Exchange is becoming more and more command line oriented. This includes the powershell options for managing Exchange once installed, but can also include the initial installation. To install Exchange from the command line, one must first install Exchange prerequisites, which are broken down per role that is being installed on Exchange. This can be done using the Add-WindowsFeature commandlet. To install the Windows requirements for Exchange for the Client Access, Hub Transport and Mailbox roles, use the following command:
Add-WindowsFeature NET-Framework,RSAT-ADDS,Web-Server,Web-Basic-Auth,Web-Windows-Auth,Web-Metabase,Web-Net-Ext,Web-Lgcy-Mgmt-Console,WAS-Process-Model,RSAT-Web-Server,Web-ISAPI-Ext,Web-Digest-Auth,Web-Dyn-Compression,NET-HTTP-Activation,RPC-Over-HTTP-Proxy,Web-WMI -Restart
For the Edge Transport role, use:
Add-WindowsFeature NET-Framework,RSAT-ADDS,Web-Server,Web-Basic-Auth,Web-Windows-Auth,Web-Metabase,Web-Net-Ext,Web-Lgcy-Mgmt-Console,WAS-Process-Model,RSAT-Web-Server,Desktop-Experience -Restart
For the Unified Messaging role, use:
Add-WindowsFeature NET-Framework,RSAT-ADDS,ADLDS -Restart
After the server restarts, also configure NetTcpPortSharing:
Set-Service NetTcpPortSharing -StartupType Automatic
Once the required features are installed, you can then run the installer and extend the Active Directory schema to prepare for the new attributes required for the version of Exchange you’re installing (2010 for this article btw). To do so, use the setup.exe command. In this example command we’ll use the setup.exe located in c:ExchangeInstallers:
c:ExchangeInstallerssetup.exe /prepareschema
Once the Schema is ready, then prepare AD:
c:ExchangeInstallerssetup.exe /preparead
Then, prep the domain:
c:ExchangeInstallerssetup.exe /PrepareDomain
Note: For a full listing of what happens at the above stages of the installation, see TechNet 125224: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb125224(v=exchg.150).aspx
Once that’s done, I like to do a quick sync of AD from the control with my schema FSMO role:
repadmin /syncall
Then, for the easy part: install Exchange (in this case we’re installing Hub, CAS & Mailbox roles):
c:ExchangeInstallerssetup.exe /m:install /r:h,c,m
And voila, you’ve now got an Exchange Server. Since this is a Mailbox server, an empty information store is created and store.exe should be running. Use Get-Mailboxdatabase to verify:
Get-Mailboxdatabase -status
You can then move a database (e.g. to your SAN), since the default will be nested in the mdb folders in the Exchsrvr directory by using the move-DatabasePath cmdlet. Or use the move-storagegrouppath cmdlet to move the transaction logs.
Once the information store is back online and any logs have been moved, check the connectors in Exchange. Use get-sendconnector to see any outgoing connectors and get-receiveconnector to see any incoming connector information. You can also use get-exchangecertificate to check any certs on the host and get-routinggroupconnector to see any information about routing group connectivity.
