Applies to: Exchange Server 2013

Topic Last Modified: 2013-01-28

This topic provides the steps for installing the necessary Windows Server 2012 and Windows Server 2008 R2 with Service Pack 1 (SP1) operating system prerequisites for the Microsoft Exchange 2013 Mailbox and Client Access server roles. It also provides the prerequisites required to install the Exchange 2013 management tools on Windows 8 and Windows 7 client computers.

What do you need to know before you begin?

  • Make sure that the functional level of your forest is at least Windows Server 2003, and that the schema master is running Windows Server 2003 with Service Pack 2 or later. For more information about the Windows functional level, see Managing Domains and Forests.

  • The full installation option of Windows Server 2012 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 must be used for all servers running Exchange 2013 server roles or management tools.

  • You must first join the computer to the appropriate internal Active Directory forest and domain.

  • Some prerequisites require you to reboot the server to complete installation.

  • Install the latest Windows updates on your computer. For more information, see Deployment Security Checklist.

    Note:
    If you're installing the Mailbox server role and you intend for the server to be a member of a database availability group (DAG), you must be running Windows Server 2012 Standard or Datacenter Edition or Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 Enterprise Edition. Windows Server 2008 R2 SP 1 Standard Edition doesn't support the features needed for DAGs. You can't upgrade Windows when Exchange is installed on the server.

    To upgrade to Microsoft Unified Communications Managed API (UCMA) 4.0, you must first uninstall any previous versions of UCMA that are installed by using Add/Remove programs.
Tip:
Having problems? Ask for help in the Exchange forums. Visit the forums at: Exchange Server, Exchange Online, or Exchange Online Protection

Active Directory preparation

The computer you want to use to prepare Active Directory for Exchange 2013 has specific prerequisites that must be met.

Install the following software on the computer that will be used to prepare Active Directory:

Note:
.NET Framework 4.5 and Windows Management Framework 3.0 are included with Windows Server 2012 and don't need to be installed separately.

After you've installed the software listed above, complete the following steps to install the Remote Tools Administration Pack. After you've installed the Remote Tools Administration Pack you'll be able to use the computer to prepare Active Directory. For more information about preparing Active Directory, see Prepare Active Directory and Domains.

  1. Open Windows PowerShell.

  2. Install the Remote Tools Administration Pack.

    • On a Windows Server 2012 computer, run the following command.

      Copy Code 
      Install-WindowsFeature RSAT-ADDS
    • On a Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 computer, run the following command.

      Copy Code 
      Add-WindowsFeature RSAT-ADDS

Windows Server 2012 prerequisites

The prerequisites that are needed to install Exchange 2013 on a Windows Server 2012 computer depends on which Exchange roles you want to install. Read the section below that matches the roles you want to install.

Mailbox server role or combined Mailbox and Client Access server roles

Follow the instructions in this section to install the prerequisites on Windows Server 2012 computers where you want to do one of the following:

  • Install only the Mailbox server role on a computer.

  • Install both the Mailbox and Client Access server roles on the same computer.

Do the following to install the required Windows roles and features:

  1. Open Windows PowerShell.

  2. Run the following command to install the required Windows components.

    Copy Code 
    Install-WindowsFeature AS-HTTP-Activation, Desktop-Experience, NET-Framework-45-Features, RPC-over-HTTP-proxy, RSAT-Clustering, RSAT-Clustering-CmdInterface, RSAT-Clustering-Mgmt, RSAT-Clustering-PowerShell, Web-Mgmt-Console, 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

After you've installed the operating system roles and features, install the following software in the order shown:

  1. Microsoft Unified Communications Managed API 4.0, Core Runtime 64-bit

  2. Microsoft Office 2010 Filter Pack 64 bit

  3. Microsoft Office 2010 Filter Pack SP1 64 bit

Client Access server role

Follow the instructions in this section to install the prerequisites on Windows Server 2012 computers where you want to install only the Client Access server role on a computer.

Do the following to install the required Windows roles and features:

  1. Open Windows PowerShell.

  2. Run the following command to install the required Windows components.

    Copy Code 
    Install-WindowsFeature AS-HTTP-Activation, Desktop-Experience, NET-Framework-45-Features, RPC-over-HTTP-proxy, RSAT-Clustering, RSAT-Clustering-CmdInterface, RSAT-Clustering-Mgmt, RSAT-Clustering-PowerShell, Web-Mgmt-Console, 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

After you've installed the operating system roles and features, install the following software:

Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 prerequisites

The prerequisites that are needed to install Exchange 2013 on a Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 computer depends on which Exchange roles you want to install. Read the section below that matches the roles you want to install.

Mailbox server role or combined Mailbox and Client Access server roles

Follow the instructions in this section to install the prerequisites on Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 computers where you want to do one of the following:

  • Install only the Mailbox server role on a computer.

  • Install both the Mailbox and Client Access server roles on the same computer.

Do the following to install the required Windows roles and features:

  1. Open Windows PowerShell.

  2. Run the following command to load the Server Manager module.

    Copy Code 
    Import-Module ServerManager
  3. Run the following command to install the required Windows components.

    Copy Code 
    Add-WindowsFeature Desktop-Experience, NET-Framework, NET-HTTP-Activation, RPC-over-HTTP-proxy, RSAT-Clustering, RSAT-Web-Server, WAS-Process-Model, Web-Asp-Net, 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-Ext, Web-Request-Monitor, Web-Server, Web-Stat-Compression, Web-Static-Content, Web-Windows-Auth, Web-WMI

After you've installed the operating system roles and features, install the following software in the order shown:

  1. Microsoft .NET Framework 4.5

  2. Windows Management Framework 3.0

  3. Microsoft Unified Communications Managed API 4.0, Core Runtime 64-bit

  4. Microsoft Office 2010 Filter Pack 64 bit

  5. Microsoft Office 2010 Filter Pack SP1 64 bit

  6. Microsoft Knowledge Base article KB974405 (Windows Identity Foundation)

  7. Knowledge Base article KB2619234 (Enable the Association Cookie/GUID that is used by RPC over HTTP to also be used at the RPC layer in Windows 7 and in Windows Server 2008 R2)

  8. Knowledge Base article KB2533623 (Insecure library loading could allow remote code execution)

    Note:
    This hotfix may already be installed if you've configured Windows Update to install security updates on your computer.

Client Access server role

Follow the instructions in this section to install the prerequisites on Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 computers where you want to install only the Client Access server role on a computer.

Do the following to install the required Windows roles and features:

  1. Open Windows PowerShell.

  2. Run the following command to load the Server Manager module.

    Copy Code 
    Import-Module ServerManager
  3. Run the following command to install the required Windows components.

    Copy Code 
    Add-WindowsFeature Desktop-Experience, NET-Framework, NET-HTTP-Activation, RPC-over-HTTP-proxy, RSAT-Clustering, RSAT-Web-Server, WAS-Process-Model, Web-Asp-Net, 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-Ext, Web-Request-Monitor, Web-Server, Web-Stat-Compression, Web-Static-Content, Web-Windows-Auth, Web-WMI

After you've installed the operating system roles and features, install the following software in the order shown:

  1. Microsoft .NET Framework 4.5

  2. Windows Management Framework 3.0

  3. Microsoft Unified Communications Managed API 4.0, Core Runtime 64-bit

  4. Knowledge Base article KB974405 (Windows Identity Foundation)

  5. Knowledge Base article KB2619234 (Enable the Association Cookie/GUID that is used by RPC over HTTP to also be used at the RPC layer in Windows 7 and in Windows Server 2008 R2)

  6. Knowledge Base article KB2533623 (Insecure library loading could allow remote code execution)

    Note:
    This hotfix may already be installed if you've configured Windows Update to install security updates on your computer.

Windows 7 prerequisites

Follow the instructions in this section to install the prerequisites on domain-joined Windows 7 64-bit computers where you want to install the Exchange management tools.

  1. Open Control Panel, and then select Programs.

  2. Click Turn Windows features on or off.

  3. Navigate to Internet Information Services > Web Management Tools > IIS 6 Management Compatibility.

  4. Select the check box for IIS 6 Management Console, and then click OK.

After you've installed the operating system features, install the following software in the order shown:

  1. Microsoft .NET Framework 4.5

  2. Windows Management Framework 3.0

  3. Knowledge Base article KB974405 (Windows Identity Foundation)

Windows 8 prerequisites

The Exchange management tools can be installed on a domain-joined computer with a default install of Windows 8 64-bit.