Exchange 2016 Installing Exchange In A Resource Forest: Part 2

This is a continuation from Part 1 of my Installing Exchange 2016 in a Resource Forest series.

I've also created this guide as an eBook, which you can buy here

Create an IP-less DAG

 **Note** You must create a Witness upon initial setup because Exchange 2016 on Server 2012R2 uses "dynamic quorum" for when a node goes down.

Create the Witness Server

**Note** I always run the Witness Share on a server that runs Exchange Management Tools – that is not an Exchange Server.

Stand up a member server called something like EXCH-MGMT-WIT, and add the following permissions:

Since the Witness Share resides on a non-Exchange server, you need to add the Exchange Trusted Subsystem group to the Local Administrators Group on the server - this means it cannot be on a Domain Controller since there are no local groups.

Create the DAG and set the Witness Server to EXCH-MGMT-WIT on C:\DAG01FSW, by running the following in the EMS:

New-DatabaseAvailabilityGroup -Name DAG01 -DatabaseAvailabilityGroupIPAddresses ([System.Net.IPAddress]::None) -WitnessServer EXCH-MGMT-WIT.resourcedomain.com –WitnessDirectory “C:\ DAG01FSW“

Add Mailbox Servers to the DAG

Run the following in the EMS:

 

             Add-DatabaseAvailabilityGroupServer -identity DAG01 –MailboxServer "EXCH-MBX-01"
             Add-DatabaseAvailabilityGroupServer -identity DAG01 –MailboxServer "EXCH-MBX-02"
             Add-DatabaseAvailabilityGroupServer -identity DAG01 –MailboxServer "EXCH-MBX-03"

Enable DAC (datacenter activation coordination) mode on the DAG to prevent split-brain syndrome during fail-back(s) by running:

         Set-DatabaseAvailabilityGroup -Identity DAG01 -DatacenterActivationMode DagOnly

Create DAG Mount Points

Perform the following steps on each Exchange server – it is very important that volumes and folders match exactly on each server.

You should already have your E: and F: Volumes presented to your servers as drives.

1.      On the C: drive, create a folder called EXVols – this folder will be used to mount our E: (Volume1) and F: (Volume2).

          2.      Next, on the C: drive, create a folder called ExDBs – this folder will hold the Database mount points.
          3.      Creating the Volumes
          4.      Within the ExVols folder, create two new folders called Volume1 and Volume2.
          5.      Open Windows Disk Management to mount our two volumes to our ExVols folders.
          6.      Right-click E: and select Change Drive Letter and Paths…
          7.      Click Add and browse to the location of the Volume1 folder – C:\ExVols\Volume1
          8.      Click OK, twice
          9.      Right-click F: and select Change Drive Letter and Paths…
         10.  Click Add and browse to the location of the Volume2 folder – C:\ExVols\Volume2

You should see the folders with Disk icons meaning they are now Mount Points. 

Creating the Database Folders

Under the C:\ExDBs folder, create the new Database folders for as many DB’s as you plan to have. In my case, we have 6, so we’ll create the following folders:

C:\ExDBs\DB01

          C:\ExDBs\DB02
          C:\ExDBs\DB03
          C:\ExDBs\DB04
          C:\ExDBs\DB05
          C:\ExDBs\DB06

After you have your folders set, open an Elevated command prompt, and run:
        
          mountvol

This will list the available volumes for use.

In our case we know the one we want is \\?\Volume{eeadb719-54af-4384-9c90-78dbf04acf86}\

because we can see the folder Volume1 is mounted to it

Run the following command to mount DB01:

Mountvol DB01 \\?\Volume{eeadb719-54af-4384-9c90-78dbf04acf86}\

If you go to your C:\ExDBs, you’ll notice the folder icon for DB01 has changed to a mount point icon.

Now mount your other DB’s:

Mountvol DB02 \\?\Volume{eeadb719-54af-4384-9c90-78dbf04acf86}\

Mountvol DB03 \\?\Volume{eeadb719-54af-4384-9c90-78dbf04acf86}\

Mountvol DB04 \\?\Volume{eeadb719-54af-4384-9c90-78dbf04acf86}\

Mountvol DB05 \\?\Volume{eeadb719-54af-4384-9c90-78dbf04acf86}\

Mountvol DB06 \\?\Volume{03cf7f78-ed05-4bb7-a4f0-0914f9575bdd}\

If you run mountvol again, you’ll see all DB’s mounted under the Volume1 folder.

Now set up your Archive DB’s on Volume2 like the above.

Run mountvol, and for my setup, the F: Volume2 is \\?\Volume{b4d8eb69-2c04-11e6-80d8-806e6f6e6963}\

Run the following commands to mount those Arch DB’s:

Mountvol Arch01 \\?\Volume{b4d8eb69-2c04-11e6-80d8-806e6f6e6963}\

Mountvol Arch02 \\?\Volume{b4d8eb69-2c04-11e6-80d8-806e6f6e6963}\

Mountvol Arch03 \\?\Volume{b4d8eb69-2c04-11e6-80d8-806e6f6e6963}\

Mountvol Arch04 \\?\Volume{b4d8eb69-2c04-11e6-80d8-806e6f6e6963}\

Mountvol Arch05 \\?\Volume{b4d8eb69-2c04-11e6-80d8-806e6f6e6963}\

Mountvol Arch06 \\?\Volume{b4d8eb69-2c04-11e6-80d8-806e6f6e6963}\

Creating the Database Directory Structure

Next, we’ll create database directory structure; each folder will have 2 folders beneath it: one folder for the Database .edb file and one for the Logs.

**Note** It is best practice to keep database and log files on the same volume, as long as it is separated from the System Volume. So, all DB’s and Logs will be on Volume1 and Archive DB’s and Logs will be on Volume2.

You can create these folders directly from Volume1 (E:) or by going to C:\ExDBs\DB01 through DB06 (they will have the same folders).

In E:\ExDBs\DB01, create a new folder named DB01.db and new folder called DB01.log.

In E:\ExDBs\DB02, create a new folder named DB02.db and new folder called DB02.log.

In E:\ExDBs\DB03, create a new folder named DB03.db and new folder called DB03.log.

In E:\ExDBs\DB04, create a new folder named DB04.db and new folder called DB04.log.

In E:\ExDBs\DB05, create a new folder named DB05.db and new folder called DB05.log.

In E:\ExDBs\DB06, create a new folder named DB06.db and new folder called DB06.log.

Do the same for your Archive Databases:

In F:\ArchDBs\Arch01, create a new folder named Arch01.db and new folder called Arch01.log.

In F:\ArchDBs\Arch02, create a new folder named Arch02.db and new folder called Arch02.log.

In F:\ArchDBs\Arch03, create a new folder named Arch03.db and new folder called Arch03.log.

In F:\ArchDBs\Arch04, create a new folder named Arch04.db and new folder called Arch04.log.

In F:\ArchDBs\Arch05, create a new folder named Arch05.db and new folder called Arch05.log.

In F:\ArchDBs\Arch06, create a new folder named Arch06.db and new folder called Arch06.log.

Create Mailbox Databases

We’ll be creating our six Databases, and evenly distributing them across our servers.

DB01 and DB04 on Server01

DB02 and DB05 on Server02

DB03 and DB06 on Server03.

Create the Databases by running the following cmdlets in Exchange Management Shell (EMS):

New-MailboxDatabase –Name DB01 –Server EXCH-MBX-01 –LogFolderPath C:\ExDBs\DB01\DB01.log –EdbFilePath C:\ExDBs\DB01\DB01.db\DB01.edb

New-MailboxDatabase –Name DB02 –Server EXCH-MBX-02 –LogFolderPath C:\ExDBs\DB02\DB02.log –EdbFilePath C:\ExDBs\DB02\DB02.db\DB02.edb

New-MailboxDatabase –Name DB03 –Server EXCH-MBX-03 –LogFolderPath C:\ExDBs\DB03\DB03.log –EdbFilePath C:\ExDBs\DB03\DB03.db\DB03.edb

New-MailboxDatabase –Name DB04 –Server EXCH-MBX-01 –LogFolderPath C:\ExDBs\DB04\DB04.log –EdbFilePath C:\ExDBs\DB04\DB04.db\DB04.edb

New-MailboxDatabase –Name DB05 –Server EXCH-MBX-02 –LogFolderPath C:\ExDBs\DB05\DB05.log –EdbFilePath C:\ExDBs\DB05\DB05.db\DB05.edb

New-MailboxDatabase –Name DB06 –Server EXCH-MBX-03 –LogFolderPath C:\ExDBs\DB06\DB06.log –EdbFilePath C:\ExDBs\DB06\DB06.db\DB06.edb

Do the same for your Archive Databases:

New-MailboxDatabase –Name Arch01 –Server EXCH-MBX-01 –LogFolderPath C:\ArchDBs\Arch01\Arch01.log –EdbFilePath C:\ArchDBs\Arch01\Arch01.db\Arch01.edb

New-MailboxDatabase –Name Arch02 –Server EXCH-MBX-02 –LogFolderPath C:\ArchDBs\Arch02\Arch02.log –EdbFilePath C:\ArchDBs\Arch02\Arch02.db\Arch02.edb

New-MailboxDatabase –Name Arch03 –Server EXCH-MBX-03 –LogFolderPath C:\ArchDBs\Arch03\Arch03.log –EdbFilePath C:\ArchDBs\Arch03\Arch03.db\Arch03.edb

New-MailboxDatabase –Name Arch04 –Server EXCH-MBX-01 –LogFolderPath C:\ArchDBs\Arch04\Arch04.log –EdbFilePath C:\ArchDBs\Arch04\Arch04.db\Arch04.edb

New-MailboxDatabase –Name Arch05 –Server EXCH-MBX-02 –LogFolderPath C:\ArchDBs\Arch05\Arch05.log –EdbFilePath C:\ArchDBs\Arch05\Arch05.db\Arch05.edb

New-MailboxDatabase –Name Arch06 –Server EXCH-MBX-03 –LogFolderPath C:\ArchDBs\Arch06\Arch06.log –EdbFilePath C:\ArchDBs\Arch06\Arch06.db\Arch06.edb

**Note** You will get a Warning that The Information Store must be restarted after DB creation - this is by design. Exchange 2013/2016 uses different memory management so that store.exe does not use all available RAM. MS suggests DB creation is during maintenance window, since restarting the store.exe service dismounts databases active on that server…even though that is annoying.

Add Database Copies

We will use Postpone Seeding to allow the copy creation to finish before seeding.

Note the Activation Preference (AP), which mounts the copy according to server:

DB	EXCH-MBX-01 -AP	EXCH-MBX-02 -AP	EXCH-MBX-03 -AP
DB01	1	2	3
DB02	3	1	2
DB03	3	2	1
DB04	1	2	3
DB05	3	1	2
DB06	3	2	1
ArchDB	EXCH-MBX-01 -AP	EXCH-MBX-02 -AP	EXCH-MBX-03 -AP
Arch01	1	2	3
Arch02	3	1	2
Arch03	3	2	1
Arch04	1	2	3
Arch05	3	1	2
Arch06	3	2	1

Run the following cmdlets in the EMS to create the DB copies according to activation preference:

**Note** Run each cmdlet separate on each line.

Add-MailboxDatabaseCopy -Identity DB01 -MailboxServer EXCH-MBX-02 -ActivationPreference 2 -SeedingPostponed

Add-MailboxDatabaseCopy -Identity DB01 -MailboxServer EXCH-MBX-03 -ActivationPreference 3 -SeedingPostponed

Add-MailboxDatabaseCopy -Identity DB02 -MailboxServer EXCH-MBX-03 -ActivationPreference 2 -SeedingPostponed

Add-MailboxDatabaseCopy -Identity DB02 -MailboxServer EXCH-MBX-01 -ActivationPreference 3 -SeedingPostponed

Add-MailboxDatabaseCopy -Identity DB03 -MailboxServer EXCH-MBX-02 -ActivationPreference 2 -SeedingPostponed

Add-MailboxDatabaseCopy -Identity DB03 -MailboxServer EXCH-MBX-01 -ActivationPreference 3 -SeedingPostponed

Add-MailboxDatabaseCopy -Identity DB04 -MailboxServer EXCH-MBX-02 -ActivationPreference 2 -SeedingPostponed

Add-MailboxDatabaseCopy -Identity DB04 -MailboxServer EXCH-MBX-03 -ActivationPreference 3 -SeedingPostponed

Add-MailboxDatabaseCopy -Identity DB05 -MailboxServer EXCH-MBX-01 -ActivationPreference 2 -SeedingPostponed

Add-MailboxDatabaseCopy -Identity DB05 -MailboxServer EXCH-MBX-01 -ActivationPreference 3 -SeedingPostponed

Add-MailboxDatabaseCopy -Identity DB06 -MailboxServer EXCH-MBX-02 -ActivationPreference 2 -SeedingPostponed

Add-MailboxDatabaseCopy -Identity DB06 -MailboxServer EXCH-MBX-03 -ActivationPreference 3 -SeedingPostponed

Add-MailboxDatabaseCopy -Identity Arch01 -MailboxServer EXCH-MBX-02 -ActivationPreference 2 -SeedingPostponed

Add-MailboxDatabaseCopy -Identity Arch01 -MailboxServer EXCH-MBX-03 -ActivationPreference 3 -SeedingPostponed

Add-MailboxDatabaseCopy -Identity Arch02 -MailboxServer EXCH-MBX-03 -ActivationPreference 2 -SeedingPostponed

Add-MailboxDatabaseCopy -Identity Arch02 -MailboxServer EXCH-MBX-01 -ActivationPreference 3 -SeedingPostponed

Add-MailboxDatabaseCopy -Identity Arch03 -MailboxServer EXCH-MBX-02 -ActivationPreference 2 -SeedingPostponed

Add-MailboxDatabaseCopy -Identity Arch03 -MailboxServer EXCH-MBX-01 -ActivationPreference 3 -SeedingPostponed

Add-MailboxDatabaseCopy -Identity Arch04 -MailboxServer EXCH-MBX-02 -ActivationPreference 2 -SeedingPostponed

Add-MailboxDatabaseCopy -Identity Arch04 -MailboxServer EXCH-MBX-03 -ActivationPreference 3 -SeedingPostponed

Add-MailboxDatabaseCopy -Identity Arch05 -MailboxServer EXCH-MBX-03 -ActivationPreference 2 -SeedingPostponed

Add-MailboxDatabaseCopy -Identity Arch05 -MailboxServer EXCH-MBX-01 -ActivationPreference 3 -SeedingPostponed

Add-MailboxDatabaseCopy -Identity Arch06 -MailboxServer EXCH-MBX-02 -ActivationPreference 2 -SeedingPostponed

Add-MailboxDatabaseCopy -Identity Arch06 -MailboxServer EXCH-MBX-01 -ActivationPreference 3 -SeedingPostponed

Check Database file Creation

Go to C:\ExDBs on Server01 and get the Properties on the folder, it shouldn’t be taking up any space (should be 0 bytes) – this is because the data is actually stored on Volume1 not on C:\.

Now open C:\ExDBs\DB01\DB01.db and DB01.log and you should see the .edb file and the logs in their respective folders.

Delete default databases from each server

Run the following cmdlets in the EMS to delete the default Databases:

Get-mailbox -database "default database name" –arbitration

Get-mailbox -database "default database name" -arbitration  | new-moverequest -targetdatabase "new database name"

**Note** You’ll need to do this for each server (the cmdlet can be run from one server though). Also change “default database name” to the default database you are moving from, and the “new database” you are moving to.

**Note** Exchange 2013/2016 creates a mailbox for the admin account that is used for the install; you’ll need to move or delete that mailbox before deleting the Default Database.

You cannot use get-mailbox -database "db name" | new-moverequest -targetdatabase "database name" because the pipe somehow cannot connect to the First Administrative Group

You must use new-moverequest -identity "admin user alias" -targetdatabase "new database name"

        
After moving arbitration and admin mailboxes, delete the databases and delete the .edb files and logs from each server.

If required for Unified Messaging, download and install any Exchange 2016 Language Packs on each server from the following link:

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=51500

Disable Autoprovision on Archive DBs

Disable auto-provision on Archive databases, so your provisioning script doesn't put regular user mailboxes in those by letting Exchange pick the most available DB

Set-MailboxDatabase "archive database name" -IsExcludedFromProvisioning $true

Start Database Copy Seeding

Since we created our databases with seeding postponed, we'll go ahead and start that operation now.

In the EMS, run the following cmdlets one by one:

Update-MailboxDatabaseCopy -Server EXCH-MBX-01

Update-MailboxDatabaseCopy -Server EXCH-MBX-02

Update-MailboxDatabaseCopy -Server EXCH-MBX-03

This should be fairly quick since nothing is in the DB's, though allow some time if you have a slow link between DAG nodes.

Create a New Anonymous Relay Connector

If you need printers and devices to be able to send anonymous messages through Exchange, you’ll need a new Frontend transport Receive Connector to allow those connections.

Run the following in EMS:

New-ReceiveConnector "Internal Anonymous Relay" -usage custom -bindings 0.0.0.0:25 -TransportRole FrontendTransport -RemoteIPRanges $connector.RemoteIPRanges

Set quotas on databases DB01-DB06 and Arch01-Arch06

Get-MailboxDatabase | Set-MailboxDatabase -IssueWarningQuota 3GB  -ProhibitSendReceiveQuota 5GB -ProhibitSendQuota unlimited

**Note** You can set whatever quotas you need, mine is just an example. You aslo must set the ProhibitSendQuota as it has to be populated, even if unlimited.

 

Next, follow Part 3 here