In order to install Exchange 2010 there are various prerequisites that are required. One of those is .NET Framework 3.5 SP 1, If you try and install the dotnetfx35Setup file you’ll get the following error:-

What you’ll need to do is install .NET framework using the Add Features Wizard as shown below:-

Then you can carry with the installation of Exchange 2010 (providing you have completed the remaining requirements - http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb691354.aspx)

Written by Daniel Kenyon-Smith

ServerManagerCmd is deprecated in R2 (we are trying to move away from that model although it still works) See http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb691354(EXCHG.140).aspx#WS08R2  (The new command is now Add-WindowsFeature)

Written by Daniel Kenyon-Smith

Hi

please Join me at this event to talk about Exchange 2010, you can register here

Download Exchange 2007 SP2 and see what's new:-

• Deploying Exchange Server 2010
• Exchange Backup Functionality
• Enhanced Auditing
• Dynamic Active Directory Schema Validation
• Public Folder Quota Management
• Centralized Organizational Settings

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=c6d27da1-ba2c-4570-a491-c0d7b39ede8b&displaylang=en

Have fun!

Take a look at the new guidance for combing HT and CAS and you can install both roles by running Setup.com /mode:install /role:H,C (nice and easy)

Written by Daniel Kenyon-Smith

Having spoke with a few customers about whether a local CCR and SCR is the best solution or a stretched CCR across 2 data centres I thought I'd write a post.

There is no right and wrong answer to that question, in typical consulting style 'it depends'. There are various factors to take into consideration when designing the right solution for your customer:-

• Network Infrastructure such as data centre locations, network bandwidth, latency, redundant links (including switches)
• Customer requirements (do they require full site resilience without manual intervention)
• Cost
• Does the customer currently have the right skills to manage the environment
• How many copies or the database are required, (2 with a stretched cluster, 3 with CCR and SCR)
• Can a 3rd data centre be used to host the File Share Witness (FSW)

There are also some factors to think about from the client side, such as DNS refresh. If the customer doesn't have a stretched Virtual LAN (VLAN) between data centres, the cluster will be assigned 1 Network Name resource and 2 IP address resources (since both nodes are separate IP subnets).  When the the clustered mailbox server (CMS)fails over the CMS will be assigned a different IP. As part of the cluster configuration in Windows 2008 we recommend the default DNS TTL value for the CMS Network Name resource should be changed.

By default the cluster service has a setting of 20mins, you need to be careful if you change the DNS TTL value through the DNS management console as this will be over written by the cluster settings. So if you want to change the default value from 20mins to our recommended setting of 5 mins you'll need to make the change through cluster administrator.

In order to make this change you'll need Local Admin on each node in the cluster and have full control permission to the cluster.

From a cmd prompt run - cluster.exe res <CMSNetworkNameResource> /priv HostRecordTTL=300 (where 300 is the recommended 5 mins as mentioned above)

Take the cluster offline by running Stop-ClusteredMailboxServer cmdlet in Power Shell

Bring the cluster back online by running Start-ClusteredMailboxServer cmdlet.

I’ve listed below a few risks and how they can be mitigated if you do decide to go with a stretched CCR over CCR + SCR

Written by Daniel Kenyon-Smith

Check out the WindowsITPro ‘Guide to Migrating Public Folders to SharePoint’ well worth a read

Written By Daniel Kenyon-Smith

In order to relocate the ADAM database and logs on Edge you need edit the ConfigureAdam.PS1 to update the location of dsbutil.exe as shown below

Then for example run:-

configureAdam.PS1 –logpath:”E:\Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\TRansportRoles\Data\Adam –DataPath:”D:\Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\TRansportRoles\Data\Adam

This will relocate the logs and database to the locations specified

Written By Daniel Kenyon-Smith

In Exchange 2007 SP1 the default database cache size is set to 128MB, to allow for better cache growth. The new guidance is to increase the DatabaseMaxCacheSize from 128MB to 512MB (on Hub Transport servers with more than 4GB of RAM)

This can be done editing the EdgeTransport.exe.config file as shown below:-

More details can found on Microsoft Exchange Team Blog

Written by Daniel Kenyon-Smith

Whilst working for a customer they had a specific requirement to apply a disclaimer to all outbound mail e.g. not to apply disclaimers to mail sent to other users within the Exchange organisation. Their requirement also included to only apply the disclaimer if it had not already been applied (or where it contained the same text). So i created a powershell script to do this:-

Get-TransportRulePredicate SubjectOrBodyContains

$Action = get-TransportRuleAction ApplyDisclaimer

$Action.Text = “my test disclaimer”

Get-TransportRulePredicate SubjectOrBodyContains

$Exception = Get-TransportRulePredicate SubjectOrBodyContains

$Exception.Words = @("My test disclaimer”)

$Condition = Get-TransportRulePredicate SentToScope

$Condition.Scope = "NotInOrganization"

New-TransportRule –Name “My test” –Action @($Action) –Exception @($Exception) –Condition @($Condition)

Written by Daniel Kenyon-Smith

I created a cert the other day for a customer so thought I'd share the Powershell command, you never know it might help!

New-ExchangeCertificate -GenerateRequest -Path c:\CompanyA.csr -KeySize 2048 -SubjectName "c=GB, s=London, l=London, o=CompanyA, cn=Mail.CompanyA.com" -DomainName Server1.CompanyA.com, Server2.CompanyA.com, Autodiscover.CompanyA.com, Server1, Server2 -PrivateKeyExportable $True

This cert will allow CompanyA to access external services to exchange, such as Exchange Active sync (EAS), Outlook Web Access (OWA), Autodiscover, Outlook Anywhere (RPC/HTTPS), etc…

Obviously in order to access these services you will need to setup ISA and publish the relevant rules. In this example Mail.CompanyA.com will be configured in ISA as a multiple path rule, allowing a single url for client access to services like OWA and EAS for example.

Written by Daniel Kenyon-Smith

So another Exchange 2010 snack has been released for your viewing pleasure!

Unified Messaging in Exchange Server 2010

Written By Daniel Kenyon-Smith

Learning snacks are short and interactive presentations on popular technologies, see this one for Exchange 2010, more to follow.

Take a look at the Learning snack portal for other great presentations.

Written by Daniel Kenyon-Smith

Come and attend my presentation on Exchange 2007 capacity planning, the link is below:-

http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/WebCastEventDetails.aspx?culture=en-GB&EventID=1032398347&CountryCode=GB

Avoid Constant Interruptions for Quiet Work Time
How many interruptions do you get every day? It's nearly impossible to complete anything when you allow constant interruptions from the phone, people stopping by your office, and instant messaging.
In Microsoft Office Outlook, you can book yourself a recurring appointment for an hour a day to process e-mail, and mark the time as Busy. During this time, don't answer the phone or permit interruptions, and work only on dealing with your Inbox.
At first, keeping these appointments will take discipline. But over time, it will become a habit. And after you get to zero e-mail in your Inbox, you'll see the value of this one hour a day and stick to it.

2003 to 2007 Tri-Pane Review
In Microsoft Office Word 2003, you can use the Compare Side-by-Side command to display two documents next to each other so that you can compare them. However, this is only a view and doesn't indicate actual changes to the document. The Compare and Merge command shows document changes but automatically merges the two together, regardless of whether or not you're ready.
In Microsoft Office Word 2007, a side-by-side view is still available if you want it, but the Compare feature now offers a tri-pane review: the original document in one pane, the revised document in another pane, and a combined version of the document with changes marked in a third pane. The tri-pane view shows document changes even if the other person forgot to turn on the Track Changes feature. If you want to keep the combined document, you can simply save it as a separate file.

Written by Daniel Kenyon-Smith

Choose a Signature for Different Recipients in Microsoft Office Outlook 2007
If you want to use a different e-mail signature for different recipients (a different one for coworkers than for customers, for example), you can change your signature with two mouse clicks. Right-click your signature, and then click the other signature that you want to use.

Edit SharePoint Calendars from Outlook
You can add Microsoft SharePoint calendars to Microsoft Office Outlook.
1. In a SharePoint calendar, click Actions, and then click Connect to Outlook. This makes the SharePoint calendar available to your copy of Outlook.
2. In Outlook, go to the Calendar view.
3. On the left side, select the SharePoint calendar under Other Calendars. You will have the same viewing and editing rights from within Outlook that you have within SharePoint.

Minimize the Ribbon
The Ribbon helps you access more of the commands you need, when you need them. But if you want to see the Ribbon only when you need it, you can minimize it so that only the tab names appear all the time. To minimize the Ribbon in any program, double-click any tab name, or press CTRL+F1. You can also right-click any tab name for the option to minimize the Ribbon.

Written by Daniel Kenton-Smith

Sending E-Mail to OneNote
To send an e-mail message to Microsoft Office OneNote 2007:
1. In your Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 Inbox, open the e-mail message that you want to send to OneNote.
2. Click the Send to OneNote button.
3. Switch to the Unfiled Notes section of OneNote to find the e-mail message.
4. Drag the page that contains the e-mail message to where you want it in your notebook.

Written by Daniel Kenyon-Smith

Initiate a Chat Session from Within Groove by Using Office Communicator
When you are running Microsoft Office Groove 2007 and Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 or 2005, you can view the awareness states (such as online, busy, or away) of your Communicator contacts directly from the Groove Launchbar or a Groove workspace. When a contact is available, you can right-click to initiate a Communicator real-time chat or phone call with that contact directly from the Groove interface.

Written by Daniel Kenyon-Smith

Whilst hard at work I've been finding a few little tips and tricks using word, Excel and PowerPoint 2007 to help improve my user experience!

So I thought why not create a mini series and blog about the features that are helping me on a daily basis. I'll update the series every week.

So here we go with the 1st one:-

Split the Screen
In Microsoft Office Word, on the View tab, in the Window section, click Split. This splits the screen and displays a dividing line in the current window. To switch between the screens, use the F6 key.

Written by Daniel kenyon-Smith

I have recently spoken with customers who have a single label domain and have asked the question whether the next version of Exchange will be supported. It's still a recommendation to move from a SLD, but we do support it, see for more details -

http://msexchangeteam.com/archive/2009/01/27/450514.aspx

Written by Daniel Kenyon-Smith

Written by Daniel Kenyon-Smith

If you're evaluating Windows 7 and need show off some of it's great new features to management, here is a short and sweet set of WOW factors you can demo in 7 minutes so you get the biggest impact in a short space of time:-

1. Pin your apps to start menu, like Powerpoint, Word or even Virtual PC and see the recent history.
2. Use multi preview from the task bar, demo IE for example and show you can get straight to the webpage you want without having to open IE and click the relevant tab.
3. Show that if you have multiple windows open by 'shaking' one of them all the others will minimise/maximise.
4. Move your gadgets anywhere in Windows 7.
5. View your desktop by peeking through Windows.
6. Right click on the task bar icon for IE for example and see your recent URL's.
7. And then.......connect to an internal site and show you have been connected to the Corp network all the time without the need to VPN by using Direct Access

you can even use shortcut keys to demo some of the above.

Written by Daniel Kenyon-Smith

Here is a list of some shortcut keys in Windows 7:-

Enjoy!

Written by Daniel Kenyon-Smith

Before you install Exchange 2007 SP1 onto a Windows 2008 server you'll need ensure that prerequisites are installed, by default .NET Framework 2.0 and Microsoft Management Console (MMC) will be installed but you'll need to install Windows PowerShell.

Note: You won't need to go looking around on the Internet for PowerShell all you'll need to do is:-

• Go to Control Panel
• Programs and features
• Select 'Turn windows features on or off'
• From Server Manager, click on Features and 'Add Features'
• Then scroll down and select WindowsPowershell (as Show below)

Written by Daniel Kenyon-Smith