After you install Microsoft Exchange Server 2007, you still have a lot of configuration to do before the server is completely functional. Configuration tasks vary considerably depending on the existing Exchange Server organization
(e.g., how many servers you have, what jobs those servers are performing) and on the roles installed on the server.
Rather than discussing every potential configuration setting, I'll instead
focus on general configuration tasks and the initial configuration of the Mailbox,
Client Access, and Hub Transport server roles because they're the most commonly
used. For a checklist of the tasks, see the sidebar, "Server
Configuration Steps for Exchange 2007".
General Configuration Tasks
One aspect of Exchange 2007 that's particularly useful is that you don't have
to guess about which configuration tasks to perform after installation. You
can easily find a list of post-installation deployment tasks by opening Exchange
Management Console and clicking the Microsoft Exchange container, which displays
the Exchange Server 2007 Finalize Deployment page. As Figure
1 shows, most of these tasks are organized by server role. However, the
first two tasks on the list apply to all Exchange 2007 servers, regardless of
the roles they're hosting.
Enter a product key. Although the first configuration task listed
for all Exchange 2007 servers is entering a product key, I recommend saving
this task for later. Exchange 2007 will run in a fully functional state without
a product key for 120 days. Each time you open Exchange Management Console,
Exchange tells you how many days you have until a product key is required. Microsoft
products typically can be activated only a certain number of times; Exchange
2007 doesn't use a true activation, but it does use a similar online validation.
Waiting to enter a product key lets you work out any kinks in your system without
wasting your validations should you need to reinstall Exchange a few times or
if you decide to run Exchange on different hardware.
Run the Best Practices Analyzer. The next task on the list is
to run the Exchange Server Best Practices Analyzer (ExBPA), a tool that helps
you make sure your Exchange server is configured for optimum performance and
security. ExBPA is included in Exchange 2007, but you can also download it separately
from Microsoft's Web site (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=dbab201f-4bee-4943-ac22e2ddbd258df3).
As Figure 2 shows, ExBPA even lets you perform
an Exchange 2007 readiness check on your existing organization and network infrastructure
before installation.
It's a good idea to run ExBPA immediately after installation as Microsoft recommends.
ExBPA's report might point out more inadequacies than you'd care to see, but
this is partially because the server hasn't been fully configured yet. You can
use the report to help you with the configuration process. To learn more about
how ExBPA can assist in your Exchange configuration, see "ExBPA: Analyze This!"
January 2005, InstantDoc ID 44709, and the Exchange & Outlook Administrator
article "The Exchange Best Practices Analyzer," February 2005, InstantDoc ID
44793. After you've finished configuring the server, you can run ExBPA again
to see whether you've caught all the problems.
Configuring the Mailbox Server
The first task for the Mailbox server is configuring Offline Address Book (OAB)
distribution for Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 clients. Because you can host
an OAB on a Client Access server, which is accessible from the Web, the OAB
can be distributed to any Outlook 2007 client with an Internet connection.
Assuming you have a Client Access server
in your organization, you enable Web distribution of the OAB by navigating through
the Exchange Management Console tree to
Organization Configuration\Mailbox. Click
the Mailbox container, then click the Offline
Address Book tab in the detail pane to display
a link for the default OAB. Right-click the
link and choose Properties from the shortcut
menu. In the Properties sheet, click the Distribution tab, then select the Enable Web-based
distribution check box. Click the Add button,
then select an OAB virtual directory. An OAB
virtual directory is created automatically when
you deploy your Client Access server.
The last step in the process is to associate a URL with the OAB virtual directory
so that Outlook 2007 clients can access the OAB. Navigate through the console
tree to Server Configuration\Client Access. When you click the Client Access
container, the detail pane displays a list of Client Access servers. Select
the server that's hosting the OAB virtual directory, and the bottom half of
the detail pane displays several tabs for this server. Select the Offline Address
Book Distribution tab, and you should see a listing for the OAB URL. Right-click
the URL and choose Properties from the shortcut menu. In the OAB Properties
sheet, click the URLs tab, which will already contain an internal URL. You'll
need to enter an external URL that Outlook 2007 clients can use to access the
OAB.
Clients running Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 and earlier will be unable to
access the OAB using a Web link. For these clients, you'll have to create a
public folder in which to host the OAB. I'm assuming that your server already
contains a public folder store; if it doesn't and you don't know how to create
one, then you can click the Configure Offline Address Book (OAB) distribution
for Outlook 2003 and earlier clients link in the tasks list for instructions.
Next, navigate through the console tree to Organization Configuration\Mailbox,
then select the Offline Address Book tab in the detail pane. Right-click the
Default Offline Address List and choose Properties from the short-cut menu.
In the Default Offline Address List Properties sheet, click the Distribution
tab. As Figure 3 shows, you must select which
legacy clients you want to support, then select the Enable public folder
distribution check box.
Configuring the Client Access Server
The Client Access portion of the post-installation tasks list includes two tasks:
configuring Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption and configuring Exchange ActiveSync
(EAS). However, depending on how your Exchange organization is configured, these
tasks might not be necessary.
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