Showing posts with label Exchange 2016. Show all posts

Thursday, 29 June 2017

Exchange Updates–June 2017

The Exchange Team have released the June 2017 quarterly updates for Exchange 2013 and 2016. These Cumulative Updates will require .NET Framework 4.6.2 installed prior to upgrade; .NET Framework 4.7 is still being validated by the Exchange Team and should not be installed until validation is completed.

Updated functionality in Exchange 2016 Cumulative Update 6:

Sent Items Behaviour Control, This feature enables mailbox delegates who have Send As or Send on behalf of permissions of a mailbox to save a copy of the item in the delegators Sent Items

Note: This feature is targeted to Exchange Server 2016 only and will not be included in Exchange Server 2013. Exchange Server 2013 already has its own implementation of Sent Items Behaviour Control which is different to the version released in this Cumulative Update.
Original Folder Item Recovery, This feature enables deleted items to be restored to their original folder; This feature does require LAPEID MAPI property on the deleted item, which has been stamping items since Exchange 2016 CU1, this means that as soon as CU6 is installed this feature will work.

Note: This feature is targeted to Exchange Server 2016 only and will not be included in Exchange Server 2013.

Release Details:

KB articles that describe the fixes in each release are available as follows:

Exchange Server 2016 Cumulative Update 6 (KB4012108), Download, UM Lang Packs
Exchange Server 2013 Cumulative Update 17 (KB4012114), Download, UM Lang Packs

Exchange Server 2016 Cumulative Update 6 does include new updates to Active Directory Schema. If upgrading from an older Exchange version or installing a new server, Active Directory updates may still be required. These updates will apply automatically during setup if the logged on user has the required permissions. If the Exchange Administrator lacks permissions to update Active Directory Schema, a Schema Admin must execute SETUP /PrepareSchema prior to the first Exchange Server installation or upgrade. The Exchange Administrator should execute SETUP /PrepareAD to ensure RBAC roles are current.

Exchange Server 2013 Cumulative Update 17 does not include updates to Active Directory, but may add additional RBAC definitions to your existing configuration. PrepareAD should be executed prior to upgrading any servers to Cumulative Update 16. PrepareAD will run automatically during the first server upgrade if Exchange Setup detects this is required and the logged on user has sufficient permission.

Exchange Online Hybrid Customers:

Reminder: Customers in hybrid deployments where Exchange is deployed on-premises and in the cloud, or who are using Exchange Online Archiving (EOA) with their on-premises Exchange deployment are required to deploy the most current (e.g., 2013 CU17, 2016 CU6) or the prior (e.g., 2013 CU16, 2016 CU5) Cumulative Update release.

Sunday, 18 June 2017

.NET Framework 4.7 and Exchange Server

.NET Framework has been released and is available via Windows Update. Support for this version of .NET Framework has not been confirmed by the Exchange Team. It’s important to have the correct version of .NET Framework installed that is supported by the version of Exchange installed:

Temporary Block

.NET Framework 4.7 can be blocked from installation by adding a registry key to your Exchange servers, follow the instructions in the Microsoft KB – Link

Key:

HKLM:\Software\Microsoft\NET Framework Setup\NDP\WU\

DWORD:

BlockNetFramework47

Value:

1 (REG_DWORD)

Note Organizations do not have to modify the registry in environments that are managed through an update management solution, such as Microsoft WSUS or System Center Configuration Manager. Organizations can use these products to fully manage the deployment of updates that are released through Windows Update or Microsoft Update. The procedure that's discussed in this article is necessary only for computers that directly connect to and receive updates from Windows Update.

Reporting:

You can find a script on the TechNet Gallery Link to help check version installed and confirm if the block is in place

Pre registry change:

Post registry change:


Reference Links:

Exchange Team Blog – Link
Exchange Support Matrix – Link (Note – .NET Framework 4.7 has not been added yet)
.NET Framework Block – Link
.NET Framework report – Link

Disclaimer: All scripts and other PowerShell references on this blog are offered "as is" with no warranty. While these scripts are tested and working in my test environment, it is recommended that you test these scripts in your own test environment before using in any production environment.

Sunday, 5 June 2016

Mailbox Migration to Exchange Online, Strange error…

Recently I tried to do some mailbox migration tests between my on-premises Exchange infrastructure and Exchange Online in Office 365. The mailbox move/migration should be the simple part on any migration project as you spend all the time ensuring the other parts of the solution are correct. However I queued a new move request recently as I needed a new mailbox in Exchange Online to test some settings in SharePoint Online… The move started, but it failed with the following:

After a number of checks and trying the migrations again still with no joy, I thought I’d remove the user/object from Office 365. Prior to removing the object I connected to Exchange Online via PowerShell and ran:

Get-MailUser –Identity “Affected user email” | FL *GUID*, Ident*

I then moved the users AD Object in my local Active Directory to an OU that was not being synchronised to Azure AD, and performed a full sync. Once the sync had completed I confirmed the user object was no longer in Azure AD, then moved the AD Object back to synchronised OU and perform another sync. After the sync had completed I re-ran the previous PowerShell cmdlet:

So by performing these actions I can see that I managed to get a new object GUID for the this mail user. I then performed a new mailbox migration to Exchange Online which completed successfully.

I will add that my home lab does get a load of abuse, where I test different exchange scenarios, but I do this so I know how to fix issues etc. its very possible I caused this error within my lab when I was doing previous disaster recovery tests. So there is a very good chance that you may never see this error.

I know that this process can be very long especially if your Directory Synchronisation has a lot of objects, so I’ll continue to look if there is another way to resolve this.

Exchange Server 2016 Certification

Back in March last year I passed the final Exchange 2013 exam to earn my MCSE: Messaging 2013 certification, I spent a lot of time reading websites, blogs, and watching videos all covered in the previous post. So little did I think in under a year I would be doing another Exchange exam! but I did…

I saw on the Born To Learn website in January that Microsoft Learning were offering free Beta Exam 345: Designing and Deploying Microsoft Exchange Server 2016 exams (Offer now expired), So I thought what's is the harm in doing a free exam, at the very least I’d get exam simulation experience and get an idea what Microsoft was going to be looking for. I booked for the last possible day in February the offer would allow me to book, because even thou I’ve played with the install and read the Exchange Team Blog post I’d not looked into Exchange 2016 to the same level as 2013…

Little did I appreciate that the material I used for 2013 was not there for 2016… So most of my learning material came from TechNet: Exchange 2016 Site, whilst there was other Exchange resource blogs that had started to post about 2016, it wasn’t the same level of material I used for 2013.

This was the first Microsoft Beta exam I’ve taken, so this was a new experience for me. All Microsoft exams are about taking your time, understand the questions and give the answer Microsoft are looking for, but this I can say this the first time I’ve used the full time allocated to an exam… all 180 minutes of the time. As everyone that has taken a Microsoft exam will know there is that feeling at the end of the exam where you “End the exam?” where you wait for the “Pass or Fail” message on screen… but this time as the exam was a beta I confirmed to end the exam I just got a message of “…Thanks for taking the exam…” or something like that, can’t fully remember the exact text on screen, whilst I knew I wasn’t going to get the result straight away I still got that strange feeling at the end of the exam. I just had the long 8 week wait for the results…

So in April by chance I longed into Microsoft Learning site and saw a banner at the top of the page…

Which obviously was really happy and surprised about as I’d not had any notification from Microsoft or Pearson VUE about the results. For an MCSE: Messaging you now only need the single 70-345 exam on top of you MCSA qualification.

Learning material is slowly being published now:

Pluralsight Course – Migrating to Exchange Server 2016
Exam Ref. 70-345 Designing and Deploying Microsoft Exchange Server 2016

Microsoft later emailed me to confirm the qualification and that I was a Charter Member for Exchange Server 2016

Sunday, 25 October 2015

Exchange 2016 Installation…

Here are my notes of deploying Exchange 2016 into my home lab for testing, My current Exchange deployment is 2013 connected to Office 365 with a hybrid configuration. I plan to deploy two Exchange 2016 servers in Database Availability Group. This post will deal with the initial upgrade to the Schema, Configuration and Domain, then the installation of the first Exchange 2016 server.

Prerequisites

Download Exchange 2016 Download Link, and extract the setup files to local on the Exchange Server. To upgrade the Schema, Configuration and Domain this can be done from a 64-Bit Domain Controller or from an Exchange Server with the Remote Tools Administration Pack feature installed, The Server also requires .NET Framework 4.5.2, To install this feature:

Download and install .NET Framework 4.5.2 (If Windows Update has been run this may already be installed)
Open Windows PowerShell (Run as Administrator)
Install the Remote Tools Administration Pack using the following command

Install-WindowsFeature RSAT-ADDS

To upgrade the Schema, Configuration and Domain(s) open a command window (Run as Administrator) and run the following commands:

Setup.exe /PrepareSchema /IAcceptExchangeServerLicenseTerms
Setup.exe /PrepareAD /IAcceptExchangeServerLicenseTerms
Setup.exe /PrepareDomain /IAcceptExchangeServerLicenseTerms

If you you have multiple domains to in the Active Directory Forest you can use the /PrepareAllDomains.

Note: To prepare The Schema the service account used must be a member of Schema Admins and Enterprise Admins, To update the Configuration and Domain(s) the service account used must be a member of Enterprise Admins.

Reference: TechNet Prepare Active Directory and Domains

PrepareSchema, PrepareAD, PrepareDomain

Server Preparation

Before Exchange 2016 is installed a number of Windows Features need to be installed, To install these features:

Reference: TechNet Exchange 2016 Prerequisites

Open Windows PowerShell (Run as Administrator)
Install required features:

Install-WindowsFeature AS-HTTP-Activation, Desktop-Experience, NET-Framework-45-Features, RPC-over-HTTP-proxy, RSAT-Clustering, RSAT-Clustering-CmdInterface, RSAT-Clustering-Mgmt, RSAT-Clustering-PowerShell, Web-Mgmt-Console, WAS-Process-Model, Web-Asp-Net45, Web-Basic-Auth, Web-Client-Auth, Web-Digest-Auth, Web-Dir-Browsing, Web-Dyn-Compression, Web-Http-Errors, Web-Http-Logging, Web-Http-Redirect, Web-Http-Tracing, Web-ISAPI-Ext, Web-ISAPI-Filter, Web-Lgcy-Mgmt-Console, Web-Metabase, Web-Mgmt-Console, Web-Mgmt-Service, Web-Net-Ext45, Web-Request-Monitor, Web-Server, Web-Stat-Compression, Web-Static-Content, Web-Windows-Auth, Web-WMI, Windows-Identity-Foundation
Restart Server
Install Additional Software:

Run Windows Update

Graphical User Interface Installation

The following screenshots are taken from the Graphical User Interface Installation (GUI) of Exchange 2016.

Reference: TechNet Install the Exchange 2016 Mailbox role using the Setup wizard

Note: Please note these installation requirements:

If you're installing the first Exchange 2016 server in the organization, the account you use needs to be a member of the Enterprise Admins group
If you haven't previously prepared the Active Directory schema, the account you use also needs to be a member of the Schema Admins group
If you've already prepared the schema and aren't installing the first Exchange 2016 server in the organization, the account you use needs to be a member of the Exchange 2016 Organization Management role group

First window will ask Check for Updates? This the RTM of Exchange 2016 and currently no updates, click Next
Click Next
The file setup will display Copying Files…
The setup will display Initializing Setup…
The setup will display Introduction with links to Exchange 2016 technical information, click Next
The License Agreement will be displayed, Once read… Select the radio I accept the terms in the license agreement, and click Next
Then select Recommend Settings that you want, the links will display information on these settings, I leave this set on Use Recommended Settings but some clients I work with prefer this to changed, once selected click Next
Now there is just a single role to install, check Mailbox Role, and click Next
This screen allows you to change the installation directory, please not that Exchange 2016 is still installed in V15, this is the same as Exchange 2013, once installation path has been confirmed click Next
Leave the default Malware Protection Settings enabled unless you requirement for them to be turn off, and click Next
The setup will run Readiness Checks… to ensure the server and infrastructure is ready for Exchange 2016 to be installed.
Any errors and warnings will be displayed, for instance in my environment it warned me that “MAPI over HTTP is the preferred Outlook desktop connectivity…” Now I thought this was default in Exchange 2016 need to check the release notes, this might just be for New/Greenfield installations, if there is no errors and only warnings, click Install to begin the installation.
Setup will go through all of the required steps to install Exchange 2016
Once complete the last screen will be displayed, click Finish to close the setup window
The server should be restarted post installation

Unattended Installation

The over method of installing Exchange 2016 is through a Unattended Installation, this installs Exchange 2016 through the command window, this method uses switches to configure all the options of the Exchange 2016 installation.

Reference: TechNet Install Exchange 2016 using unattended mode

Open a command window (Run as Administrator)
For a basic Exchange 2016 installation, enter the following command:

Setup.exe /mode:Install /role:Mailbox /InstallWindowsComponents /IAcceptExchangeServerLicenseTerms

This will install Exchange 2016 with a random mailbox database, you can use the switches to change the installation directory and database name and paths etc. The following screen is a completed unattended installation of Exchange 2016.

This completes the basic installation of Exchange 2016, all in all the setup process is very similar as Exchange 2013. Next up will be the configuration of Exchange 2016 including Mailbox Databases, Database Availability Group, Virtual Directories, Office Online Server… and much much more.