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How to upgrade Exchange 2000 Server to Exchange Server 2003 in an active/passive clustered environment by doing a clean installation of Windows Server 2003

Article ID: 842427

Article Last Modified on 10/25/2007

APPLIES TO

Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 Enterprise Edition

SUMMARY

In some scenarios, you may want to perform a new installation of Microsoft Windows Server 2003 and Microsoft Exchange Server 2003, instead of upgrading from earlier versions of these products. (A new installation is also known as a "clean installation.") On a server cluster, you can preserve your existing Exchange 2000 virtual server even if you want to perform a new installation of Windows Server 2003 and of Exchange Server 2003.

When you perform a clean installation of Windows Server 2003 together with Exchange 2003 on a server cluster, some of your custom configuration settings may be lost. Therefore, we recommend that you perform a typical upgrade from Microsoft Windows 2000 and from Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server to Windows Server 2003 and to Exchange 2003 if you want to keep your custom configuration settings.

The upgrade scenario that is described here requires the following server cluster configuration:

An Active/Passive server cluster with two or more nodes.
Windows 2000 Service Pack 3 (SP3) or Windows 2000 Service Pack 4 (SP4).
Exchange 2000 Server Service Pack 3 (SP3).

The upgrade scenario that is described here upgrades this cluster configuration to Windows Server 2003 running Exchange 2003.

INTRODUCTION

This article describes how to upgrade a Microsoft Windows 2000-based server cluster that is running Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server to a Microsoft Windows Server 2003-based server cluster that is running Microsoft Exchange Server 2003.

MORE INFORMATION

Issues to consider when you use the clean installation method to upgrade your server cluster

Consider the following issues that may affect you when you upgrade your server cluster by using the clean installation method.

Full-Text indexes start a full population immediately after you upgrade your Exchange Virtual Server

When all the following conditions are true, a full population starts on all Full-Text indexes:

The cluster node is upgraded to Exchange 2003.
The Exchange Virtual Server is upgraded.
The cluster resources are brought online.

In this scenario, the indexes are disabled for searching while the population of the Full-Text index occurs. To work around this issue and to prevent the full population on all the Full-Text indexes from starting, manually start and then pause a full population or an incremental population on all the Full-Text indexes before you upgrade to Exchange 2003. If the indexes are in a paused state when you upgrade to Exchange 2003, they remain paused. After you complete the upgrade to Exchange 2003, manually resume the building of the indexes at a convenient time. When the indexes have been built, you can enable searching on the newly-built indexes. For additional information about how to configure Full-Text indexing, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

822932 How to configure full-text indexing on mailbox stores in Exchange 2003

The upgraded Exchange Virtual Server cannot fail over to the non-upgraded cluster node

After you upgrade the Exchange Virtual Server, it cannot run on the previous Windows 2000 and Exchange 2000 cluster node. Therefore, until the whole server cluster is running Windows Server 2003 together with Exchange 2003, you cannot fail over the Exchange Virtual Server.

You must reinstall other programs after you upgrade

After you upgrade your server cluster by using the clean installation method, you must reinstall and reconfigure all the following programs:

Workflow programs
Virus scanning programs
Event sinks
Other programs that were installed on the Windows 2000 cluster node

Before you upgrade your server cluster to Windows Server 2003 together with Exchange 2003, make sure that your programs are compatible with Windows Server 2003 and with Exchange 2003.

Registry customizations are not retained

Features that you configure or customize by setting a registry value, such as message journaling, are not retained when you upgrade your server cluster by using the clean installation method. Therefore, you must reset registry values that you have configured for performance tuning or other customizations.

You cannot upgrade an Active/Active server cluster

You cannot upgrade an Active/Active server cluster by using the clean installation upgrade method.

An increased risk of down-time exists if you do not upgrade both cluster nodes

Because you cannot fail over the upgraded Exchange Virtual Server to the cluster node that is not yet upgraded to Windows Server 2003 together with Exchange 2003, you incur an increased risk of having your Exchange computer unavailable for client requests. To reduce this risk, upgrade the second cluster node as soon as possible after you upgrade the first cluster node.

To upgrade a server cluster by using the clean installation method

The example server cluster that is used in this article is made up of the following cluster nodes:

One active cluster node that is named Node 1.
One passive cluster node that is named Node 2.

Additionally, for the purposes of this article, the passive cluster, Node 2, is upgraded first while the Exchange Virtual Server resource runs on cluster Node 1.

Note It is not important which cluster node you upgrade first in your organization.

Step 1: Evict the passive cluster node and then install Windows Server 2003

Make sure that the Exchange Virtual Server is running on the active cluster node. In this example, make sure that the Exchange Virtual Server is running on Node 1.
Stop the Cluster Service on the passive node (Node 2), and then evict Node 2 from the server cluster. To do this, follow these steps:
1. On Node 1, start the Cluster Administrator tool. To do this, click Start, point to Programs, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Cluster Administrator.
2. In the Open Connection to Cluster dialog box, type a period in the Cluster or server name box, and then click Open.
3. Expand your server cluster if it is not already expanded, right-click Node 2, and then click Stop Cluster Service.
4. When you receive the following message, click Yes:
  
  Are you sure the cluster service on node 'NODE 2' should be stopped?
5. Right-click Node 2, and then click Evict Node.
6. When you receive the following message, click Yes:
  
  Evicting a node will prevent it from participating in the cluster. Are you sure node 'NODE 2' should be evicted from the cluster?
On Node 2, format the hard disk where Windows is installed, and then install Windows Server 2003.
Join Node 2 to the server cluster.

Important You must join Node 2 to the server cluster before you run the Exchange 2003 Setup program on Node 2.

To join Node 2 to the server cluster, follow these steps:
1. Click Start, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Cluster Administrator.
2. In the Open Connection to Cluster dialog box, click Add nodes to a cluster in the Action list, type the name of the server cluster in the Cluster or server name list, and then click OK.
3. In the Add Nodes Wizard that appears, click Next.
4. In the Domain list, click the domain where the server cluster is located, make sure that the server cluster name appears in the Cluster name box, and then click Next.
5. In the Computer name box, type the name of the newly upgraded Windows Server 2003 cluster node that you want to add to the server cluster. For example, type Node 2.
6. Click Add, and then click Next.
7. When the Add Nodes Wizard has analyzed the cluster configuration successfully, click Next.
8. On the Cluster Service Account page, type the password for the Cluster Service account in the Password box, make sure that the correct domain for this account appears in the Domain list, and then click Next.
9. On the Proposed Cluster Configuration page, view the configuration details to make sure that the server cluster IP address, the networking information, and the managed disk information is correct, and then click Next.
10. When the cluster is configured successfully, click Next, and then click Finish.
Install the Microsoft Distributed Transaction Coordinator resource on the server cluster if this resource is not already installed. If the cluster is dedicated to Exchange and workflow applications are not being heavily used, you can add the Microsoft Distributed Transaction Coordinator resource to the default cluster group. To do this, follow these steps:
1. On the Windows Server 2003 cluster node, start the Cluster Administrator tool. (In this example, the Windows Server 2003 cluster node is Node 2.)
2. Expand the Groups container.
3. Right-click the default cluster group, point to New, and then click Resource.
4. In the Name box, type Distributed Transaction Coordinator or type a descriptive name for this resource.
5. In the Resource type list, click Distributed Transaction Coordinator, make sure that the default cluster group appears in the Group list, and then click Next.
6. Make sure that both cluster nodes appear in the Possible owners box, and then click Next.
7. In the Available resources box, hold down CTRL key and click the following two items: the Physical Disk resource and the Network Name resource that you created for the Distributed Transaction Coordinator group. Click Add, and then click Finish.
8. When you receive the following message, click OK:
  
  Cluster resource 'Distributed Transaction Coordinator' created successfully.
9. Right-click the Distributed Transaction Coordinator resource, and then click Properties.
10. Click on the Advanced tab.
11. Remove the check on the Affect the group checkbox, and then click OK.
12. Right-click the Distributed Transaction Coordinator resource, and then click Bring Online.
If the cluster is running applications that use the Microsoft Distributed Transaction Coordinator, such as Microsoft SQL Server or workflow applications, first create a new, dedicated cluster group. Then, add the Microsoft Distributed Transaction Coordinator resource to the new cluster group. To do this, follow these steps:
1. On the Windows Server 2003 cluster node, start the Cluster Administrator tool. (In this example, the Windows Server 2003 cluster node is Node 2.)
2. On the File menu, point to New, and then click Group.
3. In the Name box, type a descriptive name for the group, and then click Next.
4. Add both cluster nodes to the Preferred owners box. To do this, click each cluster node, and then click Add.
5. Click Finish.
6. Add all the following resources to the new group that you created:
  - A Physical Disk resource.
  - An IP Address resource.
  - A Network Name resource.
7. Right-click the new group that you created, point to New, and then click Resource.
8. In the Name box, type Distributed Transaction Coordinator or type a descriptive name for this resource.
9. In the Resource type list, click Distributed Transaction Coordinator, make sure that the correct group appears in the Group list, and then click Next.
10. Make sure that both cluster nodes appear in the Possible owners box, and then click Next.
11. In the Available resources box, hold down CTRL key and click the following two items: the Physical Disk resource that you created for the Distributed Transaction Coordinator group and the Network Name resource that you created for the Distributed Transaction Coordinator group. Click Add, and then click Finish.
12. When you receive the following message, click OK:
  
  Cluster resource 'Distributed Transaction Coordinator' created successfully.
13. Right-click the Distributed Transaction Coordinator resource, and then click Bring Online.
Install Exchange Server 2003 on Node 2.

Note Before you can install Exchange 2003, you must prepare the forest and the domain by running the Exchange Setup program together with the /forestprep switch, and then running the Exchange Setup program together with the /domainprep switch. Additionally, you must have the Distributed Transaction Coordinator resource installed and configured on the server cluster. For additional information about how to install Exchange 2003 in a clustered environment and for information about how to install and configure the Microsoft Distributed Transaction Coordinator, see the "Deploying Exchange 2003 in a Cluster" topic in the Exchange Server 2003 Deployment Guide. To obtain this guide, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/fa02f087-7fe7-4eb7-b859-12632d762f9e.aspx\

Step 2: Configure service startup types

On Node 2, set the startup type of the Distributed Transaction Coordinator service to Manual. To do this, follow these steps:
1. Click Start, click Run, type services.msc in the Open box, and then click OK.
2. In the list of services, double-click Distributed Transaction Coordinator.
3. In the Startup type list, click Manual, and then click OK.
If you are running the Microsoft Exchange POP3 service or the Microsoft Exchange IMAP4 service, set the startup type for both these services to Manual.

Note If you do not use these services, we recommend that you remove their corresponding cluster resources and that you set their service startup types to Disabled.
If you use full text indexing, see the "Issues to consider when you use the clean installation method to upgrade your server cluster" section.
On the active cluster node (Node 1), take the Microsoft Exchange System Attendant resource offline. To do this, follow these steps.

Note The following steps take all Exchange resources offline.
1. Start the Cluster Administrator tool.
2. Expand Node 1, and then click Active Resources.
3. In the right pane, right-click SystemAttendantResourceName, and then click Take Offline.

Step 3: Upgrade the Exchange Virtual Server

Move the offline Exchange Virtual Server to the newly rebuilt Windows Server 2003 cluster node. In this example, move the offline Exchange Virtual Server to Node 2. To do this, follow these steps:
1. Start the Cluster Administrator tool.
2. Under the active cluster node (Node 1), click Active Groups.
3. In the right pane, right-click the group that contains the Exchange Virtual Server, and then click Move Group.
On Node 2, upgrade the Exchange Virtual Server. To do this, follow these steps:
1. Start the Cluster Administrator tool.
2. Expand Node 2, and then click Active Resources.
3. Right-click SystemAttendantResourceName, and then click Upgrade Exchange Virtual Server.
  
  Notes
  - The Upgrade Exchange Virtual Server option appears only if you right-click the Microsoft Exchange System Attendant resource from the Windows Server 2003 cluster node that is running Exchange 2003 (Node 2). If you right-click this resource from Cluster Administrator on the Windows 2000-based cluster node that is running Exchange 2000 (Node 1), this option does not appear.
  - Make sure that you upgrade your Exchange Virtual Server before you apply any service packs.
4. When you receive the following message, click OK:
  
  The Exchange Virtual Server has been upgraded successfully.
Configure the Exchange Virtual Server so that is does not fail over to Node 1. After you upgrade the Exchange Virtual Server, it cannot run on Node 1. Therefore, to prevent the Exchange Virtual Server from failing over to Node 1, configure the possible owner list for the Microsoft Exchange System Attendant resource to include only the upgraded cluster node. In this example, configure the list of possible resource owners to include only Node 2. To do this, follow these steps:
1. Double-click SystemAttendantResourceName.
2. On the General tab, click Modify.
3. Under Possible owners, click Node 1, and then click the <-- button to remove Node 1 from the possible owners of this resource.
4. Click OK two times.
Bring the Exchange Virtual Server online. To do this, right-click each Exchange Virtual Server resource, starting with the Microsoft Exchange System Attendant resource, and then click Bring Online.

Step 4: Install Windows Server 2003 and Exchange 2003 on the remaining cluster node

Evict the remaining cluster node from the server cluster. For example, evict Node 1 from the server cluster.
Install Windows Server 2003 on the remaining cluster node.
Join the Node 1 to the server cluster.
Install Exchange 2003 on Node 1.

Note When you run the Exchange 2003 Setup program on Node 1, Node 1 is automatically added as a possible owner of the Microsoft Exchange System Attendant resource.

After both cluster nodes are running Windows Server 2003, you can add additional nodes to the server cluster.

Additional query words: XADM MSCS

Keywords: kbinfo kbclustering kbdeployment KB842427

Microsoft KB Archive/842427

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