Exchange to Ne Hardware

If you simply want to do an in-place upgrade of Exchange 2000 to Exchange 2003 using the same server, you've got it made - Microsoft has explained the process of upgrading and made it pretty simple. Even if you're still using Exchange v5.5, Microsoft has you covered with a wealth of documentation to peruse. But what if you're an Exchange 2000 organization that wants to bring in a new Exchange 2003 system alongside your existing machine, move all your content over to it, and decommission the original box? Then you're left scratching your head. At the time of this writing, there is no guide I've been able to find that explains the process with any detail.

This document will explain the process, combining information from numerous sources as well as my own experience. It's very easy to bring Exchange Server 2003 into your Exchange 2000 organization, with minimal disruption to your existing server or your users. This document assumes you have an Exchange 2000 organization running in native mode.

Henceforth, the Exchange 2000 system will be referred to as the "old" server, and the Exchange 2003 system will be referred to as the "new" server.

I. Prepare your Network for Windows Server 2003

Regardless of how you intend to get to Exchange 2003, there are some basic steps that must be done.

1. Begin by reviewing Microsoft's 314649 - "Windows Server 2003 adprep /forestprep Command Causes Mangled Attributes in Windows 2000 Forests That Contain Exchange 2000 Servers" This article explains that if you have Exchange 2000 installed in your organization, and you proceed with installing your first Windows Server 2003 system (and its accompanying schema modifications), you may end up with some mangled attributes in AD. Preventing this from happening is simple enough: a script called Inetorgpersonfix.ldf will do the trick.

2. Run adprep /forestprep from Windows Server 2003 CD on your Windows 2000 server that holds the Schema master FSMO role. (Of course you'll need to be a member of Schema Admins). Be sure to replicate the changes throughout the forest before proceeding.

3. Run adprep /domainprep from Windows Server 2003 CD on your Windows 2000 server. I ran it on the system holding the PDC Emulator FSMO role.

4. Before bringing a new Windows Server 2003 system online, it's a good idea to review your third-party server utilities and upgrade them to the latest versions to ensure compatibility. In my installation, this included the latest versions of BackupExec, Symantec Antivirus Corp. Edition, and Diskeeper.

5. Run setup /forestprep from the Exchange Server 2003 CD on the Windows 2000 server that holds the Schema master FSMO role. Replicate the changes throughout the forest.

6. Run setup /domainprep from the Exchange Server 2003 CD on a Windows 2000 server. Again, I ran it on the system holding the PDC Emulator role.

II. Install Windows Server 2003

1. Install Windows Server 2003 on the new server, join it to the domain, then apply all hotfixes to the server to bring it up to date.

2. In AD, move the server object to the desired OU.

3. If you're paranoid like me, you may be tempted to install antivirus (AV) software on your new server at the earliest opportunity. Hold off on that for now.

4. Review Microsoft's 815372 - "How to optimize memory usage in Exchange Server 2003" which explains a number of settings required for Exchange Server 2003. Specifically, you may need to add the /3GB and /userva=3030 switches to boot.ini, or you will have event 9665 in the event log. I also had to change the HeapDeCommitFreeBlockThreshold value in the registry at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetControlSession Manager to 0x00040000 as directed in the article.

5. Review Microsoft's 831464 - "FIX: IIS 6.0 compression corruption causes access violations". I obtained the fix from Microsoft, and you should do the same, as it fixes some nasties that may interfere with OWA.

III. Install Exchange Server 2003

1. If you have installed any AV software on the new server, stop all AV-related services now, or you may experience a failed Exchange installation as I did.

2. Download the latest copy of the Exchange Server 2003 Deployment Tools, version 06.05.7226 as of this writing.

3. To begin the Exchange Server 2003 install on your new server, run Exdeploy.hta after extracting the tools.

4. Choose "Deploy the First Exchange 2003 Server"

5. You'll want to choose the item for your current environment, which in the context of this article is "You are running Exchange 2000 in native mode and you want to upgrade a server or install the first new Exchange 2003 server." Choose "Upgrade from Exchange 2000 Native Mode".

6. Run through the entire checklist and perform all the steps and tests. When you get to Step 9 in Exdeploy, you'll need to specify the path to the Exchange Server 2003 CD since you're running Exdeploy from a location other than the CD.

7. Install all the Exchange components unless you have a compelling need to do otherwise.

8. When the install is completed, install Exchange Server 2003 Service Pack 1.

9. When SP1 is completed, run the Exchange System Manager from the Windows Server 2003 system, and you will see your new server listed in the Exchange organization, as well as your old server.

10. The POP3 and IMAP4 services aren't set to start automatically, so configure them for Automatic startup if desired.

11. If you want to install or enable antivirus software, it's now safe to do so.

IV. Get Familiar with Exchange Server 2003

At this point, you now have an Exchange 2003 system running in your existing Exchange organization. Microsoft has done a good job of allowing the two versions to coexist.

Before proceeding with your migration, there are a number of important tasks to consider at this stage. For openers, communicate with your users about the migration if you haven't already, brief them on the new OWA interface, and by all means ask them to go through their mailboxes and delete old, unneeded items. You'll appreciate this later!

This is a good opportunity to spend some time reviewing your new