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king daddyFlag for United States of America

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prepare AD for exchange 2010

Greetings,

I am starting the install of exchange 2010 and currently have 2003 in production. The 2010 server in a different AD site than the 2003 server (2010 in data center and 2003 in office). I need to run the AD prep commands.

What commands do I need to run? Do I need to run the commands in the AD site containing the schema master? My schema master is in the office, which is the default-first-site in AD. Should I just run the commands on that DC?

thanks
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Avatar of Andrew Hancock (VMware vExpert PRO / EE Fellow/British Beekeeper)
Andrew Hancock (VMware vExpert PRO / EE Fellow/British Beekeeper)
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thanks for the link, very helpful.

Schema master is 2003 SP2. Forest is 2003 functional level. I will run this in the office and then wait until tomorrow to work on the install.
Okay, already to update Schema. Be Patient, and wait for replication.
actually, regarding this:

Addendum:

Another thing to note is that you MUST have a 64bit box on the domain that you run these commands from.


my schema master is 32-bit and I only have 64-bit DCs at the data center. I have a couple of 64-bit 2008 servers in the office, but they are not DCs. Do I need to install a 2008 R2 DC in the office just to run these commands (probably a good idea regardless, just didn't want to do it right now with everything else going on).

thanks
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thanks. I will follow your direction and run the commands from a 64-bit machine in the office.

thanks for clarifying.
ridiculous question here, but do I need to have the 2010 media available when I run this? Meaning do I need an exchange 2010 ISO mounted on the server that I run the command from? As it is, I only have an exe from the volume licensing center.

thanks
The exe from the licensing center should expand out to what is on the Exchange media when you run it. If you have the full Exchange media folder path on the computer, you should be fine.
ran setup /PrepareAd from a 2008 64-bit member server in the same AD site as the schema master. failed

Performing Microsoft Exchange Server Prerequisite Check

    Organization Checks                                       FAILED
 Setup is going to prepare the organization for Exchange 2010 by using 'Setup /P
repareAD'. No Exchange 2007 server roles have been detected in this topology. Af
ter this operation, you will not be able to install any Exchange 2003 or Exchang
e 2007 servers.
     The Active Directory Schema is not up-to-date and Ldifde.exe is not install
ed on this computer. You must install Ldifde.exe by running 'ServerManagerCmd -i
 RSAT-ADDS' or restart setup on a domain controller.

     The Active Directory needs to be prepared for Exchange Server and Ldifde.ex
e is not installed on this computer. You must install Ldifde.exe by running 'Ser
verManagerCmd -i RSAT-ADDS' or restart setup on a domain controller.


The Exchange Server setup operation didn't complete. More details can be found
in ExchangeSetup.log located in the <SystemDrive>:\ExchangeSetupLogs folder.


Not sure why it shows it is not up-to-date. I am at a 2003 functional level and Exchange is in native mode.
We've always completed on the Schema Master, but I understand your issue, with 32/64bit.
after searching around for this issue I've found I need to install the AD tools per the command in the error. I am going to set up a 2008 R2 server for this. I should have one anyway. just holding me back from installing this in a timely manner.

thanks
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It is SP1. I'll download the SP3 version and use it. Gonna have to wait for AD replication anyway...

Thanks for the tip.
So the SP3 download, the .exe, will provide me with what I need to do a complete, fresh install? No need for the iso, correct?

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/exchange/en-US/eeae11ef-5240-4644-b100-7275961ceafb/exchange-2010-sp3

Thx
Correct. The exe extracts to all of the files that are on the ISO.
If you also download Exchange 2010 SP3 rollup 1 and put it in the Rollups directory then Exchange installer will apply that at the same time.

Simon.
thanks might as well do that too
Ooops - my mistake. The directory you place the rollup in is the Updates directory, not the rollup directory.

Simon.
so,went to install and the wizard failed the prerequisites. said it needed to run setup /prepareAD but I did not a couple of days ago. The DC at the datacenter shows Exchange Server Security Groups in ADUC, so I would think, besides being two days since I ran this in the office (different AD site than the new exchange server), it would have replicated by now.

There was also an error about not being able to contact the schema master in a different AD site.

investigating this now. thanks
regarding the schema master not being able to be contacted, the help link in the install wizard brings me to a 2007 article stating that I should force membership to the default first site, then return to the other site after install or change the IP to that of the default first site subnet.

is that correct? does this really need to be done just to install exchange in a different AD site?

thanks
so I ran prepareSchema even though I ran prepareAD the other day. i then forced replication between domain controllers from AD Sites and Services. I then ran prepareAD again and again forced replication. Install prereqs succeed and is ready to proceed.

I didn't see any replication errors but something may be up.
Install was a success. Thanks to all.