MCTS 70-662 Rapid Review: Installing and Configuring Exchange Servers

  • 3/15/2012
This chapter covers the objectives in Exam MCTS 70-662 for installing and configuring Exchange servers.

Roughly 15 percent of the 70-662 exam focuses on the topic “Installing and Configuring Exchange Servers.” You need to have a good grasp of how to prepare the Active Directory infrastructure for Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 RTM and Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 SP1 or SP2 installation, the software and hardware requirements, and how to install the various Exchange server roles. You also need to know how to create and configure Exchange databases and address lists.

This chapter covers the following objectives:

  • Objective 1.1: Prepare the infrastructure for Exchange.

  • Objective 1.2: Install Exchange prerequisites.

  • Objective 1.3: Install Exchange roles.

  • Objective 1.4: Create and configure databases.

  • Objective 1.5: Create and configure address lists.

Objective 1.1: Prepare the infrastructure for Exchange

In this exam objective, you might be tested on how to prepare the schema, Active Directory, and domains for Exchange installation. You might be asked about domain and forest functionality levels, domain controller service packs, and the Exchange readiness check. You need to know about configuring coexistence with Exchange Server 2003 or 2007; when to disable LinkState; Exchange Server Service Pack level; and unsupported legacy components that you need to remove.

Exam need to know

  • Prepare the schema

    For example: Do you know the Setup command that prepares the schema, and what role groups you need to be a member of to run this command?

  • Prepare Active Directory

    For example: Do you know the Setup command that prepares Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS), and what role groups you need to be a member of to run this command?

  • Prepare the domain

    For example: Do you know how to prepare individual domains for Exchange Server 2010 SP1 and SP2 installation?

  • Ensure that the domain functionality level is correct

    For example: Do you know what minimum domain and forest functional levels are required for the installation?

  • Domain controller service packs

    For example: Do you know whether you can install Exchange Server 2010 in an organization that has Windows 2000 Server domain controllers?

  • Exchange readiness check

    For example: Do you know which EMC wizard performs an Exchange readiness check?

  • Coexistence

    For example: Do you know where you should deploy the first Exchange Server 2010 server in a coexistence scenario?

  • Migration from 2003 or 2007

    For example: Where should you deploy the first Exchange Server 2010 servers?

  • Disable LinkState

    For example: Do you know what tool to use to suppress link state upgrades?

  • Exchange Server service pack level

    For example: Do you know what level of service pack must be installed on Exchange Server 2003 and Exchange Server 2007 servers before you can configure coexistence?

  • Remove unsupported legacy components

    For example: Do you know what domain controllers you need to remove or upgrade?

  • Configuring DNS to support the Exchange deployment

    For example: Do you know which tool installs the DNS server role and which tool you use to configure DNS?

Prepare the schema

The exam might test that you know what steps you need to take to set up an Exchange 2010 organization, even though the Installation Wizard is available to automate the process. You should know that unless you need to change the default permissions in an existing Exchange 2003 (only) deployment, the first step that you take to prepare Active Directory for Exchange Server 2010 installation is to prepare the schema.

True or false? You use a Setup command to prepare the schema.

Answer: True. The command Setup /PrepareSchema prepares the schema. You can run this command separately or it can run automatically as part of the installation of the first Exchange Server 2010 server in the organization. Prior to running the Setup /PrepareSchema command, you must ensure that you are logged in with a user account that is a member of both the Schema Admins group and the Enterprise Admins group. Also, you must execute this command on a 64-bit computer in the same Active Directory domain and same Active Directory site as the computer that holds the Schema Master role.

True or false? As soon as you have run the Setup /PrepareSchema command from an elevated command prompt, you can go on to the next step and prepare AD DS.

Answer: False. If you run the Setup command from the command prompt, you need to wait for the subsequent changes that result from running this command to replicate across your organization prior to performing the next step of preparing Active Directory. (Note that if you perform a GUI install, replication occurs before the next step is implemented.)

Prepare Active Directory

You should be aware that when the changes implemented by running Setup /Prepare Schema have propagated throughout the organization, your next step is to use the Setup /PrepareAD command to prepare Active Directory. Unless an Exchange organization already exists in your forest, you need to specify the name of your new Exchange Server organization.

True or false? To successfully run the Setup /PrepareAD command, you must be logged in with a user account that is a member of the Schema Admins group.

Answer: False. You must be logged in with a user account that is a member of the Enterprise Admins group. Note that the user account does not need to be a member of the Schema Admins group.

True or false? You must run the Setup /PrepareAD command on a computer that is in the same domain and Active Directory site as the computer that holds the schema master role.

Answer: True. You should also ensure that the changes introduced by running this command are able to propagate across your organization before preparing domains.

Prepare the domain

You are expected to know that to prepare Active Directory for the introduction of Exchange Server 2010, you need to run the Setup /PrepareDomain or the Setup /PrepareAllDomains command.

True or false? The account used to run the Setup /PrepareDomain command must be a member of the Enterprise Admins group.

Answer: True. It should also be a member of the Domain Admins group in the domain against which the command is being run. If the domain is created after the execution of the Setup /PrepareAD command, the account used must also be a member of the Exchange Organization Administrators group.

True or false? Running Setup /PrepareDomain configures permissions for various groups but does not create any new groups.

Answer: False. Running the command also creates a domain global group called Exchange Install Domain Servers. Note that it is not necessary to run this command in the domain in which you ran the Setup /PrepareAD command.

Ensure that the domain functionality level is correct

The exam might test that you know what steps to take to introduce Exchange 2010 into an Active Directory environment. You should be aware that the forest functional level must be configured at Windows Server 2003 or higher. Therefore, all domains within your forest must have a domain functional level of at least Windows Server 2003.

True or false? The forest functional level of Contoso.com is currently Windows Server 2003. The forest has three domains. Two of these are set at the Windows Server 2003 domain functional level, but you have raised the domain functional level of the third to Windows Server 2008. This enables you to raise the forest functional level of Contoso.com to Windows Server 2008.

Answer: False. To raise the forest functional level to Windows Server 2008, you first need to raise the domain functional level of all three domains to at least Windows Server 2008.

True or false? You can view the domain and forest functional level by using the Active Directory Domains and Trusts console. You can also raise the domain and forest functional levels by using this console.

Answer: True. You can use the Active Directory Domains and Trusts console to view and to raise both domain and forest functional levels.

Domain controller service packs

You should know the basic infrastructure requirements for Exchange installation, such as the levels of operating system required on computers that have key roles in the AD DS infrastructure.

True or false? The computer that holds the Schema Master role in the forest and the computer that functions as a Global Catalog server in the site on which Exchange Server 2010 SP1 or SP2 is being installed must both be running the Windows Server 2003 SP2 operating system or later.

Answer: True. Windows Server 2003 SP2 is the minimum level of operating system in either case. (Note that if you are installing Exchange Server 2010 RTM, Windows Server 2003 SP1 is the minimum level of operating system for both schema master and global catalog servers.)

True or false? The only method of discovering which domain controller in the forest holds the schema master role is by using the Active Directory Schema snap-in, which is available by default for custom MMCs.

Answer: False. You can determine which computer in your environment holds the schema master role by using the Active Directory Schema snap-in and selecting Operations Master from the File menu. This snap-in is not available by default but becomes so for custom MMCs when you run the regsvr32 schmmgmt.dll command. You can also determine which computer holds the Schema Master role by running the command dsquery server –hasfsmo schema from an elevated command prompt. Alternatively, you can issue a PowerShell command. By using the PowerShell Get-ADForest cmdlet, you can find the schema and domain naming masters. With the PowerShell Get-ADDomain cmdlet, you can find the PDC Emulator, Infrastructure master, and RID master.

Exchange readiness check

You should be aware that if you perform a GUI-based installation, prerequisite and system readiness checks are performed before installation starts. The results of these checks are written to the setup log file, which you can use to verify the installation.

True or false? The Exchange Server 2010 Installation Wizard automatically performs an Exchange readiness check.

Answer: True. When you install Exchange Server 2010 SP2 by using the Exchange Server 2010 Installation Wizard, the installation program performs an Exchange readiness check and informs you if any installation prerequisites have not been met.

Coexistence

You should know that Exchange 2010 supports coexistence with Exchange 2003, Exchange 2007, and mixed Exchange 2003 and Exchange 2007 environments. The exam might check that you are aware that it is not possible to directly upgrade a server running Exchange Server 2003 or Exchange Server 2007 to Exchange Server 2010. You should know what steps to take to configure a period of coexistence that allows the migration of organizational resources from servers running previous versions of Exchange to Exchange Server 2010.

True or false? If it is necessary to run the Setup /PrepareLegacyExchangePermissions command, you must run it before the Setup /PrepareSchema command.

Answer: True. If your organization has an existing Exchange 2003 deployment (but not a coexisting Exchange 2003 and Exchange 2007 organization), you must run the Setup /PrepareLegacyExchangePermissions command prior to running the Setup /PrepareSchema command. This ensures that the Exchange 2003 Recipient Update Service will function correctly after you update the schema.

True or false? You can run the Setup /PrepareLegacyExchangePermissions command only against all domains in the forest, not against a single domain. Because of this, you cannot run this command unless your logged-in account is a member of the Enterprise Admins group.

Answer: False. If you run the command without additional options, all domains in the forest are prepared for Exchange Server 2010 SP2, and you need to be a member of the Enterprise Admins group to do this. However, you can run the command in individual domains, provided that you first run it in the domain that contains the server that holds the Schema Master role. If the command is being run for a specific domain, the account used to run the command must be a member of the Domain Admins group and must have been delegated the Exchange Full Administrator permissions.

True or false? You should deploy the first Exchange Server 2010 SP2 servers in Internet-facing Active Directory sites when preparing for coexistence with Exchange Server 2007.

Answer: True. You should deploy the first Exchange Server 2010 SP2 server in Internet-facing Active Directory sites. This is because Client Access proxying works from Exchange Server 2010 SP2 Client Access servers to Exchange Server 2007 Client Access servers, but it does not work in the opposite direction.

Migration from 2003 or 2007

You are expected to know that migration from both Exchange 2003 and Exchange 2007 to Exchange 2010 is supported. You should know what steps to take to implement a transition to Exchange 2010 from an Exchange 2007 messaging system or a combined Exchange 2003 and Exchange 2007 messaging system.

True or false? Migration is the process by which you upgrade to Exchange 2010 by migrating data from an Exchange 2003 or 2007 organization to Exchange 2010.

Answer: True. In the migration scenario, you migrate the data without retaining any of the Exchange configuration from the first organization. The migration process includes installing a completely new Exchange 2010 organization, and then migrating mailboxes from the old messaging system to the new Exchange 2010 messaging system.

True or false? When transitioning to Exchange 2010, you can perform an in-place server upgrade on an existing Exchange server.

Answer: False. You must instead install a new Exchange 2010 server into the existing organization, and then move data to the new Exchange 2010 server.

Disable LinkState

You should be aware that because Exchange 2010 does not use a link state routing table and does not support the relay of link state information, you need to suppress link state updates in Exchange Server 2003; otherwise, routing loops can occur. You need to know what steps to take to suppress these updates.

True or false? You use the Registry Editor on each Exchange Server 2003 server in the organization to suppress link state updates.

Answer: True. If the existing Exchange 2003 organization contains more than one routing group, and you are intending to configure more than one routing group connector between Exchange 2003 routing groups and Exchange 2010, you need to suppress link state update by using the Registry Editor to modify the registry on each Exchange Server 2003 server.

Exchange Server service pack level

If you are configuring coexistence with and migration from Exchange Server and Exchange 2003 organizations to an Exchange Server 2010 server, you need to be aware that SP2 must be installed on the Exchange Server 2003 and 2007 servers.

True or false? When preparing for coexistence between Exchange Server 2003 and Exchange Server 2010, you must ensure that the Exchange Server 2003 organization is configured to use Native mode and that all Exchange Server 2003 servers have SP2 installed.

Answer: True. If the Exchange Server 2003 organization is running in Mixed mode, you must configure it to use Native mode. All Exchange Server 2003 servers should have Service Pack 2 installed. In addition, you should introduce Exchange Server 2010 servers in Internet-facing sites first, and you should deploy Exchange Server 2010 roles in the following order: Client Access, Hub Transport, Mailbox, and Unified Messaging.

Remove unsupported legacy components

The exam might test that you know which operating systems or Exchange Server versions need to be upgraded or removed before you can install Exchange Server 2010 or configure coexistence. For example, because you need to raise forest and domain functional levels to Windows Server 2003, you need to remove or upgrade any Windows 2000 Server domain controllers in your environment. One or more domain controllers in each of your domains should be running at least Windows Server 2003 SP1 to configure coexistence.

Exchange 2010 does not support coexistence with Exchange 2000 Server organizations. To migrate from Exchange 2000 to Exchange Server 2010, you must first migrate Exchange 2000 Server to either an Exchange Server 2003 or an Exchange Server 2007 organization.

Configuring DNS to support the Exchange deployment

The exam might test that you know that when you are installing the DNS server role by using the Active Directory Domain Services Installation Wizard, and you want to set up DNS to support Exchange Server 2010 deployment, you should choose Active Directory integrated DNS with dynamic updates enabled. This setting provides a number of advantages, such as fail-over protection and AD DS replication. If necessary, you can use the DNS Management console to reconfigure DNS.

True or false? You cannot install Exchange Server 2010 in a forest that uses third-party name resolution servers. Active Directory integrated DNS is essential.

Answer: False. Exchange Server 2010 will work with most name resolution systems—even foreign systems such as BIND—but Microsoft recommends Active Directory integrated DNS.

True or false? Active Directory integrated DNS is typically used to meet the name resolution needs of Exchange servers that hold the Edge Transport role.

Answer: False. There are additional DNS requirements for Exchange servers that hold the Edge Transport role. These are discussed later in this chapter. Servers that hold the Edge Transport role are typically standalone servers on a peripheral network. It is possible to configure Active Directory integrated DNS to meet the name resolution needs of Edge Transport servers, but this is neither a typical nor a recommended solution.

Can you answer these questions?

You can find the answers to these questions at the end of this chapter.

  1. TreyResearch.com is a single-domain forest. It contains domain controllers running Windows 2000 Server and Windows Server 2003 SP2. The domain functional level is Windows 2000 native. The forest functional level is Windows 2000. You have installed Windows Server 2008 R2 on a new 64-bit member server in the domain. You want to install Exchange Server 2010 SP2 on this server. What is the first task that you need to perform?

  2. You have configured all the prerequisites for the installation of Exchange server 2010 SP2. Your single-domain forest contains member servers running Windows Server 2003 R2 (x64) Enterprise edition, Windows Server 2008 Enterprise edition with SP2 (x86), and Windows Server 2008 Standard edition with SP2 (x64). On which of these servers can you install Exchange Server 2010 SP2?

  3. The MargiesTravel.com forest has a Windows Server 2003 forest functional level. The forest contains two domains and all domain controllers are running Windows Server 2003 R2. MargiesTravel.com has an existing Exchange Server 2003 deployment with Exchange servers in each domain. What command must you run first when configuring Active Directory for the introduction of Exchange Server 2010 SP2?

  4. Adatum.com is a single-domain forest. Both domain and forest functional levels are set to Windows Server 2008. The Adatum.com forest currently uses Exchange Server 2003 SP2 as its messaging solution. What Setup commands do you need to issue to configure permissions and Active Directory so that you can install Exchange Server 2010 SP2 in a coexistence scenario, and in what order should you issue them?

  5. What command can you issue from an elevated command prompt to determine which domain controller in your organization holds the schema master role?