Look How Easy Setup Is

By Jill Frank

Does this sound familiar? You decide to deploy Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 and you're ready to get started. You think "A deployment guide would be helpful," so you visit the Microsoft Exchange Server TechCenter. After searching for deployment content, you find a link to download a document called Deploying a Standard Exchange Server 2007 Organization. Sounds like just the thing to get you started! After downloading the document, you scroll through the table of contents. Sixteen pages later, ah, here it is: the opening paragraph. You glance toward the bottom of your screen and see that you are on page 17…of 552! What? It takes 552 pages to describe something that is called "standard"?

Let me explain. It is actually quite easy to install Exchange 2007! Out of those 552 pages, there are about four sections that I call "required reading." These sections will give you a great start and help you navigate through the additional information. In this article, I point you to the four required reading sections (the online versions) and discuss what you'll find in them. We also look at the Exchange 2007 Setup wizard, so you can see for yourself how easy this process really is.

To successfully roll out Exchange 2007, you need to know about all the great new features that are available so that you can plan your Exchange organization. The first topic on the list of required reading is What's New. What better place to start than a topic that will excite and amaze you with all the possibilities? (We hope so anyway!)

After reading about the new features, you might have a question or two: questions about editions, licensing, 64-bit processing, server roles, or public folders. For answers, check out Frequently Asked Questions, number two on the list of required reading. If you have other questions you'd like to see answered here, be sure to send feedback by scrolling over Click to Rate and Give Feedback at the top of the topic.

Number three on the list of required reading is Exchange 2007 System Requirements. There is a lot to digest here, but read the whole topic so that you know what is supported and what is not. And, of course, read it before you start deploying, not after.

The fourth required reading topic is Setting up Exchange 2007. This handy checklist walks you through the steps you must perform to deploy Exchange 2007 from start to finish. It begins with running the Microsoft Exchange Server Best Practices Analyzer Tool if you have an existing Exchange organization, and continues through planning, installing, and post-installation configuration. Be sure to use the links within this topic to learn the details, and complete each item in the list.

One of the last tasks listed in Setting up Exchange 2007 is installing Exchange 2007. Let's walk through the pages of the Exchange Server 2007 Setup wizard so that you become familiar with it before you run it in your production environment.

To start the Exchange Server 2007 Setup wizard, run Setup.exe from your installation media. The executable will kick off the Start page, which is divided into three sections: Plan, Install, and Enhance. The link in the Plan section takes you to the Microsoft Exchange Server 2007. In the Install section, if you already have Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0, Microsoft Management Console (MMC) 3.0, and Microsoft Windows PowerShell installed, the first three steps will be unavailable and you can go directly to Step 4: Install Microsoft Exchange. This link launches the Exchange Server 2007 Setup wizard.

Setup Start page

As always, the Introduction page tells you how cool Exchange is. Click Next.

The next page is the License Agreement page. You know what to do here: Read and accept the terms of the license agreement, and then click Next.

Decide whether you want to enable the error reporting feature. Enabling the feature is optional. If you decide to enable the feature, the Microsoft Error Reporting Service collects information about how you use Exchange 2007, including any issues you may encounter. This information is used to help Microsoft diagnose problems and provide solutions. For more information about the Microsoft Error Reporting Service, see Privacy Statement for the Microsoft Error Reporting Service.

Error Reporting page

On this page, you must choose either a typical or custom installation. A typical installation installs the following server roles on the same computer:

• Hub Transport server role

• Client Access server role

• Mailbox server role

A typical installation also installs the Exchange management tools. These tools include the Exchange Management Console, the Exchange Management Shell, the Exchange Help file, the Microsoft Exchange Server Best Practices Analyzer Tool, and the Exchange Troubleshooting Assistant Tool.

A custom installation allows you to select which of the following server roles to install:

• Hub Transport server role

• Client Access server role

• Mailbox server role

• Unified Messaging server role

• Edge Transport server role

A custom installation allows you to decide if you want to install the Mailbox server role on either the active or the passive node of a cluster. If you are installing Exchange 2007 on a cluster, you can install only the Mailbox server role.

A custom installation also allows you to decide if you want to install the Exchange management tools. If you select any of the server roles, the Exchange management tools are installed automatically. If you want to install an administrator-only computer, you can select to install only the Exchange management tools.

To learn more about server roles in Exchange 2007, check out the Server Role Roadmap.

Installation Type page

If you chose a custom installation, use the Server Role Selection page to choose which server roles to install.

Server Role Selection page

The Exchange Organization page appears only when one or more of the following conditions are true:

• You selected a typical installation.

• You selected a custom installation, and you selected Mailbox Role, Client Access Role, Hub Transport Role, or Unified Messaging Role.

• This is the first Exchange 2007 server in your organization.

If this is not the first Exchange server in your organization, or if you selected only Management Tools or Edge Transport Role, you will go directly to the next page.

Exchange Organization page

The Mail Flow Settings page appears only when one of more of the following conditions are true:

• You are installing Exchange 2007 in an Active Directory directory service forest that has an existing Exchange Server 2003 or Exchange 2000 Server organization.

• You are installing the Hub Transport server role.

• A routing group connector between Exchange 2007 and Exchange 2003 or Exchange 2000 does not exist.

Use this page to select an Exchange 2003 or Exchange 2000 bridgehead server through which you want to enable mail flow to and from Exchange 2007.

Mail Flow Settings page

When you click Browse to select a legacy bridgehead server, the Select Exchange Server dialog box appears. Select a server, and then click OK.

Select Exchange Server dialog box

If you selected a custom installation and you selected either Active Clustered Mailbox Role or Passive Clustered Mailbox Role on the Server Role Selection page, you must specify the type of cluster you want to deploy, the network name and IP address of the clustered mailbox server, and the path for the database files that are used by the clustered mailbox server.

Cluster Settings page

Use the Client Settings page to specify whether any client computers in your organization are running Microsoft Outlook 2003 or earlier or Microsoft Entourage. If you have client computers that are running Outlook 2003 or earlier or Entourage and you select Yes, Exchange will create a public folder database on the Mailbox server. If all of your client computers are running Office Outlook 2007, public folders are optional in Exchange 2007. If you select No, Exchange will not create a public folder database on the Mailbox server. You can add a public folder database after installation is complete.

Client Settings page

Use the Readiness Checks page to perform prerequisite checks before beginning the Exchange 2007 installation.

Readiness Checks page

Use this page to view the progress of your installation.

Progress page

The Completion page lists the server roles that you installed and lists any errors that may have occurred during installation.

Completion page

So what's in the other 532 pages of Deploying a Standard Exchange Server 2007 Organization you ask? All the details, of course! In other words, the technical information you may need during the course of your Exchange 2007 deployment. In case you're curious, here are the main areas that are covered in the document:

• Detailed descriptions of the new features in Exchange 2007

• A list of discontinued features and de-emphasized functionality in Exchange 2007

• Detailed overviews of the five Exchange 2007 server roles

• In-depth planning information

• Procedures for preparing your organization for Exchange 2007

• Information about installing Exchange 2007 from a Command Prompt window instead of using the Setup wizard

• Procedures for upgrading to Exchange 2007 from Exchange 2003 or Exchange 2000

• Procedures for coexisting with Exchange 2003 or Exchange 2000

• Tasks for configuring your environment after you install Exchange 2007

• Information to help you get started with the new Exchange Management Console and Exchange Management Shell

Depending on what server roles you install and what features you use in your organization, you may or may not need all of this additional technical information to deploy Exchange 2007. You can think of these deployment documents as Choose Your Own Adventure books and read only the sections that apply to your specific Exchange 2007 adventure. As long as you start with the required reading recommendations and plan carefully, you will be well on your way to a successful deployment in no time.

Jill Frank - Senior Technical Writer, Microsoft Exchange Server