Exchange Server 2010 to 2013 Migration – Installing Exchange Server 2013

After preparing Active Directory we can proceed with the installation of the Exchange 2013 servers into the Exchange Server Pro organization.

The first servers to be installed are EX2013SRV1 and EX2013SRV2 in the Datacenter1 site. The servers in Datacenter2 will be deployed later in the project as the HA environment is expanded to include site resiliency.

Before you proceed with the first Exchange 2013 installation I recommend you read and understand the guidance in the Reviewing AutoDiscover Configuration part of this article series. You should also have already performed your namespace and certificate planning.

Installing Exchange Server 2013

The Exchange Server Pro organization has chosen to deploy Exchange Server 2013 SP1 on Windows Server 2012 R2. If you are planning to deploy Exchange Server 2013 there may be a more recent build available for you to deploy instead.

The installation involves:

• Building the new servers to the specifications determined using the Exchange 2013 server sizing guidance from Microsoft
• Installing the Exchange Server 2013 pre-requisites
• Installing Exchange Server 2013 on both servers as a multi-role server (Mailbox and Client Access server roles)

Configuring the AutoDiscover URI

To avoid Outlook security alert issues for end users the AutoDiscover URI is immediately updated on the Exchange 2013 Client Access servers to use the AutoDiscover namespace for the organization. This is performed by opening the Exchange Management Shell on an Exchange 2013 server and running the following commands.

[PS] C:\>Set-ClientAccessServer ex2013srv1 -AutoDiscoverServiceInternalUri https://autodiscover.exchangeserverpro.net/Autodiscover/Autodiscover.xml

[PS] C:\>Set-ClientAccessServer ex2013srv2 -AutoDiscoverServiceInternalUri https://autodiscover.exchangeserverpro.net/Autodiscover/Autodiscover.xml

In the next part of this series we’ll look at accessing the Exchange 2013 management tools during the co-existence phase of the project.

For more information see the Exchange Server 2010 to 2013 Migration Guide.