Special Edition Microsoft Exchange Server 5.5

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Installing Exchange Server



Before proceeding with the Microsoft Exchange Server installation, you should make sure the machine(s) that will be used have the basic resources necessary to accomplish the task. The following lists show the minimum hardware and software requirements necessary for installing the Exchange Server.

Required Hardware: For Intel and compatible systems

Minimum:

Recommended:

Required Software:

Microsoft Windows NT Server is the base network operating system. You should install the appropriate Service Pack on the Windows NT Server to be used before you begin the Microsoft Exchange Server installation.

If you want access from a Novell NetWare 3.xx or 4.xx file server, the Windows NT NW-LINK and the NW-LINK NetBIOS protocol services need to be loaded on the Windows NT Server. This is a widely used protocol because, unlike NetBEUI, it is routable.

For a new or existing mail system to use the Microsoft Exchange Server to transfer messages over the Internet, the Internet Mail Service must be configured. To use the Internet Mail Service, you must have the Windows NT TCP/IP protocol installed and properly configured. For more information on SMTP connections and the Internet Mail Service, refer to Chapter 22, "Configuring the IMS."

Optional Components and Services:

Microsoft Internet Information Server version 3.0 is a requirement of the Active Server Components. These enable you to access mailboxes, discussion groups, public folders, and the directory on Microsoft Exchange using any Web browser.

Macintosh Services is necessary in order for MS Mail AppleTalk clients to access the Microsoft Mail Connector, which is the liaison between the AppleTalk clients and the Microsoft Exchange Server.


NOTE: Microsoft Exchange Server 5.5 ships with the Outlook desktop information manager (version 8.03) and includes a MacOS-compatible version.

The preceding lists outline the typical requirements. To enhance the performance of the system running the Windows NT Server and the Exchange Server, you should use at least a 90MHz processor with 64 MB of RAM. For busy sites, you should use 1 GB of hard disk space. This disk space requirement does not account for user mail message stored on the server. Depending on the number of users, you will need to add additional server hard drive storage to accommodate the Information Stores.

Preparing for Server and Site Setups

Before installing the Exchange Server, you will need to gather some relevant information about the business or organization. This includes the number of users, usage patterns of e-mail, geographic locations, managerial style of the IS departments (central or distributed management), and more. You want to determine how the Exchange Servers fit into the overall company plan.

You should review these other topics before designing and installing the Exchange Server message system:

Gathering Information Used During the Installation

During the setup process, you are asked to answer questions regarding your organization and the Exchange Server. Because some of the information can be changed only by reinstalling the Exchange Server, review the naming schemes that will be used for the message system and confirm that they are set.

You should have the following information before you begin the installation process:

When designing the naming scheme for the Exchange Server Message system, use logical names with information relative to the end users and IS administrators. Because of the nature of Mail system standards, these names are case-sensitive. To avoid confusion, check each name you enter before continuing; these names are used throughout the entire message system.

Setting Up a Single Server

The first Microsoft Exchange Server to be installed in a new site is the most important. All other Exchange Server installations within the same site refer to this Exchange Server for configuration information.

These are the basic steps for installing the first or only Exchange Server in a site or organization:

1. Create the Service Account.

2. Configure the Exchange Server Administrators Group.

3. Install the Exchange Server software.

4. Grant the Exchange Server administrators permissions for the site.

The following sections break down each of these steps and cover them in detail.

Creating the Service Account

Exchange Server uses the Service Account to run its services on the given Windows NT Server. The account is granted the "Log on as a service" right. To create and join a new Exchange Server within the same site, the Service Account name and password are required. Exchange Server Setup uses this account to transfer the configuration files to the new Exchange Server. Furthermore, all Exchange Servers in the same site use this account to communicate with one another.

The following steps help you to create the Service Account:

1. Log on to the Windows NT Server as the Domain Administrator or equivalent.


NOTE: You must log in to the same domain that holds the system for which you plan to create the account.
2. Click the Start button, select Programs, and open Administrative Tools. Then open User Manager for Domains.

3. From the User menu, choose New User.

4. In the New User dialog box (see Figure 6.1), enter the information you have listed for the Service Account.

5. Check the box titled User Cannot Change Password.

6. Check the box for Password Never Expires.

7. Remove the check from the box that says User Must Change Password at Next Logon.

8. Remove the check from the box that says Account Disabled.

9. Choose Add.

10. Choose Close.

The Service Account is created, and you are ready to create the Exchange Administrators Group.

FIG. 6.1 You can add the Service Account.

Creating the Exchange Administrators Group

The Exchange Administrators Group should consist of all the users permitted to administer Exchange. This group is a Global Group. Keep in mind that all users who become a member of this group have full control of Exchange and all of its features.

The following steps help you create the Exchange Administrators Group:

1. Log on as a Domain Administrator to the Windows NT Server that is in the same domain as the Exchange Server. This Windows NT Server will be the central location for the administrative functions of Exchange.

2. Click the Start button, select Programs, and open Administrative Tools. Then open User Manager for Domains.

3. From the User menu, choose New Global Group. The New Global Group dialog box appears (see Figure 6.2).

4. Type the name and a brief description for the newly created group.


NOTE: You will be required to know this group account name later in the installation and during setup of the Microsoft Exchange Server. Refer to the section "Granting the Administrators Group Permissions for the Site." n

The Exchange Administrators Group is created, and you are ready to install the Exchange Server software.

FIG. 6.2 Creating the Exchange Administrators group.

Installing the Exchange Server Software

Before beginning the actual installation, you should check the following things:

The following steps help you to install the Exchange Server and create the first or only Exchange Server site:

1. Log on to the Windows NT Server as the Local Administrator.

2. Load the Exchange Server CD-ROM into the CD-ROM drive.

3. Double-click the My Computer icon and then the CD-ROM icon.

4. Familiarize yourself with the directory structure on the Exchange CD-ROM.

5. Locate and change directories to the Setup directory.

6. Locate and change directories to one of the computer types. For example, to use Alpha, i386, you would type d:\SETUP\i386.

7. Choose SETUP.EXE. Then click Accept to continue past the Licensing dialog box.


NOTE: If you plan to use Server Components (which enable you to access mailboxes, discussion groups, public folders, and the directory on Exchange using any Web browser), you must first install Internet Information Server 3.0. Then when installing Exchange, you must use the Complete/Custom install option and be sure that the Active Server Components box is checked.
8. An Installation Options box appears (see Figure 6.3). Select the desired type of installation and the location to which the files should be copied. The following are the installation options from which you can choose:


NOTE: One of the selections in the preceding list might not appear on-screen. The reason is that there is not enough disk space for that particular option. If that happens, choose another type of installation or a different file location on another volume that has enough disk space to handle the installation.
9. If you selected the Typical or Minimum installation, skip to step 10.

If you selected the Complete/Custom installation, the next screen to appear is the Exchange Server component selection screen. You select the components you want installed by checking the box pertaining to the component; if you don't want a particular component installed, you remove the check from the box. The following list shows the components and their subcomponents available for selection during installation:

Click Continue to proceed with the installation.


NOTE: To perform a Complete installation, you need a minimum of 113,920 KB of disk space. This does not include disk space for user mailboxes--just the Exchange system files.

FIG. 6.3 Choose your preferred installation option when setting up the Exchange Server.

10. Click the check box to select Per Seat licensing, and then click OK.

11. In the Organization and Site dialog box (see Figure 6.4), choose Create a New Site. Then enter the Organization Name and Site Name (both are mandatory) and click OK.

FIG. 6.4 Creating a new Exchange site.

12. A dialog box appears, asking, "Are you sure you want to create a new site?" Choose Yes.

13. Next, the Site Services Account box appears, requesting that you choose the Service Account (see Figure 6.5). Enter the Service Account name and password that you created at the beginning of this chapter.

FIG. 6.5 Enter the Service Account name and the appropriate password.

Alternatively, you can click Browse and then choose the account from the list provided. Choose Add, and then click OK.

14. A dialog box appears, confirming that the rights have been granted (see Figure 6.6). Choose OK.

FIG. 6.6 You should verify that the proper rights have been granted.

15. To complete the installation, choose OK in the next dialog box. Exchange Server Setup copies the Exchange Server files and installs the services to the selected Windows NT Server.

16. When the installation is complete, a dialog box appears asking whether the Exchange Server Optimizer should be run (see Figure 6.7). Select Run Optimizer to have the Exchange Server Optimizer analyze your hardware configuration. The Optimizer also arranges files on the Windows NT Server for optimum performance.


NOTE: Running the Optimizer is critical to the efficient operation of the Exchange Server. You do not have to run the Exchange Server Optimizer at this time; however, it should be run before Exchange is rolled out to live users.

FIG. 6.7 Running Setup and the Exchange Server Optimizer gets the Exchange Server up and running.

17. Although not required, it is a good idea to reboot Windows NT after the installation process is complete. This verifies that the services will start automatically and without error.

This completes the installation of the first or only Exchange Server at a single site.

Granting the Administrators Group Permissions for the Site

In order for the Microsoft Exchange Server to be administered, permissions have to be granted to the Administrators Group. The following steps provide a description of procedures for completing this task:

1. Click the Start button and select the Programs Icon. Then select the Exchange icon, followed by the Exchange Administration icon.

2. Connect to the new Exchange Server.

3. Select the File menu and choose Properties. Then choose the Permissions tab. You will see the Permissions tab of the Properties sheet(see Figure 6.8). Click the Add button, and a list of Windows NT user accounts and groups appears.

FIG. 6.8 The Permissions tab shows Windows NT user accounts for this site.

4. Select the Microsoft Windows NT domain that you want.

5. In the dialog box shown in Figure 6.9, select the user(s) or group(s) you want to add to the Administrators Group.

Alternatively, you can manually enter the user and group names. In the Add Name box, type the domain name, followed by a backslash, followed by the user account or group name, such as Domain1\User1. Click Add. Then click OK to return to the Properties sheet.

FIG. 6.9 You can choose users and groups that are to be added to the Administrators Group.

6. To continue to designate additional properties, choose Apply to activate the properties you've entered so far. If you're finished changing properties, click OK to apply the changes, close the Properties sheet, and return to the Administrators window.

7. Two other containers need to be assigned administrative privileges: the Organization container at the very top of the list and the Configuration container listed just below the Site. Repeat the preceding steps on each of these containers.

The Administrators Group has now been granted the permissions necessary for accomplishing administrative needs.

Setting Up Additional Servers at the Same Location

The procedure for setting up additional Exchange Servers at the same site are similar to the steps you used to create the first or only Exchange Server. The major difference between setting up the first Exchange Server and a second one occurs at step 11 of the directions pertaining to the creation of a new Exchange Server site.

In step 11, the Organization and Site dialog box appears. Choose the Join an Existing Site option button (see Figure 6.10). Then enter the name of an available Exchange Server and choose OK. The new server receives the site's configuration information from the specified Exchange Server and is added to the existing site. You should continue through the end of the process for creating a new Exchange Server.

FIG. 6.10 Placing a new Exchange Server into an existing site.


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