1 Install Exchange 2013

Installing Exchange Server 2013 page 1 of 18 February 26, 2014

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INSTALL EXCHANGE SERVER 2013

Installing Exchange Server 2013 is pretty straightforward. I always recommend using the latest

available version of Windows, in this case that would be Windows Server 2012 R2. Please note that

only Exchange 2013 SP1 is supported on Windows Server 2012 R2. Older versions of Exchange 2013

are supported on Windows Server 2012 or Windows Server 2008 R2. For the latest information have

a look at the Microsoft Supportability Matrix at http://bit.ly/SupportMatrix.

Prerequisite Software

To install Exchange 2013 on Windows Server 2012 R2 the following prerequisite software is needed:

Remote Server Administration Tools

This is needed only on the first Exchange server to be installed since this is also the server thats

going to modify Active Directory. To install the Remote Server Administration Tools open PowerShell

and enter the following command:

Add-WindowsFeature RSAT-ADDS

Figure 1. Installing the Remote Server Administration Tools

Windows Server Roles and Features

Part of the prerequisite software are some Windows Server Roles and Features. Internet Information

Server is a Server Role that needs to be installed, but also Windows failover clustering feature and

the RPC-over-HTTP-proxy feature for example needs to be installed. Theres a difference when

installing a multi-role server (i.e. CAS and Mailbox on the same server) versus a dedicated Exchange

server.

To install the prerequisite software for a dedicated Exchange 2013 Client Access server open a

PowerShell window and enter the following command:

Install-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-Foundation

To install the prerequisite software for a dedicated Exchange 2013 Mailbox server or an Exchange

2013 multi-role server open a PowerShell window and enter the following command:

Install-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-Foundation

Figure 2. Installing Windows Server roles and features for a multi-role Exchange server

When done reboot the server.

After rebooting the last prerequisite to install is the Unified Communications Managed API 4.0

Runtime which can be downloaded from http://bit.ly/ManagedAPI. You can install this software by

double clicking it and following the wizard or you can run it unattended, for example by entering:

C:\Download\UcmaRuntimeSetup.exe /passive /norestart

The server is now ready to be installed.

Unattended Install

My personal preference is to install Exchange Server 2013 unattended. You just enter only one

command and wait until the installation is finished. This way you can get a consistent result when

installing multiple Exchange 2013 servers.

Installing Exchange 2013 consists of multiple parts:



Prepare the Active Directory Schema

Prepare the Active Directory Configuration

Prepare the Active Directory Domain

Install the actual Exchange 2013 server

Prepare the Active Directory Schema

The Active Directory schema is some sort of blue print of all object in Active Directory. When

installing an Active Directory application like Exchange server the Schema needs to be modified. To

do this you need to be logged on as a Domain Administrator, but you also need to be a member of

the Schema Admins Security Group.

To prepare the Active Directory Schema, open a Command Prompt, navigate to the installation

media and enter the following command:

Setup.exe /PrepareSchema /IAcceptExchangeServerLicenseTerms

Figure 3. Prepare the Schema

Wait for the changes to be replicated across all Domain Controllers

Prepare the Active Directory Configuration

The Active Directory Configuration partition is where all Exchange information is stored in Active

Directory. This is available to all Domain Controllers in the entire Active Directory Forest, no matter

how many Domains you have in your Active Directory forest.

To prepare the Active Directory Configuration partition you need to be a member of the Enterprise

Admins security group. Open a Command Prompt, navigate to the installation media and enter the

following command:



Setup.exe /PrepareAD /OrganizationName:CONTOSO /IAcceptExchangeServerLicenseTerms

In a green-field installation where no other Exchange exists a new Exchange organization is created

and therefore you have to assign a name to the new Exchange organization. Most people use

something like their company name as the name of the Organization but thats not always the best

option. Think about when your company is acquired by another company. One of the first things the

other IT department wants is to change the name of the Exchange organization to reflect the name

of the new company. This automatically means a full re-install of Exchange 2013. When a non-

company specific name is used like Exchange2013 theres no need to rename the Exchange

environment.

Figure 4. Prepare Active Directory and assign the name of the Exchange Organization

As you can see in Figure 2 a warning message is raised during the preprequisite check. Its not a fatal

warning so the installation will process. The warning message says:

Setup will prepare the organization for Exchange 2013 by using 'Setup /PrepareAD'.

No Exchange 2007 server roles have been detected in this topology. After this

operation, you will not be able to install any Exchange 2007 servers.

For more information, visit: http://technet.microsoft.com/library(EXCHG.150)/ms

.exch.setupreadiness.NoE12ServerWarning.aspx

Setup will prepare the organization for Exchange 2013 by using 'Setup /PrepareAD'.

No Exchange 2010 server roles have been detected in this topology. After this

operation, you will not be able to install any Exchange 2010 servers.


.exch.setupreadiness.NoE14ServerWarning.aspx



So, after installing a fresh Exchange 2013 environment you are not able to install any Exchange 2007

or Exchange 2010 server in this organization. But why would you? Well, there are certain

applications that only work with Exchange 2007 (less likely) or Exchange 2010 (more likely) but do

not work (yet) with Exchange 2013. If you have such an application, or anticipate on having one in

the near future it is recommended to install a (small, virtual) Exchange 2007 or Exchange 2010 server

in your organization before you install the first Exchange 2013 server.

Prepare the Active Directory Domain

When the Active Directory Configuration partition is configured and the Exchange 2013 organization

is created we can proceed to the last step, the preparation of the Active Directory Domain.

To do this you must be a member of the Domain Admins group of the Domain youre currently

preparing. Open a Command Prompt, navigate to the installation media and execute the following

command:

Setup.exe /PrepareDomain /IAcceptExchangeServerLicenseTerms

Figure 5. Prepare the Active Directory Domain

If you have multiple Active Directory Domains in your Active Directory forest you can prepare them

in one command:



Setup.exe /PrepareAllDomains /IAcceptExchangeServerLicenseTerms

To run this command you must be a member of the Enterprise Admins security group.

When the Active Directory is installed you can continue with the installation of the Exchange 2013

server itself.

Installing Exchange Server 2013

The easiest way is to install Exchange Server 2013 unattended. When Active Directory is fully

prepared you can use the following command to install a multi-role Exchange server. The default

Mailbox database will be called MDB01, it will be located in the F:\MDB01 directory and the

transaction log files will be stored in the F:\MDB01\LogFiles directory. Specifying the Mailbox

database and its location is optional however.

Setup.exe /mode:install /role:clientaccess,mailbox

/IAcceptExchangeServerLicenseTerms /Mdbname:MDB01 /DbFilePath:F:\MDB01\MDB01.edb

/LogFolderPath:F:\MDB01\LogFiles



Figure 6. Installing the multi-role Exchange 2013 server

When you want to install an Exchange 2013 Mailbox server, the command would be something like

this:

Setup.exe /mode:install /role:mailbox /IAcceptExchangeServerLicenseTerms

/Mdbname:MDB01 /DbFilePath:F:\MDB01\MDB01.edb /LogFolderPath:F:\MDB01\LogFiles

And for an Exchange 2013 Client Access server it would be something like this:

Setup.exe /mode:install /role:clientaccess /IAcceptExchangeServerLicenseTerms

If you dont want to prepare the Active Directory manually you can also include it when installing the

Exchange 2013 server. Just add the /OrganizationName parameter when installing the server and

the Schema will be prepared, the Organization will be created and the domain will be prepared. The

installation command in this scenario would be something like:

Setup.exe /mode:install /role:clientaccess,mailbox /OrganizationName:CONTOSO





Personally I always prepare the Active Directory manually since it gives me more control over the

installation process and if something goes wrong I can see in which step it goes wrong (although that

doesnt happen too often these days).

After installing the Exchange 2013 server you can reboot it and continue with installing a second

Exchange 2013 server of continue with configuring the Exchange server. This will be explained in the

next document.

Installing an additional Exchange 2013 server

When you want to install an additional server you have to install the prerequisite software as

outlined in the beginning of this document. Of course theres no need to prepare the Active

Directory partitions so after installing the prerequisite software you can continue with installing the

second server.

To install a multi-role Exchange 2013 server and created a Mailbox database called MDB02 located

on the F:\ drive you can use the following command:

Setup.exe /mode:install /role:clientaccess,mailbox



During the prerequisite check youll see the following, non-fatal warning message:

Setup can't detect a Send connector with an address space of '*'. Mail flow to the

Internet may not work properly.


.exch.setupreadiness.NoConnectorToStar.aspx

This warning is logged because we didnt configure the first Exchange 2013 server but continued

with installing the 2nd Exchange 2013 server. Therefore a Send Connector was not created yet and

this error message is raised. Since the Exchange organization will be configured later on you can

safely ignore this message.



Figure 7. Installing a 2nd Exchange 2013 multi-role server

When the 2nd Exchange server is installed successfully you can reboot the server and continue with

configuring the Exchange servers.

GUI Setup

If you dont want to use the unattended setup of Exchange 2013 you can also use the normal GUI

setup of course. The prerequisite software is identical to an unattended setup so we skip that part

here.

When the prerequisite software is installed navigate to the Exchange 2013 installation media and

start the setup.exe application. The setup application automatically takes care of making the

necessary changes to Active Directory so theres no need to do this manually unless you want to of

course.



After starting the setup application a check for updates is presented. You can opt for Connect to the

Internet and check for updates or skip the check and select Dont check for updates right now as

shown in Figure 8. Click Next to Continue.

Figure 8. Check for updates in the setup application

Right now the installation files are copied from the installation media to the Exchange servers local

hard drive, setup is initialized and an Introduction message is displayed. Click Next to continue.

When the License Agreement is shown select the I accept the terms in the license agreement radio

button and click Next to continue.

The Recommended Settings is shown next. This is if you want to automatically check online when

setup encounters errors and to automatically provide feedback to Microsoft. This is also known as

the Microsoft Customer Experience Improvement Program (CEIP). Select the proper radio button

and click Next to continue.



Figure 9. Select this option if you want to participate in the Microsoft Customer Experience Improvement

Program

The next step is the Server Role Selection. You can choose between a Mailbox Server role, a Client

Access Server role and an Edge Tranport Server role. The latter is new in Exchange 2013 SP1 and we

will discuss that in a later document. Since were installing a multi-role server select the Mailbox role

and the Client Access role and click Next to continue.



Figure 10. Make your Exchange server role selection here.

The Installation space and location window is shown next. If needed you can change the location

where the Exchange server software is installed. The default location is C:\Program

Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\V15. During installation everything will be located here, including

the new default Mailbox database and the Transport queue for example. Click Next to continue.

Since were installing a green-field Exchange environment here we have to enter a name for the

Exchange organization. This is similar to the /OrganizationName switch in an unattended setup.

You can also indicate if you want to implement an Active Directory split permissions model to the

Exchange organization. This is interesting if you have a large organization with a separate Active

Directory team and a separate Exchange team. But even then you have to think about the

implications here. So we leave this open now and click Next to continue.



Figure 11. Enter the name of the Exchange organization. Leave the split permissions option as it is.

Exchange Server 2013 comes with a (limited) anti-malware engine which is automatically enabled. It

is not as powerful as for example the former Forefront for Exchange solution, but at least its

something. It automatically downloads the latest signature files from the Microsoft site and helps

you fight against spam. You can disable this if you want to implement another anti-spam solution,

for example from TrendMicro. Click Next to continue.



Figure 12. Disable the malware scanning if you want to implement another solution

Now the setup application has gathered enough information and will start the prerequisite check.

Similar to the unattended setup a warning message is shown about preparing Active Directory. If you

continue at this point theres no way to implement an Exchange 2010 server later on. If this is ok

then click Install to start the actual installation.



Figure 13. A warning message about the impossibility to install Exchange 2007 or 2010 later on.

The installation consist of 15 different steps, ranging from preparing the Active Directory to finalizing

the setup. All you can do now is wait (for quite a long time).



Figure 14. Obviously step 8 is the installation of the Transport Service on the Mailbox server role

When setup has finished installing Exchange 2013 theres the option to launch the Exchange

Administration Center after finishing setup as shown in Figure 15. But since the server needs to be

rebooted anyway I typically reboot the server first and then start configuring the Exchange server.

Click Finish to close the setup application and then reboot the server.



Figure 15. Here's the option to start EAC after finishing setup

Installing an additional Exchange 2013 server

When the first Exchange 2013 server is installed you can continue installing an additional Exchange

2013 server. The process is very similar to the first Exchange 2013 server, except theres no option to

enter the organization name (makes sense) and that a warning message is shown about the absence

of a Send Connector. This is similar to installing an additional Exchange 2013 server unattended.



Figure 16. A warning message is shown about the Send Connector

Click Install to install the additional Exchange server. When the setup has finished reboot the

Exchange 2013 server and continue with configuring the Exchange 2013 servers. This is explained in

the next document.

Documents

1 Install Exchange 2013