Microsoft has Exchange 2019 publishedTo get you started, here is a first HowTo for installation on Windows Server 2019. Exchange 2019 is the first Exchange version that can be installed on Windows Server 2019 Core. Installation on Server Core is also the recommended deployment option. Despite the recommendation, many will probably install Exchange on a Windows Server 2019 with GUI. Therefore, this article also deals with the installation on Windows Server 2019 with desktop view.
Exchange 2019 is only supported on Windows Server 2019, therefore HowTos for other operating system versions are not necessary.
Unfortunately, Microsoft has withdrawn Windows Server 2019 due to problems with Windows 1809. So if someone has not already downloaded the ISO for Windows Server 2019, they will no longer receive it. In this case, you can only wait for the new release of Windows Server 2019.
The test environment
The test environment is quickly explained, there are only 2 VMs. A domain controller with Windows Server 2019 and the name LABDC1, and an installed Windows Server 2019 with the name LABEX1 for the Exchange installation:
The domain is called "frankysweblab.de". LABEX1 has a static IP address and is a member of the domain "frankysweblab.de".
Preparation of Windows Server 2019 for Exchange 2019
Before the Exchange 2019 installation can be carried out, the prerequisites must first be fulfilled. The Exchange 2019 mailbox role (the only remaining Exchange role besides the Edge Transport role) requires Visual C++ 2013:
UCMA 4 is also still required:
Unified Communications Managed API 4.0 Runtime
UCMA 4 can also be found in the Exchange ISO in the "UCMARedist" folder.
Exchange Server 2019 requires .NET Framework 4.7.2, but this is already part of Windows Server 2019 and does not need to be installed separately.
As soon as the two packages are installed, the Windows features can be installed, the easiest way to do this is via PowerShell:
Install-WindowsFeature Server-Media-Foundation, NET-Framework-45-Features, 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-Lgcy-Mgmt-Console, 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, Server-Media-Foundation
These were all the prerequisites for Exchange 2019. The server should now be restarted again.
Exchange 2019 installation
Now that the prerequisites for the Exchange installation have been created, the installation can begin. The setup does not differ much from previous versions. Under Windows Server 2019 with desktop display, the Exchange 2019 ISO can still be mounted and the graphically guided installation can be used. The screenshots of the installation can be found below, with comments at the relevant points.
The search for updates can be skipped (I also don't know when updates were displayed here):
At this point, I like to use "Do not use recommended settings", but this is up to you:
Exchange 2019, like Exchange 2016, only has two installation modes: Mailbox or Edge Transport. The UM functions have been removed in Exchange 2019 and are no longer part of the mailbox role:
The Exchange installation should still be done on a separate volume, so I use drive D: for the installation:
The query for the name of the Exchange organization only appears if there was no Exchange installation before. If Exchange 2019 is installed in an existing Exchange organization, this dialog is omitted and the name of the existing organization will continue to be used:
Exchange 2019 also has "protection against malware". However, this built-in protection should not overrated become:
In the guided installation, the Exchange Setup prepares the Active Directory for the installation of Exchange Server 2019. The two warnings are therefore normal here. In larger environments, the AD schema should be prepared manually:
In my small lab environment, the installation took about 45 minutes...
The initial configuration of Exchange 2019 is covered in the next article.