Server 2008 SMB Small Business Edition installing .com domain?
I'm setting up a new 2008 SMB server and the installation GUI seems to only allow me to install a .local domain. For exchange purposes I'd like to install a .com domain.
I didn't see this listed as a limitation of SMB before purchasing anywhere I looked and I'm having problems finding information on it after the fact.
Is there a way to install SMB using a .com domain name through scripted installation or is this a hard set limit in SMB? I'd prefer to not rename the domain after installation because of the other possible problems that can arise, however, I don't know if .local is a hard set limitation and renaming would hose the setup. If I can't do ether of the above, what options to I have to allow them to receive email from a .com address? Obviously I'd want to point the external .com MX records to the server; other than that I have a few idea's on how to do this but I'd like to check with more experienced users in this area.
I didn't see this listed as a limitation of SMB before purchasing anywhere I looked and I'm having problems finding information on it after the fact.
Is there a way to install SMB using a .com domain name through scripted installation or is this a hard set limit in SMB? I'd prefer to not rename the domain after installation because of the other possible problems that can arise, however, I don't know if .local is a hard set limitation and renaming would hose the setup. If I can't do ether of the above, what options to I have to allow them to receive email from a .com address? Obviously I'd want to point the external .com MX records to the server; other than that I have a few idea's on how to do this but I'd like to check with more experienced users in this area.
> The only caveat with this is ...
You can get around that one too :)
If the zone is named something like "webmail.domain.com" instead of "domain.com" you can use it to resolve the webmail address without having to worry about everything under "domain.com". It would need a Host (A) record adding with a blank name (so it appears as "same as parent folder") to have it get to the IP for the name in exactly the same way as "domain.com" resolves to an IP (most of the time).
Chris
ASKER
It seems crazy to me for Microsoft to put out SMB with the appeal of making it easy for small business to setup and even pre-installing exchange but then forcing you to use a non-routable domain name. Any other idea's or answers to the questions about hard set limitations or not and if renaming after installation is an option?
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ASKER
I was unaware of this feature is exchange, I'm more of a networking and virtualization guy myself. Thanks Chris,
Step by step setup:
- Open Exchange System manager
- Click on Recipients
- Click on Recipient Policies
- Double click on Default Policy Properties
- Click on the tab E-Mail Addresses (Policy)
- Click on the button NEW
- Select SMTP Address
- In Address Space type @xyz.com
- You can set xyz.com like primary e-mail
- Save close system manager
- Wait few minutes to Recipient update service update all users in AD
Step by step setup:
- Open Exchange System manager
- Click on Recipients
- Click on Recipient Policies
- Double click on Default Policy Properties
- Click on the tab E-Mail Addresses (Policy)
- Click on the button NEW
- Select SMTP Address
- In Address Space type @xyz.com
- You can set xyz.com like primary e-mail
- Save close system manager
- Wait few minutes to Recipient update service update all users in AD
ASKER
Would have been better if I could have gotten my questions regarding ways of changing the domain name that are supported in SMB. Also would have been better if there was a link or more information on how to do what he had mentioned.
That'll do quite nicely :)
You can add as many domains as you need in there (hundreds of them if you're feeling the need :)). I'd leave the .local address but set a new primary, I believe Exchange 2003 is happiest with that.
Chris
Just as an addendum.
There are no supported ways of renaming an AD domain for SBS (except for the brute force "re-install") which is a bit limiting.
Chris
As for DNS, you can create an additional DNS zone in Active Directory DNS for your .com domain. That way you give your users a single hostname to access and they can use it inside or outside the network.
The only caveat with this is that if you have your web site hosted by an external company, you'll need to make sure you create an A record for that and point it to the correct IP address (and keep it up to date). Otherwise your internal users won't be able to get to the site.