Step-by-Step Installation of Exchange Server 2016

Have you purchased the Exchange 2016 installation pack and going to install it in your organization after decommissioning Exchange Server installed earlier? Then you should know the installation is not at all an easy affair. Multiple pre-requisites, including software installations and system requirements, need to be considered before installing Exchange Server 2016 on your system. This is what we will discuss in detail here.

Installation of Exchange Server 2016: Step-by-Step Process

List of Pre-requisites

System Requirements

Hardware Requirements

• 64-bit processors – Intel EM64T or AMD supporting AMD64 platform
• Min. 8GB memory for Mailbox Server Role and Min. 4GB memory for Edge Transport Role
• Min. 3OGB free space on the drive to install Exchange Server, 500MB for Unified Messaging Pack Installation, 200MB free space on the system drive, and 500MB for the drive holding message queues
• Screen resolution must be 1024*768 or higher

Supported Operating Systems

• Windows Server 2012 Standard or Datacenter, Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard or Datacenter
• Windows Server 2016 Standard or Datacenter
• 64-bit edition of Windows 10, 8.1 (additional with above for Management Tools)

Supported Email Clients

• Outlook 2019
• Outlook 2016
• Outlook 2013
• Outlook 2010 SP2
• Outlook 2016 for Mac
• Outlook for Mac for Office 365
• Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise

Supported .NET Frameworks

• .NET Framework 4.8 (CU10 to CU15)
• .NET Framework 4.7.2 (CU11 to CU14)
• .NET Framework 4.7.1 (CU8 to CU12)
• .NET Framework 4.6.2 (CU5 to CU9)

For Active Directory Environment Preparation

 
You can use any Active Director Domain member for the preparation of the Active Directory Environment

• Download .NET Framework 4.8 here
• Download Visual C++ Redistributable Package for Visual Studio 2012 here
• Run the Windows PowerShell on your system and execute the following command to install Remote Tools Administration Pack.

For Exchange Mailbox Servers Role

 
Complete the following requirements if you are selecting the Exchange Mailbox Servers role.

• Install the desired Windows components using this command in the Windows PowerShell.
  Install-WindowsFeature NET-Framework-45-Features, Server-Media-Foundation, RPC-over-HTTP-proxy, RSAT-Clustering, RSAT-Clustering-CmdInterface, RSAT-Clustering-Mgmt, RSAT-Clustering-PowerShell, WAS-Process-Model, Web-Asp-Net45, Web-Basic-Auth, Web-Client-Auth, Web-Digest-Auth, Web-Dir-Browsing, Web-Dyn-Compression, Web-Http-Errors, Web-Http-Logging, Web-Http-Redirect, Web-Http-Tracing, Web-ISAPI-Ext, Web-ISAPI-Filter, Web-Lgcy-Mgmt-Console, Web-Metabase, Web-Mgmt-Console, Web-Mgmt-Service, Web-Net-Ext45, Web-Request-Monitor, Web-Server, Web-Stat-Compression, Web-Static-Content, Web-Windows-Auth, Web-WMI, Windows-Identity-Foundation, RSAT-ADDS
• Download and install the following software one by one.
  Download link for .NET Framework 4.8
  Download link for Security update
  Download link for Visual C++ Redistributable Package for Visual Studio 2012
  Download link for Visual C++ Redistributable Package for Visual Studio 2013
  Download link for Microsoft Unified Communications Managed API 4.0, Core Runtime 64-bit

For Edge Transport Servers Role

 
Following are the software requirements if you desire to install Exchange Edge Transport Servers role.

• In the Windows PowerShell, run the following command to install the Windows components.
  Install-WindowsFeature ADLDS

• Download and install the following software one by one.

Download link for .NET Framework 4.8
Download link for Visual C++ Redistributable Package for Visual Studio 2012

Exchange 2016 Active Directory Preparation

For Exchange 2016 Active Directory and Domains preparation, some commands need to be run in the Command Prompt with Enterprise and Schema Admins groups’ memberships. The process includes running commands for Active Directory schema extension, Active Directory preparation, and Active Directory Domains preparation

Extension of Active Directory Schema

 
Open the Command Prompt (as an administrator) and run this command to install the setup files for the extension of Active Directory Schema.

Active Directory Preparation

 
For Active Directory preparation, execution this setup command in the Command Prompt.

Active Directory Domain Preparation

 
Finally, execute this setup command in the Command Prompt for Active Directory domain preparation.

Deployment of Exchange Server 2016

Once the above pre-requisites, including the Active Directory and its domain preparation, are completed, the user can try the deployment or installation of the Exchange Server on the system.
Follow the provided steps carefully to get success in the first attempt.

1. First, log on to the Mailbox Server on the Exchange system.
2. Launch the Exchange Server 2016 Installation Media next.
3. Double-click the Exchange Server 2016 set up .exe application to start the setup.
4. The Check for Updates page will get open. Here, let the default option be selected as Connect to the Internet and check for updates and click next.
5. Next will appear the Introduction page. Read the information if you want and click next.
6. Next, on the License Agreement page, you can read the terms and conditions, then select the checkbox saying, “I accept the terms in the license agreement,” and click next.
7. It will open the Recommend Settings page. Select the Use recommended settings option and click next.
8. On the Server Role Selection page, select either Mailbox role or Edge Server role option, select the checkbox saying, “Automatically install Windows Server roles and features that are required to install Exchange Server,” and click next.
9. Next, you are required to provide the installation path by using the Browse option, or you can keep the default location for it.
10. On the next page, select an option to enable or disable malware protection settings and click next.
11. Next, the Readiness Check will be performed by the system to confirm all the pre-requisites for organization and server roles are fulfilled. Click Install if the check was successful.
12. Wait for the installation to complete. Once all the components setups are installed, click Finish on the Setup Completed page. (Make sure the checkbox saying “Launch Exchange Administration Center after finishing Exchange setup” to launch the EAC after this step automatically) to verify the installation. Exchange administrators can confirm the same with the Exchange Management Shell.

If you are Exchange user, you now need to migrate data to Exchange 2016. Exchange Server migration is a quirky process, and migration between two Exchange Server versions is tough if manual methods are followed. It would be good and easy if a professional Exchange Migrator tool like Exchange Migrator is utilized to migrate source Exchange Server data to Exchange 2016 without any issues. All the details about the features and functions of the advanced Exchange migrator tool, along with the download link for the free trial version, are available on its official website.

 
Once satisfied with the performance of the trial version, you can easily activate trial version by purchasing the license.