After getting Exchange 2013 Preview running in my lab, I thought I’d share some of the challenges I ran into while trying to get the product installed. If any of you run into similar challenges, I hope you find this information helpful.
First, I’ll discuss the prerequisite tasks. Check out this TechNet article to get a full understanding of the prerequisites that are required for Exchange 2013 Preview: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb691354(v=exchg.150).aspx. If you don’t want to review the entire article, I’ll provide the essential information along with some tips along the way. I installed Exchange 2013 Preview on Server 2008 R2 SP1, so all of my tasks and tips will be specific to Server 2008 R2 SP1.
Server Operating System:
· Server must be running Server 2008 R2 SP1
Required Windows Components for Server 2008 R2 SP1:
Run the following PowerShell commands to install all required Windows Components for running the Mailbox and CAS Server Roles on a single server:
1. Import-Module ServerManager
2. Add-WindowsFeature Desktop-Experience, NET-Framework, NET-HTTP-Activation, RPC-over-HTTP-proxy, RSAT-Clustering, RSAT-Web-Server, WAS-Process-Model, Web-Asp-Net, Web-Basic-Auth, Web-Client-Auth, Web-Digest-Auth, Web-Dir-Browsing, Web-Dyn-Compression, Web-Http-Errors, Web-Http-Logging, Web-Http-Redirect, Web-Http-Tracing, Web-ISAPI-Ext, Web-ISAPI-Filter, Web-Lgcy-Mgmt-Console, Web-Metabase, Web-Mgmt-Console, Web-Mgmt-Service, Web-Net-Ext, Web-Request-Monitor, Web-Server, Web-Stat-Compression, Web-Static-Content, Web-Windows-Auth, Web-WMI
Additional software that must be downloaded and installed prior to installing Exchange 2013 Preview:
- Microsoft .NET Framework 4.5 RC
- Windows Management Framework 3.0
- Microsoft Unified Communications Managed API 4.0, Core Runtime 64-bit
- Microsoft Office 2010 Filter Pack 64 bit
- Microsoft Office 2010 Filter Pack SP1 64 bit
- Microsoft Knowledge Base article KB974405 (Windows Identity Foundation)
- Knowledge Base article KB2619234 (Enable the Association Cookie/GUID that is used by RPC over HTTP to also be used at the RPC layer in Windows 7 and in Windows Server 2008 R2)
- Knowledge Base article KB2533623 (Insecure library loading could allow remote code execution)
Tip: When attempting to download Windows Management Framework 3.0, you will be presented with a page similar to the following:
This page does not specify which version is required for Server 2008 R2. By trial and error, I determined the Windows6.0 files are for Windows 7 and the Windows6.1 files are for Server 2008 R2. Therefore you will want the file called Windows6.1-KB2506143-x64.msu. If you download the incorrect version and attempt to install it on Server 2008 R2 you will receive an error indicating that the software is not applicable to your operating system.
Tip: Also be advised that download #7 above (KB2619234) is a special hotfix that requires registering with Microsoft in order to download.
If you’re wondering whether all of the downloads are absolutely required, the answer is yes. The Exchange 2013 Preview installation will throw a warning and halt if any of the prerequisites are not installed prior to beginning installation.
After you get the proper Windows Components and additional software downloads installed, you have three more tasks to complete, which are the following:
1. Uninstall Microsoft Visual C++ 11 Beta (use Programs and Features to remove this application)
2. Register ASP.NET with .NET Framework 4.5 in IIS using the following command:
%SystemDrive%\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v4.0.30319\aspnet_regiis.exe -ir –enable
3. Reset IIS using the following command from a DOS Prompt: IISReset
After performing all of the prerequisite tasks listed above, you might think you’re in the home stretch, and most of you probably will be. However, I encountered the following error during Step 8 of my initial installation causing the install to fail:
Service ‘MSExchangeTransport’ failed to reach status ‘Running’ on this server
It turned out that my issue resulted from not having IPV6 enabled on my server. After I enabled IPV6, I was able to restart my installation and it finished successfully. However, even though the installation completed, Exchange 2013 was not functional after the restarted installation completed. Having learned my lesson, I rebuilt my server, installed all prerequisite software, ensured that IPV6 was enabled, and was able to successfully install Exchange 2013 Preview.
