Understanding Exchange 2003 upgrade prerequisites

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Before you can really start to use the Deployment Assistant, your system and servers must meet requirements. If they don't meet these requirements, you won't be able to complete the steps within the tool and you won't be able to deploy Exchange 2010. This topic provides information about the following:

  • Permissions needed to install and manage Exchange 2010

  • Requirements for directory servers, hardware, software, clients, and other elements, including:

    • Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2 (SP2) or later or Windows Server 2008 R2 operating system prerequisites that are required for all Exchange 2010 server roles

  • Language selection options in Setup and the specific languages that are supported for Exchange 2010

  • The Exchange Management Shell, the command-line interface for Exchange 2010, and the Exchange Management Console, the GUI

    Note

    Before installing Exchange 2010, we recommend that you install any critical or recommended updates from Microsoft Update.

Exchange Pre-Deployment Analyzer

You can use the Exchange Pre-Deployment Analyzer (ExPDA) to perform an overall topology readiness scan of your environment. This scan focuses on overall topology readiness and not the ability to run Exchange 2010 on the local computer. ExPDA provides a detailed report that will alert you if there are any issues within your organization, which could prevent you from deploying Exchange 2010. For example, ExPDA will notify you if you haven't deployed the minimum required Exchange service pack on all your Exchange servers. If your organization passes the ExPDA readiness scan, you can go ahead and use the Exchange Deployment Assistant.

To get ExPDA from the Microsoft Download Center, see: Exchange Pre-Deployment Analyzer

Permissions to Install and Manage Exchange 2010

Exchange 2010 requires different permissions to install and to manage your server roles. When you're installing Exchange 2010 servers in your organization, the account you use might not be the same account that you use for administering and managing your server roles. To manage your server roles, Exchange 2010 uses the Role Based Access Control (RBAC) permissions model.

Exchange 2010 uses RBAC to manage permissions on the Mailbox, Hub Transport, Unified Messaging, and Client Access server roles. With RBAC, you can control what resources administrators can configure and what features users can access. The RBAC model in Exchange 2010 is flexible and provides you with several ways to customize the default permissions.

RBAC has two primary ways of assigning permissions to users in your organization, depending on whether the user is an administrator or specialist user, or an end-user: management role groups and management role assignment policies. Each method associates users with the permissions they need to perform their jobs. The following tables list the tasks found in the Deployment Assistant and the permissions required to complete the task.

Note

Some features may require that you have local administrator permissions on the server you want to manage. To manage these features, you must be a member of the Local Administrators group on that server.

Installation permissions

The table below lists the permissions that you need to successfully use the Deployment Assistant tool and to install Exchange 2010.

By default, the account that's used to install Exchange 2010 in the organization is added as a member of the Organization Management role group.

When you install the first Exchange 2010 server role (Client Access) into your Exchange 2003 organization, Exchange Setup will prepare your Active Directory schema if you have the correct permissions. If you want to separate your Active Directory schema preparation from the Client Access server installation, see: Prepare Active Directory and Domains

For information about how to add permissions, see Add Members to a Role Group.

Task Permissions required

Install the Client Access server role (first server role installed)

Local Administrator

Enterprise Administrator

Schema Administrator

Install the Hub Transport server role

Organization Management

Install the Unified Messaging server role

Organization Management

Install the Mailbox server role

Organization Management

Install the Edge Transport server role

Local Administrator

Exchange Management Permissions

The table below lists the configuration permissions that you need to successfully use the Deployment Assistant tool.

For information about how to add permissions, see Add Members to a Role Group.

Task Permissions required

Configure disjoint namespace

Local Administrator

Domain Administrator

Import digital certificates

Local Administrator

Configure settings on virtual directories

Server Management

Configure OAB and Web Services virtual directories

Organization Management

Server Management

Configure a legacy host name

Local Administrator

Create Send connectors

Organization Management

Subscribe the Edge Transport server

Local Administrator

Change the OAB generation server

Organization Management

Move mailboxes to Exchange 2010

Organization Management

Configure Exchange 2003 authentication

Local Administrator

Directory Servers

Here are the requirements for the directory servers in your Exchange 2010 organization:

  • Schema master   The latest 32-bit or 64-bit edition of the Windows Server 2003 SP2 Standard or Enterprise operating system or the Windows Server 2008 Standard or Enterprise operating system.

  • Global catalog server   In every Active Directory site where you plan to install Exchange 2010, you must have at least one global catalog server that is either the latest 32-bit or 64-bit edition of: Windows Server 2003 SP2 Standard or Enterprise; Windows Server 2008 Standard or Enterprise; or Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard or Enterprise.

  • Active Directory Forest   The Active Directory forest must be Windows Server 2003 forest functional mode.

  • Domain Controller   You must have the latest 32-bit or 64-bit Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition or Enterprise Edition with Service Pack 2 (SP2) operating system or the latest 32-bit or 64-bit edition of the Windows Server 2008 Standard or Enterprise operating system or the Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard or Enterprise operating system.

Hardware

The recommended hardware requirements for Exchange 2010 servers vary depending on several factors including the server role(s) that are installed and the anticipated load that will be placed on the servers.

  • Processor   x64 architecture-based computer with processor that supports 64-bit architecture

  • Memory   Varies depending on Exchange server roles and features that are installed. Learn more at: Understanding Memory Configuration and Exchange Performance

  • Disk space   At least 1.2 GB on the drive on which you install Exchange and additional 200 MB of available space on the system drive. Also, at least 500 MB for each Unified Messaging language bundle you install.

  • Drive   DVD-ROM drive, local or network accessible

  • File format   Disk partitions formatted as NTFS file systems

Operating System

Here are the supported operating systems for Exchange 2010:

  • 64-bit edition of Windows Server 2008 Standard Service Pack 2

  • 64-bit edition of Windows Server 2008 Enterprise Service Pack 2

  • 64-bit edition of Windows Server 2008 Standard R2

  • 64-bit edition of Windows Server 2008 Enterprise R2

Exchange 2010 Management tools can use the operating systems listed above plus:

  • 64-bit edition of Windows Vista

  • 64-bit edition of Windows 7

    Note

    To add a Mailbox server to a database availability group (DAG), the server must be running Windows Server 2008 Enterprise Service Pack 2 or Windows Server 2008 Enterprise R2.

Install the Exchange 2010 SP1 Hotfixes for Windows Server 2008 SP2

The following hotfixes are required for Windows Server 2008 SP2:

Install the Exchange 2010 SP1 Hotfixes for Windows Server 2008 R2

The following hotfixes are required for the Client Access server for Windows Server 2008 R2:

Install the Exchange 2010 SP1 Hotfixes for Windows 7 and Windows Vista

The following hotfixes are required for Windows 7 and Windows Vista:

Install the Windows Server 2008 SP2 prerequisites

  1. On servers that will host the Hub Transport or Mailbox server role, install the Microsoft Filter Pack. For details, see: 2007 Office System Converter: Microsoft Filter Pack

  2. Open an elevated command prompt, navigate to the Scripts folder on the Exchange 2010 installation media and use one of the following commands to install the necessary operating system components:

    1. For a server that will have the typical installation of Client Access, Hub Transport, and the Mailbox role:

      sc config NetTcpPortSharing start= auto
ServerManagerCmd -ip Exchange-Typical.xml -Restart

    2. For a server that will host only the Client Access role:

      sc config NetTcpPortSharing start= auto
ServerManagerCmd -ip Exchange-CAS.xml -Restart

    3. For a server that will host only the Hub Transport role:

      ServerManagerCmd -ip Exchange-Hub.xml -Restart

    4. For a server that will host only the Mailbox role:

      ServerManagerCmd -ip Exchange-MBX.xml -Restart

    5. For a server that will host only the Unified Messaging role:

      ServerManagerCmd -ip Exchange-UM.xml -Restart

    6. For a server that will host the Edge Transport role:

      ServerManagerCmd -ip Exchange-Edge.xml -Restart

Install the Exchange 2010 SP1 Hotfixes for Windows Server 2008 SP2

The following hotfix is required for Windows Server 2008 SP2 and must be installed after the operating system prerequisites have been installed:

After installing the preceding prerequisites and hotfix, and before installing Exchange 2010, we recommend that you install any critical or recommended updates from Microsoft Update.

Install the Windows Server 2008 R2 prerequisites

  1. On servers that will host the Hub Transport or Mailbox server role, install the Microsoft Filter Pack. For details, see: 2007 Office System Converter: Microsoft Filter Pack

  2. On the Start Menu, navigate to All Programs, then Accessories, then Windows PowerShell. Open an elevated Windows PowerShell console, and run the following command:

    Import-Module ServerManager

  3. Use the Add-WindowsFeature cmdlet to install the necessary operating system components:

    1. For a server that will have the typical installation of Client Access, Hub Transport, and the Mailbox role:

      Add-WindowsFeature NET-Framework,RSAT-ADDS,Web-Server,Web-Basic-Auth,Web-Windows-Auth,Web-Metabase,Web-Net-Ext,Web-Lgcy-Mgmt-Console,WAS-Process-Model,RSAT-Web-Server,Web-ISAPI-Ext,Web-Digest-Auth,Web-Dyn-Compression,NET-HTTP-Activation,RPC-Over-HTTP-Proxy -Restart

    2. For a server that will host only the Client Access role:

      Add-WindowsFeature NET-Framework,RSAT-ADDS,Web-Server,Web-Basic-Auth,Web-Windows-Auth,Web-Metabase,Web-Net-Ext,Web-Lgcy-Mgmt-Console,WAS-Process-Model,RSAT-Web-Server,Web-ISAPI-Ext,Web-Digest-Auth,Web-Dyn-Compression,NET-HTTP-Activation,RPC-Over-HTTP-Proxy -Restart

    3. For a server that will host the Hub Transport or the Mailbox role:

      Add-WindowsFeature NET-Framework,RSAT-ADDS,Web-Server,Web-Basic-Auth,Web-Windows-Auth,Web-Metabase,Web-Net-Ext,Web-Lgcy-Mgmt-Console,WAS-Process-Model,RSAT-Web-Server -Restart

    4. For a server that will host only the Unified Messaging role:

      Add-WindowsFeature NET-Framework,RSAT-ADDS,Web-Server,Web-Basic-Auth,Web-Windows-Auth,Web-Metabase,Web-Net-Ext,Web-Lgcy-Mgmt-Console,WAS-Process-Model,RSAT-Web-Server,Desktop-Experience -Restart

    5. For a server that will host the Edge Transport role:

      Add-WindowsFeature NET-Framework,RSAT-ADDS,ADLDS -Restart

  4. After the system has restarted, log on as an administrator, open an elevated Windows PowerShell console, and configure the Net.Tcp Port Sharing Service for Automatic startup by running the following command:

    Set-Service NetTcpPortSharing -StartupType Automatic

Install the Exchange 2010 SP1 Hotfixes for Windows Server 2008 R2

The following hotfix is required for Windows Server 2008 R2 and must be installed after the operating system prerequisites have been installed:

After installing the preceding prerequisites and hotfix, and before installing Exchange 2010, we recommend that you install any critical or recommended updates from Microsoft Update.

Windows Management Framework

  • Windows PowerShell V2.0

  • Windows Remote Management V2.0

  • .NET Framework 3.5 SP1

  • Internet Information Services (IIS)

Language Support

An Exchange 2010 SP2 language pack contains the necessary resources for a supported Exchange language. Language packs are installed automatically during deployment of Exchange 2010 SP2. Client and server language packs come grouped into a single bundle containing both client and server resource and support files. There are no performance issues with installing all the languages because they're just stored when not in use.

Learn more at: Exchange 2010 Language Support

Exchange Management Shell

The Exchange Management Shell, built on Windows PowerShell technology, provides a powerful command-line interface for Microsoft Exchange 2010 that enables automation of administrative tasks.

With the Shell, you can manage every aspect of Exchange 2010; the Shell can perform every task that can be performed by the Exchange Management Console and the Exchange Control Panel in addition to tasks that can't be performed in those interfaces. In fact, when a task is performed in the Console or the Control Panel, those interfaces use the Shell to perform the task.

Learn more at: Overview of Exchange Management Shell

Exchange Management Console

The Exchange Management Console (EMC) is a Microsoft Management Console (MMC) 3.0-based tool that provides you with a GUI to manage the configuration of your Exchange 2010 organization. You can also add the EMC snap-in to custom MMC-based tools.

Learn more at: Exchange Management Console