Setup FAQs

 This FAQ page is devoted to Setup and Deployment related questions.

Q: Where are the setup log files located? What are the important parts of the log file?

A: Setup creates a special folder which contains all the relevant log files: %systemdrive%\ExchangeSetupLogs. So if you installed Exchange on the C:\ drive, the log files would be C:\ExchangeSetupLogs. The log file is called ExchangeSetup.log, when troubleshooting, look for [ERROR] entries in the file. Note: the same file is used for multiple setup runs, so one file may contain data for more than one setup run.

Q: Is there a quick overview of setup options somewhere?

A: You can get a quick overview of setup cmdline options by doing setup /? at the cmdline. The GUI is designed to be interactive and should provide you with all the information you need. Additionally, MVP Rodney Buike has an excellent two series article at msexchange.org: part1, part2. The online TechNet documentation is also available, with a lot more detail.

Q: How do I troubleshoot setup errors?

A: A great resource for troubleshooting setup issues is the Exchange Setup log file which is located in the C:\ExchangeSetupLogs folder when you are performing an installation. This really is the primary source of information related to troubleshooting an Exchange installation. This is a new feature in the Exchange 2007 product.

Q: What are the minium requirements etc. for Exchange 2007? How do I get started?

A: The TechNet online docs are great for this information, including an overview of requirements. Also you should consult the release notes on the setup CD and online.

Q: My setup failed, do I have to reformat the machine and start again?

A: No. Exchange 2007 can start and pick-up from where it previously quit. There are some cases where a re-run of setup may not work but in the general case, you should be able to re-run setup just fine.

Q: Which verison of PowerShell do I need for the Exchange 2007 Beta?

A: Paul Robichaux answered this on a recent blog post. Additionally the release notes online have been updated online to point to the correct version.

Q: Is there any documentation about setting up an Edge server?

A: The Technical Documentation on Technet  has some topics that should help. You may want to start with:
 - http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/exchange/E2k7Help/406a2d1a-ddc6-4d43-a162-c7179d31a973.mspx?mfr=true
 - http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/exchange/E2k7Help/bd99aaa4-b82c-427c-ab65-b9230ff63fb2.mspx?mfr=true

Q: How do you delete a "PreProvisioned" server that was incorrectly created?  Server was provisioned using 'exsetup /NewProvisionedServer:SERVERNAME.fqdn /serveradmin:domain\adminaccount'

A: Use the /RemoveProvisionedServer parameter to remove a placeholder server object that was created using the NewProvisionedServer parameter.

Q: While setting up a Exchange 2007 Beta2 Active - Passive cluster as an account that is a part of Enterprise Admins, I keep getting the following error...

Error:
You do not have sufficient access privileges to read the security descriptor on the Deleted Objects container.  You must be an Enterprise Administrator to read this ACL. ntSecurityDescriptor was null

A: Often there are specifics in the installation logs that can point to the specific problem.  It would be best to open each of the relavent log files for the installation and see if there is a specific object that is causing the error.  Without seeing the error it might be that there is a server object with the same DN as the server you are installing Exchange 2007 on that has not been tombstoned.

Q: How I do I manage Exchange 2007 from a Windows XP SP2 workstation or other x86 Windows Operating System? 
A: You can install the Exchange 2007 Management Tools from the the downloadable x86 evaluation edition of Exchange Server 2007. Only Windows 2003 and Windows XP SP2 are supported.  Vista workstations will not be supported until the Exchange 2007 SP1 timeframe.  After the server meets the requirements (having MMC 3.0,PowerShell and a .NET update installed) you need you would run:

 <Exchange_Installation_Folder>\setup.com /mode:install /role:T

Q: For Exchange 2007 Upgrade, should you rename the server before decommissioning? I'm installing Exchange 2007 and currently have a Exchange 2003 Server.  Our server is called HCSDMAIL.  I'm going to call the new server HCSDMAIL2.  I want to keep my original server name (HCSDMAIL).  At what point in the upgrade should I rename the server - before or after moving all mailboxes?    I'm worried about the clients (teachers) coming back  in September that are used to keying in hcsdmail as their exchange server.  All computers have been ghosted, so there will be no profile.  They are still using Office XP.
A: It seems like your need to keep the same server name is because all of your clients are pre-configured to use this name, yet they won't become active until a future date. The easiest way to accomplish the above senario would be use a completely different name for your Exchange 2007 server and keep your original 2003 server online until you are confident that nearly all of the clients have connected successfully to their mailbox  that was moved to the new Exchange 2007 server. When the clients connect, the Exchange 2003 server will refer them to their new mailbox location and update the users outlook profile. After you remove the exchange 2003 server only the outlook clients that have never connected to the new Exchange 2007 server may have issues. For these users you will need to repoint their profile using your method of choice.

Once you deploy your Exchange 2007 mailbox server, move a few mailboxes over to it and test client connectivity using your ghosted image and ensure that you have acheived the desired results.If the results are not satisfactory, you could elect to move all of the mailboxes to the present Exchange 2007 server and then remove the 2003 Exchange server from the Org and decomission. Then you will be able to install a 2nd Exchange 2007 mailbox server with the desired name and move the mailboxes over to it. Then you would probably want to remove the mailbox role from the original Exchange 2007 server and let it continue to function as your CAS server. Again, test for the desired results while you have the time.

Even If you create an Exchange 2007 server of the same name as the Exchange 2003 server, you still may not acheive the desitred results. This is  because the Exchange 2007 server will be installed in a different administrative group from the Outlook client's perspective. The Outlook profile points to the exchange server in the Exchange 2003 Administrative group. If the server is not found in that group, Outlook will fail to open the mailbox saying the server cannot be found. That's why you should leave the Exchange 2003 server in place for as long as possible.