howto://install Exchange 2010 on a single box-part one

Well, right off the bat I should warn you that the title of this blog post is a bit misleading. You see, while we can build a single server to host email, and configure it to send and receive, we probably don’t want to. Exchange 2010 has broken up the roles such that you want a minimum of two servers…an Edge Transport box that will probably sit in your DMZ and act as your SMTP gateway providing message hygiene, and a Hub Transport/Client Access Server/Mailbox server that will sit on your internal network and handle all your client-side services. While you could simply pass SMTP traffic in to your Hub Transport server directly, you probably don’t want to be that guy. I know I don’t. So in this two part post, we’ll set up our internal server, and in this follow up post we’ll add the Edge Transport role to our TMG 2010 server.

Here is what our setup will look like once we’re done.

Repent sinner, for the tubes are full.

Getting our server ready

Since I am writing this post after the fact I can tell you for certain that while my setup is sub-par, it works. We’re starting with a Hyper-V guest called Demeter, running 2008 R2, which is of course 64bit. Demeter has a two virtual CPUs assigned, 3 GB of RAM, and a 64GB disk. Fully built and patched, I added the telnet client, PowerShell 2, and WireShark. Having only my family as users, this will squeak by, but if you can do anything to improve this, add RAM and disk.

Install the Windows Server 2008 R2 operating system prerequisites

Since Demeter is going to host the Client Access, Hub Transport, and Mailbox roles, there is a lot of extra stuff to do.

Install the Microsoft Filter Pack. For details, see2007 Office System Converter: Microsoft Filter Pack.
On the Start Menu, navigate to All Programs, then Accessories, then Windows PowerShell. Open an elevated Windows PowerShell console (right-click, run as Administrator,) and run the following command:
Import-Module ServerManager[enter]
Then run this 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[enter]
Finally, configure the Net.Tcp Port Sharing Service for Automatic startup by running the following command:
Set-Service NetTcpPortSharing -StartupType Automatic[enter]

After installing the above prerequisites and before installing Exchange 2010, re-run Windows Update and make sure you’re fully patched.

Forest and Domain work

We’re assuming that you have at least one Windows 2008 domain controller that is also a global catalog server and is in the same site as your Exchange install. If this is not correct, stop now and go to the TechNet section on Exchange 2010 to learn more. I’m sorry, but I’m not going to detail here what you need if you’re not using 2008 on your DCs since I can’t test that. In my forest, I have a single domain. The domain controller is running 2008R2, and both forest and domain are at Windows Server 2008 R2 level. I recommend that you just do this ON the schema master, while logged on as a member of Enterprise Admins and Schema Admins. If your Schema Master is not running 64bit, use a server in the same AD site as your Schema Master.

Mount the Exchange 2010 DVD or ISO
Open an administrative command prompt.
Run the following command:
setup /ps[enter] After you run this command, you should wait for the changes to replicate across your Exchange organization before continuing to the next step. The amount of time this takes is dependent upon your Active Directory site topology.
Then run the following command.
setup /PrepareAD /OrganizationName:<organization name>[enter]
The organization name can contain UPPERcase and lowercase letters, numbers, spaces, and hyphens. It can’t contain more than 64 characters, and it can’t be blank. If the organization name contains spaces, you must enclose the name in quotation marks.
After you run this command, you should wait for the changes to replicate across your Exchange organization before continuing to the next step. The amount of time this takes is dependent upon your Active Directory site topology.
To verify that this step completed successfully, make sure that there is a new OU in the root domain called Microsoft Exchange Security Groups. This OU should contain the following new Exchange USGs:
Exchange Security Groups OU:
Exchange Organization Management
Exchange Recipient Management
Exchange Server Management
Exchange View-Only Organization Management
Exchange Public Folder Management
Exchange UM Management
Exchange Hygiene Management
Exchange Records Management
Exchange Discovery Management
Exchange Delegated Setup
ExchangeLegacyInterop
Run the following command to prepare all domains in your organization.:
setup /PrepareAllDomains[enter]

At this point, your schema should be version 47 and your Exchange schema should be version 14622. Enter this in your cmd prompt, substituting your domain name where appropriate.
dsquery * CN=ms-Exch-Schema-Version-Pt,cn=schema,cn=configuration,dc=olympus,dc=home -scope base -attr rangeUpper[enter]

That should return a value of 14622 (the same as Exchange 2007 SP2.) If it does, you’re ready to install.

Install Exchange Server 2010

Mount the Exchange 2010 DVD or ISO on your Exchange server, browse to the root, and double-click setup.exe to launch the Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 Setup wizard.

The Introduction page begins the process of installing Exchange into your organization. It will guide you through the installation. Click Next to continue.
On the License Agreement page, you can accept the agreement, and then click Next.
On the Error Reporting page, select whether you want to enable or disable the Exchange Error Reporting feature, and then click Next.
On the Installation Type page, select typical Exchange Server installation and then click Next. Choosing the Typical Exchange Server Installation option results in the Hub Transport, Client Access, and Mailbox server roles plus the Exchange Management Tools being installed.
Type a name for your Exchange organization.
If this is the first Exchange server in your organization, on the Client Settings page, click the option that describes the client computers in your organization that are running Microsoft Office Outlook. Since we’re all using Outlook 2010 or 2007, and I have never liked Public Folders, I selected No but you may choose a different option if you want to support public folders. You an also add them later if necessary.
On the Configure Client Access Server external domain page, enter the fully qualified domain name to use to configure your Client Access servers. For more information about configuring Client Access servers, see Managing External Client Access. Click Next.
On the Customer Experience Improvement page, choose the appropriate selections for your organization, and then click Next.
On the Readiness Checks page, view the status to determine if the organization and server role prerequisite checks completed successfully. If they haven’t completed successfully, you must resolve any reported errors before you can install Exchange. You don’t need to exit Setup when resolving some of the prerequisite errors. After resolving a reported error, click Retry to re-run the prerequisite check. Be sure to also review any warnings that are reported. If all readiness checks have completed successfully, click Install to install Exchange 2010
On the Completion page, click Finish.
Go get coffee…mmmm…coffee… or even better, take the dog for a walk. This is going to take a while, and a watched product never installs. By the time you get back, you should be good to go.

Patching

Hey, you just added major components to your server. Go check for updates, and apply all patches.

Okay, it’s installed, now what?

Good question. Here’s what you want to do next. Watch the following video to give your brain a break. Laugh, enjoy. Then, go get more coffee…mmmm….coffee. When you’re back, click this link and continue on with part two.

Do you remember a time when email was a novelty? When entire business processes were NOT built around it? This little gem should take you back to that kinder, gentler time. Mildly NSFW if HR is around, or if your boss is really uptight. Oh, and I wouldn’t want to play this if any younger kids are around… questions might be a tad awkward.