I have to setup Exchange and Active Directory on two different boxes for my group. Could you please give me some hints/documents on how to do that? Thanks. Dung Nguyen Cisco Systems, Inc.

Hi Dung, Please take a look at below information: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa998636.aspx http://blogs.technet.com/b/ferris/archive/2010/03/05/howto-install-exchange-2010-step-by-step.aspxBest Regards!

Hello, are the two boxes inside of the same domain/site? Do you want to setup a new domain? Which version of Exchange do you want to install? Which version of Windows Server do you have? Do you want to migrate from a previous version of Exchange? In the end you'll have to install both servers with Windows Server, execute dcpromo on the one machine, execute the prerequisite steps on the Exchange and then install Exchange. But the exact way to do this really depends on your organization. Greetings, Toni

. The two boxes are inside the same domain. . Exchange 2010 is the one needed. . OS is Windows 2008 r2. . This is a fresh installation not migration. Thanks.

Thanks Rowen. I will try those.

First create a AD forest+domain by installing the first server as a Domain Controller. http://www.windowsnetworking.com/articles_tutorials/Running-Windows-Server-2008-R2-Installing-Creating-Lab-Domain-Controller-Part1.html Then do the Exchange installation on the other box. http://blogs.technet.com/b/ferris/archive/2010/03/05/howto-install-exchange-2010-step-by-step.aspx lasse at humandata dot se, http://anewmessagehasarrived.blogspot.com

I have done the first part which is install AD and create a AD forest+domain. On the second part, I got issue when trying to do AD Preparation, as followed. PS C:\tools\Exch2010SP1> .\setup /PrepareLegacyExchangePermissions Welcome to Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 Unattended Setup Setup will continue momentarily, unless you press any key and cancel the installation. By continuing the installation process, you agree to the license terms of Microsoft Exchange Server 2010. If you don't accept these license terms, please cancel the installation. To review the license terms, please go to http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=150127&clcid=0x409/ Press any key to cancel setup................ No key presses were detected. Setup will continue. Preparing Exchange Setup Copying Setup Files COMPLETED No server roles will be installed Performing Microsoft Exchange Server Prerequisite Check Organization Checks FAILED Active Directory does not exist or cannot be contacted. Global updates need to be made to Active Directory, and this user account is not a member of the 'Enterprise Admins ' group. This computer is not part of a Windows domain. The user is not logged on to a Windows domain The Exchange Server setup operation didn't complete. More details can be found in ExchangeSetup.log located in the <SystemDrive>:\ExchangeSetupLogs folder. Exchange Server setup encountered an error. I guess it failed because there's no link between this box and the AD box. How could I tell this box to reach AD box? If not, I would always failed for "Active Directory does not exist or cannot be contacted." Please help! Thanks.

Hello, you don't need to perform the PrepareLegacyExchangePermissions switch because you're not migrationg vom Exchange 2003. Just go on with the PrepareSchema. Please make sure that your Exchange box is member of the domain and can ping + resolve the name of the DC. Perform the prerequisite steps with an user which is member of the "Enterprise Admins" group. Greetings, Toni

You actually dont need to do any prepare stuff in AD before installing Exchange. Exchange setup will do all the AD preparation for you and since you only have one DC there is no waiting for DC replication. I would use Exchange SP1 instead of using RTM and then go for SP1.lasse at humandata dot se, http://anewmessagehasarrived.blogspot.com

I always hit the error below: [ERROR] Could not find information about the local domain. I thought that was due to DNS, and I double check that. I can do nslookup my domain (in AD) and it responses correctly. Do I miss anything?

I have the same problem and solve it by running an active directory roles (under the first computer forest) on the exchange box also. is this the right way do it? or is there a way to do it differently. ? tks

Hello, do you have any errors in the eventlog? If yes please post them. Greetings, Toni