Microsoft, as per its product roadmap for Exchange Server, has released the Microsoft Exchange Server SE (Subscription Edition) to meet the needs of on-premises customers. As the name states, this new iteration of Exchange Server will be subscription-based, similar to the SharePoint Server Subscription Edition. This means that it will require subscription licenses or active Software Assurance (SA) licenses, and licenses for users. The Exchange Server subscription will include access updates, security patches, and support.

Features and Changes in Exchange Server SE

Although the Exchange Server SE is based on the Exchange Server 2019, there are a number of improvements and new features in the new edition. These are:

• One of the major new features is the support for the new operating system of Microsoft, which is Windows Server 2025.
• With regards to product key or license, if you are upgrading from a previous Exchange Server version, a new product key will be needed.
• There is an exception to hybrid setups, where a free license will be available via the Hybrid Configuration Wizard (HCW).
• To improve security, support for Transport Layer Security (TLS) 1.3 is added in the Subscription Edition.

However, there are a few features that will not be available in Exchange Server SE, such as:

• It will not support Outlook Anywhere (RPC/ HTTP protocol) service. So, if you have any systems which are dependent on the protocol, you need to upgrade the systems or change the integration part with the Exchange Server.
• The new version will not support the Unified Communications Managed API (UCMA 4.0) and instant messaging in Outlook.

Upgrading to Exchange Server SE

Exchange Server SE (Subscription Edition) will block the coexistence support with Exchange Server 2013. With Cumulative Update 1 (CU) for the Subscription Edition, coexistence will be blocked with all the unsupported versions of Exchange Server, i.e., Exchange Server 2013, 2016, and 2019. This means that if you’re running an older version of Exchange Server (Exchange Server 2013 or earlier), you need to decommission it prior to upgrade. After the release of Cumulative Update (CU) 1, you need to decommission any other older version of Exchange Server.

If you are running an Exchange Server 2016 or 2019, you should consider to first upgrade to the latest Cumulative Update (Exchange Server 2016 CU23 or Exchange Server 2019 CU13/CU14).

 To upgrade from Exchange 2016 or 2019 to the new Exchange Server SE, there are two methods:

• Legacy Upgrade: In this, you need to introduce the new Exchange Server version in the organization, move all the mailboxes and other resources to the new server, and then uninstall the old server. This type of upgrade is suitable when migrating from Exchange 2016 to Exchange 2019 or from Exchange 2016 to Exchange Server SE.

• In-Place Upgrade: It is similar to installing a cumulative update (CU). This method is available only for upgrading from Exchange Server 2019 (with CU14 or CU15) to Exchange Server SE.

Things to Consider before Upgrading to Exchange Server SE

If you’re planning to upgrade to the Exchange Server Subscription Edition, you must ensure that all the requirements and guidelines set by Microsoft are fulfilled beforehand. Here are some things you should consider before upgrade:

• Check the Compatibility and Guidelines: It’s important to follow the coexistence guidelines and check compatibility of the operating system. If you’ve Exchange Server 2019, it’s important to update it to the Cumulative Update (CU) 15.
• Backup the Infrastructure: It’s a best practice to take backup of the servers, along with the mailbox databases prior to upgrade. If something happens, this will come in handy.
• Maintenance Window: The upgrade operation should be scheduled outside office hours. Also, inform the involved parties accordingly.
• Obtain the License: You should have the Subscription Edition license in hand so that you can activate the system once it has been fully upgraded. You can obtain the license from Microsoft or through their respective vendor.
• Post Upgrade Tasks: Post upgrade, you should perform tests (mail flow tests and other tests) to ensure that everything is working correctly.

Conclusion

So, if you’re running the Exchange Server 2013/2016, it is suggested you can upgrade to Exchange 2019. This will allow you to perform the legacy upgrade (from Exchange Server 2016 to 2019). For this, you need to install the Exchange Server 2019 in the organization and move all the databases and other resources to the newer version. Once complete run the in-place upgrade and follow the wizards

Install Exchange Server step by step on Windows Server. Before you start installing Exchange Server, make sure to install Exchange Server prerequisites first. After that, prepare Active Directory and domains for Exchange Server. After doing both tasks, you are ready to install Exchange Server. In this article, you will learn how to install Exchange Server.

Download Exchange Server

Go to the Exchange Server build numbers and release dates page. The page lists all Exchange Server build numbers and release dates. Download and save the Exchange Server ISO image.

Note: We recommend downloading the latest Exchange Server build version.

In File Explorer, right-click on the Exchange Server CU ISO image file and select Mount. It will mount the ISO to a drive. For example, the E:\ drive. The E:\ drive contains the Exchange installation files.

Mount the Exchange ISO image before proceeding to the next step.

Before installing Exchange Server

Before you can proceed further with the Exchange Server installation you must complete the following:

1. Install Exchange Server prerequisites
2. Prepare Active Directory and domains for Exchange Server

After you have walked through the above configuration, install the Exchange Mailbox Server Role.

Install Exchange Server prerequisites

Install Exchange Server prerequisites before you start to install Exchange Server. Ensure you have an operating system that supports the Exchange Server version that you want to install. In this article, we will look at how to install Exchange Server prerequisites on Windows Server.

Mailbox and Edge Transport server roles

The Mailbox server contains:

• Transport services that are used to route mail
• Mailbox databases that process, render, and store data
• Client Access services that accept client connections for all protocols

The Edge Transport server is:

• An optional role that handles all external mail flow for the Exchange organization
• Protecting the Exchange organization from viruses and spam as mail enters and leaves
• Installed in an Exchange organization perimeter (DMZ) network

Supported operating systems

Have a look at which operating systems support Exchange Server 2016 and Exchange Server 2019.

Exchange Server 2016

• Windows Server 2016 Standard or Datacenter (Exchange Server 2016 CU3 or later)
• Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard or Datacenter
• Windows Server 2012 Standard or Datacenter
• Windows Server Desktop Experience

Exchange Server 2019

• Windows Server 2022 Standard or Datacenter (Exchange Server 2019 CU12 or later)
• Windows Server 2019 Standard or Datacenter
• Windows Server Desktop Experience
• Windows Server Core

Install Exchange Mailbox server prerequisites

Follow the steps below to install Exchange Mailbox server prerequisites for Windows Server.

Step 1. Run PowerShell as administrator. Run the following command to install the required Windows components.

Install-WindowsFeature Server-Media-Foundation, NET-Framework-45-Core, NET-Framework-45-ASPNET, NET-WCF-HTTP-Activation45, NET-WCF-Pipe-Activation45, NET-WCF-TCP-Activation45, NET-WCF-TCP-PortSharing45, RPC-over-HTTP-proxy, RSAT-Clustering, RSAT-Clustering-CmdInterface, RSAT-Clustering-Mgmt, RSAT-Clustering-PowerShell, WAS-Process-Model, Web-Asp-Net45, Web-Basic-Auth, Web-Client-Auth, Web-Digest-Auth, Web-Dir-Browsing, Web-Dyn-Compression, Web-Http-Errors, Web-Http-Logging, Web-Http-Redirect, Web-Http-Tracing, Web-ISAPI-Ext, Web-ISAPI-Filter, Web-Metabase, Web-Mgmt-Console, Web-Mgmt-Service, Web-Net-Ext45, Web-Request-Monitor, Web-Server, Web-Stat-Compression, Web-Static-Content, Web-Windows-Auth, Web-WMI, Windows-Identity-Foundation, RSAT-ADDS

Step 2. Install .NET Framework 4.8 (restart required).

Step 3. Install Visual C++ Redistributable for Visual Studio 2012.

Step 4. Install Visual C++ Redistributable Packages for Visual Studio 2013.

Step 5. Install IIS URL Rewrite Module.

Note: The IIS URL Rewrite Module is required with Exchange Server 2016 CU22 and Exchange Server 2019 CU11 or later.

Step 6. Install Unified Communications Managed API 4.0 Runtime.

Install Exchange Edge Transport server prerequisites

Follow the steps below to install Exchange Edge Transport server prerequisites for Windows Server.

Step 1. Run PowerShell as administrator. Run the following command to install the required Windows components.

Install-WindowsFeature ADLDS

Step 2. Install .NET Framework 4.8 (restart required).

Step 3. Install Visual C++ Redistributable for Visual Studio 2012.

Install Exchange Management tools prerequisites

Follow the steps below to install Exchange Management tools prerequisites:

Step 1. Install Visual C++ Redistributable for Visual Studio 2012.

Step 2. Run PowerShell as administrator and run the following command to install the required Windows components.

Windows Server OS:

Install-WindowsFeature -Name Web-Mgmt-Console, Web-Metabase

Windows 10 and Windows 11 OS:

Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName IIS-ManagementConsole, IIS-Metabase -All

Prepare Active Directory and domains for Exchange Server

You want to prepare Active Directory (AD) schema and domains for Exchange Server. Before you prepare Active Directory and domains for Exchange, install Exchange Server prerequisites. After that, you can install Exchange Server in the organization.

Information

Before you start, sign in to the Windows Server that will be the Exchange Server, and go through these steps:

• Install the latest Windows Updates
• Restart after installing Windows Updates
• Join the server to the domain

Prerequisites extending the Active Directory

Before extending the Active Directory schema, the following needs to be installed on the Exchange Server:

• .NET Framework must be installed
• The RSAT-ADDS feature must be installed
• Account needs to be added to the Schema Admins and Enterprise Admins security groups

Install .NET Framework

.NET Framework is already installed if you have followed Install Exchange Server prerequisites. If you didn’t, find the correct .NET Framework version on the Exchange Server supportability matrix. Go to the download page of .NET Framework and download the appropriate version.

In our example, we have to install .NET Framework 4.8. If the download finishes, right-click the file and choose run as administrator. Install the .NET Framework on the Exchange Server. Restart when the installation completes.

Note: You can extend the Active Directory Schema from the domain controller or any other server in the organization. The feature RSAT-ADDS is already installed on the domain controller. If you want to prepare the schema on the Domain Controller, you only need to install the .NET Framework. Some organizations have different teams because of different administrative responsibilities in the environment.

Install RSAT-ADDS feature

RSAT-ADDS feature is already installed if you have followed Install Exchange Server prerequisites. Suppose you didn’t install the RSAT-ADDS feature. Run PowerShell as administrator. Run the Install-WindowsFeature cmdlet, including the RSAT-ADDS feature.

Install-WindowsFeature RSAT-ADDS

The output below appears.

Success Restart Needed Exit Code Feature Result

——- ————– ——— ————–

True    No             Success   {Remote Server Administration Tools, Activ…

Schema Admins and Enterprise Admins security groups

Before you can extend the schema, your account needs to be a member of the Schema Admins and Enterprise Admins security groups. Open Active Directory and add both groups to your account if it’s not set already. These are high privilege groups. We recommend removing your account from the groups when you’re done with this task.

Note: If you’ve just added yourself to these groups, you’ll need to log out and back into the server for the new group membership to take effect.

Prepare Active Directory Schema

The first step in getting your organization ready for Exchange Server is to extend the Active Directory schema. Exchange stores a lot of information in Active Directory, but before it can do that, it needs to add/update classes and attributes.

In File Explorer, right-click on the Exchange Server CU ISO image file and select Mount. It will mount the ISO image to a drive. For example, the E:\ drive. The E:\ drive contains the Exchange installation files. Make sure to mount the Exchange ISO image before proceeding to the next step.

Run Command Prompt as administrator. Run the following command to extend/prepare the schema for Exchange Server.

E:\Setup.exe /IAcceptExchangeServerLicenseTerms_DiagnosticDataOFF /PrepareSchema

You will see the COMPLETED messages in the output. The extend/prepare schema for Exchange Server went successfully.

Prepare Active Directory

After the Active Directory schema has been extended, you can prepare other parts of Active Directory for Exchange Server. During this step, Exchange will create containers, objects, and other items in Active Directory to store information. The collection of the Exchange containers, objects, attributes, and so on is called the Exchange organization.

If you followed the article, you are already a member of the Schema Admins and Enterprise Admins security groups. Open Active Directory and add both groups to your account if it’s not set already. These are high privilege groups. We recommend you to remove your account from the groups when you’re done with this task.

Note: If you’ve just added yourself to these groups, you’ll need to log out and back into the Server for the new group membership to take effect.

If you do not already have an Exchange organization, you’ll need to provide a name for the organization.

Note: You need to select a name for the Exchange organization. The organization name is used internally by Exchange. It isn’t typically seen by users and doesn’t affect the functionality of Exchange. Also, it doesn’t determine what you can use for email addresses. The organization name can’t contain more than 64 characters and can’t be blank. Valid characters are A to Z, a to z, 0 to 9, hyphen or dash (-), and space, but leading or trailing spaces aren’t allowed. You can’t change the organization name after it’s set.

Run Command Prompt as administrator. Run the following command to prepare Active Directory for Exchange Server.

E:\Setup.exe /IAcceptExchangeServerLicenseTerms_DiagnosticDataOFF /PrepareAD /OrganizationName:”EXOIP”

The output will then display “The Exchange Server setup operation completed.

If you’re installing Exchange Server into an existing Exchange organization, you do not need to specify the organization name.

Run Command Prompt as administrator. Run the following command to prepare Active Directory for Exchange Server.

E:\Setup.exe /IAcceptExchangeServerLicenseTerms_DiagnosticDataOFF /PrepareAD

Prepare Active Directory domains

The final step to get Active Directory ready for Exchange is to prepare each of the Active Directory domains where Exchange will be installed. This step creates additional containers, security groups and sets permissions so that Exchange can access them.

If you have more than one domain, you can run the following command in Command Prompt to prepare all the domains for Exchange Server.

Note: If you have only one domain, you can skip this step because the /PrepareAD command in the previous step has already prepared the domain for you.

E:\Setup.exe /IAcceptExchangeServerLicenseTerms_DiagnosticDataOFF /PrepareAllDomains

You will get this at the end “The Exchange Server setup operation completed successfully.”

Check Exchange Active Directory versions

After you prepare AD for Exchange Server, you like to check if the Active Directory is updated. Run PowerShell as administrator. Make sure that you set the Execution Policy to Unrestricted. If you don’t, the script will not run.

Set-ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted -Force

Run the following commands one by one.

# Exchange Schema Version

$sc = (Get-ADRootDSE).SchemaNamingContext

$ob = “CN=ms-Exch-Schema-Version-Pt,” + $sc

Write-Output “RangeUpper: $((Get-ADObject $ob -pr rangeUpper).rangeUpper)”

# Exchange Object Version (domain)

$dc = (Get-ADRootDSE).DefaultNamingContext

$ob = “CN=Microsoft Exchange System Objects,” + $dc

Write-Output “ObjectVersion (Default): $((Get-ADObject $ob -pr objectVersion).objectVersion)”

# Exchange Object Version (forest)

$cc = (Get-ADRootDSE).ConfigurationNamingContext

$fl = “(objectClass=msExchOrganizationContainer)”

Write-Output “ObjectVersion (Configuration): $((Get-ADObject -LDAPFilter $fl -SearchBase $cc -pr objectVersion).objectVersion)”

Important: After you install Exchange on a server, you must not change the server’s name. Renaming a server after you’ve installed an Exchange server role is not supported.

Install Exchange Server with command line

There are two options for installing Exchange server. You can choose to:

1. Install Exchange Mailbox server using the setup wizard
2. Install Exchange Mailbox server using unattended mode (this article)

The Exchange setup wizard will guide you to install Exchange Server with GUI. The Exchange unattended mode will install Exchange Server with the command line.

Note: The Exchange Server installation will fail if there is a pending reboot available on the system. We recommend restarting the Windows Server before you start the installation.

Run Command Prompt as administrator. Install the Mailbox Server Role and the management tools in the default folder on the local server.

Exchange Server Mailbox Role finished installing. Reboot the server.

Sign in to Exchange Admin Center (EAC)

Sign in to Exchange Admin Center (EAC). Start your favourite browser and go to https://hostname/ecp. Change the hostname to yours. Another way is to use https://localhost/ecp.

You will get a certificate warning in your browser. Accept the risk and continue.

In our example, the Exchange Server hostname is EX01-2016.

Fill in the domain and administrator credentials. Then, click sign in.

The mailboxes area is almost empty, except for one mailbox that shows up. That’s the account that you used for installing Exchange Server.

Conclusion

You learned how to install Exchange Server step by step on Windows Server. An excellent way to install the Mailbox Server Role is with the command line. After a reboot, verify that you can sign in to the Exchange Admin Center.