Installing Exchange 2007 is just as easy as previous versions, and once you have prepped AD, the rest is pretty straight-forward. That doesn’t mean you should throw in the CD and start clicking Next! Be sure to review the prerequisites in the first part of this series to reduce any confusion that may lead to errors or worse.

GUI Installation

With all the prerequisites taken care of we can begin the Exchange 2007 installation. The GUI-based installation is pretty straightforward. Insert the CD and run Setup.exe from the root of the disc. You will need certain permissions depending on your current configuration and how you prepared the domain. You will need Enterprise and Local Administrator privileges, and if you have not already prepared the domain you will also need Schema Administrator permissions as well. If you already have an Exchange 2007 server in the domain you will also need to be a member of the Exchange Organization Administrator group.

The Welcome screen will appear and you will see right away if you have the required software prerequisites. Figure 1 shows that the .NET Framework 2.0 is installed (it is grayed out) and MMC 3.0 is also installed but Microsoft Shell (MSH) is missing. If you are missing either of these components, you can simply click on the item to install it.

Figure 1: Prerequisites

Once the install wizard starts you can read over the Introduction then read and accept the EULA. Next you have the option of enabling Error Reporting, make your choice and then click next. You will be given two install choices; Typical and Custom (see Figure 2). The typical install will install all the roles with the exception of the Edge Transport role. If you wish to customize the installation, choose the Custom install option. Here you can also change the install location if you wish to do so.

Figure 2: Install Options

When you choose the custom option and click next you will be given a number of selections and you can choose which role, or roles, to install. You can also select to install Active or Passive Mailbox server clusters, or just install the Management Console (see Figure 3).

Figure 3: Server Roles

Before you can continue, you will have to provide the name of the Exchange Organization and be asked if you have any computers running versions of Outlook 2003 or earlier (see Figure 4). This option will create Public Folders if you select yes, but choosing no will not create any Public folders. 

Figure 4: Outlook Versions

You will need to be aware of a few things when choosing what roles to install where. If you are running a multi-site AD environment you need to install a Hub Transport and Mailbox server in each AD Site. You also must install a Client Access server in each site that contains a Mailbox server. Finally, all the roles can be installed on the same server (except Edge Transport) or on individual servers.

The installation will now run a set of pre-checks to determine if the domain and server are ready to accept an Exchange 2007 server. Figure 5 shows an example of some common errors you will see if IIS is missing, or if the domain is not at the required functional level (notice the Install button is grayed out).

Figure 5: Failed Readiness Check

When all of the Readiness Checks pass, the Install button will appear and you can press it to start the installation (see Figure 6).

Figure 6: Successful Readiness Check

You can watch the install progress and depending on the roles installed it can take a while. Once complete, click Finish and you are ready to begin configuring your Exchange 2007 server (see Figure 7).

Figure 7: Install Progress