by Greg Todd
Setting up the Exchange client software is a simple matter. Microsoft has created a very easy process for installing the Exchange client software regardless of the operating system you are running. The Exchange client software runs on Windows NT, Windows 95, Windows for Workgroups 3.11, and MS-DOS 6.2.
This chapter covers the following topics:
First, this chapter identifies items to consider before installing the Exchange client. These items are basic but they're worth mentioning. Next, this chapter steps through the process of installing the client software with screen shots from each operating system. Finally, this chapter examines the Exchange Setup Editor, a program that selects defaults for the setup process to make it even easier.
After you read this chapter, you should have a clear understanding of the Microsoft Exchange Client installation process and the Exchange Setup Editor.
Here are a few items to be aware of when getting ready to run the Setup program.
The first decision you need to make is which version of the Exchange client software to install. This is usually based upon the type of operating system you will use, but there can be other reasons for selecting a particular version, such as limited disk space.
As stated earlier in this chapter, the Exchange client runs under Windows NT, Windows 95, Windows for Workgroups 3.11, and MS-DOS 6.2. There are differences in the user interface of each version, particularly the DOS client because it's not running under Windows. Except for the differences in the user interface, you will find that each version functions basically the same, even the DOS version.
You must consider disk space when you are selecting which version to install. The Windows NT version takes around 10MB if you install just the bare essentialsalmost 21MB if you install Schedule+, all the help files, information services, and other stuff. The Windows 95 and Windows 3.x versions take approximately the same amount of space as the Windows NT version, give or take a couple megabytes.
In contrast, the DOS version takes only 2.5MB. But it provides the basic functionality of the Windows versions. If you're in a situation in which disk space is limited and you don't care about the nice Windows interface, this is a good option. And it actually works!
Next, be sure the machine on which you're installing the client is properly connected to the network and to the Exchange server. This is usually a foregone conclusion, but if you think you are connected to the network and you're not, it can be very frustrating when you try to run Exchange for the first time. And it sort of makes you feel dumb when you figure it out.
If you want to be sure, check with your network administrator. If you happen to be the network administrator, there are utilities such as Pingif you're running TCP/IPand RPC Pingif you're running any supported protocolthat can help determine if your client and server are talking over the network. RPC Ping is a very useful utility, and it is covered in Chapter 22, "Diagnosing the Cause of a Problem."
Of course, if you intend to install the client software when the machine on which you're installing is disconnected from the network, that's another matter. Maybe you only want to use Personal Folders. Or maybe you intend to use the client via a modem connection instead of over the network. It's not a problemin fact, Setup is designed to allow precisely this. You just won't be able to connect to the Exchange Server machine over the network.
Next, close any MAPI-based applications that are running. This includes applications such as Microsoft Mail. If you are installing under Windows 3.x, be sure all shared and system files are closed because Windows cannot update them if they are open.
Finally, if you intend to get up and running immediately after finishing Setup, be sure you have an account on the Exchange server to which you plan to connect.
To run Setup, find the appropriate Setup program, SETUP.EXE, on your Microsoft Exchange Client Software CD. It is in a directory that matches the language and operating system and computer type you have. For example, if you are running English Windows NT on an Intel-based machine, you will run Setup from the \Eng\WinNT\I386 directory.
The Windows NT Client for Microsoft Exchange requires Windows NT version 3.5 or higher. This requirement is different from the Exchange Server itself, which requires at least Windows NT 3.51 with Service Pack 4. The Windows NT version of the Exchange client is a full 32-bit implementation of the software.
If you are using an Intel-based machine, the Setup program will be in the \Eng\WinNT\I386 directory.
After you find the appropriate version of Setup and run it, you should see a screen that looks like Figure 11.1.
Figure 11.1. The Microsoft Exchange Client for Windows NT Setup opening screen.
After this screen, fill in your name and the name of your company, if applicable. If it isn't in the system already, this information is stored in the registry key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\MS Setup (ACME)\User Info
Next, select the destination folder in which the main application files will be installed. Also, you are presented with three installation options as shown in Figure 11.2. And, you can change the destination folder in which you will install Exchange.
Figure 11.2. The Microsoft Exchange Client for Windows NT will be installed in C:\EXCHANGE.
Typical installs the software necessary for normal operation of the Microsoft Exchange Client. Schedule+ is also installed. The main difference between this and the Complete install is this one does not include all the information service options.
Complete/Custom, as the name implies, enables you to choose which options to install from all options available. This includes online documentation, Schedule+ software, and information services.
Minimum installs only the bare minimum software to get Microsoft Exchange and Schedule+ up and running. Choose this option if you have limited disk space.
If everything goes OK, you see the files start to copy. At the end of this process, a Microsoft Exchange (Common) group is added as shown in Figure 11.3.
Figure 11.3. The Microsoft Exchange Client icons are in a Common group.
Also, in Control Panel you see an additional icon called Mail and Fax as in Figure 11.4. This is how Exchange profiles are managed. More on this in Chapter 12, "Configuring Microsoft Exchange Clients."
Figure 11.4. The Mail and Fax icon is installed in Control Panel by Setup.
At this point you are ready to run Exchange. When you run it for the first time, you are prompted for some information so Exchange can create your profile. You learn more about profiles in Chapter 12. All profiles are stored in
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\Windows Messaging Subsystem\Profiles.
There are also some keys kept in
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Exchange
and in
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Exchange
The MS-DOS Client for Microsoft Exchange requires MS-DOS version 5.0 or higher. I recommend MS-DOS 6.2. This version of the Exchange client is a 16-bit DOS application. It does, however, run under a Windows NT command prompt.
The Setup program will be in the \Eng\DOS directory.
After you find the appropriate version of Setup and run it, you see a screen that looks like Figure 11.5.
Figure 11.5. The Microsoft Exchange Client for MS-DOS Setup opening screen.
Next, you must choose one of the three install types as shown in Figure 11.6.
Figure 11.6. Local is the default type of installation for the MS-DOS Exchange client.
The Local option installs a copy of Exchange right on your local hard drive.
The Workstation option copies the necessary files from the shared installation point (put there previously by an administrator using the Shared option) to your local hard drive.
The Shared option copies the required files to a directory that is shared on the network so other users can perform a Workstation installation of the MS-DOS client.
After you select the option, select the destination directory in which you want to install the Exchange client software. Then select the local time zone and the language. A screen like Figure 11.7 appears.
Figure 11.7. Select which components to install for the MS-DOS client.
MS Exchange Program files installs the main Exchange client files. You have to select this option to get up and running.
MS Exchange Help files installs the help files so they are available when you run the MS-DOS client.
Shiva Remote files installs software that enables you to establish a remote PPP (Point to Point) connection with the network that contains the Exchange Server. It provides similar functionality to RAS (Remote Access Services), and it supports IPX, TCP/IP, and NetBEUI.
After this screen the files are copied and Setup is finished. You are ready to run Exchange for the first time. See Chapter 12 for more detail.
The Windows 95 Client for Microsoft Exchange requires the original version of Microsoft Windows 95 or later. On a typical Windows 95 system there is likely software installed called Exchangethat's what it says when you open the Inbox icon. This Exchange software needs to be upgraded to the full Exchange client to provide the ability to connect to Exchange Server.
There is some confusion with the nomenclature here. If you open the original Inbox installed with Windows 95, it runs software called Microsoft Exchange. And what you are now installing is called Microsoft Exchange also. The difference is that the original Windows 95 Microsoft Exchange client does not provide access to Exchange Serverit only provides access to MS Mail 3.x or Workgroup Postoffices. The new Exchange client included with Exchange Server does provide access to an Exchange server. Because Windows 95 was released earlier than Exchange Server, its bundled Exchange client has caused a mix up.
Not to worry. The upgraded version of the Exchange client is a full 32-bit implementation, and it provides access to a Microsoft Exchange server. And, like the Windows 95 Exchange client, it retains the capability to access MS Mail and Workgroup post offices.
The Setup program is in the \Eng\Win95 directory.
After you find the appropriate version of Setup and run it, you see the generic opening screen that resembles Figure 11.1 from earlier in this chapter.
The opening Setup screen for the Windows 95 client looks much the same as the other Windows versions of Exchange. Microsoft has tried to make the installation of Exchange as similar as possible across platforms.
After this screen, fill in your name and the name of your company, if applicable. If it isn't in the system already, this information is stored in the registry key
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\MS Setup (ACME)\User Info
Setup then searches for any existing Exchange client software. Assuming that the old Exchange client software was originally installed with Windows 95, Setup finds it and presents a screen something like Figure 11.8.
Figure 11.8. Setup finds the existing older version of Exchange originally installed with Windows 95.
Presumably, you want to upgrade over the existing version of Exchange, because it's probably not doing you much good unless you use MS Mail or the built-in fax capability. You can select the destination folder where the main application files will be installed, or click OK and move on.
Next, you are presented with the three installation options as shown in Figure 11.9. Also, you can change the destination folder where you will install Exchange.
Figure 11.9. The Microsoft Exchange Client for Windows 95 will be installed in C:\Program Files\Microsoft Exchange.
Typical installs the software necessary for normal operation of the Microsoft Exchange Client. Schedule+ is also installed. The main difference between this and the Complete install is that this install does not include all the Information Service options.
Complete/Custom, as the name implies, enables you to choose which options to install from all options available. This includes online documentation, Schedule+ software, and Information Services.
Minimum installs only the bare minimum software to get Microsoft Exchange and Schedule+ up and running. Choose this option if you have limited disk space.
If everything goes OK, the files start to copy. If this is the first time you've installed the new Exchange client, you must restart Windows 95 when Setup finishes as shown in Figure 11.10.
Figure 11.10. Restart Windows 95 after the initial installation of the Exchange client.
The requirement to restart is different from the Windows NT installation, which does not require a restart.
In this example, I have chosen the Typical installation. Microsoft Exchange and Schedule+ icons are added to the menus as shown in Figure 11.11.
Figure 11.11. The Microsoft Exchange Client icons are added to the menu.
Also, in Control Panel the icon called Mail and Fax still exists as in Figure 11.12. As I mentioned in the section, "The Windows NT Client," this is how Exchange profiles are managed. However, with your new version of the Windows 95 Exchange client, now you have the capability to configure a profile that connects to Microsoft Exchange Server. More on this in Chapter 12.
Figure 11.12. You use the Mail and Fax icon in the Control Panel to configure Exchange profiles.
At this point, you are ready to run Exchange. When you run it for the first time you are prompted for some information so Exchange can create your profile. You learn more about profiles in Chapter 12. All profiles are stored in
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows Messaging Subsystem
There are also some keys kept in
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Exchange
and in
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Exchange
The Windows 3.x Client for Microsoft Exchange requires a 16-bit networked version of Windows 3.x, preferably Windows for Workgroups (WfW) 3.11.
This version of the Exchange client is a 16-bit implementation of the software, and it provides access to a Microsoft Exchange Server.
The Setup program is in the \Eng\Win16 directory.
After you find the appropriate version of Setup and run it, you see a screen that looks like Figure 11.13.
Figure 11.13. The Microsoft Exchange Client for Windows 3.x Setup opening screen.
The opening Setup screen for the Windows 3.x client looks much the same as the other Windows versions of Exchange. Microsoft has tried to make the installation of Exchange as similar as possible across platforms.
After this screen, fill in your name and the name of your company, if applicable.
Then, Setup searches for any existing Exchange client software. Presumably this is your first install under Windows 3.x, so it doesn't find anything. A screen with a default folder name appears. You can change it here or click OK to continue.
Next, you are presented with the three installation options as shown in Figure 11.14. Here, also, you can change the destination folder in which you will install Exchange.
Figure 11.14. The Microsoft Exchange Client for Windows 3.x will be installed in C:\EXCHANGE.W16.
Typical installs the software necessary for normal operation of the Microsoft Exchange Client. Schedule+ is also installed. The main difference between this and the Complete install is that this one does not include all the Information Service options.
Complete/Custom, as the name implies, enables you to choose which options to install from all the options available. This includes online documentation, Schedule+ software, and Information Services.
Minimum installs only the bare minimum software to get Microsoft Exchange and Schedule+ up and running. Choose this option if you have limited disk space.
If everything goes OK, the files start to copy. When they are finished copying, you are asked for your time zone.
In this example, I have chosen the Typical install. A Microsoft Exchange group is added to the Program Manager, and the Exchange icons are placed there. It looks very similar to the Windows NT 3.5 installation as shown earlier in Figure 11.3.
The changes to the Control Panel are slightly different than with the other versions of the Exchange client. There are two additional icons in Control Panel rather than one. One icon is called Mail and Fax and the other icon is called Fax, as in Figure 11.15. Select the Mail and Fax icon to manage Exchange profiles. Select the Fax icon to set up fax modems.
Figure 11.15. Use the Mail and Fax icon in Control Panel to configure Exchange profiles, and use the Fax icon to set up fax modems.
Now you are ready to run Exchange. When you run it for the first time, you are prompted for some information so the client can create your profile. You can also create your profile by running the Mail and Fax applet from the Control panel.
As you learned earlier in the chapter, the Windows 95 and Windows NT clients store their profile information in the Registry. Because Windows 3.x does not have a Registry, profile information is stored the old-fashioned wayin .INI files.
After you install the Windows 3.x client, you should find some new .INI files in your Windows directory. Also, there should be a couple of new directories. Finally, your WIN.INI file is modified to contain information relating to the Exchange client. The following are the new INI files:
The main file of interest is EXCHNG.INI. It contains general application-specific settings for the client itself. However, the user profile information is not stored in this file; profiles are stored in other .INI files kept in the MAPI directory.
There are two new directories created during setup: MAPI and FORMS. User profile information is stored in the MAPI directory in a series of .INI files. There is one main filePROFILES.INIwhich acts as an index to the .INI files that actually contain the profile information. In turn, the real profile information is stored in .INI files with names such as F16E0A00.INI and F26E0A00.INI, for example. The names won't necessarily be these, but they will be something similarmachine-generated filenames that are assured to be unique. If you have only one profile on your machine, you will have two files in the MAPI directory: PROFILES.INI and F16E0A00.INI. If you add another profile, F26E0A00.INI would contain the new profile, and there would be a total of three files.
After running through the Exchange client setup routine, you might start to wonder how all the defaults came to be the way they are for the Setup program and for the client itselfsettings such as the default installation directory, which default Exchange server to connect to, and the default Program Manager Group for the client icons. This section describes more about how the defaults are determined.
Setup Editor basically controls the default settings for the following:
Setup Editor is intended as a tool for the administrator to help make things more consistent for installing Exchange clients.
For example, you are an administrator who always wants your users to install the client software to the same directory on their hard drives. Using Setup Editor is a way to accomplish that. When you specify the directory name you prefer, it will be used rather than the default. As a result, you will have an easier time managing many users because there is an additional degree of standardization among the client installations.
Setup Editor can be used only for Windows NT, Windows 95, and Windows 3.x clients.
Figure 11.16 shows the main screen of Setup Editor, STFEDTR.EXE.
Figure 11.16. Setup Editor has EXCHNG.STF opened on the Windows NT client install point.
Setup Editor has the three main steps for setting up a client. From the screen, you can do the following:
You cannot use Setup Editor on installation files that reside on a CD-ROM or a network volume to which you do not have write access. This is because Setup Editor needs to modify and create files during the process. It is mainly intended to customize shared areas where multiple users run Setup to install their client software.
The client installation point is where you keep the client files. Sometimes it's shared over the network to allow easy access to authorized users. So when you select the client installation point you are really finding where the Setup program and its associated files are located for the particular operating system you want.
By selecting a client installation point, you are actually opening the file called EXCHNG.STF. This is an ASCII file that contains important information about the setup process for the client and for the configuration of the client itself.
When you first start Setup Editor, there are no other features active until you open the .STF file. After you open the .STF file, you can modify the defaults for the Setup program and modify client defaults for the user. From the File menu, click Select Client Installation Point. Navigate the directories until you find where the setup files reside for the client software you want to configure. You can also invoke this by clicking the little icon on the toolbar with two envelopes on it.
Now that you've found the client installation point you want to configure, things get a little more interesting. First, look at the process of modifying defaults for the client Setup program. Figures 11.17 through 11.20 show the four tabs of the Setup Program Options property sheet that appears when you select File | Modify Setup Program Options. You can also invoke this by clicking the little screen icon on the right side of the toolbar.
Figure 11.17. The General tab of modifying the Setup program options.
Figure 11.18. The Components tab of modifying the Setup program options.
Figure 11.19. The Services tab of modifying the Setup program options.
Figure 11.20. The Binding Order tab of modifying the Setup program options.
You can modify several aspects of the Setup program's defaults such as the destination directory, the name of the Program Manager group to use, whether Custom and Laptop configurations are available options, which components and services to install, and the binding order of the RPC protocols. The Binding Order tab in Figure 11.20 is probably least intuitive. This tab sets the order in which the client tries various protocols in an attempt to establish a connection with an Exchange server.
The best way to understand the purpose of the tabs represented in Figures 11.17 through 11.20 is with a couple of examples.
Say you want to standardize the Setup procedure for your users. They are strictly desktop users, and not very sophisticated. So you want them to only have the Typical installation option available, not Custom or Laptop. You want the default Program Manager group to be Microsoft Exchange and the default directory to be C:\EXCHANGE. You want your clients to have Exchange and Schedule+. And because you're migrating from MS Mail, they should also have the capability to connect to an MS Mail post office. Finally, the network protocol is NetBIOS over NetBEUI.
To accomplish this, the tabs depicted in Figures 11.17 through 11.20 should be modified as follows:
With the NetBIOS selection, all the NetBIOS interfaces on the computer are tried in the order of their LANA number. If you have only one network card, this is not an issue. But if you have multiple network cards, make sure the one you want to use for connecting to Exchange Server is configured as LANA 0.
Make sure your protocol is at the top of the Protocol list; the order is important. This list represents the binding order for the client; that is, the order each protocol will be tried when attempting a connection to an Exchange server. If you don't get the protocols in the correct order, the client will incur a long delay before it connects to the server because the client must wait for each protocol to time out before getting to a protocol that will support a connection to the server. And unless the client is running on the same machine as the Exchange server, always ensure Local RPC is not at the top.
Say you want to standardize the Setup procedure for your users. They are desktop and laptop users, mostly experienced. You want them to have all three installation options, Typical, Custom, and Laptop. You still want the default Program Manager group to be Microsoft Exchange and the default directory to be C:\EXCHANGE. You want your clients to have Exchange and Schedule+. You're rolling out Exchange Server initially, rather than migrating, so there only needs to be connectivity to an Exchange server. The network protocol is TCP/IP.
To accomplish this, the tabs depicted in Figures 11.17 through 11.20 should be modified as follows:
Following is a brief description of the protocols listed in Figure 11.22, which are used to communicate with the Exchange Server machine. These apply to Intel-based computers.
The group of settings I will explain in this section provides a way to set defaults for the Exchange client that will be active after the client is installed. This is another useful way of maintaining consistency across multiple installations, because you can set some standards for how defaults will be set in the client when it is installed. If you select the File menu, and click Set User Options, the User Options property page appears similar to Figure 11.21. You can also invoke this by clicking on the little person icon on the toolbar. Figures 11.21 through 11.25 show the five tabs of the User Options property page.
Figure 11.21. The General tab of modifying the User program options.
Figure 11.22. The Read tab of modifying the User program options.
Figure 11.23. The Send tab of modifying the User program options.
Figure 11.24. The Spelling tab of modifying the User program options.
Figure 11.25. The Home Server tab of modifying the User program options.
These screens are also mostly self-explanatory; they reflect default settings the user will see in the Tools | Options property page in the Exchange client after it is installed and running.
However, Figure 11.25, which shows the Home Server tab, needs clarification. It is blank in this example, but if you enter a server name in the Home Server text box, that Exchange server will be the default server the client attempts to connect with when it is run. The check box, Use network security to logon to Microsoft Exchange, tells the client to use NT authentication features when trying to connect to an Exchange server. You want to keep this checked under normal circumstances because it will provide a way for a client to connect to an Exchange server that does not reside in that client's NT domain. If you uncheck it, your NT user account must be in the same NT domain as the Exchange server. Finally, the Offline Address Book Path is the default path to where the client's offline Address Book will be stored.
Again, these settings are only defaults; they can be changed by the client after installation. But setting them to the defaults you want before installation makes things much more consistent across multiple users' installations.
When you first select a client installation point, you might notice a BAK subdirectory that wasn't there before. This is where Setup Editor places unmodified copies of the files it is opening. When you want to cancel the changes or revert to the original settings, these files are used.
There are two levels of reverting to old settings.
First, if you want to revert to how things were when you started the current session of Setup Editor, select File | Undo All Changes. This selection puts the settings back they were at the beginning of the Setup Editor session. Another way to accomplish this is to click the curved arrow without the line under it.
Second, if you want to revert to how things were before any changes were ever made by Setup Editor, select File | Restore Defaults. This selection puts the settings back they were before you made any changes with Setup Editor, regardless of whether you saved the changes along the way. Another way to accomplish this is to click the curved arrow with the line under it.
When you are finished making your changes, be sure to save them with the File | Save menu item. You can also use Ctrl+S, or click the little diskette icon in the toolbar.
This chapter is straightforward in its objectives and provides a detailed insight into the Setup process by including the following:
Initially, the chapter provided a checklist of last-minute items to check before running Setup. Some of these are fairly intuitive, but it's good to point them out anyway. This chapter mainly provides a guide through the Exchange Client Setup as you might encounter it yourself in the various supporting operating systems. Finally, the chapter covers a summary of the Exchange Setup Editor and how it affects the installation process.