Exchange Schema Version

Here is are a couple of options to identify the version of the Exchange Schema version.

Option #1 – Using ADSI Edit

Open Schema Context with ADSI Edit.

Go to the Pproperties of ms-Exch-Schema-Version-Pt and look for the rangeUpper value.

Option #2 – DSQUERY Command

Run the following DSQUERY command to get the value of rangeUpper value.

dsquery * CN=ms-Exch-Schema-Version-Pt,cn=schema,cn=configuration,dc=infralab,dc=local -scope base -attr rangeUpper

You can compare the rangeUpper value against the following table to identify the Exchange Schema version:

AD Schema Version - http://portal.sivarajan.com/2010/03/active-directory-schema-version.html

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Latest Version of MFCMAPI is Available for Download

The latest Version of MFCMAPI is Available for Download.  You can download it from the following location:

http://mfcmapi.codeplex.com/

More info: http://portal.sivarajan.com/2010/05/mailbox-and-outlook-troubleshooting.html

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Exchange 2010 SP1

The Exchange team has released Service Pack 1 (SP1) for Exchange Server 2010. 

• 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.

Download:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=50b32685-4356-49cc-8b37-d9c9d4ea3f5b&displaylang=en

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Exchange Server 2010 SP1 Beta Help

The Exchange Server 2010 SP1 Beta Help file is available for download.  This download contains a standalone version of Help file.   You can download it from the following location:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=2685440c-8e55-463a-ab96-102eddf8a7c4

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Exchange Server 2010 VHD

This download comes as a pre-configured VHD. This download enables you evaluate Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 for 60 days.

Download this fully configured virtual machine of the latest release of Exchange Server 2010. Evaluate the new capabilities of Exchange Server 2010, which helps you achieve new levels of reliability and performance by delivering features that help to simplify your administration, protect your communications, and delight your users by meeting their demands for greater business mobility.

• This download comes as a pre-configured VHD. This download enables you evaluate Exchange Server 2010 for 60 days.
• This trial software is intended for evaluation purposes only.
• There is no product support for this trial. You are welcome to share your trial experience with others and to ask for advice by participating in the forums.

Download

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=53F7382A-3664-4DE3-8303-31E514D69F02&displaylang=en#filelist

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How to protect Exchange with Data Protection Manager (DPM) 2010

The DPM team has released a new whitepaper on “How to protect Exchange with Data Protection Manager (DPM) 2010”

You can download this whitepaper from the following location:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=be885d26-25e5-41ff-afc8-506414aed960

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digicert - SSL Certificate Management & Troubleshooting Tool

Digicert is a certificate management tool which can be used to manage, troubleshoot, and fix the SSL certificates.   This utility provides the following features:

• See all the SSL certificates installed on your server.
• Easily view details for each certificate.
• Fix intermediate certificate problems with one click.
• Import and Export your certificates to make a backup or move them between servers.
• Test a certificate to verify its private key is functional.
• Install a certificate to a pending request.
• Repair a certificate whose private key exists on the server but is not correctly associated with the certificate.

You can download this utility from Digicert’s site for free: https://www.digicert.com/util/

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iOS 4 update for Exchange

Immediately after updating to iOS 4, some users may notice that Exchange ActiveSync Mail, Contacts, or Calendars do not sync, or sync very slowly. In addition, some Exchange Server administrators may notice their servers running slowly.

To work around this issue, users should install a configuration profile from Apple that increases the amount of time the iOS 4 device will wait for the Exchange Server to respond to its sync requests. For best results, the profile should be installed on as many iOS 4 devices at your company as possible.

Read more and download the configuration profile at - http://support.apple.com/kb/TS3398

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Hotfix Rollup 1 for Microsoft Forefront Protection 2010 for Exchange

Microsoft has released the first Hotfix Rollup 1 for Forefront Protection for Exchange. The following article contains the information about how to obtain the hotfix rollup and about the issues that are fixed by the hotfix rollup:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2181692

Download:
http://support.microsoft.com/hotfix/KBHotfix.aspx?kbnum=2181692&kbln=en-us

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GUI Interface for Cross Forest Mailbox Move Tool

Sathish has created a nice GUI for Cross Forest Mailbox tool. You can read more information on the following link:

http://gallery.technet.microsoft.com/ScriptCenter/en-us/c1a9e5b1-4e48-4659-8d9c-2ab8f7a01e60

Here are the high level steps:

1. 1. Use ADMT or any migration tools to migrate the active directory users - http://www.sivarajan.com/admt.html
2. 2. Download Cross Forest tool – Prepare-MoveRequest.Ps1 - http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=16a91d42-5ca4-4b58-aaa6-b2689b99ba51&displaylang=en
3. 3. Download GUI for Cross Forest mailbox move tool - MovetoE14.Ps1 - http://gallery.technet.microsoft.com/ScriptCenter/en-us/c1a9e5b1-4e48-4659-8d9c-2ab8f7a01e60
4. 4. Execute MovetoE14.Ps1 and follow the instructions.

You can see more information on Sathish’s website:

http://msexchangehelp.wordpress.com/2010/03/23/gui-script-for-exchange-2003-to-exchange-2010-cross-forest-move-mailbox/

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Other Related Blogs

Active Directory Migration Using ADMT - http://www.sivarajan.com/admt.html

Computer Migration - Things to Consider - http://www.sivarajan.com/cm.html

ADMT Include File - http://portal.sivarajan.com/2011/06/admt-include-file.html

User Migration and Input File Format - http://portal.sivarajan.com/2010/12/user-migration-and-input-file-format.html

User Account Migration and Merging – ADMT - http://portal.sivarajan.com/2011/05/user-account-migration-and-merging-part.html

User Account Migration and Merging – Quest Migration Manager - http://portal.sivarajan.com/2011/07/user-account-migration-and-merging-part.html

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Other Reference Articles:

Exchange 2010 Cross-Forest Mailbox Moves - http://blogs.technet.com/b/exchange/archive/2010/08/10/3410619.aspx

Exchange 2007 Cross Org Mailbox Migration - http://blogs.technet.com/b/exchange/archive/2006/11/02/3396084.aspx

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Exchange 2007 SP3 with support for Windows Server 2008 R2 Now Available

Exchange Server 2007 SP3 is available for download. This service pack enables Exchange 2007 to be installed on Windows Server 2008 R2 version of the operating system.  Also, with this SP3, Exchange 2007 management tools can be installed on Windows 7 machines.

Download Exchange 2007 SP3

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=1687160b-634a-43cb-a65a-f355cff0afa6&displaylang=en

Schema Changes

Exchange 2007 SP3 requires Schema changes even if you have the RTM version of Exchange 2010.  You can see these details on the following link:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff607224(EXCHG.80).aspx

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Exchange Load Generator 2010 - LoadGen

Microsoft has released the Exchange Load Generator 2010 (LoadGen).

LoadGen allows you to test how a server running Exchange 2010/2007 responds to e-mail loads. To simulate the delivery of these messaging requests, you run LoadGen tests on client computers. These tests send multiple messaging requests to the Exchange server, thereby causing a mail load. LoadGen is a useful tool for administrators who are sizing servers and validating a deployment plan. Specifically, LoadGen helps you determine if each of your servers can handle the load to which they are intended to carry. Another use for LoadGen is to help validate the overall solution.

Download 32 bit:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=1AAA3F65-BAB0-42E6-861B-A25ADF258EF3&displaylang=en

Download 64 bit:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=CF464BE7-7E52-48CD-B852-CCFC915B29EF&displaylang=en

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Updated Exchange 2010 and Exchange 2007 Calculator

Microsoft has updated the Mailbox Server Role Requirements Calculator for Exchange 2007 and 2010 again.  You can download them from the following location:

Exchange 2010: http://msexchangeteam.com/files/12/attachments/entry453145.aspx

Exchange 2007: http://msexchangeteam.com/files/12/attachments/entry438481.aspx

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Exchange Server Active Directory Schema Changes Reference

This download includes the Active Directory Schema Reference, which provides information about the changes that Microsoft Exchange Server makes to the Active Directory schema when it is installed.

This provides a summary of the Active Directory schema changes that are made when you install Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 Service Pack 1 (SP1), Exchange Server 2010, Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 3 (SP3), Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 2 (SP2), Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1 (SP1), Exchange Server 2007, and Exchange Server 2003. 

Download

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Identify Users Connecting to Exchange Server Using POP3

You can use the following 2 options to identify the POP3 users in an Exchange environment. 

1.    Enable diagnostic logging for the POP3svc service for authentications and connections. You will see the connection details in the event log. 

2.    Another option is to view pop connections under your pop SMTP virtual server which is located in Protocols ->  POP3 -> Default POP3 Virtual Server -> Current Sessions.

Also, a log file will be generated in the Exchange logging folder under POP3.

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Exchange 2010 Mailbox Server Role Requirements Calculator – Version 6.3

The Exchange Team has updated the Exchange 2010 Mailbox Server Role Requirements Calculator and the latest version being 6.3.

It has the following fixes:

• Fixed the secondary datacenter Active and Passive megacycle calculations to take into account the number of activated databases based on the failure mode the secondary datacenter can support.
• Fixed the number of Active Databases / Secondary Datacenter Server after a first primary datacenter server failure to not display #VALUE for 2-node site resilient DAG solutions.
• Improved the number of Active Databases after double server failure in the primary datacenter site resilient calculation to deal with 3 servers in the primary datacenters, as well as, when there are 2 copies in the primary datacenter.

You can download the latest version from the following location:
http://msexchangeteam.com/files/12/attachments/entry453145.aspx

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PFDAVAdmin - Update Is Now Available

An updated version of the PFDAVAdmin tool has been released . You can download it from the following location:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=635BE792-D8AD-49E3-ADA4-E2422C0AB424.

You can use  Exchange Server Public Folder Distributed Authoring and Versioning (DAV)-based Administration tool (PFDAVAdmin) to perform various management tasks related to public folders and mailboxes.  The tool checks the permissions status of each public and mailbox folder and corrects any problems found. The ability to bulk export/import the permissions and replica lists make this tool invaluable in achieving greater productivity in managing public folders. The program can also reports content information of each public folder and mailbox folder such as the number of items in each folder, size of folder and most recent modification date of any item in the folder. 

PFDAVAdmin is supported when running with Exchange 2000 Server, Exchange Server 2003 and Exchange Server 2007 but it  cannot be used with Exchange 2010 servers.

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Exchange 2010 - Large Mailbox Vision

Giving your users the ability to store more e-mail has many advantages. Large mailboxes keep e-mail on the Exchange Server instead of allowing it to be scattered in Outlook Data Files (.PST files). That helps reduce the risk of data loss, improve regulatory compliance, and increase productivity among both workers and IT staff. The main barrier to implementing large mailboxes is the perceived cost and complexity of storing large amounts of e-mail data.

Microsoft® Exchange Server 2010 is specifically designed to overcome these barriers. It enables you to give your users larger mailboxes at lower cost without sacrificing performance or reliability. Built-in high availability and disaster recovery, storage system improvements, and self-healing from disk faults let you use large, inexpensive disks in configurations that maximize data redundancy. And, Exchange Server 2010 lets you keep your users online during mailbox moves. With these changes, the benefits of large mailboxes are now within the grasp of all organizations.

You can download the entire document from here.

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Exchange Server 2010 Update Rollup 2

Microsoft has released the Update Rollup 2 for Exchange Server 2010. This update resolves issues that were found in Exchange Server 2010 since the software was released. This rollup is highly recommended for all Exchange Server 2010 customers.

This is a cumulative update and replaces rollup 1. Any interim Updates (custom fixes from Microsoft Support, in response to a support call) for Exchange Server 2010 must be uninstalled prior to installing this update rollup. Microsoft Update cannot detect update rollups on Exchange Server 2010 mailbox servers that are part of a database availability group (DAG).

Download: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=6d3ae3e0-3982-46d6-9e9c-7d7d63fae565&displaylang=en

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Public Folder Reporting Tool - PfRep

Here is a useful Public Folder reporting tool (PfRep).  It can analyze Exchange 2000/2003/2007 public folder usage.  As you can see in the following screenshot, Public Folders are color coded based on its usage.

This really a useful tool especially if you are performing a Public Folder migration.   You can download this free tool from the following location:
http://pfrep.codeplex.com/releases/view/17650

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