Exchange Will Look for Any DC?

To Whom Can Help:

I have a DC installed on a primary server. There is also a Exchange server
on the same server. I installed a second Exchange server on a second member
server with the intention of migrating the data off the primary Exchange
server to the second Exchange server. I understand that Exchange is tightly
integrated with AD. The second server used the DC on the first server for
it's installation. I found out today that the second server has to be
promoted to a DC and that the primary server will be completely removed from
the network.

I came up with possible steps to preserve the Exchange server on the second
server:

1 Create a DNS server on the second server
2 Do a zone transfer from the first machine to the second
3 Promote the member server to a DC (change the DNS network settings on the
second server to point to itself prior to promotion)
4 Transfer FSMO roles to the new DC
5 Transfer the email mailbox etc.

The real question is: Will the Exchange server on the second server still
work if the second server is promoted to a DC and the primary server is
removed from the network? Are steps above correct and all there?

--
Thank you for your help!
JYC

Mark
Fri Aug 18 02:08:47 CDT 2006

On Thu, 17 Aug 2006 23:46:01 -0700, Mr. JYC
<MrJYC@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:

>To Whom Can Help:
>
>I have a DC installed on a primary server. There is also a Exchange server
>on the same server. I installed a second Exchange server on a second member
>server with the intention of migrating the data off the primary Exchange
>server to the second Exchange server. I understand that Exchange is tightly
>integrated with AD. The second server used the DC on the first server for
>it's installation. I found out today that the second server has to be
>promoted to a DC and that the primary server will be completely removed from
>the network.
>
>I came up with possible steps to preserve the Exchange server on the second
>server:
>
>1 Create a DNS server on the second server
>2 Do a zone transfer from the first machine to the second
>3 Promote the member server to a DC (change the DNS network settings on the
>second server to point to itself prior to promotion)
>4 Transfer FSMO roles to the new DC
>5 Transfer the email mailbox etc.
>
>The real question is: Will the Exchange server on the second server still
>work if the second server is promoted to a DC and the primary server is
>removed from the network? Are steps above correct and all there?

You cannot dcpromo an Exchange server because of some IIS
dependencies. You can make it work after some messing about but it's
not a reliable method and not one, forgive me, that I think you're up
to.
I would make the box a dc first, make sure it's replicating properly
and then install Exchange onto it. The steps you have are ok, you
shouldn't be doing zone transfers because that's not how AD Integrated
DNS has to work, it'll be easier for you.

MagicNetworX
Fri Aug 18 12:27:02 CDT 2006

If the 2nd DC is replicating and then exchange is installed, will it also
replicate the exchange info from the first server?

Tnx in advance...

"Mark Arnold [MVP]" wrote:

> On Thu, 17 Aug 2006 23:46:01 -0700, Mr. JYC
> <MrJYC@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:
>
> >To Whom Can Help:
> >
> >I have a DC installed on a primary server. There is also a Exchange server
> >on the same server. I installed a second Exchange server on a second member
> >server with the intention of migrating the data off the primary Exchange
> >server to the second Exchange server. I understand that Exchange is tightly
> >integrated with AD. The second server used the DC on the first server for
> >it's installation. I found out today that the second server has to be
> >promoted to a DC and that the primary server will be completely removed from
> >the network.
> >
> >I came up with possible steps to preserve the Exchange server on the second
> >server:
> >
> >1 Create a DNS server on the second server
> >2 Do a zone transfer from the first machine to the second
> >3 Promote the member server to a DC (change the DNS network settings on the
> >second server to point to itself prior to promotion)
> >4 Transfer FSMO roles to the new DC
> >5 Transfer the email mailbox etc.
> >
> >The real question is: Will the Exchange server on the second server still
> >work if the second server is promoted to a DC and the primary server is
> >removed from the network? Are steps above correct and all there?
>
> You cannot dcpromo an Exchange server because of some IIS
> dependencies. You can make it work after some messing about but it's
> not a reliable method and not one, forgive me, that I think you're up
> to.
> I would make the box a dc first, make sure it's replicating properly
> and then install Exchange onto it. The steps you have are ok, you
> shouldn't be doing zone transfers because that's not how AD Integrated
> DNS has to work, it'll be easier for you.
>

Mark
Fri Aug 18 13:14:55 CDT 2006

On Fri, 18 Aug 2006 10:27:02 -0700, Magic NetworX
<MagicNetworX@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:

>If the 2nd DC is replicating and then exchange is installed, will it also
>replicate the exchange info from the first server?
>
>Tnx in advance...
>
The information is in AD, not Exchange.