Sometimes one or more servers or server roles need to be removed from the Office Communications Server environment. Examples of this situation include upgrades, changes in topology, recovery from software or hardware corruption, or other scenarios in which a server or server role needs to be changed or removed while the Office Communications Server environment remains intact.

You can use Add or Remove Programs to remove an Office Communications Server 2007 R2 server role, including a Standard Edition server, a server in an Enterprise pool, a Mediation Server, an Archiving Server, a Monitoring Server, and an Edge Server.

Caution:
Removing a server role can result in the loss of data and settings. Before removing a server, ensure that all data and settings have been backed up and appropriate restoration procedures are in place. For Archiving Servers and Monitoring Servers, ensure that the backups are created and maintained according to the regulations and requirements established for your organization. It is also a good idea to export user contacts (using the DBImpExp.exe tool, as described in Decommissioning Standard Edition Servers and Enterprise Pools).

If a major change in the Office Communications Server 2007 R2 environment requires that you completely remove and reinstall all server roles, use the information in Decommissioning Standard Edition Servers and Enterprise Poolsinstead of using the following procedure. In addition, if extensive changes are required to multiple server roles of a Standard Edition server or servers in an Enterprise pool, consider using the decommissioning procedures instead of simply removing server roles.

If the Office Communications Server 2007 R2 environment is compromised as a result of a natural disaster or other unplanned event that causes the environment to become unavailable, you will need to follow certain procedures to recover. For details about restoring service, see the Backup and Restoration section of the Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 documentation at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=132106 .

Required Order of Operations for Removing Servers

If you are removing only an A/V Conferencing Server or Web Conferencing Server, remove the Office Communications Server 2007 R2 components in the following sequence:

  • Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2, Audio/Video Conferencing Server

  • Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2, Web Conferencing Server

If you are removing a Standard Edition server or one or all server roles in an Enterprise pool, remove the Office Communications Server 2007 R2 components in the following sequence:

  • All unified communications applications:

    • Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2, Conferencing Attendant

    • Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2, Conferencing Announcement Service

    • Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2, Response Group Service

    • Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2, Outside Voice Control

  • Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2, Application Host

  • Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2, Application Sharing Server

  • Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2, Audio/Video Conferencing Server

  • Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2, Web Conferencing Server

  • Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2, Web Components Server

  • In an Enterprise Edition deployment, Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2, Front End Server

    In a Standard Edition deployment, Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2, Standard Edition server

  • Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2, Core Components

  • Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2, Unified Communications Managed API 2.0 Core Redistribution package

  • Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2, Unified Communications Managed API 2.0 Speech Redistribution package

  • Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2, Unified Communications Managed API 2.0 Windows Workflow Activities Redistribution package

If you are removing an Edge Server, a Mediation Server, an Archiving Server, or a Monitoring Server, remove the Office Communications Server 2007 R2 components in the following sequence:

  • Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2, Edge Server

  • Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2, Mediation Server

  • Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2, Archiving Server

  • Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2, Monitoring Server

  • Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2, Core Components

  • Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2, Unified Communications Managed API 2.0 Core Redistribution package

Removing a Server

After you stop and deactivate the necessary services, use the procedure described in this section to remove a server.

Note:
Before you remove a Standard Edition server, a server in an Enterprise pool, a Mediation Server, an Archiving Server, a Monitoring Server, or an Edge Server, deactivate server roles to remove Active Directory objects that are associated with it. For details, see Deactivating Server Roles.
Note:
If you remove a Web Components Server, you may need to manually remove permissions. During installation, Full Controlis granted to the RTC Component Local Group account for the Web and Non-Web folders. If these folders contain any files or subfolders, the permissions remain after the Web Components Server is removed. To remove the permissions from the folders, you can use the Securitytab of the Propertiesdialog box for each folder. By default, these folders are installed at the following locations:

%programfiles%\Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2\Web Components\Data MCU Web\Non-Web

%programfiles%\Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2\Web Components\Data MCU Web\Web

To remove a server

  1. Log on to the Office Communications Server 2007 R2 server as a member of the local Administrators group.

  2. In Control Panel, do one of the following:

    • In Windows Server 2008, open Programs and Features.

    • In Windows Server 2003, open Add or Remove Programs, and then click Change or Remove Programs.

  3. In the list of installed programs, click the Office Communications Server 2007 R2 server role you want to remove. If you are removing a Standard Edition server or a server in an Enterprise pool, use the information provided previously in this section to determine which server to remove first.

  4. Click Change.

  5. In the Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Setup Wizard, follow the instructions to complete the wizard.

  6. Repeat steps 3 through 5 for each server role on the server, in the sequence described earlier in this topic.