Ward | Ward Vissers

Database Availability Group (DAG) in Exchange 2010

One of the new features of Exchange 2010 is DAG Database Availability Group. The Customer were i work now wants Exchange 2010 in a dag cluster because they have a datacenter for failback.
Because i going to implement Exchange 2010 at the customer i created a test setup.

Configuration:

Server 1 – HYPERVDC-01
OS: Microsoft Windows 2008 R2 Standard x64
IP: 192.168.150.90
Roles: Active Directory / Hyper-V

Server 2 – CHEK10-01
OS: Microsoft Windows 2008 R2 Standard x64
IP: 192.168.150.91
Roles: Exchange 2010 HT / CAS

Server 3 – CHEK10-02
OS: Microsoft Windows 2008 R2 Standard x64
IP: 192.168.150.92
Roles: Exchange 2010 HT / CAS

Server 4 – DAGEK10-01
OS: Microsoft Windows 2008 R2 Enterprise x64
IP: 192.168.150.93
Roles: Exchange 2010 MBX

Server 5 – DAGEK10-02
OS: Microsoft Windows 2008 R2 Enterprise x64
IP: 192.168.150.94
Roles: Exchange 2010 MBX

Creating the DAG

Groupname: DAG01
Witness Server: CHKEK10-01 (Microsoft says use one of the CAS or Hub Servers. You cannot use a DAG Server! If you want use a non Exchange 2010 server you must at the Exchange Trusted Subsystem group at the local administrators group.
Witness Directory: C:\DAG01

Add a MB server to a DAG

Setting a IP address on a Database Availability Group

With the following command you can set the DAG Database Availability Group an IP address. Set-DatabaseAvailabilityGroup -Identity DAG01 -DatabaseAvailabilityGroupIpAddresses 192.168.150.96

Rollup 4 for Exchange Server 2010

The Exchange team has released Update Rollup 4 for Exchange Server 2010 RTM (KB 982639)

KB 982639 lists all the fixes included in this rollup. Here are some of the product improvements and critical bug fixes we’d like to call out starting with 5 improvements we made to prevent crashes in very unique scenarios.

KB 980852 The RpcClientAccess process on an Exchange Server 2010 server crashes when you access a mailbox by using a MAPI application
KB 979801 An error message is generated in Exchange Server 2010 when you use Exchange Troubleshooting Assistant
KB 980364 The Exchange Transport service on an Exchange Server 2010 server crashes when a certain message is processed
KB 980353 A MAPI application that is used to access Exchange Server 2010 mailboxes crashes when the application accesses an address book
KB 979790 An IMAP4 client crashes when accessing an Exchange Server 2010 mailbox

We corrected a few replication issues some of you encountered.

KB 980149 The Add-MailboxDatabaseCopy command fails when it is used to add a database copy to a Database Availability Group in an Exchange Server 2010 environment
KB 981961 Event ID 4033 is logged and the Free/Busy replication from an Exchange Server 2003 server to an Exchange Server 2010 server fails
KB 979921 You cannot replicate a public folder from one Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 server to another, and Event ID 3079 is logged on the target server

Important:
Microsoft Update does not detect Update rollups on Exchange Server 2010 Mailbox servers that are part of a database availability group (DAG).

Download Rollup 4 for Exchange 2010 HERE

Checking Microsoft Office 2010 KMS Activation Status

Before you start you must al ready have a kms server.
On the KMS server you need to install the Office 2010 KMS Host License Pack on the KMS Server.
Launch Microsoft Outlook 2010
Click to the File tab. Click Help.

Office is not activated

Determining Which Activation Method Office is Using – KMS or MAK

Click the start menu and enter cmd /k cscript “%programfiles%\Microsoft Office\Office14\ospp.vbs” /dstatus in the search box.

If running 32 bit Office 2010 on 64 bit Windows, %programfiles% above should be replaced with %programfiles(x86)%.

Not Activated

Checking if a DNS Domain is Configured for KMS Auto-Discovery

To check if a DNS domain is configured for KMS auto-discovery, check that a SRV record exists.

nslookup -type=srv _vlmcs._tcp.wardvissers.nl

If a SRV record exists for the domain, the DNS server will detail the SRV record.

C:\>nslookup -type=srv _vlmcs._tcp

Server: ward-dc02.wardvissers.local

Address: 192.168.150.6

Non-authoritative answer:

_vlmcs._tcp.wardvissers.local SRV service location:

priority = 0

weight = 0

port = 1688

svr hostname = ward-dc2.wardvissers.local

If no SRV record exists for the domain, the DNS server will return an error

Verifying that a Windows Computer can Communicate with the KMS Activation Server

KMS activation requires that the machine to be activated has TCP port 1688 open for outbound communication to the activation server.

Verifying that outbound TCP port 1688 is open to the KMS server

Download and install the utility portqry.exe from Microsoft. It is a command line utility from Microsoft that reports the port status of a remote host.
From a command prompt, run the command:

portqry.exe -n ward-dc02.wardvissers.local -p tcp -e 1688

The command will return “TCP port 1688 (unknown service): LISTENING” if the computer is able to communicate with the KMS server.

If the command returns “TCP port 1688 (unknown service): FILTERED” then the computer is unable to communicate with the KMS server

Manually Specifying the KMS Activation Server

1. Type cmd in the search bar to locate the command window..
2. At the command prompt, type cd\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office14.

If running 32 bit Office 2010 on 64 bit Windows, Program Files above should be replaced with Program Files (x86).
Run the command cscript ospp.vbs /sethst:ward-dc02.wardvissers.local to manually specify the KMS activation server.

Run the command cscript ospp.vbs /act to activate Office with the KMS server.

Launch Microsoft Outlook 2010 agein
Click to the File tab. Click Help.

Office is activated

Desktop Virtualization for Dummies

Microsoft has released a free eBook: Desktop Virtualization for Dummies.
It has 43 pages with covers the following things
– What is Desktop Virtualization
– Discovering the benefits of Desktop Virtualization
– Thinking about your organization requirements
– Choosing between the options
– Taking things forward with Desktop Virtualization
– Ten (Well, Nearly) top tips for Desktop Virtualization

Click on the picture to download the pdf.

Source

Where to find the right MDT 2010 logs

Each MDT 2010 script automatically creates log files during its execution. The names of these log files match the name of the script—for example, ZTIGather.wsf creates a log file named ZTIGather.log. Each script also updates a common master log file (BDD.log) that aggregates the contents of the log files that MDT 2010 scripts create. MDT 2010 log files reside in C:\MININT\SMSOSD\OSDLOGS during the deployment process. Depending on the type of deployment being conducted, the log files are moved at the completion of the deployment to either %WINDIR%\SMSOSD or %WINDIR%\TEMP\SMSOSD. For Lite Touch Installation (LTI) deployments, the logs start in C:\MININT\SMSOSD\OSDLogs. They end up in %WINDIR%\TEMP\DeploymentLogs when task sequence execution is complete.

MDT 2010 creates the following log files:

BDD.log: This is the aggregated MDT 2010 log file that is copied to a network location at the end of the deployment if you specify the SLShare property in the Customsettings.ini file.

LiteTouch.log: This file is created during LTI deployments. It resides in %WINDIR%\TEMP\DeploymentLogs unless you specify the /debug:true option.

Scriptname.log: This file is created by each MDT 2010 script. Scriptname represents the name of the script in question.

SMSTS.log: This file is created by the Task Sequencer and describes all Task Sequencer transactions. Depending on the deployment scenario, it may reside in %TEMP%, %WINDIR%\System32\ccm\logs, or C:\_SMSTaskSequence, or C:\SMSTSLog.

Wizard.log: The deployment wizards create and update this file.

WPEinit.log: This file is created during the Windows PE initialization process and is useful for troubleshooting errors encountered while starting Windows PE.

DeploymentWorkbench_id.log: This log file is created in the %temp% folder when you specify a /debug when starting the Deployment Workbench.

Configuring Client Access Array for Exchange 2010

When you want to use the Client Access Array function from Exchange 2010. You have to options.
1. Use the NLB function in Windows. Check this article that i blogged: Configuring NLB for Exchange 2010 for Cas load balancing.
2. When you have 2 physical load balancers in combination with a DAG cluster.

I haven’t any pre-Created CAS arrays in my hyper-v.local domain. But you would to check of there is any pre-created CAS Arrays. Run the command below. if you didn’t create a CAS Array before, you will get nothing .

Get-ClientAccessArray

Then you should create new Client Access Array. Run below Cmdlet in Exchange Management Console

New-ClientAccessArray –Name “CasArray1” –Fqdn casarray.hyper-v.local -Site “Default-First-Site-Name”

Now we have finished creating a CAS array. Then we must associate databases with this CAS Array.
Use below CMDLet to add mailbox database to CAS array. We can attach all mailbox databases at once as shown as shown below

Get-MailboxDatabase | Set-MailboxDatabase -RPCClientAccessServer “casarray.hyper-v.local”

Exchange 2010 SP1 Beta

Exchange Server 2010 Service Pack 1 Beta is available now. It incorporates a number of feature updates including: archiving and discovery enhancements, a faster Outlook Web App (OWA), upgraded mobility features, and several improvements in the management UI. In short it helps you achieve new levels of reliability and performance by delivering features that help to simplify your administration, protect your communications, and delight your customers by meeting their demands for greater business mobility.

Microsoft Download Center Link is here and direct downloadable exe file link is available below.

File Name: Exchange2010-SP1-Beta-x64.exe
Version: 14.01.0180.002
Date Published: 6/5/2010
Language: English
Download Size: 532.5 MB

Configuring NLB for Exchange 2010 for CAS Load Balancing

Exchange’s dependence on the Client Access Server (CAS) role has increased dramatically in Exchange 2010. This is because, in Exchange 2010, on-network Outlook MAPI connectivity now connects to a mailbox through the CAS role via the RPC Client Access Service. As a result, high availability of the CAS role is crucial since any failure of CAS could affect Outlook client connectivity. For smaller implementations or those where the limitations of native Windows Network Load Balancing (NLB) are not a major problem

You need two or more Exchange 2010 servers (each with two NICs) with the CAS role installed have been deployed, you are ready to start configuring NLB to provide high availability and load balancing. First, you must allocate a dedicated private IP address and create an associated A record in DNS for the NLB cluster.

This IP address and name are what clients will connect to and against which the ClientAccessArray will be created. In this blog post, I will use 192.168.150.95 and casarray.hyper-v.local
To simplify the management of your NLB cluster members, I recommend that you name each NIC’s network connection so that it is easy to understand what function the NIC serves. For example, as depicted below, I have named the connections “LAN” (used for communication with clients and servers on the network) and “NLB” (used for internal NLB heartbeat). This process should be repeated on all NLB cluster members.

IP configuration:
Server 1:
LAN:
IP: 192.168.150.90
Subnetmask: 255.255.255.0
Gateway: 192.168.150.254
DNS: 192.168.150.1

Server 2:
LAN:
IP: 192.168.150.91
Subnetmask: 255.255.255.0
Gateway: 192.168.150.254
DNS: 192.168.150.1

Configuring NLB – First Member

On each NLB cluster member, NLB must be installed. With Windows 2008 R2, this can be completed simply by running the command “ServerManagerCmd -i NLB” via a command prompt. Once NLB has been installed, launch the Network Load Balancing Manager to continue the configuration process.

To create your new cluster, you can right-click Network Load Balancing Clusters or simply click Cluster, New. In the New Cluster wizard, enter the name of the first server in the NLB cluster (for example, CHEK10-01) and click Connect. This will display the available NICs on the server, at which point the NLB NIC should be chosen before clicking Next.

Since this is the first member of the NLB cluster, you can leave the all of the Host Parameters at their default values, as depicted below. Please note that the Priority value should be configured as 1 for the first member.

Next we must configure the IP address and subnet mask of the NLB cluster, which is the IP address for which we created a DNS A record at the very beginning of this process. In this example, this would be 192.168.150.95 and 255.255.255.0, respectively.

For the Cluster Parameters, we want to enter the FQDN of the DNS A record we created at the very beginning of this process (casarray.hyper-v.local). In addition, Unicast should be selected as the desired clustered operation mode.

I lieve the Port Rules how they are and end with Finish

Let the NLB cluster converge with its first member and you should eventually see the cluster report success.

Now you can proceed with adding your second cluster member.

Configuring NLB – Second/Subsequent Member

After the configuration of the NLB cluster itself and the first NLB cluster member has been completed, you are ready to add additional members. Provided that NLB has been installed, you can simply right-click on your NLB cluster in the Network Load Balancing Manager and click Add Host To Cluster.

Enter the name of the second NLB cluster member, for example CHEK10-02, and click Connect. Be sure to choose the NLB LAN NIC and click Next.

On the Host Parameters screen, ensure that the Priority is set to 2 (or as appropriate, depending on how many cluster members you have) and click Next.