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Building NLB Exchange 2010 RTM CAS / HT Servers (Hyper-V) – Part 2

Before using the NLB cluster for Exchange, the NICs should be able to forward requests between each other. This is achieved by running the following command on the cluster NICs on each node of the cluster:

netsh interface ipv4 set int “Cluster Only LAN” forwarding=enabled

The reason for this configuration is as clear as mud at this stage. However, I assume that it has to do with the fact that the cluster only interface does not have a gateway configured for the connection. This connection functions on a broadcast anyway. According to the Microsoft Enterprise Networking Team, the packet will be dropped since IP forwarding is not enabled by default in Windows 2008 and the inbound packet comes in without a subnet mask.

Now we’re ready to install Exchange 2010. First I’ll run the ExPDA to check the environment for the Exchange 2010 prerequisites. If you’re not sure how download and use the ExPDA, check my earlier  blog post on how to do this.

According to my ExPDA scan, I’ve got a little remediation to do before installing Exchange 2010 in the lab:

• Change the Windows 2003 Forest Functional Mode to Windows 2003 or higher.
• Change the Exchange Organization Mode to 2003 Native.
• Install SP2 on all the existing Exchange 2003 servers.

All issues were remediated. Just to be safe. I ran the ExPDA one more time. This time the ExPDA reported that Link State Suppression was not configured on the Exchange 2003 servers. Review this link for an explanation on how to change this registry setting on each Exchange 2003 server.

After a clean bill of health from the ExPDA, we are now ready to extend the schema for Exchange 2010. I’m not going to bore you with this process. For me information on Active Directory Preparation for Exchange 2010, click here to go to the TechNet article.

In order to extend the schema, Windows will require the installation of the .NET Framework. This component is already included in the Windows setup; it just needs to be installed. Since this is the case, we might as well install all the requirements. This is a CAS / HT server; it will require the following prerequisites installed:

Import-Module ServerManager

This command has to be run first as the “Add-WindowsFeature” is included in the ServerManager module.

Add-WindowsFeature NET-Framework,RSAT-ADDS,Web-Server,Web-Basic-Auth,Web-Windows-Auth,Web-Metabase,Web-Net-Ext,Web-Lgcy-Mgmt-Console,WAS-Process-Model,RSAT-Web-Server,Web-ISAPI-Ext,Web-Digest-Auth,Web-Dyn-Compression,NET-HTTP-Activation,RPC-Over-HTTP-Proxy –Restart

For CAS servers, the following command needs to be executed in PowerShell:

Set-Service NetTcpPortSharing -StartupType Automatic

Hub Transport Servers require the Microsoft Office Filter Pack:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=60c92a37-719c-4077-b5c6-cac34f4227cc&displaylang=en

Other combinations of prerequisites can be referenced at the TechNet site here.

NOTE: The prerequisites will differ slightly between Windows 2008 and Windows 2008 R2.

NOTE: When preparing the schema, the setup /PrepareLegacy will automatically be performed when running setup /PrepareAD. However, when running setup /PrepareAD, the /OrganizationName parameter must be used if previous version of Exchange already exists in AD.

NOTE: Once the schema has been extended for Exchange 2010 in an Exchange 2003 organization, no Exchange 2007 servers can be added to the organization.

Insert the Exchange 2010 DVD and click Setup.

If you’re unsure which servers are the bridgeheads in your environment, I found that downloading WinRoute was the easiest way to do this. I couldn’t find any columns I could add in the Exchange 2003 EMC that would expose this information. Download WinRoute here and look for the “Routing Master” entry.

In a default install of Exchange 2003, the bridgehead will be the first Exchange 2003 server installed.

If any of the prerequisites were not installed or configured, for example the setting of the NetTcpPortSharing service or if the Microsoft Filter Pack was not installed, the following errors will be displayed in the Readiness Checks:

The setup for the second Exchange 2010 CAS / HT node should be identical. You may encounter an error stating: “Setup cannot detect an SMTP or Send connector with an address of ‘*’. Mail flow to the Internet may not work properly.” All this means that setup cannot find a default Send connector. I have come across some organizations where the administrator did not create a Send connector for outbound mail. This can be remediated after the installation. See this TechNet article for a full explanation. (This article was created for Exchange 2007 but is still relevant.)

Now on to the post deployment configuration for the NLB CAS and HT roles.

Building NLB Exchange 2010 RTM CAS / HT Servers (Hyper-V) – Part 1

Building NLB Exchange 2010 RTM CAS / HT Servers (Hyper-V) – Part 3

March 23, 2010 - Posted by ivorb | Exchange 2010 RTM, NLB | NLB, Windows 2008 R2