Installing Exchange 2010 Beta

Alexander Zammit

Software Development Consultant. Involved in the development of various Enterprise software solutions. Today focused on Blockchain and DLT technologies.

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Published: Apr 28, 2009
Category: Exchange 2010, Install/Upgrade
Votes: 3.6 out of 5 - 5 Votes

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Did you install Exchange 2010 beta? Today we walk through the installation steps and look at the facts relevant to get you started.

Now that the first public beta of Exchange 2010 is out, many of you will want to get this installed and decide whether the goodies justify an upgrade. Thus today we walk through the installation of Exchange 2010 Beta.

Installing Exchange 2010 holds little surprises for those running Exchange 2007. This release retains the design characteristics of its predecessor and the installation steps are also very similar. Exchange 2003 users will need to get used to the role based architecture. However since this is the same as what we have in Exchange 2007, there is no shortage of information in this area.

Apart for the prerequisites, the Exchange 2010 installation is different from Exchange 2007 in two significant ways. Firstly Exchange 2010 only supports the Windows 2008 platform. Secondly there is no 32-bit evaluation version. I was thinking that very few would have noticed the omission of the 32-bit build since 64-bit machines have now been main stream for some years. However I changed my mind after visiting the Exchange 2010 Forum.

While we are at it, the Exchange 2010 forum is really the place to go for learning about Exchange 2010. Plus you will also find the best MVPs and MSFTs ready to answer any questions! The forum was also a useful reference for writing this and my previous article, Exchange 2010 from Beta to Final All in 2009.

It goes without saying that this beta is only intended for evaluation. Don't even think of installing it in a live environment. If you are still tempted just think of the Active Directory extensions Exchange will install. You certainly don't want a beta schema extension in your live environment that might conflict with the schema of the final Exchange 2010 release. On the same lines, the possibility that no in-place upgrade option is provided for moving from beta to final release also exists.

Before we begin installing, note that this beta cannot be mixed with earlier Exchange versions. Support for mixed Exchange environments will be available as from the next build. This will allow mixing Exchange 2010 with already existing Exchange 2003 and 2007 servers. I underline "already existing" because although Exchange 2010 will be able to join a mixed environment, once Exchange 2010 is installed it will not be possible to add any new Exchange 2003/2007 servers to the organization.

Installation

Of course our installation starts with a visit to the Exchange 2010 Download/Home page from where we get the bits.

The Exchange 2010 prerequisite list includes amongst others, the .NET Framework v3.5, Remote Management Console Community Technology Preview (CTP) 3 and Windows PowerShell V2 CTP3. Note how Exchange 2010 depends on CTPs. These are releases made available exclusively for previewing of upcoming technology releases, definitely something you don't want installed in a live environment.

The exact set of prerequisites depends on the Exchange roles being installed. Instead of walking you through all possible combinations, it will be best to become familiar with the Microsoft article addressing this topic: Exchange 2010 Prerequisites. With the prerequisites cleared we can proceed to follow the Exchange 2010 installation wizard.

We move forward to the 3rd wizard step where we can select the language files to be installed. You may see the list of supported languages from Deploying Exchange 2010 Languages.

With a few more clicks on the Next button we reach the installation type selection. An Exchange 2010 organization will at least require the Hub Transport, Client Access and Mailbox server roles. These are the roles I will install today. Optionally we could install Unified Messaging and Edge Server. The latter requires a separate machine.

In our case I could select the Typical Exchange Server Installation type. However here I select the Custom option just to demonstrate the available roles.

The Client Settings wizard step asks us whether we are running Outlook 2003 and earlier or Entourage. Selecting yes the installation will create the Public Folder database for us. Of course we could also create this after completing the installation if required. Public Folders are still with us, despite the fact SharePoint is considered to be the preferred replacement.

Despite doing my best to satisfy all pre-requisites and to install all updates from Microsoft Update, the readiness check identified the need for three hot fixes. Installing these and restarting the setup allowed me to satisfy the test and complete the installation.

Final Tips

Installing Exchange 2010 beta is the best way for us to see what's new. The installation stores no major surprises. Hoping you are not one of those requiring a 32-bit build, it's time to book some time at the test lab and give Exchange 2010 a run.