Installing Exchange 2007 (Part I)

Installing Exchange is an interesting job. Exchange 2007 requires a number of distinct skills compared to many of its earlier versions. Part I of this series provides you with information about pre-installation requirements and steps to prepare an Active Directory activation directory.

Introduce

Previously installing Exchange was not difficult if you were well prepared. The first is the IIS component, then the domain name. Having the above two steps is ready for the Exchange installation process. The latest version of Exchange 2007 has some changes in the installation procedure. But doing it will be as easy as it was in previous versions if you understand the difference.

Installation conditions for wide area systems

Like any other application, Exchange 2007 has a range of initial requirements that must be met before executing the installation program. There are two types: requirements for wide area systems and requirements for services on a specific server. For a wide area system, make sure that the Active Directory enabled directory is ready to receive Exchange 2007. For each specific server, Exchange 2007 will be eligible to support it.

Exchange 2007 also has more requirements such as the natural model domain name level of Windows 2000 (see Figure 1).In particular, above all, Schema master and Global Catalog services must run on Windows Server 2003 SP1 platform.If your company or organization is using one of the older Exchange versions, when you install Exchange 2007 you have to set up a model for it in native-mode.This means that an old server like Exchange 5.5 is not always accepted.You need to update to Exchange 2000, Exchange 2003 or completely remove them before proceeding to install the latest version of Exchange 2007.

Installing Exchange 2007 (Part I) Picture 1
Figure 1 : Domain Functional Level

With Exchange 2000 and Exchange 2003, the forest and domain need to be prepared with the extension components of the schema.However, unlike previous versions, Active Directory does not require that.This directory is done automatically during the Exchange 2007 installation process. An option is provided, allowing you to update the schema yourself if you wish.During the installation process, the server will connect to the Schema Master to update the schema.The Schema Master must be available and the account you are using to install must have permission to modify the schema.

If you want to prepare the domain yourself, you can do so with switch / PrepareAD on any server with the same domain containing the Schema Master. But executing directly on the Schema Master is better. You will then have to wait for the replication schema updates through the forest before installing any additional Exchange 2007 servers.

Finally, as with all other Exchange, you must have certain administrative privileges to install the Exchange 2007 server.These privileges include:

1. Local network administrator (Local Administrator)
2. Enterprise Administrator
3. Domain Administrator (Domain Administrator)
4. Managing schema (only required for the first extended Schema component installation).

Installation conditions on each specific server

Exchange 2007 server-specific installation requirements require both hardware and software requirements. To run the Exchange 2007 installation program, the running server must be Windows Server 2003 x64 SP1. You also need to have the .NET 2.0 Framework and MMC 3.0. If these components are not already installed in your system, they will be installed during the setup of Exchange 2007.

In terms of hardware, Exchange 2007 requires an upgrade from Exchange 2003 with the biggest change being the x64 CPU line.Minimum hardware requirements include:

1. Xeon or Pentium 4 processor 64-bit
2. AMD Opteron or Athalon 64-bit processors
3. 1GB RAM plus 7MB on each mailbox
4. Exchange installed hard disk capacity of 1.2 GB or more
5. Hard disk capacity on the system drive is at least 200MB
6. DVD-ROM burner
7. SVGA screen or higher resolution screen
8. NTFS file system

Note :
Exchange Server 2007 Beta 2 supports 32 bit models, but Exchange Server 2007 RTM only supports 64 bit models. You also need to install KB904639 (for 64 bit systems) and KB868060.

Exchange is always based on IIS services, but Exchange 2007 is less dependent on this service. Even in some cases no longer requires IIS.

Exchange 2007 does not need to have IIS SMTP and NNTP services installed because it has a built-in SMTP server.News travels between Exchange 2007 server and companies and organizations via MAPI path.Depending on the role type or roles on the server, the system will require several other components.The diagram below provides some additional services for each role requirement:

Role Additional componentsEdge TransportNoneHub TransportNoneServer MailboxNetwork COM +, IIS, World Wide WebServer Client AccessWorld Wide WebUnified Messaging ServerSpeechify (install during E2007 setup)

Prepare Active Directory Active Directory

As mentioned above, the installer automatically processes the Active Directory (AD) activation directory. That doesn't mean you can't set the permissions for this directory yourself. In fact, the "manual" setup process on the Schema Master has not been better connected to the domain than it has been built automatically. If there is an error when the schema is being expanded, you simply need to go back to the server, using the role on another server.

Preparing the Active Directory build process yourself gives you more functions to choose from, there are more commands for you to run, depending on the current environment. If you are using Exchange 2000 or Exchange 2003, the first command you need is:

Setup.com / PrepareLegacyExchangePermissions

Installing Exchange 2007 (Part I) Picture 2
Figure 2 : PrepareSchema

This command must execute in the domain that contains the Schema Master forests.You will also have to wait for the changes to replicate over AD before continuing.Replmon is a great tool to help you identify the copied changes.You can get Replmon from the Support Tools.

The third command to prepare the current domain name, add Exchange Universal Security Group groups and configure Exchange objects with AD:

Setup.com / PrepareAD

Installing Exchange 2007 (Part I) Picture 3
Figure 3 : PrepareAD

This command requires several different privileges, depending on your current system configuration.You need to execute it in the Enterprise Admin role.If your company or organization is using a Windows 2003 service, you must have the privileges of the Exchange Organization Administrator group.Changes will also be copied before continuing.You can check by searching for the new security group component in the original domain in the OU, called Exchange Universal Security Groups (EUSG) - the general security group on Exchange.

1. Exchange Organization Administrator
2. Exchange Recipient Administrator
3. Exchange View-Only Administrator
4. Exchange Server
5. Exchange2003 Interop

The final step is optional and is only necessary if you have multiple domains in a forest.This statement configures one or more other domains.It is not required to run in the domain with the / PrepareAD folder, but any additional domains need to run this command.There are three types of commands to choose from:

Setup.com / PrepareDomain - Prepare the current domain

Setup.com / PrepareDomain: FQDN of the destination domain is prepared

Prepare.com / PrepareAllDomains - Prepare all domains in the forest.

After completing all the commands, you can check to see if you're ready for the Exchange 2007 installation process by determining the following information:

1. Where to store Microsoft Exchange Systems Object objects, including an extension group called Exchange 12 Domain Server?
2. Does the general security group on Exchange (ESUG) have an Exchange 12 Domain Servers extension group as a member?
3. The general security group on Exchange (ESUG) has the right to set parameters for the management of editing operations (Manage Auditing) and secure log records (Security Log) on ​​all DCs in all domains running the command ?

See the next section !