However, Exchange 2003 uses precisely the same schema extensions for both the ADC and Exchange 2003 itself. Therefore, only one instance of Schema Naming Context replication takes place in AD. In fact, in a native Windows 2003 forest environment, no AD-wide GC reload takes place when new objects are added to the GC partial-attribute set. Furthermore, the Exchange 2003 version of Forestprep writes no Exchange 5.5 organizational information to AD. Rather, the tool creates a placeholder Exchange container. The actual configuration information from Exchange 5.5 isn't written to AD until you install the first Exchange 2003 server. Thus, the installation of ADC isn't a prerequisite for Forestprep.
ADC Tools
Although Exchange 2003 ADC functionality is basically the same as Exchange 2000 ADC functionality, the Microsoft Management Console (MMC) Active Directory Connector Manager snap-in contains a significant number of enhancements that can simplify CA configuration. The MMC snap-in now contains a series of buttons that you can use to per-form checks against the Exchange 5.5 Directory Service and AD. When you click ADC Tools in the navigation pane (on the snap-in's left side), these new options appear in the snap-in's right pane, which Figure 1 shows.
To perform these options' tests, you must first (in Step 1) specify Exchange 5.5 Directory Service connection information for at least one Exchange 5.5 server in any site; only Read access is necessary, so any site will suffice. You can then run through the tests, the first of which—Step 2—simply collects various data about the Exchange 5.5 environment. In Step 3, the Resource Mailbox Wizard performs the NTDSAttrib checks (to identify problematic Exchange 5.5 mailboxes), and in Step 4, the optional Connection Agreement Wizard checks the integrity of Exchange 5.5 Directory Service—to—AD replication, assuming you've already manually created CAs. Information that these tests gather is written to the adctools.log file, which resides in the C:\ExDeploy Logs directory.
If you want to install an Exchange 2003 server into an existing Exchange 5.5 environment, you must run these tests at least once. Exchange 2003's installation process explicitly checks for these test results before it permits an installation to proceed.
Although Step 4 isn't strictly required, I recommend running the Connection Agreement Wizard. This utility analyzes your Exchange 5.5 environment in conjunction with the AD environment and automatically creates the CAs that it believes are applicable to your organization. However, proceed with caution: The Connection Agreement Wizard works in a rather rudimentary fashion. If you have an Exchange 5.5 Directory Service container hierarchy or a complex AD organizational unit (OU) hierarchy, the wizard probably won't offer the most optimal configuration. Similarly, if you want to use a temporary OU in AD and ultimately move objects in AD to a final location—say, because of a staggered NT 4.0 migration strategy—the wizard isn't a great idea. In such cases, you'll need to develop the best CA architecture on your own.
Installing Exchange 2003 with Exchange 5.5
After you carry out the initial tests and ensure that the appropriate ADC CAs are in place, you can continue with the ExDeploy tasks. Your next order of business is the SetupPrep tools. These tools include OrgNameCheck, OrgCheck, and PubFolderCheck.
- OrgNameCheck—This tool searches for and identifies any illegal characters in the Exchange 5.5 organization name, site names, and server names. All characters in these constructs must conform to the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) Request for Comments (RFC) 821 specification. Brackets are the biggest offender in most organizations. OrgNameCheck writes its results to the orgnamecheck.log file and the exdeploy.log file.
- OrgCheck—This tool validates schema extensions, verifies that domain groups exist, ensures that appropriate security descriptors are assigned, and ensures that the Exchange configuration container is in place. OrgCheck also verifies that a GC is available in the same or an adjacent site to the Exchange 2003 server.
- PubFoldCheck—This tool is the Public Folder DS/IS Consistency Checker, which performs four default actions in specific scenarios. If a Public Folder entry exists in the Information Store (IS) without a preexisting Directory Service (DS) entry, the tool creates a new DS entry. If a corresponding Public Folder object doesn't exist in the IS, the tool deletes a DS entry. If the Public Folder is homed in an unknown site, the tool rehomes the Public Folder to a local Exchange 5.5 server. The PubFoldCheck tool also removes invalid users from Public Folder permissions. PubFoldCheck will perform these actions only if the detected inconsistencies are older than 1 day. Exercise caution before running PubFoldCheck because it can result in data loss.
At this point in the installation, Setup ensures that you've performed the necessary ADC Tools checks. If you haven't, the installation won't proceed. If you've successfully performed the checks but error messages appear in the log files, the Exchange 2003 installation can still proceed as usual. You can now install the Exchange 2003 server into the existing Exchange 5.5 site. After you install the server, you can begin moving mailboxes to the new server from the Exchange 5.5 server. You can also run the final set of ExDeploy post-installation tasks, which confirm that the installation has proceeded correctly.
Few Surprises
If you've migrated from Exchange 5.5 to Exchange 2000, a migration from Exchange 5.5 to Exchange 2003 will hold few surprises. Furthermore, migrating from Exchange 5.5 is straightforward because it's simply a matter of creating an interoperability environment with the ADC, then using the Move Mailbox Wizard to move data.