Recovering Exchange 2010 - Notes from the Field

With Exchange 2007/2010 more tightly integrated with Active Directory, recovering a server after a loss of hardware can be significantly easier than with previous version of Exchange. This is a boon for those of us in smaller offices where only one Exchange Server exists, holding multiple roles.

Check out this TechNet article with the basics for recovering Exchange 2010. However, there are some little tips that would be helpful, especially when you might be working under a stressful situtation to restore your mail system.

1. Make sure you know where your install directory is if Exchange isn't installed in the default location.  If you don't have it written down as part of your disaster recovery documenation, you can get that information out of Active Directory using ADSIEDIT.
2. Make sure you know the additional syntax for "setup /m:RecoverServer" switch. If you need to change the target directory the proper syntax is /t:"D:\Microsoft\Exchange\V14" or whatever your custom path happens to be.
3. If you are planning on using the /InstallWindowsComponents switch to save some time with getting your IIS settings just right, make sure you've preinstalled the .NET Framework 3.5.1 feature set first.
4. Don't forget to preinstall the Office 2010 Filter Packs. You don't need them to complete the setup, but you will be reminded about them as a requirement. 
5. Make sure you install your remote agent (or whatever components are necessary) for your backup software. Once the Exchange installation is restored, you'll need to mark your databases as "This database can be overwritten by a restore" so that you can restore the user data.

As always, planning ahead will save you in times of trouble.  Happy disaster recovery planning (and testing)!

Start Marking Your Calendar for 2012 Events!

If you like to fill up your calendar with events geared toward the tech community or you've got some training budget lined up for 2012, look no further than some of these tried and true events that are coming up in the first half of this year. Prices vary from free to several thousand, depending on your travel needs.

Pacific IT Professionals in LA (1/24, Santa Monica, CA) - Meeting the 4th Tuesday of every month, the LA chapter of PacITPros never ceases to bring lively discussions to the table. This month, Joey Snow will be speaking on Windows 2008 R2 Migration Tools. Join and attend for free!

She's Geeky (1/27 - 1/29, Mountain View, CA) - Back in Mountain View at the Computer History Museum, She's Geeky is a great way to meet new faces in the STEM fields. This unConference give you a chance to learn from a collection of really smart women and practice your skills of leading a group session yourself if you've got a topic you'd like to share.

San Jose Tech-Security Conference (2/2, Santa Clara, CA) - I enjoyed this low cost security centered event last year when there was one held in San Francisco.  This event is held in various locations during the year. So if the Bay Area isn't your home base, you are likely to find another date in your area!

Pacific IT Professionals in SF (2/7, San Francisco, CA) - Meeting the 1st Tuesday of every month, PacITPros has been bringing IT Pros together for over 20 years.

RSA Conference (2/27 - 3/2, San Francisco, CA) - A San Francisco staple, RSA never fails to disappoint.  Even if you can only swing an Expo Plus pass, you'll have access to lots of informative keynotes and the large expo hall.

Security B-Sides (2/27 - 2/28, San Francisco, CA) - A free security event hosted near the Moscone center earlier in the same week of the RSA conference.  A great way to complement your RSA Expo Pass!

TechDays SF (3/22 - 3/23, San Francisco, CA) - A two day event with over three dozen sessions planned covering a variety of tech topics of interest to IT Professionals.

Microsoft Management Summit (4/16 - 4/20, Las Vegas, NV) - Geared toward managing your Microsoft enterprise, MMS brings you the latest technical training for desktop and device management as well as data center and cloud technology solutions.

Microsoft TechEd (6/11 - 6/14, Orlando, FL) - As a 7 or 8 year alumni of TechEd, I always look forward to this conference. The expo hall and Technical Learning Center always provides opportunities to connect to vendors and Microsoft employees.  Community areas bring MVPs, User Groups and other IT Pros together.  And don't forget the crazy number of sessions you can choose from.

Welcome 2012! Now Start Planning for 2013 and Beyond.

As you file away your planner for 2011 and crack open that fresh page to January 2012, you might want to highlight a few of these special dates for the future.  Here are some upcoming "end of life" dates for some Microsoft products you might still have floating around on your network. Some will be supported for several more years, but it never hurts to keep your eye on the horizon.

 

These dates are the end of support life for the product as a whole, so start thinking about your budget cycles and internal support needs for the next few years.

• Windows XP - 4/8/2014
• Windows Vista - 4/11/2017
• Server 2003 - 7/14/2015
• Exchange Server 2007 - 4/11/2017
• SQL Server 2000 - 4/9/2013
• SQL Server 2005 - 4/12/2016
• Office 2003 - 4/8/2014
• Office 2007 - 10/10/2017

These dates are for specific service packs for these products, so be sure to install the latest available service pack, if you haven't already.

• SP 3 for SQL Server 2005 -1/10/2012
• SP 1 for Exchange 2010 - 1/8/2013
• SP 2 for Office 2007 - 1/8/2013

For more information about other Microsoft Server products, check out the Lifecycle Info for Server Products list.

Workaround for ImageRight and Remote Desktop Display Bug

Many months ago, I wrote about using ImageRight via Server 2008 RemoteApp.  There's been a problem with accessing some of the drop down menus and as we've upgraded ImageRight a few times since then, I've been hoping the issue will just go away.

But after moving to 5.4 and having more and more users accessing ImageRight via RemoteApp, the issue really need to be addressed. Turns out there is a quick and easy workaround.  Hold down the CTRL key when you select the drop down menus. Simple and effective.

Now, go forth and be Merry for the Holidays!

Customizing Distribution Group Management in Exchange 2010

One of the things I allowed certain end-users to do via Outlook was manage some of their own distribution lists. With a small office and a small IT staff, constantly changing distribution list membership was an easy thing to just delegate back to the people who really "owned" those lists. In Exchange 2003, it was an easy process to delegate that ability to end-users by making them the "manager" of the list.

Shortly after the migration to Exchange 2010, I started getting reports that the distribution lists could no longer be changed by the designated list managers. Exchange 2010 RBAC roles include a role called "MyDistributionGroups" that grants the ability for end-users to view and modify distribution groups. However, it also grants the right to create new distribution lists, which was not something I wanted for non-IT staffers.

I found this great blog post, Allowing End-Users to Manage Distribution Group Membership, in Exchange 2010 by Mike Pfeiffer on how to create a custom locked-down role for distribution group management using PowerShell. Written in early 2010, it's still get lots of great comments and usage - it certainly made my day easier!

Exchange 2010: Database Stores, Not Quite Ready When You Are

Once I had my Exchange 2010 server up and running, I had a need to create a new store. Unfortunately, things didn't look so great when the store wouldn't mount after I created the store in the GUI console.  There were even some fine error messages in the logs letting me know that Exchange was unable to mount the store. If you search the Web for answers to this problem, you'll find all sorts of potential solutions and ideas.

Turns out the thing that worked best for me was some patience. Exchange 2010 is deeply ingrained in Active Directory and Active Directory does things at it's own pace.  Sometimes immediately, sometimes in 5 minutes and sometimes in fifteen.

So go ahead and read all those links you found in the great WWW and then after about 5 minutes, go back and try to mount that database again.  Chances are, it'll work just fine.