Blog (at) mreza.info

Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 SP1 Beta

2010-06-08T13:41:23Z

Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 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 Exchange Server 2010 helps IT Professionals achieve new levels of reliability with greater flexibility, enhanced user experiences, and increased protection for business communications.

Flexible and reliable - Exchange Server 2010 gives you the flexibility to tailor your deployment based on your company's unique needs and a simplified way to keep e-mail continuously available for your users.
Anywhere access - Exchange Server 2010 helps your users get more done by giving them the freedom to securely access all their communications - e-mail, voice mail, instant messaging, and more - from virtually any platform, Web browser, or device.
Protection and compliance - Exchange Server 2010 delivers integrated information loss prevention, and compliance tools aimed at helping you simplify the process of protecting your company's communications and meeting regulatory requirements.

This pre-release software is intended for evaluation purposes only. You must accept the license terms before you are authorized to use the software. There is no product support for this trial software. You are welcome to participate in the forums to share your trial experiences with others and to ask for advice.

Download: Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 SP1 Beta

NT Konferenca 2010

2010-05-19T09:39:23Z

Samo še nekaj dni nas loči do letošnje NT konference 2010, ki se bo odvijala od 24. do 27. maja v Portorožu.

Kaj bom predaval?

Prehod na Exchange Server 2010
Europa D, torek 10:15 - 11:30
Sašo Erdeljanov (avtenta.si)
Delavnica: Disaster recovery: Exchange Server 2010 in Data Protection Manager 2010
Aurora 2, sreda 13:30 - 16:00
Sašo Erdeljanov (avtenta.si), Matej Malerič (avtenta.si)
MVP panel
MSTech (Pečina), sreda 16:30 - 17:30

Exchange predavanja

Tips & Tricks: Exchange Server 2010
Europa B, torek 11:45 - 12:30
Scott Schnoll (Microsoft Corporation)
Exchange Server 2010 High Availability Deep Dive
Europa D, sreda 08:45 - 09:45
Scott Schnoll (Microsoft Corporation)

Letos bomo na @NTkonferenca uporabljali twitter s temo pogovora #NTK10.

POW #14 – Uninstall Exchange Server 2007 CCR

2010-04-14T12:46:14Z

Sooner or later you will migrate yourself to Exchange Server 2010 and will find yourself in need to uninstall Exchange Server 2007 CCR… ;)

Before beginning with uninstall procedure make sure that you moved everything away to new servers (Mailboxes, OAB generation,…)!

Uninstall Exchange Server 2007 from Pasive node

Login to pasive node and check whether Exchange CMS is located on active node with Get-ClusteredMailboxServerStatus cmdlet from Exchange Management Shell.
Open a Command Prompt window and change path to %ProgramFiles%\Microsoft\Exchange Server\bin.
Run Setup /mode:uninstall

Evict pasive node from Windows Cluster

Open a Command Prompt window.
Stop the Cluster service by running following command

net stop clussvc
After the Cluster service has been stopped, evict the node by running the following command: Cluster <ClusterName> node <NodeName> /evict.

Cluster CN-WC01 node CN-CCR02 /evict

Remove CMS from Active Node and uninstall Mailbox role

Login to active node and run command prompt
Change path to C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\Bin (this is default location)
Run: Setup.com /mode:uninstall /removeCMS /CMSName:CN-EC01

The last step is to Destroy Windows Cluster (Right click on the cluster name then choose More Actions > Destroy Cluster in Windows Server 2008 or follow KB282227 for Windows Server 2003). :)

KB282227 - How to uninstall the Cluster service on a Windows Server 2003 cluster

POW #13 – Exchange Server 2007 SP2 (Part 3)

2010-04-01T21:49:00Z

In previous parts we looked into necessary procedures for preparing Active Directory and upgrading HUB/CAS/MBX roles (or single Exchange Server with HUB, CAS and Mailbox role installed) to Service Pack 2.

In this part we will go trough necessary steps for successful upgrade of Exchange 2007 Cluster Continuous Replication (CCR) Cluster to Service Pack 2.

Installing Service Pack 2

Upgrading CCR Cluster to SP2 is different from upgrading non-clustered Mailbox Role to SP2 in many ways. Notice that in previous parts we were using both GUI and unattended mode but only option for cluster upgrade is using unattended mode.

Required permissions

What are the minimal permissions you need for successful upgrade? Exchange Server Administrator membership and Local Administrator on servers is required.

Demo infrastructure

For the demo purposes we will use Active node named CN-CCR01, passive node named CN-CCR02 and exchange cluster named CN-EC01.

Upgrade steps for Passive Node (CN-CCR02)

Move all Cluster Groups to active node (CN-CCR01).

Set Windows Firewall/Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) service to Manual or Automatic and start it. This service is disabled by default. During upgrade procedure this allows setup to add firewall exceptions for Exchange Server services. You can stop and disable this service after upgrade!
It also works if you leave Windows Firewall/Internet Connection Sharing disabled but no firewall exceptions for Exchange Server services are created during setup. I recommend that you start Windows Firewall/ICS service during setup and than stop/disable it if you are not using Windows Firewall service!

Stop any services that have open handles to performance counters (for example: Performance Logs and Alerts, MOM agents,...) - performance counters are changed during upgrade procedure.

Stop, and then restart the Remote Registry service.

From command prompt run setup.com /m:upgrade from folder with SP2 setup files.

After successful upgrade reboot Passive Node (CN-CCR02).

Log on to server after reboot and open Exchange Management Shell.

Use the Stop-ClusteredMailboxServer cmdlet to stop the clustered mailbox server.

Stop-ClusteredMailboxServer CN-EC01 -StopReason "SP2 Upgrade."

Use Move-ClusteredMailboxServer cmdlet to move the clustered mailbox server (CMS) from Active Node (CN-CCR01) to Passive Node (CN-CCR02). You must run this from Passive Node (CN-CCR02).
Move-ClusteredMailboxServer CN-EC01 -TargetMachine CN-CCR2 -MoveComment "SP2 Upgrade."

From command prompt run setup.com /upgradecms from folder with SP2 setup files.

Upgrade steps for Active Node (CN-CCR01)

Set Windows Firewall/Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) service to Manual or Automatic and start it. This service is disabled by default. During upgrade procedure this allows setup to add firewall exceptions for Exchange Server services. You can stop and disable this service after upgrade!
Stop any services that have open handles to performance counters (for example: Performance Logs and Alerts, MOM agents,...) - performance counters are changed during upgrade procedure.
Move Windows Cluster "Cluster Group" to Passive Node
Cluster group "cluster group" /move

Stop, and then restart the Remote Registry service.

From command prompt run setup.com /m:upgrade from folder with SP1 setup files.

Reboot node after successful upgrade.

You can disable Windows Firewall/Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) now.

Move Cluster Group and CMS back to Active Node (CN-CCR01).

Edited on 1.4.2010…

I’m sorry but somehow I managed to “lost” this post and it was not published before… :)

POW #12 – Exchange Server 2007 SP2 (Part 2)

2010-01-25T14:43:00Z

This is the second part of upgrading procedure for Exchange Server 2007 SP2. In the fist part we looked into necessary steps for getting Windows ready and Active Directory ready for Exchange Server 2007 SP2.

Installation order

There is nothing specific in the installation order of Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 2. You should stick with standard installation order for Exchange Server 2007:

Upgrade all Client Access Servers
Upgrade all HUB Transport Servers
Upgrade all EDGE Transport Servers (can be upgraded later but not before HUB Transport Servers)
Upgrade all Mailbox Servers
Upgrade all Unified Messaging Servers

In multi site environment upgrade site by site in the above order (not for example all Client Access Server across multiple sites! and than next role). Upgrade internet facing site(s) first.

Non-Clustered Exchange Servers

Before proceeding with SP2 installation make sure that any 3rd party application is compatible with SP2 (for example: antivirus software, backup software, archive software,…) and upgrade them if necessary.

Run setup.exe from location with extracted SP1 files.

If you know what you are doing, then click Install, otherwise PLEASE click Plan and read about Service Pack 2. After clicking on Install you receive window describing new features in SP1.

Click Next and accept License Agreement. If all prerequisites are OK you can click Upgrade. Otherwise read carefully and resolve issues.

Note: although screenshots are taken from installation on Edge server all steps are the same if you are installing it on non-clustered servers.

Review installation steps and click Finish, if everything is OK. If there are errors or warnings, review and resolve them.

POW #11 – KB973917 and repeated login prompts

2010-01-12T10:39:58Z

I have seen some issues in the last month regarding repeated login prompts after installing Hotfix KB973917. Hotfix KB973917 is actually not a security Hotfix but it implements Extended Protection for Authentication in Internet Information Services (IIS).

KB973917 - Description of the update that implements Extended Protection for Authentication in Internet Information Services (IIS)

This article describes a non-security update that implements Extended Protection for Authentication in Internet Information Services (IIS).

When Extended Protection for Authentication is enabled, authentication requests are bound to both the Service Principal Names (SPN) of the server to which the client tries to connect and to the outer Transport Layer Security (TLS) channel over which Integrated Windows Authentication happens.

Link: KB973917

You can find many solutions in the wild – from uninstalling hotfix, enabling Kernel Mode Authentication on IIS Virtual Directories (Autodiscover, EWS, OAB and RPC). The real solution is installing Rollup 9 for Exchange Server 2007 SP1.

Update Rollup 9 for Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1

Update Rollup 9 for Exchange Server 2007 SP1 was released on July 16, 2009. These issues are fixed in Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 2 (SP2). So if you are using SP2 you are on a safe side. :)

Links:

POW #10 – Exchange Server 2007 SP2 (Part 1)

2009-12-22T15:24:48Z

As many of you probably know, Service Pack 2 for Exchange Server 2007 is one of the prerequisites for introducing Exchange Server 2010 into existing Exchange organization.

Beside many fixes, Service Pack 2 for Exchange Server 2007 also includes some cool new features:

Enhanced Auditing: New Exchange auditing events and audit log repository enable Exchange administrators to more easily audit the activities occurring on their Exchange servers. It allows the right balance of granularity, performance, and easy access to audited events via a dedicated audit log repository. This simplifies the auditing process and makes review of audited events easier by segregating audited events in a dedicated location.
Exchange Volume Snapshot Backup Functionality: A new backup plug-in has been added to the product that will enable customers to create Exchange backups when a backup is invoked through the Windows Server 2008 Backup tool. Exchange Server 2007 didn't have this capability on Windows Server 2008 and additional solutions were required to perform this task.
Dynamic Active Directory Schema Update and Validation: The dynamic AD schema update and validation feature allows for future schema updates to be dynamic deployed as well as proactively preventing conflicts whenever a new property is added to the AD schema. Once this capability is deployed it will enable easier management of future schema updates and will prevent support issues when adding properties that don't exist in the AD schema.
Public Folder Quota Management: SP2 enables a consistent way to manage quotas by improving the current PowerShell cmdlets to perform quota management tasks.
Centralized Organizational Settings: SP2 introduces new PowerShell option that enable centralized management of many of the Exchange organization settings.
Named Properties cmdlets: SP2 enables Exchange administrators to monitor their named property usage per database.
New User Interface for Managing Diagnostic Logging: SP2 enables Exchange administrators to easily configure and manage diagnostic logging from within the Exchange Management Console.

Update your server(s)!

I strongly recommend that you install latest Service Packs and hotfixes for your operating system and installed software. Please note that Exchange Server 2007 (SP2) is only supported on Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2 and on Windows Server 2008. Windows Server 2008 R2 is not supported!

Windows Installer 4.5

You need to deploy Windows Installer 4.5 on all target Exchange Server 2007 servers prior installing Service Pack 2.

Download Windows Installer 4.5 for Windows Server 2003 SP1, Windows Vista SP1 and Windows Server 2008 RTM from Microsoft Download:

Download: Windows Installer 4.5 Redistributable

Please note that Windows Installer 4.5 is already included in Windows Server 2008 SP2 and Windows Vista SP2.

Backup Active Directory and Exchange!

Please backup Active Directory and Exchange (especially Databases) before Active Directory preparation and Exchange Server 2007 SP1 installation. You should consider reading my previous blog post named Importance of good backups.

Prepare Active Directory

Not all steps are necessary in simple Active Directory setup (single domain forest). So here are necessary steps to prepare Active Directory for Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 2. The advantage of running steps separately is that you can use account which has minimum permissions necessary for task.

Run setup /PrepareSchema – You need to run this with domain account that is member of Schema Admins and Enterprise Admins security groups. Make sure that you run this commands from server that is in the same Active Directory Site as Schema Master DC. (Note: You must not run this command in a forest in which you do not plan to run setup /PrepareAD. If you do, the forest will be configured incorrectly, and you will not be able to read some attributes on user objects.).
Run setup /PrepareAD - You need to run this with domain account that is member of Enterprise Admins security group. Make sure that you run this commands from server that is in the same Active Directory Site as Schema Master DC. In order to support the new Role Based Access Control (RBAC) model in Exchange Server 2010, a new security group is created inside Microsoft Exchange Security Groups OU named Exchange Trusted Subsystem.
Run setup /PrepareDomain to prepare local domain, run setup /PrepareDomain:exlab.exchange.pri to prepare specific domain, run setup /PrepareAllDomains to prepare all domains in forest. Please note that /PrepareAD prepares current (local) domain during process. If you have single domain Active Directory forrest, running /PrepareDomain is not needed. PrepareDomain in Exchange Server 2007 SP2 does not include ACEs introduced by Exchange Server 2010.

After you run each command, you should wait for the changes to replicate across your Exchange Organization. It can take a while in large Active Directory site topology. You can always force replication via Active Directory Sites and Services MMC.

How do you verify successful preparation of Active Directory?

Setup.com /PrepareSchema sets value of rangeUpper attribute of ms-Exch-Schema-Version-Pt to 14622 after successful finish.

Setup.com /PrepareAD sets value of objectVersion attribute of <Organization Name> container to 11222 after successful finish.

Installation order

There is nothing specific in the installation order of Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 2. You should stick with standard installation order for Exchange Server 2007:

Upgrade all Client Access Servers
Upgrade all HUB Transport Servers
Upgrade all EDGE Transport Servers (can be upgraded later but not before HUB Transport Servers)
Upgrade all Mailbox Servers
Upgrade all Unified Messaging Servers

In multi site environment upgrade site by site in the above order (not for example all Client Access Server across multiple sites! and than next role). Upgrade internet facing site(s) first.

Links:

Download Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 2

Action Required by Dec. 1, 2009: Keep your Protection Current!

2009-12-03T10:41:02Z

This post is from ForeFront Server Blog:

As we announced on July 1, 2009, Microsoft is revising its engine mix on Dec. 1, 2009 for the Forefront and Antigen products. This change will allow customers to utilize a set of engines that help optimize detection, while also allowing us to invest in new areas for increasing overall protection for customers.

Antimalware Protection

The AhnLab, CA, and Sophos engines will be retired on Dec. 1, 2009. After December 1^st, customers will not receive any updates for these retired engines. In order to make sure your Antigen and Forefront products continue to scan efficiently and effectively for malware, any customers running the AhnLab, CA, or Sophos engines must DISABLE these engines before Dec. 1, 2009 and select from the new set of five engines – Authentium, Kaspersky, Microsoft, Norman, and VirusBuster.

SPECIAL NOTE: Antigen for SharePoint 8.0 and Antigen for Instant Messaging 8.0 customers – In order to gain access to the new engine set and provide optimal protection for your messaging and collaboration environments, please download the Service Pack 1 releases of these products on the MVLS or VLSC site prior to Dec. 1, 2009. The updates for the new engine set will use a new update infrastructure as of Dec. 31, 2009 – the Service Pack 1 releases will allow you to continue to receive updates correctly from their new location.

For more information about Service Pack 1 for Antigen for SharePoint and Antigen for IM, see the following KB article:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/975850/

- SPECIAL NOTE: Antigen for Exchange 8.0 and Antigen for SMTP Gateways 8.0 customers –These products will end of life on Dec. 31, 2009. Customers must upgrade to Antigen 9.0 SP2 for Exchange before this date, as the product will no longer continue to receive anti-malware updates starting Jan. 1, 2010. With the retirement of the CA, Sophos, and AhnLab engines on Dec. 1, customers running Antigen for Exchange 8.0 or Antigen SMTP Gateways 8.0 will only be protected by the Norman engine. For customers who need to continue using this product between Dec. 1, 2009 and the end-of-life date of Dec. 31, 2009, please contact Forefront Contract Administration for access to the revised engine set.

For more information on upgrading your Antigen for Exchange 8.0 or Antigen for SMTP Gateways 8.0 to Antigen 9.0, see the following KB article:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/932396/

Antispam Protection

One of the most important changes in our engine revision strategy is moving to the Cloudmark antispam engine*, which provides 99%+ detection rate and less than 1 in 250,000 false positives (West Coast Labs).

The Mail-Filters SpamCure antispam engine will be retired on Dec. 1, 2009. Customers using Antigen products for antispam protection must upgrade to the latest service pack releases listed below BEFORE DEC. 1, 2009 to maintain their antispam defenses. This is the only way to gain access to the new Cloudmark engine. The service packs can be accessed on the Microsoft MVLS and VLSC sites:

- Antigen for Exchange Server with Antigen Spam Manager 9.0 with SP2

- Antigen for SMTP Gateways with Antigen Spam Manager 9.0 with SP2

For more information on the engine revision strategy, see the Antimalware Engine Notifications and Developments Web page or contact Forefront Contract Administration . Again, we strongly urge all customers to update to the newest service packs before Dec. 1, 2009 to get the full protection benefits of the Forefront and Antigen server products.

*Please note: Customers using Forefront Security for Exchange Server will get access to the Cloudmark engine in the next version release – Forefront Protection 2010 for Exchange Server – scheduled to be available in Q4 CY09.

Source: Microsoft ForeFront Server Blog - Action Required by Dec. 1, 2009: Keep your Protection Current!

Nova učinkovitost - novi val tehnologij v 7 slovenskih mestih

2009-09-30T19:44:00Z

Pa še eno vabilo… tudi tokrat v ne-angleškem jeziku… :)

Spoštovani!

Vabimo vas, da se nam pridružite na dogodku Nova učinkovitost – novi val tehnologij v 7 slovenskih mestih. Tehnologijo in prednosti, ki jih prinaša, vam bo približal kot še nikoli, saj bomo obiskali kar 7 slovenskih mest – Koper, Kranj, Ljubljano, Maribor, Mursko Soboto, Novo Gorico in Novo mesto. Najnovejše tehnologije bodo tako prišle dobesedno na vaš prag. Na prijetnih dogodkih z omejenim številom prostih mest boste spoznali izdelke Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2 in Exchange Server 2010 ter razvijalske tehnologije na novih platformah.

Ob uradnem datumu predstavitve operacijskega sistema Windows 7 smo za skupnost strokovnjakov in razvijalcev za informacijske tehnologije pripravili posebne dogodke, ki bodo z bogatimi in privlačnimi vsebinami predstavili najnovejši namizni operacijski sistem Windows 7. Dogodki na različnih lokacijah bodo potekali vzporedno, ob istem času. Obenem pa vam želimo zagotoviti čim več informacij tudi o drugih dveh izdelkih, ki bosta nedvomno vplivala na vaše delo – strežniški operacijski sistem Windows Server 2008 R2 in sporočilni sistem Exchange Server 2010.

Slovenski strokovnjaki za informacijske tehnologije vam bodo v vašem domačem mestu predstavili prednosti, ki jih novi izdelki prinašajo v informacijska okolja podjetij vseh velikosti. Prav tako boste lahko spremljali prenose izbranih predavanj. Na dogodkih boste imeli priložnost spoznati predavatelje in predstavnike Microsoftovih partnerjev, prav tako pa je to enkratna priložnost za navezovanje stikov z drugimi strokovnjaki.

Več informacij o dogodku vam bomo posredovali v prihodnjih dneh.

Pregled IT novosti sporočilnega sistema Microsoft Exchange Server 2010

2009-09-30T19:31:00Z

Vabim vas, da se udeležite tehničnega seminarja na tematiko Exchange Server 2010. Prilagam izvorno vabilo…

Spoštovani!

Vabimo vas na tehnični seminar Pregled IT novosti sporočilnega sistema Microsoft Exchange Server 2010.

O upravljanju, namestitvi in vzdrževanju novega Exchange strežnika bo iz svojih izkušenj predaval Sašo Erdeljanov, strokovjnak in slovenski MVP (Most Valuable Professional) za področje sporočilnih sistemov.

Sašo bo na seminarju predstavil nove zmožnosti Exchange 2010, izboljšave glede na prejšnje različice, nove tehnologije, ki pripomorejo k bolj učinkovitemu sporočilnemu sistemu, ter dobre razloge, zakaj bi IT strokovnjak izbral novi strežnik za boljšo podporo sporočanju v svoji infrastrukturi.

Skupaj smo za vas pripravili dva termina, da si boste lažje organizirali svoj čas:

- 19. 10. 2009, Ljubljana (Predavalnica Microsofta) in

- 29. 10. 2009, Maribor (Microsoft Center inovacij).

Enodnevni seminar je namenjen IT strokovnjakom in IT vodjem, ki želijo in potrebujejo nova znanja o prihajajočih sistemih za bolj učinkovito vpeljavo novih tehnologij v svoje IT okolje.

Predavanje bo v slovenščini, materiali pa bodo zaradi velikega števila tujih izrazov v angleščini.

Čas	Modul
09:00 – 10:30	Novosti v Exchange Server 2010
10:30 – 10:45	Odmor
10:45 – 12:15	Arhitektura in RBAC
12:15 – 13:15	Kosilo
13:15 – 14:45	Prehod na Exchange Server 2010
14:45 – 15:00	Odmor
15:00 – 16:30	Arhiviranje in visoka razpoložljivost
16:30 – 17:00	Vprašanja in odgovori

POW #9 – Exchange Server 2007 Edge & DNS Server

2009-09-02T18:50:00Z

I noticed that some of the users are running Exchange Server 2007 Edge and public DNS Server on the same server.

Problem

There are some issues with services failing at start up if following is true:

Exchange Server 2007, Exchange Server 2007 SP1, Exchange Server 2010 (Edge Role).
Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2.
DNS Server role is installed.
Hotfix KB951746 is installed.

You receive following error and all Exchange services are stopped.

Log Name:      System
Source:        Service Control Manager
Date:          14.7.2009 10:19:36
Event ID:      7023
Task Category: None
Level:         Error
Keywords:      Classic
User:          N/A
Computer:      EDGE.exchange.pri
Description:
The Microsoft Exchange ADAM service terminated with the following error:
An attempt was made to access a socket in a way forbidden by its
access permissions.

So let’s start troubleshooting… ;-)

If we take a look with netstat we can see that DNS Service (dns.exe) is using 50636 port.

Exchange Server uses Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services (AD LDS), previous known as Active Directory Application Mode (ADAM), for storing Exchange (Organization)configuration. By default, the Edge Transport server uses the non-standard port 50636 for EdgeSync (Secure LDAP). We can check that with dsdbutil.

Open cmd.exe, type dsdbutil and press Enter.
Type list instances and press Enter.

Issue is with hotfix KB951746 (MS08-037: Description of the security update for DNS in Windows Server 2008, in Windows Server 2003, and in Windows 2000 Server (DNS server-side): July 8, 2008).

After security update KB951746 is installed on Windows Server 2008 (RTM/SP2), this issue occurs because the DNS server’s method of port allocation changes, and this change could prevent AD LDS from obtaining the port that it requires to function correctly.

By default, after security update KB951746 is installed, the DNS server randomly allocates 2,500 UDP ports in the ephemeral port range. This is new behavior that is introduced by this update. A conflict may occur if one of these randomly allocated ports is a port that an AD LDS instance has to use.

We can check the size of socket pool with dnscmd:

Background information

To comply with Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) recommendations, Microsoft has increased the dynamic client port range for outgoing connections in Windows Vista and in Windows Server 2008. The new default start port is 49152, and the default end port is 65535.

We can check ephemeral port range in Windows Server 2008 witch netsh.

This is a change from the configuration of earlier versions of Microsoft Windows that used a default port range of 1025 through 5000.

In Windows Server 2003 or in Windows 2000 Server, the value of the MaxUserPort registry entry defines the ephemeral port range. The range is from 1024 to the value that is defined by the MaxUserPort registry entry.
After you install security update 953230 on Windows Server 2003 and down-level platforms, the following conditions are true:

If the value of the MaxUserPort registry entry is set, the ports are allocated randomly from the [1024, MaxUserPort] range.
If the value of the MaxUserPort registry entry is not set, the ports are allocated randomly from the [49152, 65535] range.

In Windows Server 2008:

Ephemeral port allocation and the MaxUserPort registry entry:
In Windows Server 2008 or in Windows Vista, the value of the MaxUserPort registry entry signifies the number of ephemeral ports. The range is from the [start port, start range + MaxUserPort]. The default start port is port 49152.
Effective ephemeral port range:
Ephemeral port allocation occurs in the [49152-65535] port range before you install security update 953230 on Windows Server 2008. This port allocation behavior does not change after you install security update 953230.

Solution for Windows Server 2003

We need to reserve Ephemeral port range for Exchange Server 2007 Edge AD LDS instance. We need to specify reserved ports in registry.

Start regedit.exe
Locate following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters
Create New Multi-String Value with name ReservedPorts
Enter following values for EDGE Ports that we want to exclude:
50389-50389
50636-50636
Reboot server

Solution for Windows Server 2008

Although we can change port range in Windows Server 2008 there is simple trick that does the job. We can change DNS Server service startup type to Automatic (Delayed Start).

Solution for Windows Server 2008 R2

Windows Server 2008 R2 DNS Server provides SocketPoolPortExclusionList that would allow us to exclude certain ports from DNS Server.

Dnscmd /Config /SocketPoolPortExclusionList

Exchange Server 2007 & Windows Server 2008 R2?

I was warned that mentioning Windows Server 2008 R2 in post of Exchange Server 2007 could be misleading (Thanks to Miha Pihler!). Some quick facts about Exchange Server 2007 and Windows Server 2008 R2:

Exchange Server 2007 is NOT supported on Windows Server 2008 R2
You need to deploy Update Rollup 9 for Exchange Server 2007 SP1 or SP2 for Exchange Server 2007 if you intend to run DC/GC servers on Windows Server 2008 R2

Links

Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 Public Beta

2009-04-15T10:48:34Z

Microsoft today released the first public beta of upcoming Exchange Server 2010 (Code name Exchange 14).

Microsoft Exchange® Server 2010 Beta helps IT Professionals achieve new levels of reliability with greater flexibility, enhanced user experiences, and increased protection for business communications.

Flexible and reliable - Exchange Server 2010 gives you the flexibility to tailor your deployment based on your company's unique needs and a simplified way to keep e-mail continuously available for your users.
Anywhere access - Exchange Server 2010 helps your users get more done by giving them the freedom to securely access all their communications - e-mail, voice mail, instant messaging, and more - from virtually any platform, Web browser, or device.
Protection and compliance - Exchange Server 2010 delivers integrated information loss prevention, and compliance tools aimed at helping you simplify the process of protecting your company's communications and meeting regulatory requirements.

This software is intended for evaluation purposes only. You must accept the license terms before you are authorized to use this software. There is no product support for this trial software. You are welcome to participate in the forums to share your trial experiences with others and to ask for advice.

System Requirements

Supported Operating Systems: Windows Server 2008; Windows Vista 64-bit Editions Service Pack 1

Operating System for Installing Management Tools: The 64-bit editions of Microsoft® Windows Vista® SP1 or later, or Windows Server® 2008.
PC - x64 architecture-based computer with Intel processor that supports Intel 64 architecture (formerly known as Intel EM64T) or AMD processor that supports the AMD64 platform

Additional requirements to run Exchange Server 2010 Beta

Memory - Minimum of 4 gigabytes (GB) of RAM per server plus 5 megabytes (MB) of RAM recommended for each mailbox
Disk space
- At least 1.2 GB on the drive used for installation
- An additional 500 MB of available disk space for each Unified Messaging (UM) language pack that you plan to install
- 200 MB of available disk space on the system drive
Drive - DVD-ROM drive, local or network accessible
File format - Disk partitions formatted as NTFS file systems
Monitor – Screen resolution 800 x 600 pixels or higher

Exchange Server 2010 Beta Prerequisites
If these required prerequisites are not already installed, the Exchange Server 2010 Beta setup process will prompt and provide links to the installation locations; Internet access will be required if the prerequisites are not already installed or available on a local network.

Microsoft® .NET Framework 3.5
Windows PowerShell v2
Windows Remote Management

Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 Beta

POW #8 – DPM 2007 SP1 Error ID 3013

2009-04-10T12:31:15Z

If you installed Microsoft Data Protection Manager 2007 SP1 on Windows Server 2008 RTM you receive Error ID 3013 if you select Reporting from DPM Management console.

DPM could not connect to SQL Server Reporting Services server because of IIS connectivity issues.

On the computer on which the DPM database was created, restart the World Wide Web Publishing Service. On the Administrative Tools menu, select Services. Right-click World Wide Web Publishing Service, and then click Start.

ID: 3013

Problem resides in Reporting Services virtual directory in Internet Information Services (IIS) named ReportServer$MS$DPM2007$.

Workaround is simple:

Run Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager, expand Web Sites, expand Default Web Site, and then click the virtual directory for the report server.
Under Features View, double-click Handler Mappings.
Under Actions, click Edit Feature Permissions.
Click to select the Scripts check box, and then click OK.

MVP Summit 2009 & I’m a PC

2009-04-02T11:56:30Z

I was attending Microsoft MVP Summit 2009 in Seattle at the beginning of March. It was nice meeting all great people from around the world! I would like to thanks to Microsoft for organizing such a great event with 700 sessions, EMP party, breakfast and lunch, hotels were covered,…

I must say that Exchange team is really great! I enjoyed talking with every member of Exchange team that I meet.

During Steve Balmer’s keynote we were part of I’m a PC campaign. For sure it was fun. :) Video is available from Microsoft home page.

MVP "I'm a PC" Video

Pictures

Microsoft Surface in hotel Sheraton, Seattle

Panoramic view from “smoking area” in hotel Sheraton, Seattle

Pike Place Market, Seattle

Luka Manojlovic, Miha Pihler, Dejan Sarka

Football field in Microsoft Campus

Vladimir Meloski, Helio Panissa Jr, Luka Manojlovic

Slovenian flag in center ;-)

EMP Party

Regional Dinner with MVP Lead Allesandro Teglia

Links:

Microsoft MVP for Exchange Server

2009-01-29T13:05:25Z

I received a pleasant surprise on January the 1st from Microsoft MVP Award Program. I was awarded as Microsoft Most Valuable Professional in year 2009 for Exchange Server. It’s a privilege and honor to serve as MVP!

I would like to thank Microsoft for noticing my efforts in the community over the last years!

You can also read Welcome post from my MVP Lead Alessandro Teglia!