where source of Exchange 2010 setup is available at "C:\Exchange2010RC1" so my command will be below...

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 the computer before proceed to Installation.

Exchange 2010 Installation Steps:

• When you double click on setup it will launch below splash screen. If any pre-requisites still needed to install, it will be dark black otherwise shows grayed out means it is installed.
• Then, depending on your language requirement select either of one option in "Step 3: Choose Exchange language option", select "Install only languages from the DVD" if you want to go with English.
• Select "Step 4: Install Microsoft Exchange" to begin installation.
  

• When you click on Step 4, it will start copying necessary files and the initialization of setup.

• Click Next in Introduction screen.

• License Agreement screen appears, you can read that "You may not test software in a live operating environment unless Microsoft permits you to do so under another agreement". Yes, Release Candidate is not supported to install in production environment unless you are member of Technology Adoption Program (TAP) and have agreement.
• Accept the agreement and click Next.

• Error Reporting screen appears, select Yes (Recommended) to gather a minimal amount of diagnostic data automatically and send to Microsoft.

• Select Installation Type which you want to choose and specify the path of Exchange Server program files and click Next.

• Select the Server Roles you want to install in Server Role Selection screen and click Next.

• Type Exchange Organization name in the text box which you want to keep and click Next.

• Select Yes, if you still have Outlook 2003 or Entourage in your organization in Client Settings screen and click Next.

• In the Configure Client Access Server external domain page, enter the domain name to configure your External Client Access servers. This will configure InternalURL and ExternalURL for various services of Client Access Server for you by default, isn't this a great thing!

• In Customer Experience Improvement Program, choose the type of your organization if you want to join the program and select Next.

• In the Readiness Checks page, setup will verify the prerequisites for selected component and if they have completed successfully, click Install to install Exchange 2010. Otherwise you get any error then you need to follow the steps mentioned in it.

• In Completion page you can see the progress of installation, once all are completed click Finish.

• In initial setup splash screen when you click Close, you will be prompted to install latest critical updates for Exchange Server before exiting.

• You will be presented with Exchange Management Console after completion of setup. You will get a warning that currently following server in your organization running Exchange Server 2010 are currently unlicensed. Of course Exchange 2010 is still RC so you will have to wait for RTM to get product key from your TechNet or MSDN subscription site.

Voila, you have Exchange 2010 RC running in your test environment so start evaluating new features of great next messaging product from Microsoft...!