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Exchange Server Installation/Prerequisites Guide

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By Klaas Mondria
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This guide follows the official Microsoft documentation for Exchange Server prerequisites. Refer to the official documentation here.

Prerequisites

Infrastructure Requirements

  1. Domain Controller (DC): Ensure you have a Domain Controller (DC) with Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) installed.
  2. Exchange VM: Set up a separate virtual machine with Windows Server where you will install Exchange Server.

User Setup on the Domain Controller

Create a user account on the DC for Exchange Server with the following group memberships:

  • Domain Admins
  • Domain Users
  • Enterprise Admins
  • Schema Admins

Note: Ensure you log in as this user when performing the next installation steps.

Software Requirements

Install the following software on the Exchange VM:

  1. .NET Framework 4.8
    Download here

  2. Visual C++ Redistributable Package for Visual Studio 2012
    Download here

  3. Visual C++ Redistributable Package for Visual Studio 2013
    Download here

  4. Unified Communications Managed API 4.0
    Download here

Installing Required Windows Features

Run the following command in PowerShell as Administrator on the Exchange VM:

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Install-WindowsFeature Server-Media-Foundation, NET-Framework-45-Features, RPC-over-HTTP-proxy, RSAT-Clustering, RSAT-Clustering-CmdInterface, RSAT-Clustering-Mgmt, RSAT-Clustering-PowerShell, WAS-Process-Model, Web-Asp-Net45, 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-Ext45, Web-Request-Monitor, Web-Server, Web-Stat-Compression, Web-Static-Content, Web-Windows-Auth, Web-WMI, Windows-Identity-Foundation, RSAT-ADDS

Additional Installation

IIS URL Rewrite Module

Note: Reboot your server after completing the installations above.

Download Exchange Server ISO

Mount the ISO

  1. Right-click on the ISO and select Mount.
  2. Open PowerShell as Administrator, navigate to the mounted drive (e.g., E:\), and run the following commands:
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   E:\Setup.exe /IAcceptExchangeServerLicenseTerms_DiagnosticDataOn /PrepareSchema

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   E:\Setup.exe /IAcceptExchangeServerLicenseTerms_DiagnosticDataOn /PrepareAD /OrganizationName:"YOURDOMAIN"

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   E:\Setup.exe /IAcceptExchangeServerLicenseTerms_DiagnosticDataOn /PrepareAllDomains

Installing Exchange Server

  1. Mount the ISO again if required.
  2. Open File Explorer, navigate to the mounted ISO drive (e.g., E:\), and run Setup.exe.
  3. Select Recommended Settings when prompted.
  4. In the Server Role Selection step:
    • Choose the Mailbox role.
    • Enable the option to Automatically install Windows Server roles and features.
  5. Complete the remaining steps of the installation using your preferred settings.

You’re now ready to start using Exchange Server!

Note: You can access the Exchange Admin Center (EAC) by navigating to https://localhost/ecp in your web browser.

What to Do If the Installation Fails

If your first installation fails (as mine did for no apparent reason), you may need to clean up any remnants of the failed installation from your domain controller before trying again.

A step-by-step guide for removing leftover Exchange Server objects from Active Directory is available here: How to Remove Exchange from Active Directory

Once the cleanup is complete, retry the Exchange Server installation following the steps above.

This ensures a fresh start and minimizes the risk of issues caused by leftover configuration settings.

Windows Server
Exchange
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