What is Microsoft Exchange Server?Microsoft Exchange Server is
calendaring software, a mail server and contact manager developed
by Microsoft. It is a server program that runs on Windows Server
and is part of the Microsoft Servers line of products.Exchange
Server 2013 Architecture All the emails, calendar items, contacts
and task these all first store in exchange database then they
forward it to the outlook client, so exchange needs the database
and an engine to help manage that database Exchange uses ESE
(Exchange Storage Engine) also known as JetBlue as a database
engine It denotes the database file with .edb extension. .edb file
is per database i.e if we have more than one database then .edb
file is one per database. Every database has its own process and it
does not interfere with another database process unless that
process and database is hacked. Information store process i.e.
Microsoft.Exchange.Store.Services.exe and
Microsoft.Exchange.Store.Worker.exe they are being completely
rewritten in C-Sharp for greater stability and allow each process
to run under its own process. So this new rewritten Information
Store Process is called Managed Store. It has FAST search
integrated to it with better search and indexing. Previously they
were in the SharePoint and some other Microsoft application.Path Of
Email In To The DatabaseWhen mail come to the mailbox server it
first goes in to the Memory and then it is written in to the
transaction logs (Transaction logs are 1mb in size i.e. if you have
an email that is of 10mb in size it means that it has 10
transaction logs) and then it is written in to the database (.edb
file) when that database is free. So if the database is busy and it
is serving a lot of other request at that time then the written
from transaction logs to database is held (means waiting in a
queue) until that database is free to accept new request.If at some
point the transaction logs are not written in to database file or
if server goes down then a checkpoint is created for this purpose
and all logs will be written there and when the back server comes
online it will first check the checkpoint file look in to it and
then that transaction logs update the database Note: It is
recommended to separate transaction logs from your database file
and store it on separate diskFigure-1 of Exchange Admin Center
Serverdatabase Database IDFigure-2 C:/programfilesMicrosoftExchange
ServerV15MailboxMailbox Database IDServer Roles 2007/2010Mailbox
Role: Host your users mailboxes with mailbox database, also host
public foldersClient Access Roles: It is the connection point for
all the users and their mailboxes with internally and
externally.Hub Transport Role: Manage the flow of traffic of
mailbox server for both incoming and outgoing.Unified Messaging:
Provides universal inbox for voice mail, email etc.Edge Transport
Role: It is connected at the perimeter of the network to handle
anti-spam and antivirus protection and additional transport roles.
Edge Transport Server will not be a member server.Server Roles in
2013Mailbox Role: It includes Mailbox Role Unified Messaging
Services (virtualization is supported in exchange 2013) OWA(outlook
web access), ActiveSync, Outlook Anywhere, RPC over HTTP sessions
Hub Transport ServicesClient Access Server: The Client Access
Server (CAS) in 2013 is a proxy connection to the mailbox server
i.e. Connection from MS Outlook, OWA, mobile devices, POP/IMAP and
SMTP.CAS Services: There are two services Client Access Services It
provides Unified Namespace, authentication and security Routes
request to right mailbox server Redirect requests for Legacy
Servers (old Exchange server 2007/2010) Front End Transport
Services Protocol Filtering Network Protection Locates the mailbox
(determines the best mailbox server to forward)Edge Transport
Server: It is still there in exchange 2013
Exchange 2013 Deployment and Pre-requisites Exchange server 2003
cannot be transition to Exchange Server 2013. It means that you
have to buy new hardware and start the installation from scratch,
and also there is no support for Exchange Server 2003 to move
mailboxes to Exchange Server 2013 In Exchange Server 2007/2010 you
can transition to Exchange Server 2013 i.e. transfer of mailboxes
etc are supported. But there is condition to it. If your Exchange
Server 2007/2010 are with SP3 and update roll-up is installed on
Exchange Sever 2007/2010, because Exchange Server 2013 comes up
with SP3.Hardware Requirement Processors X-64 architecture based
with Intel (or AMD Platform) Intel Itanium IA64 is not supported
Memory Mailbox 8GB minimum Client Access 4GB minimum Combination
Mailbox/Client Access 8GB minimum Disk Space 30GB required on
drive.
Operating System Supported Mailbox and Client Access Role
Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard or Datacenter Windows Server 2012
Standard or Datacenter Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard with SP1
Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise with SP1 Windows Server 2008 R2
Datacenter RTM or Later Management Tools Windows Server 2012 R2
Standard or Datacenter Windows Server 2012 Standard or Datacenter
Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard with SP1 Windows Server 2008 R2
Enterprise with SP1 Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter RTM or Later
64-bit Edition of Windows 8 64-bit Edition of Windows 7
Virtualization Point to Consider Virtualization is supported for
Exchange Server 2013. Mailbox and Client Access both are supported
in Exchange Server 2013. Use of approved vendors i.e. VMware Esxi,
Citrix Xen, Hyper-V (Microsoft) etc. Dont use the dynamic memory,
because it is not supported for Exchange Server 2013 and make sure
that you use the right hardware. Mailbox role works well with iSCSI
disks. Snapshots are not supported and migration technique also not
supported Note:iSCSI Disks
The Internet SCSI (iSCSI) protocol provides access to disk
storage systems across a TCP/IP network.
SnapshotsIt is a current state of the system at a particular
point of time i.e. if you want to save the current setting of the
system you take a snapshot of that moment of the virtual
machine.
Migration TechniqueCannot Transfer virtual machine (Exchange
Server) from one server to another server.
Active Directory Preparation Make sure your Active Directory
(AD) Forest/Domain functional levels are at least server 2003 i.e.
in your environment if your Domain Controller is configured on
Windows 2000 Server then there is no support for Windows 2000
Server schema structure. Every Active Directory site we deploy
Exchange Server in must have at least one domain controller and
Global Catalog. You need to prepare schema before or during the
installation Note:Global CatalogueGlobal Catalogue provides the
ability to locate the objects from any domain name.
SchemaSchema is the actual structure behind the Active Directory
in terms of where objects are placed and the various attributes
that are added to those objects.
To find out whether your domain controller is a global catalogue
server.FigureIn every Exchange Server release Microsoft update the
schema so thats why we have to update schema to prepare itself. If
your organization demands that you have to update only schema first
before the installation of Exchange Server 2013 then you have no
choice and the solution is the command line. Some of the command
that we will use in Power Shell are below.For preparing schema we
will use the commandsetup /prepareschema When Installing the
Exchange Server 2013 through wizard, if the wizard ask for
organization name then it indicates that there is a problem between
the Exchange Server and Active Directory connection. You can
prepare the schema and active directory together using the
following commandsetup /prepareAD /OrgranizationName: i.e.
atiftuts.comFor preparing the domain we use the commandsetup
/prepareDomainsetup /prepareDomain: i.e. pc1.atiftuts.comsetup
/prepareAllDomain i.e. For preparing all domains in the
organizationNow you are thinking that if all these processes are
done by wizard then why we have to go through the command line. It
depends upon your organization policies, that if they said first
you will prepare schema then you have no choice to come to the
command line and if your organization is large then its better to
prepare these ahead of time. I think thats enough for theory lets
install the Exchange Server 2013 server.
Installation of Exchange Server 2013
In this scenario I have used 2GB ram for Domain controller and
4GB ram for Exchange Server 2013. We will use Windows Server 2012
R2 for this scenario.First of all Exchanger Sever 2013 will be a
member of a domain. So we will create a domain with a name of
atiftuts.com and we will configure DNS server for that domain. Then
we will create a member server for the installation of Exchange
server 2013 and we will create its DNS record in domain
atiftuts1.com.1. First we will change the name of the computer for
ease of configuration. For that press WindowsRight click of My
Computersee the bottom of the screen there is Properties click on
thatclick the Change Settingschange buttonunder the Computer name
Type DC1OkcloseReset
2. Turn off all the firewall. Press Windows + R and type wf.msc.
it will open the window of Windows Firewall with Advanced Security.
On the top there are three tabs Public, Private, Domain. Turn off
these three firewall.3. Now go to the second machine change the
name of the computer for ease of configuration. For that press
WindowsRight click on My Computersee the bottom of the screen there
is Properties click on thatclick the Change Settingschange
buttonunder the Computer name Type exch-atiftuts1OkcloseReset4.
Turn off all the firewall. Press Windows + R and type wf.msc. it
will open the window of Windows Firewall with Advanced Security. On
the top there are three tabs Public, Private, Domain. Turn off
these three firewall.5. Now goto DC1 machine and Press Windows + R
and type ncpa.cpl. it will open the Network Adapters. Double click
on Ethernet adapters click on Properties Double click on Tcp/ip4
type ip address of the machine 10.1.1.1 and press tab to auto-fill
the subnet mask.6. Now goto exch-atiftuts1 machine and Press
Windows + R and type ncpa.cpl. it will open the Network Adapters.
Double click on Ethernet adapters click on Properties Double click
on Tcp/ip4 type ip address of the machine 10.1.1.2 and press tab to
auto-fill the subnet mask. In preferred DNS type 10.1.1.1.7. Go to
DC1 machine and Press Windows + R and type cmd. For checking that
exch-atiftuts1 is in communication with DC1, so type ping
10.1.1.2.
8. Now that ping is successful go to DC1 machine Server manager
click on Manage at the top of the screen click on add roles and
features Next Choose role based or feature base installation Next
Choose the Select the server from the server Pool Next Choose
Active Directory Domain Services click on Add Feature Next Leave it
as default Next Next Next Check the Restart the Server
automatically click on YES click on install.
Figure 7
Figure 8
Figure 9
Figure 10
Figure 11
Figure 12
Figure 139. Now you can see there is a exclamation mark on the
top right of the screen click on it Promote this server to Domain
Controller Add New Forest Root domain name : atiftuts1.com Next
Password: abc@123 Confirm Password: abc@123 Next Next Next Next
Next Install It will restart automatically.
Figure 14
Figure 15
Figure 16
Figure 17
Figure 18
Figure 19
Figure 20
Figure 2110. After that you have to login as atiftuts1.com
administrator. So when the login page comes press Cntrl + Alt + Del
Click on the Back Arrow Choose Other user Username :
[email protected] Password: abc@123 Press Enter.11. Now
the domain is created. The next step is to make exch-atiftuts1 to
make a member server of atiftuts1.com. So for that go to
exch-atiftuts1 press WindowsRight click of My Computersee the
bottom of the screen there is Properties click on thatclick the
Change Settingschange buttonunder the Domain Name atiftuts1.comOk
it will prompt you for Domain username and password. Username:
administrator Password: abc@123 OKok (Figure 22)
Figure 23
Figure 24It will prompt for restart. Restart the machine and
then login as atiftuts1.com administrator.
DNS Configuration1. Open DC1 machine and press Windows + R and
write Dnsmgmt.msc to open DNS manager right click on the Reverse
Lookup Zone and click New Zone. A wizard will appear click Next
Next Next Next Next here type in Network ID : 10.1.1 Next Check the
Option Allow both nonsecure and secure dynamic updates Next
Finish
Figure 25
Figure 26
Figure 27
Figure 28
Figure 29
Figure 30
Figure 31Figure 322. In Reverse Lookup Zones Right click New
Point Ptr In host ip address type 10.1.1.1 and click on browse
Double click on DC1 Double click on Forward Lookup Zone Double
click on atiftuts1.com Double click on dc1 and then click OKFigure
333. Now check the DNS through nslookup command. Press Windows + R
and type nslookup, make sure it will show you like this.Figure
34
4. Now repeat the above step no 2 for exch-atiftuts1 machine. In
Reverse Lookup Zones Right click New Pointer Ptr In host ip address
type 10.1.1.2 and click on browse Double click on exch-atiftuts1
Double click on Forward Lookup Zone Double click on atiftuts1.com
Double click on exch-atiftuts1 and then click OK. Now check the DNS
for exch-atiftuts1 machine. Go to exch-atiftuts1 and press Windows
+ R and type nslookup, it will show you the same result as
mentioned in step no 3. If the same result are appearing uncheck
the IPV6 version in the network adapter and check the preferred dns
ip address.Now our systems are ready for the Installation of
Exchange Server 2013. So lets start it.
Prerequisites and Installation of Exchanger Server 2013 1. Now
run this command in Power ShellInstall-WindowsFeature RSAT-ADDSIt
will prompt you for that windows update is off turn it on, ignore
it.2. In our case we want to install both mailbox and client access
role, so run this command in powershellInstall-WindowsFeature
AS-HTTP-Activation, Desktop-Experience, 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-Foundation3. Now you have to install
Microsoft .NET Framework 4.5.24. Next install the Microsoft Unified
Communications Managed API 4.0, Core Runtime 64-bit.5. I have
mounted the ISO of Exchange Server 2013 setup.6. In Powershell go
to that mounted drive and use its setup file like this.\setup
/prepareschema /IAcceptExchangeServerLicenseTermsFigure 357. Now
run the command .\setup /prepareAD /OrganizationName:atiftuts1
/IAcceptExchangeServerLicenseTermsFigure 368. Now run the
command.\setup /preparedomain
/IAcceptExchangeServerLicenseTermsFigure 379. Now run the setup.exe
by double click in mounted drive. A wizard will open check the
option Dont Check for updates right now and click Next.Figure
38
10. It will do some process, after that click Next.Figure 3911.
Click I accept the license agreement and click Next.12. Click on
dont use the recommended setting and click Next. 13. Check the box
of Mailbox and Client Access and click Next.Figure 4014. Click
Next.
15. it will ask for malware settings disable it.Figure 4116.
Ignore the messages and click install.Figure 4217. Check the Launch
Exchange Administration Center After Finishing Exchange Setup and
click FinishFigure 4318. After click finish it will prompt you to
add this site for security reasons just click add and close it and
you will see Exchange Admin Center (EAC) in front of you. Just
enter the domain name \ username and password in it. Domain Name \
Username:atiftuts1.com\administratorPassword:abc@123 Figure 44
Figure 4519. Now restart the exch-atiftuts1 machine to take
effects. You can access EAC by typing in browser address bar
https://exch-atiftuts1/ecp and put username and password. This time
when you enter in the EAC (it will take some time to load) it will
ask for language and home time zone put the home time zone and
language, but we are using the defaults and click Save.
Management Tools
Exchange Management ShellExchange Management Shell is built upon
power shell. Power shell is both a command line tool as well as
scripting platform. Powershell in our case (Exchange Server) it is
a powerful way to accomplish so much using a little as one line of
code. Now that code is not super complicated, we dont have to
become programmers or developer in order to use the powershell. It
is so easy to use in comparison with other methods that we used to
have used in the past, in order to get the same data coming our
way. Exchange Server 2013 requires the power shell v3 which is the
latest release of power shell. Power shell commands are built using
cmdlets (pronounce as command-lets) and it has a very simple
structure Through power shell commands you can manage every aspect
of Exchange Server 2013.But there are certain things that can be
done through the Exchange Management Console (EMS), but not with
Exchange Admin Center (EAC). EMS is underlying behind the EAC, when
you ask for the new recipient to be created through EAC what really
happen in the background is a powershell command is run, so that
new recipient can be created. So what we do in EAC it is ultimately
converted in to a powershell command, it is actually the powershell
command that performs the task you as in EAC. So logically the
powershell command is more powerful. In powershell you have more
flexibility and more option. EAC is designed to bit around the most
common management task that administrator would typically like to
perform i.e. creating a recipient, creating a database, deleting a
database etc. things of that sort. So there can only be one method
to do in EAC but if you if you know the underlying powershell
commands to really then the options are limitless. Learning
powershell is not an option if you are working with exchange, it is
a necessity.Command-letsWhat is command-lets? Command-lets follow a
very simple verb-noun structure. Common verbs used in cmdlets are :
Get, set , remove, test, enable, disable, install, Uninstall, New
and MoveGood example of cmdlets is Get-Service
Command LineConsole Name
AdRmsAdmin.mscActive Directory Rights Management Services
Adsiedit.mscADSI Edit
Azman.mscAuthorization Manager
Certmgr.mscCertmgr (Certificates)
Certtmpl.mscCertificates Template Console
CluAdmin.mscFailover Cluster Management
Comexp.mscComponent Services
Compmgmt.mscComputer Management
Devmgmt.mscDevice Manager
Dfsmgmt.mscDFS Management
Dhcpmgmt.mscDHCP Manager
Diskmgmt.mscDisk Management
Dnsmgmt.mscDNS Manager
Domain.mscActive Directory Domains And Trusts
Dsa.mscActive Directory Users And Computers
Dssite.mscActive Directory Sites And Services
Eventvwr.mscEvent Viewer
Fsmgmt.mscShared Folders
Fsrm.mscFile Server Resource Manager
Fxsadmin.mscMicrosoft Fax Service Manager
Gpedit.mscLocal Group Policy Editor
Lusrmgr.mscLocal Users And Groups
Napclcfg.mscNAP Client Configuration
Nfsmgmt.mscServices For Network File System
Nps.mscNetwork Policy Server
Ocsp.mscOnline Responder
Perfmon.mscReliability And Performance Monitor
Pkiview.mscEnterprise PKI
Printmanagement.mscPrint Management
Remoteprograms.mscTS RemoteApp Management
Rsop.mscResultant Set of Policy
Secpol.mscLocal Security Policy
ServerManager.mscServer Manager
StorageMgmt.mscShare And Storage Management
Services.mscServices
StorExpl.mscStorage Explorer
Tapimgmt.mscTelephony
Taskschd.mscTask Scheduler
Tmp.mscTrusted Platform Module (TPM) Management
Tsadmin.mscTerminal Services Management
Tsconfig.mscTerminal Services Configuration
Tsgateway.mscTS Gateway Manager
Tsmmc.mscRemote Desktops
Uddi.mscUDDI Services Console
Wbadmin.mscWindows Server Backup
Wdsmgmt.mscWindows Deployment Services
Winsmgmt.mscWINS Manager
WmiMgmt.mscWMI Control
