Active Directory Connector

The Active Directory Connector is installed automatically when you install Exchange Server 2003 into an existing Exchange 5. x site. You can also install the ADC before installing Exchange Server 2003 if you want to set up a replication model first. In this section, we discuss the installation of ADC and the creation and configuration of connection agreements.

Note ‚

The following discussion does not address the installation, configuration, or management of Exchange Server 5.5. It is assumed that you already have this knowledge and have the Exchange 5.5 organization in place.

Installing ADC

You will install the ADC from the Active Directory Connector folder on the Exchange Server 2003 CD-ROM in the ADC\I386 directory or by using the Exchange Server Deployment Tools dialogs (recall from Chapter 3, ‚“Installing Microsoft Exchange Server 2003, ‚½ that the Exchange Server Deployment Tools provide step-by-step instructions on how to successfully install an Exchange Server 2003 computer). You will see later when we install the first Exchange Server 2003 computer into the Exchange 5.5 site where the installation of the ADC comes, regardless of which method you use or when you do it ‚ the Setup Wizard or from the splash screen that appears when you insert the disc. During the installation, the Setup Wizard prompts you to install two components :

The Active Directory Connector Service component is the actual connector itself. If you are installing the first ADC in a forest, you will need to have the appropriate permissions to modify the Active Directory schema. If an ADC or an instance of Exchange 2000 is already installed in the forest, you will not need these permissions, because the schema will already have been modified. You can find more information on how the installation routine modifies the schema in Chapter 3.

The Active Directory Connector Management component is a snap-in that lets you manage the ADC outside the System Manager snap-in, which is useful if you want to install the ADC before installing the first Exchange Server 2003 server into an organization. You can install the snap-in on any computer from which you would want to manage the ADC.

Note ‚

If ADC is already installed on the computer on which you run Setup, you are given the option of removing the ADC from the computer ‚ which is useful when you have decommissioned all of your Exchange 5. x servers. Before you can uninstall the ADC, however, you must first use System Manager to remove all of the connection agreements.

Exercise 11.1 outlines the steps for installing the ADC.

EXERCISE 11.1: Installing the Active Directory Connector

On the server that will have Exchange Server 2003 installed, insert the Exchange Server 2003 CD-ROM into the drive.
n the CD-ROM, open the ADC folder, and then open the I386 folder.
Double-click setup.exe .
The Microsoft Active Directory Connector Setup dialog opens. Click Next to go on.
Accept the End User License Agreement (EULA) and click Next.
On the Component Selection page, select the Microsoft Active Directory Connector Service Component and Microsoft Active Directory Connector Management Components options, and click Next to go on.
Leave the installation location at its default directory, and click Next to go on.
Exchange 5. x uses a special user account named the Site Service Account that lets other Exchange 5. x computers log on to the local computer to perform their functions. The SRS service on your Exchange Server 2003 server needs one, too. Enter the name of the account you would like to use as well as the password, and click Next to go on.
On the summary page, click Finish.

Note ‚

In a production environment you will likely create a special service account for use by the ADC.

Once you have installed the ADC, you can open its property pages to reveal general details and to enable diagnostic logging for the connector, but not much else. Most of the management of the ADC actually happens by creating and managing connection agreements.

Note ‚

Regardless of when or how you initiate the ADC installation, it must be done before you can successfully install Exchange Server 2003 into the Exchange 5.5 site.

Using the ADC Tools

The first thing you should do (and the next step in the installation process that we will discuss later) is to configure the Active Directory Connector properly so that it will help you create connection agreements correctly. Exercise 11.2 walks you through the process of using the ADC Tools.

Note ‚

Recall that if your Exchange 5.5 server is installed on a Windows 2000 Server Domain Controller, Active Directory will lock out all other applications from using LDAP over port 389 (the default). You will need to change the LDAP port for both your Exchange 5.5 sites and servers to something else, such as port 390. After this change has been made, you will need to stop and restart the Microsoft Exchange Directory Service. Note that three other services depend on this service and will also have to be restarted: Microsoft Exchange Message Transfer Agent, Microsoft Exchange Event Service, and Microsoft Exchange Information Store. Be sure you restart all four services.

Note ‚

SRS gets around the port 389 issue by using port 379 for its LDAP communications.

EXERCISE 11.2: Using the ADC Tools

Click Start > Programs > Microsoft Exchange > Active Directory Connector. The Active Directory Connector Services console opens.
Click the ADC Tools node, as seen below.
Under Step 1, click the Set button to enter the required information about the Exchange 5.5 server that is to be analyzed . Note that it can be any server in the site. Click OK after entering the information.
Click the Run button under Step 2. If you have entered the information correctly and an Exchange 5.5 server is found, you will be able to proceed to Step 3 and Step 4. The most common problems at this point are LDAP ports (see the tip above) and incorrect server names .
Step 3 is optional and really needed only if you have resource mailboxes.
Click Run under Step 4 to start the Connection Agreement Wizard ‚ this is the easiest way to create properly configured connection agreements.
Click Next to dismiss the opening page of the Connection Agreement Wizard.
On the Staging Area page you will need to select the Active Directory container into which Exchange 5.5 recipients are replicated by default.
Click the Browse button to locate the container you wish to use. Click OK to close the Choose A Container dialog. Click Next to continue.
On the Site Connections page, you will be presented with the recommended connection agreement. In most cases, you will want to leave this as is, although you can change it to a one-way agreement if desired. Click Next to continue.
On the Site Credentials page you will be required to enter your Exchange 5.5 site account credentials.
Click the Set Credentials button to open the Set Credentials dialog box. Enter your Exchange 5.5 credentials and click OK.
If your credentials are correct, they will be validated and you will be able to continue by clicking Next.
On the Domain Credentials page, you will be required to enter your Windows domain account credentials.
Click the Set Credentials button to open the Set Credentials dialog box. Enter your Windows domain credentials and click OK.
If your credentials are correct, they will be validated and you will be able to continue by clicking Next.
On the Connection Agreement Selection page, you will be presented with the recommended connection agreements. In most cases, you can use the recommended agreements. You can change them if you need, however. Click Next to continue.
The Summary page appears, giving the opportunity to review your configuration. Click Next to continue and create the connection agreements you ‚ ve configured.
You can click the Verify button under Step 4 to verify that things are in order if desired; however, you should give objects time to replicate.
After the connection agreements are created, you can view them in the Active Directory Connector Services console.