Installation of Microsoft Exchange 2013 on Windows Server 2012

In this post I am going to run through how to prepare your server running Windows Server 2012 for Microsoft Exchange 2013, and then guide you through the Installation of Microsoft Exchange 2013. I will be keeping all the roles on a single server in this instance but will cover a larger scale scenario at a later date.

Once you have installed the Microsoft Server 2012 Operating System ensure that you have applied the latest Microsoft Updates and have joined the member server do your domain.

You then need to go ahead and install the Remote Server Administration Tools Feature, You can do this via the GUI if you wish but I am going to use the powershell command prompt as it's much easier.

At the Powershell Prompt type:

Import-Module ServerManager

Install-WindowsFeature RSAT-ADDS

You can then go ahead and Prepare your Directory Services Schema, but I will cover that after we have installed the Exchange 2013 Pre-Requisites, You can install all off the required Roles/Features by running the following Powershell Command: (Note: If you closed the Powershell Prompt you will need to re-import the ServerManager Module)

Install-WindowsFeature AS-HTTP-Activation, Desktop-Experience, NET-Framework-45-Features, RPC-over-HTTP-proxy, RSAT-Clustering, 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

Once this has been completed, you should be presented with the following. Go ahead and Restart the Server to complete the installation of the Roles/Features.

 

 

 

 

When the server has rebooted, Login and download the following:

• Microsoft Office 2010 Filter Packs - Download
• Service Pack 1 for Microsoft Office Filter Pack 2010 (KB2460041) 64-bit Edition - Download
• Unified Communications Managed API 4.0 Runtime - Download

Install the 3 applications above, and I would then go ahead and Reboot the server and create a Snapshot if this is a Virtual Machine.

Next, We will go ahead and Prepare your Directory Services Schema. ensure that you have appropriate permissions to modify the Schema. These Permissions include membership of the Schema & Enterprise Admins group.

• Update Schema
• Prepare AD & Domains

To update the Schema, Open up a Powershell / Command Prompt and browse to the directory of your Exchange 2013 Installation Media and type in the following.

setup.exe /PrepareSchema /IAcceptExchangeServerLicenseTerms

For those of you who have done this for Exchange 2010, be aware that the use of “setup.exe”. Setup.com which was used before has been removed, There is also a new switch “/IAcceptExchangeServerLicenseTerms”.

 

 

 

 

 

 

If the user account you are going to use to Install Exchange 2013 does not have the permissions to update your AD Domain, Then you will need to run the following before you go ahead and complete the installation. If on the other hand the account you are going to use does have such permissions then you can ignore this step and move on with the setup of Exchange 2013.

To Prepare Active Directory, Open up a Powershell / Command Prompt and browse to the directory of your Exchange 2013 installation and type in the following.

setup.exe /PrepareAD /ON:[Insert Exchange Organization Name]

This will prepare Active Directory and configure the appropriate permissions. Including the creation of the Exchange Security Groups, if they don't exist yet.

Now we are ready to move on and complete the Exchange 2013 Installation, Browse to your Installation Media and Run Setup.exe

You will initially be asked if you wish to contact Windows Update Service to download any new updates, you can go ahead and do this if you wish although it's not compulsory. Make your choice, and then click Next.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It will then initialize the setup process, and then prompt you with an Introduction Screen just go ahead and click Next. Accept the Terms & Conditions and then again go ahead and click Next.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Make your choice as to weather you wish for Exchange to send back information to Microsoft in regards to troubleshooting and advising you of known issues, and then go ahead and click next.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next screen is where you will choose what roles you wish to install, as I stated at the start for the purpose of this tutorial I am going to place both the Mailbox & Client Access Role on the same server, but during your installation this will depend on your design. Make your selection, and then click Next. Select your Installation Path and again Click on Next

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You will now be asked to name your Exchange Organization and you will also be asked if you wish to apply Active Directory Split-Permissions Security Model. For the purpose of this tutorial I do not need to do this and in to be honest most organizations won't need to apply this model, however if you have separate teams that manage AD & Exchange then you may wish to adopt this scenario. You can find out more information about this by viewing the following Microsoft Article. Understanding Split Permissions

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Next page will ask if you wish to enable Malware Protection it is advised that you enable this feature, if you don't then don't worry it can be enabled at a later date. If you have other software which manages this for you then you can leave it turned off.

The next page will go through the Readiness Checks, Acknowledge any information that is shown and then go ahead and Click next.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*I do not have any Exchange 2010 Servers at present and I'm not looking to implement any at a later date so I can go ahead and excuse the warning message.

Once you are happy, go ahead and click Install and i'd make yourself a cup of coffee... drink it.. and then maybe make another one and you should be ready to move on to the next stage.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once Exchange 2013 has completed installing, check to ensure that all of the required services have started.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, now how do you actually Administer Exchange, well The Exchange Administration Center (EAC) is the web-based management console in Microsoft Exchange Server 2013 that’s optimized for on-premises, online, and hybrid Exchange deployments. The EAC replaces the Exchange Management Console (EMC) and the Exchange Control Panel (ECP), which were the two interfaces used to manage Exchange Server 2010.

To find out your Internal or External URL is for the EAC you can type the following command into a Powershell Console

Get-ECPVirtualDirectory | Format-List Name,InternalURL,ExternalURL

 

 

 

 

 

For security purposes you may also wish to prevent access to the EAC via Internet and you can do this by running the following command in a Powershell Console (This does not prevent user access to Outlook Web App)

Set-ECPVirtualDirectory -Identity "servernameecp (default web site)" -AdminEnabled $false

*Replace servername with the hostname of your Client Access Server or/ the Exchange Server if you have all the roles on a single server.

 

 

 

 

 

 

You have now Installed Microsoft Exchange 2013, In my next Exchange 2013 post I will go through the Post-Installation Configuration which will explain how to configure Mail Flow and Client Access.

In the next few weeks I will also be covering how to configure an Exchange 2013 Hybrid Scenario with Microsoft Office 365 Preview.

If you have any questions please let me know,

Cheers,

James. :)