David Strome's Blog : Exchange Server 2007

Exchange 2007 “How Do I?” Videos

dstrome — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 01:51:20 GMT

If you want to learn more about Microsoft Exchange Server 2007, check out the “How Do I?” videos that we’ve published in the Exchange TechCenter library. These videos combine narration and step-by-step procedures recorded on test servers. There are some great videos on how to:

More videos will be posted in the future on a variety of topics so check back regularly.

Exchange Server 2007 Community Annotation

dstrome — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 08:54:21 GMT

A few days ago we enabled community annotation on our Exchange Server 2007 documentation (Exchange Server 2003 documentation got this a few months ago). Community annotation enables you to add your own mark to our docs so that you can share things you've learned with your fellow Exchange admins. Find a great way to set something up? Learn something new that you haven't found in the docs? Add it all to the community content section of the Exchange docs and let the rest of the world know!

You can add community content to any Exchange Server 2007 or Exchange Server 2003 topic at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa996058(EXCHG.80).aspx.

Find details about community annotation on the MS Exchange Team blog.

If you have feedback on how the community content feature works, feel free to send a message via the contact page.

Exchange Server 2007 Cmdlet Examples

dstrome — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 06:16:40 GMT

If you're new to Windows PowerShell and Exchange Server 2007, take a look at this link: http://www.microsoft.com/technet/scriptcenter/scripts/message/exch2007/default.mspx?mfr=true. The link goes to the Exchange Server 2007 Script Repository which contains a few dozen cmdlet and script examples for common administrative tasks. It's a really useful resource if you're just getting started.

Take a look and if you have any suggestions for examples we should add, be sure to send me a note via the Email page or post a comment.

Exchange Server 2007 SP1 Single Label Domain Update Now Available

dstrome — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 09:26:20 GMT

Ed Beck announced that we have released the English language version of the prerequisite check file for Exchange Server SP1 setup that will allow you to install Exchange 2007 SP1 in a single label Active Directory domain. You can find all the instructions on how to download and install the prerequisite check file at the Exchange Team blog. The English language update can only be installed on English language versions of Exchange Server 2007 but future localized versions will be released in the near future.

As mentioned previously in Exchange Server 2007 SP1 and Single Label Domain Names, we recommend that you move away from single label domains. The next major version of Exchange Server after Exchange Server 2007 SP1 will not support single label domains.

Exchange Server 2007 SP1 and Single Label Domain Names

dstrome — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 20:53:07 GMT

I've received questions on the past regarding this issue so wanted to post this update here.

Ed Beck from our Exchange Supportability team posted an article on the Microsoft Exchange Team blog Friday with an update about Active Directory domains with single label domain names (SLD) and Exchange Server 2007 SP1. Ed states, "After investigating Exchange 2007 Service Pack 1 installed in an Active Directory domain with a Single-label Domain (SLD) name, Microsoft has changed the Setup prerequisite rule for SLDs from an Error to a Warning, thereby allowing Service Pack 1 installation to continue in SLD environments.".

An SLD is a domain name such as "contoso" instead of a fully qualified domain name (FQDN) such as "contoso.com".

There are several issues and recommendations you must be aware of to use SLDs in your environment, most notably that Exchange Server 2007 SP1 will be the last major release of Exchange Server that will support them (a list of issues and recommendations is available in the article). The next major release of Exchange Server will not support SLDs.

In order to install the next major release of Exchange Server after Exchange Server 2007 SP1, you'll need to first migrate away from your single label domain (if you're still on Exchange 2003 and haven't prepared your organization for Exchange 2007 yet, now is the time to change your domain name to an FQDN). As mentioned in the article, Microsoft strongly recommends that you move out of this configuration.

The URL to the article is http://msexchangeteam.com/archive/2008/02/15/448140.aspx. Check back here or at the Microsoft Exchange Team Blog. We'll notify you when the updated setup rules are available.

February 2008 Exchange Server 2007 Documentation Updates

dstrome — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 09:45:54 GMT

Check out the Exchange Server 2007 documentation update notes for a list of topics that were updated today in our February refresh.

We also released an updated Exchange Management Shell help file. This help update brings the Exchange Management Shell help in sync with the content available on the Microsoft TechNet site and in the Exchange Server 2007 product help file.

To update the Exchange Management Shell help, download the updated help file and extract it over top of the existing Exchange Management Shell Help file, Microsoft.Exchange.Management-Help.xml. By default the help file will extract to C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\Bin\en. If you installed Exchange Server 2007 to a different path, or if your installation locale is not English (en), modify your path accordingly.

Once you have extracted the updated help file to the correct location, close the Exchange Management Shell and re-open it to load the updated help file.

David.

Exchange Server 2007 SP1 Featured in TechNet Magazine

dstrome — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 10:22:05 GMT

In case you missed it, check out the December 2007 edition of TechNet Magazine which focuses on Exchange Server 2007 SP1. The Exchange-related feature articles included in this edition of TechNet Magazine are:

Don't forget that the December 2006 edition of TechNet Magazine also focused on Exchange Server 2007. While the articles in this edition of TechNet Magazine are based on a pre-release version of Exchange 2007, they still contain a wealth of information. I highly recommend you check them out. The Exchange-related feature articles included in this edition of TechNet Magazine are:

Exchange Management Shell Tips and Quick Reference

dstrome — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 02:40:43 GMT

I'm sitting here watching downhill skiing (a Canadian finished third! woo!), recovering from Christmas and a nasty cold. Colds aren't fun. But getting one at Christmas is just wrong. So I'm planted in an easy chair, staring at the TV. Bored. I've even clicked through pretty much all the various greetings that pop up when you play Scrabulous on Facebook. Did you know that Aloha means not only 'hello' and 'goodbye', but also reflects affection, love, mercy and compassion? You would if played Scrabulous (I hope they're right). Anyways. I want to highlight a couple of Exchange Server 2007 help topics that you may not have come across.

Exchange Management Shell Tips

When you open the Exchange Management Shell, a greeting is displayed to you with useful commands and a tip as is shown in the following screen shot:

Every time you open the shell, you receive a new tip. You can also bring up new tips by using the Get-Tip cmdlet. There are a few dozen tips available in the shell and the Get-Tip cmdlet (it's actually a function that gets defined in Exchange.ps1 in C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\bin and reads from an XML file in the directory that relates to your locale within the bin directory) randomly chooses one each time it's run. We figured it would be a good idea to take the tips and publish them as a single topic so that you could easily browse through them and discover tips that make your life easier.

The Exchange Management Shell Tips of the Day topic lists all of the tips along with links off to relevant topics for each time. Take a look through - I'm sure there are at least a couple of tips that would be useful to you. Be sure to take a look at the other topics beneath Understanding the Exchange Management Shell also. There's lots of good information for those who are new to the shell.

Exchange Management Shell Quick Reference

The second topic I wanted to highlight is the Exchange Management Shell Quick Reference downloadable sheet available at http://www.microsoft.com/downloads (you can get to it directly by clicking this link: Exchange Management Shell Quick Reference). When you click on the link, you will be prompted to download quickref.exe which when run will extract two files to the default location c:\ExQuickRef. Browse to that directory and then open ExQuick.htm.

The Exchange Management Shell Quick Reference sheet contains several dozen common commands that are categorized by task. For example, if you want examples of commands used to manage mailboxes, click on Mailbox Management. Below is a screenshot of a small section of the mailbox management section:

I recommend that you download the sheet and print it out so you have easy access to it.

For both the tips of the day and the quick reference topics, feel free to send in tips or examples commands that you use frequently or would benefit other administrators. For the tips, please use the feedback mechanism on the page to submit tip ideas - they will get entered into a database and assigned directly to me. For the quick reference, add a comment to this post, or if the comments eventually close, feel free to submit ideas through the contact form. I'd love to hear about ideas you have.

Hope you all have a great and safe New Years. I think it's time for a nap.

David.