Recipe17.3.Installing Additional Exchange Servers

Recipe 17.3. Installing Additional Exchange Servers

Problem

You want to install an additional Exchange Server.

Solution

Using a graphical user interface

Install and configure prerequisite services. See the Discussion section for more on these services.
Log on to a server that is member of an Exchange-enabled domain with an account that is a member of the group delegated in Recipe 17.1. This account should also be an administrator of the server.
Go to the Windows Update site and install any critical security patches. Click on Start
Insert the Exchange Server CD into the CD-ROM drive.
On the Start menu, click Run, type <driveletter>:\setup\i386\setup.exe, and click OK. <driveletter> is your CD-ROM's drive letter. This path may vary for certain versions of Exchange Server, such as MSDN or Select versions.
On the Welcome screen, click Next.
On the License Agreement screen, read through the agreement and if you agree, click I agree and click Next.
If the Product Identification screen is presented, enter your Exchange Server product key and click Next.

This screen may not appear for certain versions of Exchange Server, such as the MSDN or Select versions.
On the Component Selection screen in the Action column, verify that the action specified is Typical. Verify that the install path is correct for your installation and click Next. A common practice is to load Exchange onto a drive other than the system drive.
On the License Agreement screen, select I agree and click Next.
Review the Installation Summary screen and click Next.
On the Completing the Microsoft Exchange Wizard screen, click Finish.
Download and Install latest Exchange 2003 Service Pack. As of the time of this writing, that is Service Pack 1. See Recipe 17.4 for more on installing Exchange service packs.

Using a command-line interface

Any Exchange server installations after the initial Exchange server can be handled through the command line with the unattended installation process. You will need to generate and use an unattended installation INI file. See Recipe Recipe 17.5 for more on the INI file creation process.

Once you have an unattended file, use the following command to install Exchange:

> <driveletter>:\setup\i386\setup.exe /unattendfile <unattendfile>

If there is an error during the install process, it will be recorded in the Exchange Server setup log, which by default will be located in the root of the system drive, generally c: \..

Discussion

Exchange Server has several software prerequisites for its installation. You must have these prerequisites met prior to installing Exchange or else Exchange will refuse to install. See Recipe 17.2 for more details on the prerequisites.

Using a command-line interface

If you have only one or two Exchange servers, automating the Exchange Server service pack installation will probably not appeal to you. However, if you have several Exchange Servers, using the unattended installation features of Exchange can certainly lead to time savings, efficiency, and consistency.