>> --> In this particular post I will cover the set up of Exchange 2007 SP1 on Windows Server 2008. I will lay out which versions of Exchange are supported on which OS model and in addition which domain controller edition they are able to use. I will detail the supported procedures to maneuver from Exchange 2007 on Window Server 2003,
Microsoft Office 2010, to Exchange 2007 on Windows Server 2008 and as a final point I will cover the prerequisites required, in advance of displaying the real set up.Note:
At this time,
Office Professional Plus 2007 Key, neither Windows Server 2008 nor Exchange Server 2007 SP1 have launched to production. As I am for this reason operating with beta code, sure aspects of what follows (in particular the screenshots, might possibly adjust previous to the last version.Introduction It is virtually a 12 months once the release of Exchange 2007 and lots of of us now have finish Exchange 2007 implementations. I guess meaning we're in need of one thing new to do! If this is the case then you definitely wont be disappointed, as very soon we are going to be offered together with the new problem of shifting our current Exchange 2007 methods onto Windows Server 2008. Table one lists the many supported situations for Exchange and OS variations.Exchange Version Server OS Supported for Installation Exchange 2003Windows 2000 Server SP4Windows Server 2003 (All SP levels and R2) Exchange 2007 RTMWindows Server 2003 SP1 + SP2 (inc R2) Exchange 2007 SP1Windows Server 2003 SP1 + SP2 (inc R2)Windows Server 2008 RTMTable 1: Exchange/OS variations supported for installThe first thing to be aware is that Exchange 2007 RTM is not supported on Windows Server 2008. To set up Exchange 2007 on Server 2008 you must run Exchange 2007 SP1. This service pack, as many of you can know, is a little different from previous service packs in that it's a finish set up of Exchange. Effectively SP1 is RTM together with the SP1 code slipstreamed into it. Having established that Exchange 2007 SP1 is required to install on Server 2008, what other considerations are there?Probably the biggest consideration is Active Directory. Table 2 sets out the different Domain Controller versions supported by different versions of Exchange.Exchange Version Domain Controller OS Supported Exchange 2003Windows 2000 Server SP4Windows Server 2003 (All SP levels and R2) Windows Server 2008 RTMExchange 2007 RTMWindows Server 2003 SP1 + SP2 (inc R2)Windows Server 2008 RTMExchange 2007 SP1Windows Server 2003 SP1 + SP2 (inc R2)Windows Server 2008 RTMTable 2: The Exchange/Domain Controller support matrixOne new Active Directory feature of Windows Server 2008 which I havent mentioned is Read Only Domain Controllers (RODC) (and Global Catalog servers). These are servers which do not hold a writable copy of the AD and also do not hold account passwords. They are most likely to be used in branch office scenarios to prevent security breaches either intentional or accidental. So how do these RODCs affect Exchange? Simply put, Exchange doesnt use them,
Windows 7 Pro! When left to automatically associate with a domain controller (or global catalog server) Exchange will ignore the RODC or ROGC. The important thing for administrators to remember is not to manually set Exchange to work with a RODC as things simply will not work correctly.One other area that will undoubtedly be welcome to administrators is that using the release of Exchange 2007 SP1, the Exchange Management Console will ultimately be supported on Windows Vista, and for that matter on Server 2008 as well.Prior to when moving on to how we upgrade, I think it is actually worth clarifying that Exchange 2007 SP1 will not set up on Windows Server 2008 Server Core. Server Core, for those who havent heard, is a cut down model of Windows Server 2008 which only presents a command line interface. It has been stripped down to run diverse server roles including amongst others Domain Controller,
Microsoft Office 2010 Professionnel, DHCP, DNS, File and Print. However, because a lot of functionality has been stripped out to ensure a small footprint and less need for patching, important components such as the .Net Framework are not present to support Exchange.Note:
As I mentioned we are currently working with beta code. It's because of this that the Unified Messaging role does not currently set up on Server 2008. This could be rectified prior to release.The upgrade pathSo how do you actually get from Exchange 2007 running on Windows Server 2003 to Exchange 2007 SP1 running on Windows Server 2008?Unfortunately, although understandably given the massive architecture changes involved, you cannot simply upgrade Exchange 2007 to Exchange 2007 SP1 and then upgrade the OS to Windows Server 2008. This simply breaks Exchange completely!Even when you have a clustered mailbox server, you cannot perform a rolling upgrade by upgrading one node of the cluster failing over and then doing the other node. The only way is to perform a migration! In other words you must do a clean set up of Windows Server 2008 on a new server and then migrate your data. Mailboxes can be moved using the Move-Mailbox cmdlet and public folder data must be replicated. This has caused a fair amount of discontent on diverse online forums but it can be the only way!InstallationHaving looked at all the background, lets get started with the set up. The first thing to cover is preparing your Windows Server 2008 machine for Exchange 2007. There are a bunch of prerequisites which must be met as listed below:.Net Framework v2.0 or 3.0 PowerShell RTM MMC 3.0 (installed by default) IIS 7 (Numerous components desired by different roles) For a much more detailed look at the requirements for each Exchange server role see Exchange 2007 System Requirements.For now we are going to install an Exchange 2007 SP1 server in a new domain and new organisation. We are going to set up the CAS, HT and Mailbox roles. In order to install the prerequisites we are going to run the following commands one after the other at a command prompt:ServerManagerCmd -i RSAT-ADDSServerManagerCmd -i PowerShellServerManagerCmd -i Web-ServerServerManagerCmd -i Web-ISAPI-ExtServerManagerCmd -i Web-MetabaseServerManagerCmd -i Web-Lgcy-Mgmt-ConsoleServerManagerCmd -i Web-Basic-AuthServerManagerCmd -i Web-Digest-AuthServerManagerCmd -i Web-Windows-AuthServerManagerCmd -i Web-Dyn-CompressionAfter the first command (RSAT-ADDS) you will need to reboot as shown in Figure one.
Figure 1: Installing Active Directory Management Tools and being prompted to rebootAfter the reboot, I used a simple batch file to run the other commands in sequence. Part of the output from the commands is shown in Figure 2.
Figure 2: Part of the output from the prerequisite installationFor more detailed information about the Windows Server 2008 roles/features required for the other Exchange 2007 roles (Edge Transport Server and Unified Messaging Server) see How to Set up Exchange 2007 SP1 Prerequisites on Windows Server 2008.Having successfully completed the installation of prerequisites, it can be time to install Exchange. Start setup and click Install Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 SP1 as shown in Figure 3.
Figure 3: Starting Setup of Exchange Server 2007 SP1Next run through the usual setup steps as shown in Figures 4 11.
Figure 4: The SP1 Setup introduction screen
Figure 5: Accepting the license agreement
Figure 6: Opting into the Microsoft Error Reporting scheme
Figure 7: Selecting a typical set up which installs CAS, HT, Mailbox roles and the management tools
Figure 8: Setting the brand new Exchange Organisation name
Figure 9: Opting not to create public folders for legacy clients
Figure 10: Exchange Readiness checks in progress
Figure 11: The not for production use warning just before install about using a 32 bit version of Exchange 2007Having completed the steps in Figures 3-11 set up begins. However, it is actually at this point that an error occurs as shown in Figure 12. It would appear that for whatever reason,
Office 2007 Serie, the registry key HKLMSOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsWindows Error ReportingConsent does not exist!
Figure 12: The registry key doesnt exist error messageNote:
It is highly unlikely that this problem will still exist once the products ship.To rectify this problem locate the relevant area in the registry and create the required key as shown in Figure 13.
Figure 13: The newly created registry keyHaving resolved the problem with all the registry key you are left with no other option than to exit setup. On doing this you can be prompted to reboot, which you should do. When the server is backed up, restart setup which will start in Exchange Maintenance Mode as shown in Figure 14.
Figure 14: Exchange setup restarting in Maintenance ModeAt this point, step through the remaining setup screens as shown in Figures 15-17.
Figure 15: Selecting the relevant roles for installation
Figure 16: Again making the choice not to create public folders for legacy clients
Figure 17: Setup completed!Once setup completes you will have a functioning Exchange 2007 SP1 set up on Windows Server 2008 as shown in Figure 18.
Figure 18: Exchange 2007 SP1 installed on Windows Server 2008Before completing this article I thought it might be interesting to show the registry key that we created earlier. As can be seen in Figure 19, it truly is now populated with different values.
Figure 19: The values in the registry key created to solve the installation errorSummary As you can see from the steps above, the install process to put Exchange 2007 on Windows Server 2008 is basically particularly simple. At the moment there may be the odd glitch but there is no doubt these could be ironed out previous to Release to Production. I feel the only thing that has the potential to cause a delay in deployment are the usual worries about deploying a brand new OS and the fact that if you already have Exchange 2007 on Server 2003 you will have to perform a migration which requires extra hardware.