We will
build a mail infrastructure by using Windows Server 2008 R2 operating system
and Exchange Server 2010 products. Network infrastructure will be as simple as
it can be. Therefore we decrease the possibility of getting error. For the mail
infrastructure, we will use 2 servers in total. First one will be the DNS and
Domain Controller server. The other one will be used to install Exchange Server
2010 with all Exchange Server roles (Figure 1).
Figure 1:
Network topology
For our
final goal, we have to have a perfectly working DNS infrastructure. Also we
have to build an Active Directory on this DNS infrastructure. Firstly, we
install Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise product on both servers. The purpose
of using Enterprise edition is the new redundancy solution of Exchange Server
2010, DAG (Database Availability Group). We could not use DAG with a standard
edition Windows Server, so we install the enterprise edition (DAG is another
article’s subject).
Table 1: Network settings of servers
Server
|
MSTIPDC01
|
MSTIPEXC01
|
IP
address
|
192.168.2.22
|
192.168.2.23
|
Subnet
Mask
|
255.255.255.0
|
255.255.255.0
|
Default
Gateway
|
192.168.2.1
|
192.168.2.1
|
Primary
DNS server
|
192.168.2.22
|
192.168.2.22
|
After the
installation and network settings configuration of Windows Server 2008 R2
servers (Table 1), we install all the latest patches from microsoft.com. After
that, we install DNS on mstipdc01. For this purpose, we open Start
-> Administrative Tools -> Server Manager. After selecting Roles
on the left side, we click the Add Roles link on the right-hand side
(Figure 2). We press the Next button on the first screen of the opened
wizard and fill the DNS Server checkbox on the second screen and press
the Next button (Figure 3). This presents us the first screen of Add
DNS Server wizard and after pressing Next button, we press Install
on the second screen. After sometime, the DNS Server role installation is
finished. But we haven’t done yet because we have to configure the DNS server.
Figure 2:
Server Manager – Roles interface
Figure 3:
Installation of DNS role
For DNS
server configuration, we open Start -> Administrative Tools -> DNS
interface.We right click Forward Lookup Zones on the left-hand side and
select New Zone… . New zone wizard is opened. We press Next
button on the first screen and select Primary Zone on the second screen
(Figure 4). After pressing Next button again, “Zone name” screen
appears. We write mstip.com and press Next. We press Next
again and this opens the “Dynamic Update” screen. We select Allow both
nonsecure and secure dynamic updates and press Next (Figure 5). We
press Finish button on the final screen and the configuration is done.
Figure 4:
Zone type selection
Figure 5:
Dynamic Update type selection
Now we
define a DNS suffix for our server and restart it. The purpose for this action
is to make the server write its name to the DNS server, which is itself.
Therefore it creates a host record for itself and we test whether Dynamic
Update is working or not. Also this host record will be important during Active
Directory implementation. After opening Start -> Control Panel ->
System -> Advanced System Settings, we press the Computer Name
tab. After pressing Change… button, we press More… button. We
write mstip.com to the “Primary DNS suffix of this computer” field and
press OK button for three times. A warning message appears which says a
restart is necessary and we do so.
After the
restart, we check whether the name of server appears under mstip.com forward
lookup zone or not, via DNS management interface. We see that the host record
is created. Also we have to test whether DNS service is working or not. For
this purpose we open a command prompt, and write nslookup
mstipdc01.mstip.com . If the answer of DNS server is right, we have a
working DNS server (Figure 6). Now the DNS server is active and working. Also
it is configured as trusted and untrusted clients can register themselves to
the mstip.com zone but we are going to change this setting after Active Directory
implementation.
Figure 6:
Testing DNS with nslookup
Now we
can continue with the Active Directory installation. On the same server we
open Start -> Run and write dcpromo (Figure 7). The
Active Directory promotion wizard is opened. We fill the “Use Advanced Mode
Installation” checkbox on the first screen and press Next. The second
screen is the “Operating System Compatibility” screen. After pressing Next,
we select Create a new domain in a new forest on the next screen.
Therefore we can create a brand new Active Directory domain.
Figure 8:
Create a new domain in a new forest
After
pressing Next button, wizard asks for a domain name. We write mstip.com
here and press Next (Figure 9). The next screen is “Domain NetBIOS
name” screen. We don’t touch anything and press Next. We select Windows
Server 2003 forest level in “Set Forest Functional Level” screen (it can be
upgraded later). For Exchange Server 2010 installation, this is the minimum
requirement (Figure 10).
Figure
10: Decision of Forest Functional Level
The Next
screen indicates that DNS server is installed on this server and also the
Global Catalog feature will be activated after the promotion (Figure 11). We
press Next and select No, Do not create the DNS delegation
on the “Create DNS Delegation” screen. We press Next button for three
times and start the promotion process. Because of the DNS configuration is done
before, a warning message is displayed as in Figure 12. It is not a problem. We
press OK and after the promotion is finished we restart the server.
After all these DNS configurations and domain controller promotion process, we
have a brand new Active Directory Domain mstip.com and a responsible domain
controller.
Figure
12: Warning message about the already configured DNS services
After the
restart, we have to control two things. Firstly, we open the DNS management
interface and control whether Active Directory related service records were
created or not (Figure 13). After that we right click the mstip.com forward
lookup zone and open the properties of it. In “General” tab, we press the Change…
button for Type field. A new screen appears and we fill the Store the
zone in Active Directory checkbox and Press OK button (we say YES
to the warning message).
Figure
14: Integration of DNS database into Active Directory
In
“General” tab we select Secure Only from Dynamic Updates
list (Figure 15) and press the OK button. With these configuration
changes, we secure the updates for DNS records. Also the DNS database will be
replicated within the Active Directory database (if we have more than one DNS
server in the future). As a final control, we open the Start ->
Administrative Tools ->Share and Storage Management interface and check
whether NETLOGON and SYSVOL shares are created or not (Figure 16). All of the
configurations that we control seem perfect so we have a nicely working Active
Directory Domain Controller. After all, we can start to install Exchange Server
2010.
Figure
16: Checking the NETLOGON and SYSVOL shares
Before
Exchange Server 2010 installation, we have to prepare Active Directory for
Exchange. This preparation process will write necessary Exchange Server related
records to the Active Directory schema.For the preparation, we insert the
Exchange Server 2010 DVD into the DVD-Rom drive of mstipdc01.mstip.com server.
We open a command prompt and after get into the DVD drive at the command
prompt, we write setup.com /prepareAD /OrganizationName:mstip.
Just this one command will be sufficient for our Active Directory
infrastructure because we have an Active Directory of only one domain and there
haven’t been any Exchange organization in this infrastructure before. The
reason to use /OrganizationName parameter is that we don’t have any
Exchange organization container in AD Schema yet. If this is not the case for
your environment, you have to run extra commands for Active Directory
preparation. For a detailed explanation for Active Directory preparation,
please see Microsoft link (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb125224.aspx).
Now it is
time to install Exchange Server 2010 on the second server
(mstipexc01.mstip.com). Firstly, we install the Microsoft Filter Pack (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=60C92A37-719C-4077-B5C6-CAC34F4227CC&displaylang=en)
because it is a requirement for HubTransport and Mailbox server roles. We wil
install all of the roles in one box, so we have to install this package. After
the installation of Filter Pack, we open Start -> All Programs ->
Accessories -> Windows PowerShell interface. We run the following
command in the Windows Powershell. This command lets us to do ServerManager
jobs in this shell:
Import-Module
ServerManager
After
running the command above, we install the necessary operating system files with
Add-WindowsFeature command. The parameters that we use with Add-WindowsFeature
command could be different according to the roles that we will install (for
detailed explanation http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb691354.aspx
link can be seen). Because we are going to install all the roles (ClientAccess,
HubTransport, Mailbox, Unified Messaging) on one box, we 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,Desktop-Experience
-Restart
After a
restart of server, we have to run the following command for Client Access role:
Set-Service
NetTcpPortSharing -StartupType Automatic
Although
it was in the installation command, I realize Desktop-Experience feature is not
installed. Therefore, we have to install Desktop Experience feature
for Unified Messaging role. We do it from the Features part of Server
Manager interface. This requires a restart of server. After doing this, we
are finally :) ready to install Exchange Server 2010. We run the setup.com
file on the Exchange DVD for this purpose. Under Step 3 field of the
installation screen, we select “Install only languages from the DVD” . The next
screen is the welcome screen. After pressing Next button, an aggrement
screen is opened. We accept it and press Next (Figure 17). On “Error
Reporting” screen, we select the appropriate one and press Next button
again. This Next screen is the installation type selection screen. We choose
“Custom Exchange Server Installation” and press Next button
(Figure 18). We fill all the checkboxes on the next screen and press Next
(Figure 19).
Figure
19: Selection of Exchange Server roles to install
“Client
Settings” screen asks for the used Outlook clients for our organization (Figure
20). If we are using Office 2003 or Entourage in our organization, installation
will create a Public Folders database (because these clients are using Public
Folders to establish their Exchange 2010 connection). We select Yes here
and press Next button. The “Configure Client Access server
external domain” screen is the one that we decide the domain name for external
access (Figure 21). We write mail.mstip.com here and press the Next
button.
Figure
21: CAS server external domain name
We pass
the next screen and “Readiness Checks” screen controls whether there is problem
about the installation or not (Figure 22). If everything is perfect, the
Install button gets activated and pressing this button starts the installation
process. Installation takes some time and it finishes without a problem (Figure
23). Now we have a new Exchange 2010 mail server and an Exchange 2010
organization.
Figure
23: End of installation
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