Microsoft Exchange 2010 Installation Step-By-Step Part 1 (Software Installation and Pre-Requisites)

In today’s times, the uptime for any mail environment must be as close as possible to 100% as e-mail is the de facto communication mechanism for most organisations and any down time translates to lost opportunities and efficiencies.

Microsoft Exchange has been our de-facto mail server since version 5.5. The latest version of Exchange (2010) is what we will be dealing with in this article. Generally Exchange is installed by an Exchange expert once and then left to run for years on end. However if you do not have an Exchange expert handy I hope that this article will assist you in building your Exchange with a step-by-step installation and configuration guide for a simple, standalone environment.

Due to the long and complex nature of a modern Exchange installation, this article will be split into two parts. Part 1 deals with the installation of a standalone Exchange server in an Active Directory domain environment. Subsequent part(s) will deal with configuring the Exchange for additional services e.g. Outlook Anywhere and ActiveSync which will allow your users to connect via their workstations / mobile devices from anywhere… assuming of course they have Internet access.

Installing the Pre-Requisites

There are a number of pre-requisites required for an Exchange 2010 installation. Although the Exchange installation wizard will not allow you to continue until these are in place it will save a little time to have these done before you run the Exchange 2010 wizard.

The basics (What I have done so far):

I have already created a domain and added the soon-to-be Exchange server to that domain.
The server is running Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1. Note that Exchange since version 2007 has only been able to run on a x64 platform.
I have run the latest updates.
I have disabled the built-in Windows Firewall as the Server is in a DMZ between two TMG servers
I have also disabled UAC as it makes remote work easier over a very slow Internet connection.

Pre-Requisite Number 1 (ADDS and .Net 3.5 SP1):

Open Server Manager and click on ‘Add Roles’
Tick ‘Active Directory Domain Services’ and click ‘Next’
You will be prompted to add the ‘.Net Framework 3.5 SP1’ which you will also need for Exchange so click on ‘Add Required Features’ then click on ‘Next’ and install the role and the feature.

Pre-Requisite Number 2 (IIS):

Open Server Manager and Click on ‘Add Roles’
Tick the ‘Web Server (IIS)’ block and Click Next.

In IIS I enable all features except the ones shown in the clippings below:

FTP server
IIS Hostable Web Core

Once you have selected the correct features go ahead and install IIS.

Pre-Requisite Number 3 (RPC over HTTP Proxy)

This is needed to enable the Outlook Anywhere functionality but is not documented in any part of the Exchange 2010 install and all pre-requisite tests pass without this feature being in place. It is important to get this in before you start the Exchange 2010 install to save your self precious time later.

Open Server Manager and click on ‘Add Features’

Tick the RPC over HTTP Proxy and click ‘Next’ and then ‘Install’. If there are some IIS features that you have not installed as a prerequisite you will be prompted to add these at this point.

Pre-Requisite Number 4 (2007 Office System Converter):

Download the Office 2007 System Converter which can be found here: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyId=60C92A37-719C-4077-B5C6-CAC34F4227CC&displaylang=en
Remember to download the x64 version.
Double-click the icon and install it

Pre-Requisite Number 5 (Set the .Net TCP Port Sharing Service to Automatic)

Open the Services MMC and find the .Net TCP Port Sharing Service. You will note that it has not started and is set to disabled by default.

Double-Click the service name and set the ‘Startup Type’ to Automatic.

Apply the change, click ‘Ok’ then right-click on the service and click on ‘Start’

We are now ready to start the Exchange 2010 install!

Double-click ‘Setup.exe’ on the Exchange 2010 DVD.

Click on ‘Choose Exchange language option’

Select install only languages from the DVD

Click on Install Microsoft Exchange

Click ‘Next’

Accept the License Terms and Click ‘Next’

Select your preferred Error Reporting an Click ‘Next’

We are installing a ‘typical’ Exchange which hosts all the Exchange roles on a single server. Choose the top option and click ‘Next’

Specify the Exchange Organisation. I usually leave this at the default ‘First Organisation’. Click ‘Next’

Specify non-standard client settings i.e. if you have Outlook 2003 or Entourage running then select yes. We do not for this example so the selection stays on ‘No’. Click ‘Next’

Specify the mail domain i.e. the FQDN of the mail server on the Internet i.e. mail.domain.com. Then click ‘Next’

Select your preference for ‘Customer Experience Improvement Program’ then click ‘Next’.

Exchange setup will now run through a Readiness Check. If you have followed the pre-requisite steps above the final screen should look like the one below. Now click ‘Install’.