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Exchange 5.5 question

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by klingon

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Hi all. Thank you in advance for any info you can provide.

My exchange 5.5 server is acting up. At least 3 times a day, I get a Dr. Watson error and the Store service and Internet Mail service stop. I believe this is because the previous netadminwas a real genius and has about 12 different apps running on one server, including exchange! DOH!!! So, I built a new stand-alone server with nt4.0 sp6, and now I want to make this one function solely as our mail server. My question is this: Can youplease point me in the direction of some sort of install/deployment guide? Or can you provide your two cents on how I can make this new server my mail server, and get exchange the heck off the troubled server. (I've about had it with people calling me to let me know there seems to be a problem with their email.) I've supported exchange for years, but just basic stuff. I've never had to install it or set it up from scratch, so I'm kinda stuck.

Thanks for any help.
Klingon

9 replies

by curlergirl

This is what you need to do:
1. Once your new server is up and running and a member of the domain (can be a BDC or just a member server), you are ready to install Exchange.
2. Install Exchange 5.5 to the new server and join the existing Site - both servers will now be part of the same Exchange 5.5 site. This comes up as a choice while installing Exchange - whether to create a new site or join an existing one - so you just join the one that's already running on your other server.
3. Be sure both servers are on the same service pack level - ideally should be the latest one, which is SP4.
4. Move your user's mailboxes to the new server. You can use the Move Mailbox wizard built right into Exchange 5.5. Of course, you want to do this at a time when there aren't any users logged on to your mail box. Either you'll have to make everyone log off, or you will have to do this at some time when they are normally logged off (i.e., after office hours). When the log on the next day, ifthey're running Outlook 98 or above, their workstations should be able to automatically find their mailboxes on the new server. Otherwise, you might have to do some resetting of Outlook profiles locally on the workstations to point them to the new server.

(continued in comment). . .

by curlergirl

(continuation)
5. Rehome any public folders. This can be a tricky subject - there are several ways to do it. One way is to set up public folder replication between the two servers first. Let the replication take place so that both servers have copies of the public folders. Then there is a tool called PFAdmin that you can use to rehome the public folders from the command line. This tool is part of the BackOffice Resource Kit, and you can probably download it from the MS website somewhere. The other way to do it is to copy all of the public folders off of the old server to a .pst on your local workstation, and then reload them up to the new server. Depending upon how many public folders and how large, this can be a pain. The rehoming tool works great, though.
6. Then you will need to move any connectors - Internal Mail Connector, for example - that you are running. You will have to uninstall it from the old server first and then reinstall on the new server. I don't believeExchange will allow you to have more than one IMS running at the same site at the same time.
7. There are a few other tricky things that need to be moved, like routing settings, offline address book replication settings, etc.

Here's a MS knowledgebase article that has instructions on all that:
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/ articles/Q152/9/59.asp

And here's another article that talks about rehoming public folders:
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/ articles/Q178/9/27.ASP
(remember to remove any spaces from the urls)

Have any other specific questions, you can email me directly. Good luck and hope this helps!

by mackem

What are the other apps that you have installed on your server. It may be easier to install them on your new server, then remove from exch server. Run a defrag utility, such as diskkeeper and re-install sp's. This should work fine so long as network is not dependent on apps on your server.
Hope this helps

by shanghai sam

Too many apps to fool with. I've got the payroll software, inventory software, credit card authorization, a/p a/r software, timeclock app, sql, exchange, and the list goes on. I can afford to have email down for a while, but not the other stuff. There's always hotmail. Thanks for the response.

by bhrdwh

I suggest before doing this..
1. Run service pack 6a on your Exchange server.
2. Update exchange with its pack.
if the problem persistes, then only install NT Server 4 with SP6a & install exchange in it. Now use wizard to replicate the user / mail database onto the new one. after you're thru you ca uninstall the old Exechange & remove its services.
Let me know if it proved helpful.
akash
akashdeep_b@yahoo.com

by shanghai sam

I have 6a, Exchange is sp'd. Gotta go with synergy's answer on this one; he was quite thorough and deserves the points. Thank you very much for the response.

by klingon

My apologies - in my comment below the last answer, I referred to synergy as a "he". I always try to be careful and use "he/she", but slipped this time. If you're a he, disregard. If you're a she, no offense intended.

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