This guide will walk you through the installation and configuration of a Microsoft Exchange Server 2000 system (servicing Email, Newsgroups, and optionally Chat and Instant Messaging). Note: These instructions are mostly valid for Exchange Server 2003, but please be aware there are many improvements, enhancements and minor differences between the two versions. Note: Exchange Server 2000 will NOT install onto Windows Server 2003, however, if it is installed on a Windows 2000 Server that is upgraded to 2003, it will continue to work just fine providing that it is running the latest service pack and hotfixes. Exchange Server 2003 will work on both Windows 2000 and 2003, and offers many improvements including a better Outlook Web Access and Mail Filtering options. Before purchasing and installing Exchange Server, make sure you research which version is appropriate to you.

Before continuing, let’s review the minimum system requirements:

System Requirements for Exchange:

Same as Windows 2000 OS, plus:

– Broadband Connection, 512MB of RAM or higher for best results, 256MB minimum.

– IIS with Web, NNTP, and SMTP services installed and enabled.

– Must have Windows 2000 Server or Advanced Server with Service Pack 2 (minimum although I highly recommend the latest service packs at all times), Active Directory implemented, DNS Server, and the actual Administrator login… not just a user with Admin rights!

1. If your system isn’t a dedicated machine, or does not meet these recommend requirements, you will NOT have very good results keeping your system running well. You will suffer from slow performance or crashes.

2. Logon as the Administrator account (not just as an Administrator) and make sure that the account is a member of the following Active Directory groups – Enterprise Admin, Schema Admin, DNS Admin, and Domain Admin.

3. Launch the Exchange setup Wizard and follow the prompts until you get to the component selection screen. Here you can change the directory you install Exchange to. I usually organize my system very carefully, and put all my programs in Program Files, so my install directory for Exchange is always – C:\Program Files\Microsoft Exchange. In regards to components you select, you must select all of the basic things. However, you do NOT need the Chat or Instant Messaging components. Nor do you need all of the Mail Connectors or the Exchange 5.5 Admin Tools (the newer tools are better, but 5.5 tools are for those of us familiar with that interface).

4. On the following screens (providing all conditions were met) it will prompt you for Organization information about your Exchange Domain. You should create a New Organization and call it the name of your Domain. For example, my organization is AaronHall because that is also my domain name. Note: If setup does not prompt for this information, you know you are missing one of the minimum requirements. Check them again before continuing.

5. Setup will continue by installing all the necessary files and configuring your system. Even on a fast system, this process may take well over an hour or even 2 hours, so be patient. If it doesn’t complete within 2 hours, or at least make significant process in that time, either A) setup froze up or B) you should plan on upgrading the system ASAP.

6. At the completion of setup, you should install Exchange 2000 Service Pack 3 plus the Post-SP3 Rollup and then Windows 2000 Service Pack 4 or later. This will ensure that you have the latest updates for your system. For best results… reboot the server after each installation, required or not.

7. When finished, you should reboot your system regardless of whether it says you should or not… even if you JUST rebooted prior to install. But take heart, you now have a functioning Exchange Server.

Configuration of Exchange Server 2000

1. Launch Start > Programs > Microsoft Exchange > Exchange Services Manager (organized users will move this icon to Administrative tools for easy access along with IIS Manager).

2. First, stop and consider if you have other Exchange servers present on your network, and if so, do they use Exchange 5.5 or earlier? If so, ignore this step and continue to step 3. Otherwise, right click on the domain name and select Properties. Then click Change Mode to switch your Exchange server to Native Mode. This will force Exchange to work in Exchange2K-only mode for faster performance and stability.

3. Second, configure the Global Settings by expanding that option and going to Internet Message Formats. Open the Default format’s properties, and set the following options – SMTP Domain = *, Message Format = Both, Determined by User, and never use auto-wrap. Disable the options for “Automatic” forwards, replies, and out of office responses. Next, open the Message Delivery Properties, and set your desired message limitations.

4. Now we need to establish Recipient Policies… that is, details about the people in your organization. Expand Recipients, go to Recipient Policies, and open the Properties for Default Policy. On the Email Addresses tab, add or change any SMTP domains this server will watch. For example, my server accepts mail to users at both AaronHall.net and GoodThings2Life.com using the format UserID. Although you can change the options to say FirstName.LastName@domain.com if you prefer.

5. Next, expand Servers, and open the Protocols.

6. For HTTP services, there is not much to configure here. Most of the HTTP access you will have to configure using IIS Manager (explained later).

7. For IMAP4 and NNTP services, I do not change very many options. I usually restrict access to IMAP4 to strictly LAN use, and I limit the number of connections as necessary. I also enable “Fast Retrieval of Messages” and set it to format messages with BOTH Rich Text and HTML formats on the IMAP4 service. For NNTP services, I disable all client posting since I don’t actually use News service. However, based on your organization, you should choose the options that make sense for you. All options are self-explanatory, or offer a help by pressing F1. These two services are not widely used outside of LAN use, so there is no need to focus on them, except to disable WAN access to restrict hack attempts and increase security.

8. For POP3 service, there are LOTS of options to configure, since this will be your primary access method. First of all on the General tab, setup any connection limits. I limit my number of connections to 10 since I’m on a small domain, and have limited bandwidth. Also, I limit the timeout to 10 minutes. On the Access tab, setup your Authentication to use Basic and Integrated. Your default domain will be your full domain name. In my case, aaronhall.net. For Connection options, I allow “All except those listed below.” although you may want to restrict access as needed. On the Message Format tab, select Both. Click OK.

9. For SMTP service, there are even more options to configure. Like the others, setup your connection limits. On the Access tab, be sure to leave Anonymous access enabled, otherwise, outside mail servers can’t connect to relay e-mail to you. For Relay limitations, be sure you restrict access by IP or subnets as necessary. On Relay, disable the option for Relay with successful authentication regardless of list above. On the Messages tab, set up any mail size limitations you wish to impose on users. On the Delivery tab, setup any Delivery settings or limitations. Make sure you keep Anonymous login enabled here or you can’t connect to most outside mail servers.

10. Last, consider where you want to store all of your data files. If you put all your IIS data files on D:\Inetpub, it seems only fitting to put your Exchange files on D:\Exchangepub as well. Expanding First Storage Group, right click on Mailbox Store and/or Public Folder Store and select Properties, and choose the Database tab. You will see options to move the store to other locations.

11. With that, your Exchange server should be setup properly and working. Congratulations! You should probably reboot the server just to make sure all your changes have taken affect.

Setting Up Users and Mailboxes

1. Launch Start > Programs > Administrative Tools > Active Directory User and Computers.

2. Right click a user and select Properties.

3. You will see 3 Exchange tabs… Exchange General, Email Addresses, and Exchange Features (Note: If you choose View > Advanced Features, you will see a fourth tab called Exchange Advanced… more on this later). We will only be concerned with the Exchange General and Email Addresses tabs. (Another note: if you don’t see these tabs, right click on the user and choose Exchange Tasks > Create Mailbox and follow the wizard).

4. On the General and Email Addresses tabs, you should verify your users’ settings are correct and add any additional email addresses for each user. For example, one one of my mailboxes, I have 8 different email addresses for that same person.

5. On the Exchange Advanced tab (shown only if Active Directory Computers and Users console is in View > Advanced Features mode), you can set optional settings on individual mailboxes. The most important of these is the ability to restrict access to IMAP4, HTTP, and POP3 services, and also the mailbox rights options which you can use to allow Admin and other users to access that mailbox on other ID’s.