If you are like most people you will have Windows Server 2003 R2 installation media that only includes Service Pack 1. This means that any R2 server you deploy needs to have SP2 installed afterwards, which is time consuming and also pretty boring.
The good news is you can slipstream SP2 into your R2 media just as easily as with previous versions of Windows Server. Both the Disc 1 and Disc 2 media need to be slipstreamed or you will run into errors if you try to add the R2 components onto the server.
Simply copy your R2 Disc 1 and Disc 2 media to your hard drive, download the Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2 Download, and run the slipstream commands.
C:\>WindowsServer2003-KB914961-SP2-x86-ENU.exe /integrate:C:\Temp\Windows2003R2\Disc1
C:\>WindowsServer2003-KB914961-SP2-x86-ENU.exe /integrate:C:\Temp\Windows2003R2\Disc2
Did you say Project Coconut!?!
Yes I did. The name came about basically like this:
Paul: Hey Steve, I need a good codename for this Exchange project. What do you think?
Steve: Project Coconut.
Paul: …. okay then.
Considering who I asked it could have been much worse.
Project Coconut… what is it?
Project Coconut is the piece of work currently occupying most of my time. It is a project to transition an Exchange 2000 Server organisation to Exchange Server 2007. The organisation is about 1000 users, has a few special bits and pieces requiring some close attention, and is the first (except our in-house upgrade) production deployment of Exchange Server 2007 SP1 I’ll be doing (we’ve done several Exchange Server 2007 RTM deployments to date).
The release of SP1 was well timed as this particular customer wants to implement some site resiliency. Knowing that Standby Continuous Replication was coming with SP1 and having labbed it throughout the beta program we knew this would be a good fit.
The project work will involve some good stuff like bringing the Active Directory up to meet the minimum requirements of Exchange Server 2007, introducing Exchange Server 2007 into the organisation, implementing the Standby Continuous Replication features and testing the DR processes around that, migrating all of the mailboxes to the new server, integrating third party applications into the new messaging environment, removing the legacy Exchange 2000 servers, and bringing the IT staff up to speed on the new administrative features of Exchange Server 2007.
Aaron kept an interesting diary of one of his Exchange Server 2007 projects so I will do my best to write about Project Coconut and the things that others might find useful along the way.
Project Coconut Entries:
Here is the anti-spam configuration on an Exchange Server 2007 RTM server:
[PS] C:>Get-AntispamUpdates
UpdateMode : Automatic
LatestContentFilterVersion : 3.3.4604.600
SpamSignatureUpdatesEnabled : True
LatestSpamSignatureVersion : 3.3.4604.600
IPReputationUpdatesEnabled : True
LatestIPReputationVersion : 3.3.4604.001
MicrosoftUpdate : NotConfigured
And here is the same Exchange Server 2007 server immediately after upgrading to Service Pack 1:
[PS] C:>Get-AntispamUpdates
UpdateMode : Disabled
LatestContentFilterVersion : 3.3.4604.600
SpamSignatureUpdatesEnabled : False
LatestSpamSignatureVersion : 3.3.4604.600
IPReputationUpdatesEnabled : False
LatestIPReputationVersion : 3.3.4604.001
MicrosoftUpdate : NotConfigured
The Service Pack 1 installation disabled the Anti-spam engine updates. This stung me on a production system that I upgraded shortly after the SP1 release. Eventually someone in the office mentioned the ever increasing volume of spam emails to me and I subsequently made this discovery.
Sadly the Release Notes do not seem to include this issue.
