Planning a Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 Infrastructure : Preparing Forests and Domains

ForestPrep

Active Directory consists of three partitions that store data: the schema partition, the configuration partition, and the domain partition. Prior to installing Exchange Server 2003, you need to use ForestPrep and DomainPrep to prepare these Active Directory partitions.

ForestPrep updates the schema and configuration partitions in Active Directory. Therefore, the account used to run ForestPrep must be a member of the Schema Admins and Enterprise Admins security groups. Specifically, ForestPrep is a setup switch for Exchange that, when run, extends the Active Directory schema to include Exchange Server 2003–specific classes and attributes. With Exchange 2000 Server, ForestPrep also created the Exchange organization container, but this has changed with Exchange Server 2003. As a result, you no longer have to specify an organization name until you actually install Exchange Server 2003.

To run ForestPrep, insert the Exchange Server 2003 installation CD, and from the Run command line, type the command shown in Figure 1, substituting the drive letter for your CD-ROM drive if it isn’t D. You’ll be doing this in the practice at the end of the lesson.

Once you start Setup with the /forestprep switch, Setup will copy temporary files to your hard drive and then open the Microsoft Exchange Installation Wizard. After reading the Welcome page, click Next.

Next, you are presented with the End User License Agreement (EULA). Take the time to read it; there is important information regarding the product’s licensing. Once you’ve read the agreement, click the I Agree option, and then click Next.

At this point, the wizard brings you to the component selection portion of Setup. Since you ran Setup with the /forestprep switch, the component selection will be filled in automatically and you will not be able to make any other selections. However, you can choose to change the installation directory if the default doesn’t suit your needs. This is shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2. The Component Selection portion of Setup

After confirming the component selection and installation directory, enter the account that you will use to install Exchange Server 2003. The account will be granted the Exchange Full Administrator role and will be given the authority to delegate other Exchange administrator roles. As shown in Figure 3, by default, Setup will try to use the account that you are currently logged on with.

Figure 3. Identifying the service account that will be given Exchange Full Administrator permissions

Click Next, and ForestPrep begins. Because it is modifying the Active Directory schema, there is no way to cancel the ForestPrep process once it begins. You’ll see the progress being made, but remember that it is not unusual for ForestPrep to take an hour or more to complete. When it does finish, you will see the completion dialog box. Simply click Finish, and the ForestPrep portion of Setup is done.

DomainPrep

Running DomainPrep is much the same as running ForestPrep, except that you use the /domainprep switch instead (you’ll do this in the practice at the end of the lesson). The only difference you will see in the wizard is in the component selection screen, which now has DomainPrep selected for the action. Again, you cannot select any other components. If you changed your installation directory during ForestPrep and the change isn’t updated here, simply change the installation directory to match what you chose earlier.

While the DomainPrep Setup switch may seem to do the same thing as ForestPrep on the surface, its purpose is different. Whereas ForestPrep prepared the schema and configuration partitions of Active Directory, DomainPrep prepares the domain partition. Another key difference is that while ForestPrep is run once (in the forest root domain) for the entire forest, DomainPrep must be run in each of the following domains:

• The forest root domain

• All domains that will contain Exchange Server 2003

• All domains that will contain Exchange mailbox-enabled objects (users and groups), even if the domain does not have its own Exchange Server 2003 server

The DomainPrep switch creates the groups and permissions required by Exchange Server 2003. Two security groups are created by DomainPrep:

• Exchange Enterprise Servers A domain local group that contains all Exchange servers running in the forest

• Exchange Domain Servers A global group that contains all Exchange servers running in the domain you have selected

To run DomainPrep, you must use a user account that is a member of the Domain Admins group in the local domain.

Practice: Preparing Forests and Domains

In this practice, you will prepare Active Directory for the Exchange Server 2003 installation by running ForestPrep and DomainPrep.

Exercise 1: Run ForestPrep

Exercise 2: Run DomainPrep