Exchange 2013 DAG configuration

Configuring Database Availability Groups in Exchange Server 2013 Preview

The process of creating a Database Availability Group (DAG) in Exchange Server 2013 (Preview) is largely the same as in Exchange Server 2010. You can choose to create a DAG via either the Exchange Administrative Center (GUI) or through the Exchange Management Shell (PowerShell).

I prefer using the Exchange Management Shell over EAC as it provides you more information over the process.

Exchange Management Shell

To configure a Database Availability Group using the EMS, type in the following commands. Replace the example values with the ones that suit your environment:

1	New-DatabaseAvailabilityGroup –Name DAG01 –WitnessServer SRV01 –WitnessDirectory “C:\FSW” – DatabaseAvailabilityGroupIPAddresses 192.168.20.110

This command will create the DAG. As part of this process, a computer object, also known as the Cluster Name Object, will automatically be created:

Note   In order for this process to complete successfully, you need to have the appropriate permissions on the container in which the object is created. By default this will be the “Computers”-container. However, it is possible that your Active Directory has been reconfigured to use another container/OU as default location for new computer accounts. Have a look athttp://support.microsoft.com/kb/324949 for more information.

Another way to get around the possible issue of permissions, is to create the Cluster Name Object (CNO) upfront. This process is also called “pre-staging”. Doing so will allow you to create the object up-front with another account (that has the appropriate rights) so that you don’t run into any issues when configuring your DAG.

To pre-stage the CNO, complete the following tasks:

1. Open Active Directory Users & Computers, navigate to the OU in which you want to create the object, right-click and select New > Computer:

   
2. Enter a Computer Name and click OKto create the account:

   
3. Right-click the new account and select Properties. Open the Security tab and add the following permissions:- Exchange Trusted Subsystem – Full Control
   - First DAG Node (Computer Account) – Full Control

     

More information on how to pre-stage the CNO can be found here:http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff367878.aspx

Note   if your DAG has multiple nodes across different subnets, you will need to assign an IP address in each subnet to the DAG. To do so, you can separate the IP addresses using a comma:

1	New-DatabaseAvailabilityGroup –Name DAG01 –WitnessServer SRV01 –WitnessDirectory “C:\FSW” – DatabaseAvailabilityGroupIPAddresses 192.168.20.110,192.168.30.110,192.168.40.110

Once the command executed successfully, you can now add mailbox servers to the DAG. You will need to run this command for each server you want to add to the DAG:

1 2	Add-DatabaseAvailabilityGroupServer –Identity DAG01 –MailboxServer EX01 Add-DatabaseAvailabilityGroupServer –Identity DAG01 –MailboxServer EX02

Alternatively, you can also add all/multiple mailbox servers at once to the DAG:

1	Get-MailboxServer | %{Add-DatabaseAvailabilityGroupServer –Identity DAG01 –MailboxServer $_.Name}

Adding Database Copies

Now that your DAG has been created, you can add copies of mailbox databases to other mailbox servers. For example, to add a copy of DB1 to server EX02, you would run the following command:

1	Add-MailboxDatabaseCopy –Identity DB1 –MailboxServer EX02

Exchange 2013 Access console

Enter the Exchange Administration Center (EAC), a new web-based unified console that allows you to manage Exchange Server 2013 (on-premises), Exchange Online Preview organizations and hybrid deployments. You don’t need to install any admin tools on your management computer/workstation to use the EAC. In fact, the EAC provides rich cross-browser and cross-platform support so you can use your browser of choice (see list ofsupported browsers/platforms).

You can access the EAC by going to http://<serverFQDN>/ecp. If you’ve been using Exchange 2010, the URL may sound familiar – it belongs to the Exchange Control Panel (ECP). In Exchange 2013 Preview, the same familiar URL lands you to the new web-based admin console that’s packed with functionality.

Figure 2: The Exchange Administration Center (EAC) login page at http://server.domain.com/ecp (seelarger image)

When you first log in to the EAC (if you’ve never logged into your mailbox), you’re presented with the familiar language/locale and timezone setting page.

If you’ve been using EMC in Exchange 2010 or Exchange 2007, you’ll be right at home with the EAC. Even if you’re not, it’s an easy web-based tool you can navigate through without much effort.

Figure 3: The Exchange Administration Center (EAC) in Exchange 2013 Preview (see larger image)

The familiar choices in navigation bar include:

Left navigation	Tabs
Recipients	Mailboxes | Groups | Resources (resource mailboxes) | Contacts | Shared (mailboxes) | Migration
Permissions	Admin Roles | User Roles | and in this Preview build – OWA Policies.
Compliance Management	In-Place Discovery (Multi-Mailbox Search in Exchange 2010) & Hold (In-Place Hold, new functionality to replace Litigation Hold aka Legal Hold, which is deprecated but still available in this release) | Auditing(mailbox audit logging & admin audit logging reports) | Data Loss Prevention (new information protection feature) | Retention Policies | Retention Tags | Journaling
Organization	Sharing (Federation Trusts) | Apps (new feature) | Address Lists
Protection	Anti-Malware (new feature)
Mail Flow	Rules (transport rules) | Delivery Reports | Accepted Domains | Email Address Policies | Receive Connectors | Send Connectors
Mobile	Mobile Device Access (Allow/Block/Quarantine mobile devices) |Mobile Device Policies (ActiveSync Mailbox Policies)
Public Folders	Public Folders | Public Folder Mailboxes
Unified Messaging	UM Dial Plans | UM IP Gateways
Servers	Servers | Databases (from entire org) | Database Availability Groups |Virtual Directories (manage all CAS virtual directories, including AutoDiscover, EAS, ECP – used by EAC, EWS, OWA and PowerShell) |Certificates
Hybrid	Setup (Setup a Hybrid deployment with Office 365)

So that’s a quick run down of the elements in the EAC in Exchange 2013 Preview. You can learn more in Exchange Administration Center in Exchange 2013 Preview documentation.

Remember, Exchange 2013 Preview, and therefore the EAC, is a work in progress. The navigation elements and their locations described above may go through changes by the time Exchange 2013 ships.

Windows Server 2012 “dcpromo”

dcpromo went on holliday after Windows Server 2008 R2 so to promte a server to domain controller we need to use powershell or server manager , so with 12 years with dcpromo i exept to type that a few times more until i remember its gone away

Head to server manager and add role on local server

Select Active Directory Domain Services

In task details select Action Promote this server to a domain controller

As this is the start of a new forest we need to add the forest and specifi root doman name

One VERY handy new feature most places in Windows Server 2012 ish the view script command

#
# Windows PowerShell script for AD DS Deployment
#

Import-Module ADDSDeployment
Install-ADDSForest `
-CreateDnsDelegation:$false `
-DatabasePath “C:\Windows\NTDS” `
-DomainMode “Win2012″ `
-DomainName “internal.systemcenterdemo.dk” `
-DomainNetbiosName “INTERNAL” `
-ForestMode “Win2012″ `
-InstallDns:$true `
-LogPath “C:\Windows\NTDS” `
-NoRebootOnCompletion:$false `
-SysvolPath “C:\Windows\SYSVOL” `
-Force:$true

And we get the syntax for creating a new forest from powershell instead of using 10ish mouse clicks

And we know have a functional forest