Today I am sharing the brief notes that you can refer for creating the Database Availability Group for Exchange Environment. We have used it for 2010 environment – win 2008 r2sp1 (changed to make it generic).
- Copy the installation files to the Server
2. Check Powershell version should be 2.0 ($psversiontable)
3. Run Set-ExecutionPolicy unrestricted in powershell. (you can change it later)
4. Open Powershell & install Win_PreReqs_MBX.ps1 (extract the scripts from below path)
https://1drv.ms/u/s!Aqor_aWWYXrDgRmMXHZ34G518Z-B
5. Install _WinR2SP1_Cluster_HotFix & _FilterPack (included in above download)
6. Install Fail-over clustering Feature
7. Set the Service Net.TcpPort Sharing Service to Automatic
8. Set the Windows Firewall Service to automatic and start the service
9. Check Private/Public NICs (private NIC should not have DNS registration check)
10. Change the binding order of NICs, Public should be on Top.
11. Run setup.com & choose languages on DVD , Custom install(automatically install required features) – Choose the installation path (I generally avoid installation on system drive)
12. Select Mailbox Role –> finish wizard /restart
13. Install latest service pack/Rollups /restart
14. Add free busy fix registry & Max session (this can be environment specific – optional)
Download the registry from here:
https://1drv.ms/u/s!Aqor_aWWYXrDgRoUQjWWHnT7L9kN
Setting for Private/Public NIC interfaces
| Feature | MAPI Network Setting | Replication Network Setting |
| Name | Public | Private |
| Teamed | As per enviornment | NA |
| Client for Microsoft Networks | Enabled | Disabled |
| QoS Packet Scheduler | Enabled | Enabled |
| File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks | Enabled | Disabled |
| IPv6 | Enabled | Enabled |
| IPv4 | Enabled | Enabled |
| Link-Layer Topology Discovery Mapper I/O Driver | Enabled | Enabled |
| Link-Layer Topology Discovery Responder | Enabled | Enabled |
Follow the same procedure on other node.
15. Now we can proceed further for DAG creation:
New-DatabaseAvailabilityGroup -Name DAG01 -WitnessServer WSServer -WitnessDirectory I:\DAG_FSW\DAG01 -DatabaseAvailabilityGroupIpAddresses 192.168.14.11, 192.168.14.12
16. Thru Exchange management console Configure DAG (Manage membership)
17. Update DAG Configuration
Set-DatabaseAvailabilityGroup -identity DAG01 -AlternateWitnessServer wsserver2 -AlternateWitnessDirectory I:\DAG_FSW\DAG01 -DatacenterActivationMode DagOnly -networkcompression enabled
18. Configure Dag Networks now from Exchange management console, remove the default created networks & create MAPI/Replication networks.
if you want step by step info on how to create new networks & collapse default ones here is the link from other blogger, you can find plenty on the internet
https://blog.gothamtg.com/2012/09/26/configuring-dag-networks/
19. Create the Mailbox databases
New-MailboxDatabase -Name “DAG01_Database01” -EdbFilePath J:\DAG01_Database01\DAG01_Database01.edb -LogFolderPath J:\DAG01_DatabaseLog01
Mount-Database -Identity “DAG01_Database01”
Add-MailboxDatabaseCopy -Identity DAG01_Database01 -MailboxServer Node02
20. Set activation preferences
Set-MailboxDatabaseCopy -Identity DAG01_Database01\Node02 -ActivationPreference 2
Now you can setup default quotas, Journaling, Quota notification schedules.
This is our default check list for DAG creation, its just a brief to do kind of list so that we don’t forget what is required.
Tech Wizard
Tech Wizard 