Exchange

In part one of our Exchange 2016 lab series we:

• Explored the options for building an Exchange lab
• Reviewed the requirements for Exchange 2016
• Built the Exchange 2016 virtual machine
• Installed the base operating system with all updates

In the second part of our Exchange lab series we will:

• Install Exchange 2016 mailbox server prerequisites
• Extend the Active Directory schema for Exchange 2016

Let’s get started!

Exchange 2016 Mailbox Server Prerequisites

First, let’s get the operating system core components installed. To do this open a PowerShell console as the administrator.

Then issue the following command.

Update: If using Windows Server 2016, drop the AS-HTTP-Activation component from the command.

 C:\> Install-WindowsFeature AS-HTTP-Activation, Server-Media-Foundation, NET-Framework-45-Features, RPC-over-HTTP-proxy, RSAT-Clustering, RSAT-Clustering-CmdInterface, RSAT-Clustering-Mgmt, RSAT-Clustering-PowerShell, Web-Mgmt-Console, WAS-Process-Model, Web-Asp-Net45, Web-Basic-Auth, Web-Client-Auth, Web-Digest-Auth, Web-Dir-Browsing, Web-Dyn-Compression, Web-Http-Errors, Web-Http-Logging, Web-Http-Redirect, Web-Http-Tracing, Web-ISAPI-Ext, Web-ISAPI-Filter, Web-Lgcy-Mgmt-Console, Web-Metabase, Web-Mgmt-Console, Web-Mgmt-Service, Web-Net-Ext45, Web-Request-Monitor, Web-Server, Web-Stat-Compression, Web-Static-Content, Web-Windows-Auth, Web-WMI, Windows-Identity-Foundation

This command may seem like a lot but in essence, it can be grouped into 4 sets of components being installed.

• .NET 4.5 support
• Internet Information Service (IIS)
• Windows Failover Clustering

Update: If you are migrating to the modern public folders in Exchange 2013 you may want to check out this article instead. This is the new and improved method for migrating public folders. However, it requires Exchange 2013 CU7 or later. As of CU11 the method below still works if you prefer to use it. But it will eventually be deprecated.

If you are in the planning stages for migration to Exchange 2013, then you have probably seen this TechNet article.

At first, it may seem daunting.

So many scripts. So many PowerShell commands.

If you are not comfortable with PowerShell it may seem a bit overwhelming.

Plus, it is vastly different than any previous migration process.

Why the change?

Architecture

Public Folders underwent a major architectural change in Exchange 2013.

Gone is the Public Folder database. And hello are the new Public Folder Mailboxes.

The benefit?

No more Public Folder Replication. Boy, did that used to be a pain!

With Public Folders stored as a mailbox, that mailbox can now be part of a Database Availability Group (DAG). And with that, all the benefits of Windows Failover Clustering.

This makes the migration process vastly different.

On a high level, it is the process of moving all data out of a database and into a special mailbox. That is where the scripts come in. I’ll explain along the way.

Let’s get started!

So what exactly is that title all about?

Aren’t DAGs a good thing?

Why would I ever want to decommission them?

Well, yes. You are correct. They are a good thing. And I always recommend putting them in place.

This article is for the organization that has migrated to Exchange 2013. It assumes you have successfully moved all user, shared & resource mailboxes. That you have migrated and removed all Public Folder content. That you are ready to delete your 2010 DAG.

So, what’s first?

Verify databases are empty

Before we can delete a database we need to check that no objects are homed to 2010 anymore. The easiest way to do this is PowerShell.