installing exchange 2000 for windows 2000 small business server.

hello,

i have recently purchased a windows 2000 small business server with 25
cal sql - exchange 2k. i have successfully installed win2k and sql2k
and the machine does not seem to have any errors.

i tried doing an exchange installation today but am stuck. this is what
i did, based on an internet article i first ran the forestprep and
domainprep for the exchange server installation, and then installed the
exchange system manager. after that i created the administrative group
and routing group. beyond that, i am a little bit too stuck up because
i don't know how to proceed. when i add a user in active directory, it
does not give me an option to create an exchange mailbox for him, so i
am surely missing something. also, the exchange system manager does not
let me create an smtp connector, it tells me that i first need to have
an smtp vsi or something like that before i create the smtp connector.

i am a complete novice to exchange, and this is my very first
installation of it. i would appreciate if someone could help me through
the setup of exchange with active directory and other related stuff.

thanks.

exchange-novice wrote:

>hello,
>
>i have recently purchased a windows 2000 small business server with 25
>cal sql - exchange 2k. i have successfully installed win2k and sql2k
>and the machine does not seem to have any errors.
>
>i tried doing an exchange installation today but am stuck. this is what
>i did, based on an internet article i first ran the forestprep and
>domainprep for the exchange server installation, and then installed the
>exchange system manager. after that i created the administrative group
>and routing group. beyond that, i am a little bit too stuck up because
>i don't know how to proceed. when i add a user in active directory, it
>does not give me an option to create an exchange mailbox for him, so i
>am surely missing something. also, the exchange system manager does not
>let me create an smtp connector, it tells me that i first need to have
>an smtp vsi or something like that before i create the smtp connector.
>
>i am a complete novice to exchange, and this is my very first
>installation of it. i would appreciate if someone could help me through
>the setup of exchange with active directory and other related stuff.

STOP. You're making all this much harder than necessary.

Insert SBS CD1, and run SBS Setup. It does *everything* for you.

The really nice thing is that (as long as it's not a total cockup) it will
pick up what you've done so far, and re-integrate it.

Also, if the machine is not yet in live use, it may well be worth
flattening it and redoing the SBS installation a couple of times, just so
you get to practice installing your server, and can experiment with some
of the choices SBS offers you along the way.

--
Steve Foster [SBS MVP]
---------------------------------------
MVPs do not work for Microsoft. Please reply only to the newsgroups.

Hey steve,

Thanks a bunch. I guess I started off on the wrong foot with SBS. But I
did as you said, and it seems that Exchange 2000 is properly installed.
Got a few dns errors, checked up the microsoft website and enabled
dynamic updates on the reverse lookup zone too. i am going to wait a
while on this server to observe the event viewer and see if any errors
crop up.

Is it possible now to use Exchange only for calendars and shared
calendars, and have the outlook clients get their emails directly from
the ISP web server, or will that create other complications. My main
task now is to set up the users and have their calendars as shared
calendars on exchange with security, so that secretaries can
add/view/delete meeting requests and appointments for their managers,
managers can look at their subordinates' calendars, and at other
managers' calendars, subordinates cannot view the managers' calendars,
etc. And also to configure Nextel Blackberry with Exchange so that the
Blackberry calendars are synchronized with the Exchange calendars.

I really appreciate the help.

Ok, I am receiving these warnings and errors now:

System Log Warning: The driver disabled the write cache on device
\Device\Harddisk0\DR0.

System Log Warning: Auto-Protect could not scan file
C:\WINNT\System32\ativvaxx.dll for viruses due to low kernel stack.

System Log Warning: Dynamic registration or deregistration of one or
more DNS records failed because no DNS servers are available.

System Log Warning: The server was unable to add the virtual root
'/public' for the directory 'M:\<server-name>.<domain-name.com>\Public
Folders' due to the following error: The system cannot find the path
specified. The data is the error code.
For additional information specific to this message please visit the
Microsoft Online Support site located at:
http://www.microsoft.com/contentredirect.asp.

System Log Warning: The server was unable to add the virtual root
'/Exchange' for the directory 'M:\<server-name>.<domain-name.com>\MBX'
due to the following error: The system cannot find the path specified.
The data is the error code.
For additional information specific to this message please visit the
Microsoft Online Support site located at:
http://www.microsoft.com/contentredirect.asp.

System Log Warning: The server was unable to add the virtual root
'/Exadmin' for the directory '\\.\BackOfficeStorage' due to the
following error: The system cannot find the path specified. The data
is the error code.
For additional information specific to this message please visit the
Microsoft Online Support site located at:
http://www.microsoft.com/contentredirect.asp.

System Log Warning: The server was unable to add the virtual root '/'
for the directory '/Internet Newsgroups' due to the following error:
The parameter is incorrect. The data is the error code.
For additional information specific to this message please visit the
Microsoft Online Support site located at:
http://www.microsoft.com/contentredirect.asp.

Application Log Error that has occured multiple times: Unable to query
the IIS Info service performance data. The error code returned by the
service is data DWORD 0.
For additional information specific to this message please visit the
Microsoft Online Support site located at:
http://www.microsoft.com/contentredirect.asp.

It seems that this warnings are benign after searching through google
groups, and somehow I am not able to remove the application error log
even after following the instructions in the microsoft.com support
site. Can we throw more light on how to remove this particular
application log error ?

exchange-novice wrote:

>Ok, I am receiving these warnings and errors now:
>
>System Log Warning: The driver disabled the write cache on device
>\Device\Harddisk0\DR0.
>
>System Log Warning: Auto-Protect could not scan file
>C:\WINNT\System32\ativvaxx.dll for viruses due to low kernel stack.
>
>System Log Warning: Dynamic registration or deregistration of one or
>more DNS records failed because no DNS servers are available.
>
>System Log Warning: The server was unable to add the virtual root
>'/public' for the directory 'M:\<server-name>.<domain-name.com>\Public
>Folders' due to the following error: The system cannot find the path
>specified. The data is the error code.
>For additional information specific to this message please visit the
>Microsoft Online Support site located at:
>http://www.microsoft.com/contentredirect.asp.
>
>System Log Warning: The server was unable to add the virtual root
>'/Exchange' for the directory 'M:\<server-name>.<domain-name.com>\MBX'
>due to the following error: The system cannot find the path specified.
>The data is the error code.
>For additional information specific to this message please visit the
>Microsoft Online Support site located at:
>http://www.microsoft.com/contentredirect.asp.
>
>System Log Warning: The server was unable to add the virtual root
>'/Exadmin' for the directory '\\.\BackOfficeStorage' due to the
>following error: The system cannot find the path specified. The data
>is the error code.
>For additional information specific to this message please visit the
>Microsoft Online Support site located at:
>http://www.microsoft.com/contentredirect.asp.
>
>System Log Warning: The server was unable to add the virtual root '/'
>for the directory '/Internet Newsgroups' due to the following error:
>The parameter is incorrect. The data is the error code.
>For additional information specific to this message please visit the
>Microsoft Online Support site located at:
>http://www.microsoft.com/contentredirect.asp.
>
>Application Log Error that has occured multiple times: Unable to query
>the IIS Info service performance data. The error code returned by the
>service is data DWORD 0.
>For additional information specific to this message please visit the
>Microsoft Online Support site located at:
>http://www.microsoft.com/contentredirect.asp.
>
>It seems that this warnings are benign after searching through google
>groups, and somehow I am not able to remove the application error log
>even after following the instructions in the microsoft.com support
>site. Can we throw more light on how to remove this particular
>application log error ?

The best course of action right now is to flatten it and start over. Some
of the events you've posted are indeed benign, and some are annoying, but
trying to eliminate them by troubleshooting is almost certainly going to
take you far longer than it would to start over.

You can then fix all the little "oh I wish..." things that have come into
your head (and don't try to kid me that there were none!) while you've
been working on it.

Trust me, you'll be far more comfortable long-term with a system that
you're confident has been properly configured than the current installation.

--
Steve Foster [SBS MVP]
---------------------------------------
MVPs do not work for Microsoft. Please reply only to the newsgroups.

I think everything is working right now as expected, except for the IIS
error which would arise even if I were to start over. By the way,
everytime we create a user on Active Directory, do we have to manually
create a user mailbox within the "connector for pop3 mailboxes" ? when
i create the user mailbox manually, everything works fine as expected,
but i was just wondering if it should be automatically created or not.

i am able to send and receive email successfully from exchange now. the
calendar does not give me the reminder option, and that is something i
am struggling with.

exchange-novice wrote:

>I think everything is working right now as expected, except for the IIS
>error which would arise even if I were to start over. By the way,
>everytime we create a user on Active Directory, do we have to manually
>create a user mailbox within the "connector for pop3 mailboxes" ? when
>i create the user mailbox manually, everything works fine as expected,
>but i was just wondering if it should be automatically created or not.

The 3 IIS errors can be eliminated by making the W3SVC dependent on the
MSExchangeIS service (the Information Store) since the virtual directories
all point to Exchange store locations.

>
>i am able to send and receive email successfully from exchange now. the
>calendar does not give me the reminder option, and that is something i
>am struggling with.

I've no suggestions for you here, I'm afraid.

--
Steve Foster [SBS MVP]
---------------------------------------
MVPs do not work for Microsoft. Please reply only to the newsgroups.