Since Exchange Server 2010 has been released, I am sure many administrators are eager to get their hands dirty in their Exchange Server 2010 labs. In this article, I will share the prerequisites and guidelines you must meet to ensure a successful Exchange 2010 installation in your lab.

Installation of Exchange 2010 uses the same method as Exchange 2007: the only significant change is the technology support version which needs to be suited for Exchange 2010.

Whenever we are thinking of Exchange 2010/Exchange 2007 installation, there are two major places which we need to focus on-- first one is Active Directory Preparation and the second one is Local Server Preparation.

Active Directory Preparation for Exchange 2010:
· Schema Master : Windows Server 2003 either standard or enterprise edition, recommendation have “windows server 2003 with SP 2,” which can be either 32-bit or 64-bit.
· Global Catalog Master : Windows Server 2003 either standard or enterprise edition, recommendation have “windows server 2003 with SP 2” which can be either 32-bit or 64-bit.
· The Active Directory domain & forest functional level must be Windows Server 2003-native or higher for all domains in the Active Directory forest where you will install Exchange 2010.
· Upgrade Schema - /prepare schema
· Exchange Security Groups & Permission : /PrepareAD
· LegacyExchange Support : /PrepareLegacyExchangePermissions

Existing Exchange 2003 in the Domain:

If you have Exchange 2003 in the organization then ensure that:
· Exchange 2003 has Service Pack 2 Installed
· It should be in the native mode.

Note: Exchange 2010 Beta Upgrade – If you want to upgrade from Exchange 2007, you can’t go with in-place upgrade, and one more thing there is no direct transition from Exchange 2007 to Exchange 2010 Beta . You need to create separate AD Site for Exchange 2010. Exchange 2007 co-existence transition will be supported after the release of Exchange 2007 sp2.

Server-level Specification:

Hardware:
· Processor : Intel 64-bit Processor\ AMD64 Processor (Production)
· Processor supported for 32-bit : Intel Pentium or compatible 800-megahertz (MHz) or faster 32-bit processor

Memory : Depends upon the actual requirement minimum 2 GB plus 2\3.5\4 MB per mailbox and can support up to 64 GB. For more information click here

Mailbox server memory recommendations:

Light = 2 GB plus 2 MB per mailbox
Average = 2 GB plus 3.5 MB per mailbox
Heavy = 2 GB plus 4 MB per mailbox

Source: Microsoft

· Disk Space : 1.2 GB free for the drive where we are installing the Exchange, 500 MB more space if we are installing UM, 200 MB free on the system drive and 500 MB free space for Transport Server role
· Drive : DVD-Rom or Network Access
· Software:Operating System : Windows Server 2008 Standard or Enterprise with SP2 or R2 Edition or just to install the console Vista with latest SP is supported.
· Other Software Requirement : there is other software required and actually it depends upon which roles you are installing and based on that you can select the required one.

Exchange2010 Pre-requisites

My requirement is very simple: a clean installation of Exchange 2010 on windows server 2008 where I will install all the Exchange Server roles except Edge Transport Server Role.

Active Directory Preparation:

· Raising the Domain Function level & Forest Functional Level to Windows Server 2003: Log into to the windows server 2003 domain controller => Administrative Tools => Active Directory Domain and Trusts => Right click the domain name and select “Raise Domain Functional Level” and raise it to “Windows Server 2003”

· Forest Functional Level : Right click “Active Directory Domain and Trusts and select “Raise Forest Functional Level” as Windows Server 2003Server – Level Configuration :

1) Install IIS 7.0 : Inorder to do this, open Server Manager Console => Roles => Add Roles and select “Web Server (IIS)”

Figure2:

Under Role Services Windows select the following component:
· Basic Authentication
· Windows Authentication
· Digest Authentication
· Dynamic Content Compression
· .net extensisbility

Figure 3:

2) Remote Server Administration Tools pack : It is a feature included with Windows Server 2008. You can install the Remote Server Administration Tools pack by using either the Add Features Wizard in Windows Server 2008, or by using a command line to install the feature.Command prompt : ServerManagerCmd -i RSAT-ADDSFrom GUI:
· Open the Server Manager Console
· Click on Features and then Add Features and select Remote Server Administration Tools
· It will ask you to install IIS6 Management Compatibiltiy also select “Add Required Role Service and then click on NEXT

Figure 4:

3) Install HTTP Activation:
· Open the server manager console
· Features => Add Features
· Expand .Net Framework 3.0 Features
· Expand WCF activation and Select “HTTP Activation”

Figure 5:

4) For Unified Messaging Role we need to have "Windows Media Audio Voice Codec" and "windows Media Encoder" this can be installed by installing Desktop-Experience Component via server manager
· Open the server manager console
· Features => Add Features
· Select Desktop Experience

Figure 6:

OR else you can excute the installation of Server Manager Role and Features from the command prompt by running below command:

For Client Access Server Role:

ServerManagerCmd -i RSAT-ADDS
ServerManagerCmd -i Web-Server

ServerManagerCmd -i Web-ISAPI-Ext
ServerManagerCmd -i Web-Metabase
ServerManagerCmd -i Web-Lgcy-Mgmt-Console

ServerManagerCmd -i Web-Basic-Auth
ServerManagerCmd -i Web-Digest-Auth

ServerManagerCmd -i Web-Windows-Auth
ServerManagerCmd -i Web-Dyn-Compression
ServerManagerCmd -i NET-HTTP-Activation
ServerManagerCmd -I RPC-over-HTTP-proxy

For Hub Transport Server Role:
ServerManagerCmd -i RSAT-ADDS
ServerManagerCmd -i Web-Server
ServerManagerCmd -i Web-Metabase

ServerManagerCmd -i Web-Lgcy-Mgmt-Console
ServerManagerCmd -i Web-Basic-Auth

ServerManagerCmd -i Web-Windows-Auth

For Mailbox Server Role:

ServerManagerCmd -i RSAT-ADDS
ServerManagerCmd -i Web-Server
ServerManagerCmd -i Web-Metabase

ServerManagerCmd -i Web-Lgcy-Mgmt-Console
ServerManagerCmd -i Web-Basic-Auth

ServerManagerCmd -i Web-Windows-Author

ServerManagerCmd -i Failover-Clustering (for Clustering)

For Unified Messaging Server Role:

ServerManagerCmd -i RSAT-ADDS

ServerManagerCmd -i Web-Server

ServerManagerCmd -i Web-Metabase

ServerManagerCmd -i Web-Lgcy-Mgmt-Console
ServerManagerCmd -i Web-Basic-Auth

ServerManagerCmd -i Web-Windows-AuthServerManagerCmd -i Desktop-Experience

For Edge Transport Server Role:

ServerManagerCmd -i ADLDS

5) Install .netframework 3.5 Sp1

6) Install Powershell V2

7) Install Windows Remote Management

8) Install Windows6.0-KB950888

9) Install Windows6.0-KB951725

10) Install 2007 Office System Converter :

11) Run Exchange 2010 setup

Figure 7:

Click on Step 4: Install Microsoft Exchange

12) Next Screen will be Introduction page, click on NEXT

Figure 8:

13) Now you will get "Language File Location" in which you can download the other languages apart from English and size of the pacakge will be 200 MB. By default I had chosen the "english"

Figure 9: