As Exchange 2010 SP3 was released on Feb 2013 , we can now upgrade our existing organizations and add Exchange 2013 to an existing Exchange 2010 organization. This is the second article on how to upgrade your organization to include Exchange 2013. First article Upgrade to Exchange 2010 SP3 , now we will discuss the steps needed to install your first Exchange 2013 server to your organization.

Before you start your installation of the first Exchange 2013 server make sure all your Exchange 2010 servers are upgraded to SP3. Version Number should be 14.3 (Build 118.2) or higher.

Prepare your Exchange 2013 Servers

Each server needs to be configured with several Windows Features. There are different features for the CAS or Mailbox servers

Prepare Each Server Independently

CAS Servers

1. Open a PowerShell Window with Administrator privileges
2. Install the Windows Features

Mailbox Servers

1. Open a PowerShell Window with Administrator privileges
2. Install the Windows Features

Prepare all servers together

1. Open a PowerShell Windows with Administrator priviledges
2. Install Windows Features to all servers at the same time

1. Reboot all the servers together to apply the new Windows Features

If there is anyone logged in you must use the restart-computer –force to reboot the server.

Install Additional Software

After you install all the Windows Features you must install the Office document filters and Unified Communication Managed API

Download Software

1. Microsoft Unified Communications Managed API 4.0, Core Runtime 64-bit
2. Microsoft Office 2010 Filter Pack 64 bit
3. Microsoft Office 2010 Filter Pack SP1 64 bit

Install Filters and SP1

Double click each executable for the Office 2010 filter

Install Unified Messaging

1. Double Click on the UCM API executable and press Next.

   

2. Accept the EULA and press Install

   

Remove Visual C++

During the initial beta it was required to remove the Visual C++ installation so here are the steps to remove the Visual C++ remotely.

Configure all the Servers Disks

To install all the servers in the same way it is good to keep configuration the same across all the servers. Here is a quick powershell script to change the DVD to a different letter.

Change DVD Drive Letter

$drv  =  Get-WmiObject win32_volume  -filter  ‘DriveLetter = “D:”‘

$drv.DriveLetter =  “Z:”

$drv.Put() | out-null

Partition and Format all the servers storage remotely

After you change your DVD drive I like to configure all my servers with the same drive letter for Exchange. This script will configure all the servers drive with the same letter.

Create Installation Directory for Exchange in the new provision Disk

Invoke-command cas01, cas02, mbx01, mbx02 –scriptblock {mkdir “D:Program FilesMicrosoftExchangeV15”}

Enable TCP 139 on CAS servers

Invoke-Command CAS01, CAS02 –scriptblock {Enable-NetFirewallRule –Name FPS-NB_Session-In-TCP}

Installation of Exchange Server 2013

The first server that must be install on an Exchange 2013 environment is a Mailbox server. This is a change from Exchange 2007 and 2010 where the Client Access was the first role that was installed. As your organization is already configured and working, the installation will check if all the pre-requisites are met before it start the installation.

Check Exchange 2010 is upgraded to SP3

If you are installing the Mailbox Role select Mailbox

If you are installing the Client Access Role select CAS Role

Post-Installation Validation

Via EMS

To display the current installation versions you must execute the Get-ExchangeServer command. The Exchange 2010 version must be 14.3 or higher and Exchange 2013 version number is 15.0 or higher.

Get-ExchangeServer | select Name, ServerRole, AdminDisplayVersion | ft –auto

Via ECP

Open your Internet Explorer and type the address of your /ecp virtual directory in the client access servers with /?ExchClientVer=15 at the end. This is needed because you have a coexistence in the environment. https://casserver.domain.com/ecp/?ExchClientVer=15 .

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj150562.aspx