Currently we set Outlook on users computers to auto archive email older than one month, and keep that archived mail locally on the computer hard drive. we guaranty email restore up to one month ( tape backup) after that, users are responsible to do frequent backups of their PSTs. the problem is they don’t, and we end up with a lot of PST files on network shared drives that we have to backup. people that have been working in the company for a long time have PST files as big as 15 GBs.

I started testing an archive solution like http://www.red-gate.com/products/Exchange/ with the idea of eliminating this problem, and give users plenty mailbox storage space ( not on exchange hard drives, but on cheap storage drive like a NAS ) but it did not work. not the software ( the software is great ) but the idea of implementation. let’s be honest, true unlimited storage space is not possible, not even Google or Microsoft does it, so when we started defining our email retention policy, and how much mail we would be able to keep before we started deleting, people did not like it. not even 20 GB of storage was enough. I think  people by simply having the idea of limitation get uncomfortable.

anyways, we are now testing exchange 2010 which is more flexible on data storage location, so hopefully our users will get a little more room on their mailbox storage size soon.

what’s your email quota policy? do you give users unlimited mailbox?

scroll all the way to the bottom, until you see the Change password button:

when you click on the Change Password most likely you be asked for your current username and password. after you validate your credentials, you should get the option to change your password.

click on the OK button and that should change your domain password.

Troubleshooting the problem.

After collecting information from the Internet, I got into the task of troubleshooting the problem.

The first thing you need to do is a backup of the current configuration just in case something goes wrong. to do that, on IIS Manager right-click on Default Website choose All Tasks then Save Configuration to file the following box should come up:

Browse to the Location and save the configuration file.

Delete OWA Virtual Directories

Delete the following OWA directories:

• Public
• Exchange
• Exadmin
• OMA
• Microsoft-Server-ActiveSynch
• ExchWeb

Confirm the deletion for all of them.

Recreating OWA Virtual Directory

download IIS) 6.0 Resource Kit Tools from Microsoft from the following link:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=56FC92EE-A71A-4C73-B628-ADE629C89499&displaylang=en

install it.

then go to Start > All Programs > IIS Resources > Metabase Explorer > Metabase Explorer:

Expand LM and right-click on DS2MB and choose Delete:

now click on START and then on RUN and type services.msc on the services list, look for Microsoft Exchange System Attendant:

restart the Service.

by restarting the Microsoft Exchange System attendant the OWA virtual directories were recreated.

and OWA should be working again.

Let’s get started.

To successfully install and configure Microsoft Exchange Server 2003, the following services need to be running on the server 2003 you are planning to install Exchange Server 2003 on:

• Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP)
• Network News Transport Protocol (NNTP)
• World Wide Web ( IIS)
• Microsoft ASP.NET
• Microsoft .NET Framework

To make sure you have those services installed, go to the Administrative Tools then Services on your server and check everyone one of them. if they are not installed, you will need to install them by following the instructions below.

Installing Necessary Components

On your windows Server 2003 desktop, go to Control Panel then click on Add/Remove Windows Components.

The Windows Component Wizard should come up.

Remember that the ASP.NET,NNTP and SMTP services are found under the application Server applet. you can find the NNTP and SMTP options by selecting the IIS service and click on Details.

Click Next after you select the services.

along the way, the wizard will ask you to insert the Windows Server 2003 on the CD-ROM.

Insert the CD, and click OK.

If you don’t have Microsoft .NET Framework installed on the server, you can download it from Microsoft at the following address:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=0856EACB-4362-4B0D-8EDD-AAB15C5E04F5&displaylang=en

that’s Microsoft .NET Framework Version 2.0 Redistributable Package. the download should be around 22 MB. download it and install it.

Running ForestPrep

Ok. now that we have the Server 2003 ready to get installed with Exchange Server 2003, we need to extend the the Active Directory Schema so the necessary exchange server classes and attributes are added.

to do that, we need to run the ForestPrep command.

I will talk in details about ForestPrep in another article but for now just go the command prompt and type the following command:

D:\SETUP\I386\setup /forestprep

(that’s assuming you have the Exchange Server CD on the D: Drive)

the Exchange Server 2003 installation wizard should come up.

(is very important that you run the ForestPrep command, otherwise the Forestprep option won’t come up on the wizard)

Make sure ForestPrep is selected and click Next. select the path on the following window. default path should be fine, and click Next.

the Microsoft Exchange Forest Preparation should start:

after awhile you should get the notification that the wizard has finished.

Running DomainPrep

Now that we have ran the forestprep command, we need to run the Domainprep command. by running Domainprep we will create the necessary active directory groups and permissions that exchange server 2003 will need to run.

to run the domainprep command, open the command prompt and type the following command:

D:\setup\i386\setup.exe/domainprep

(remember the letter D: is the CD on your server CD-ROM)

the exchange server 2003 installation wizard will come up, follow the wizard until you get to the following window:

Make sure the DomainPrep option is selected, and click Next.

the DomainPrep should get installed.

Installing Exchange Server 2003

Now we should be ready to install Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 for the first time.

Pop-in the Exchange Server 2003 CD on the CD ROM, click on the setup file, but the setup file on the \SETUP\I386 directory. the following window should come up:

Click on Next.

The Agreement window will come up. click on Next.

Next, we will need to select what type of exchange installation we want. select the Typical option, and make sure Microsoft Messages and Collaboration services is selected as well as Microsoft Exchange System Management tools are set for Install.

also, choose the Install Path. if you have another drive on your server, you can install exchange there.

after choosing your settings, click con Next.

Next, Exchange will ask you the following options:

• Create a new Exchange Organization
• Join or Upgrade an Existing Exchange 5.5 Organization.

Select the option, Create a new Exchange Organization :

Click on Next.

Next, you will need to enter the Organization Name. this is the organization name all exchange servers on your domain will use.

Click Next, after choosing the organization name.

Next, accept the license agreement:

Click to agree the license agreement. then click Next.

Next, you will get the Installation summary.

click Next to start the installation.

Microsoft Exchange 2003 should start installing… depending on your server speed, that should take awhile.

after a long while, the finish window should come up:

Your Exchange Server 2003 is now installed.