Install second Exchange Server 2016 in domain

We have an existing Exchange organization with only one Exchange Server. For high availability, we like to install a second Exchange Server 2016 in the domain. The steps will work the same for other on-premises Exchange Server versions. In this article, you will learn how to add a second Exchange Server 2016 in domain.

Exchange Server prerequisites

Before you install Exchange Server, you need to have a Windows Server available. It’s because you will install Exchange Server on Windows Server. You can install Exchange Server 2016 on these Windows Servers:

• Windows Server 2012
• Windows Server 2012R2
• Windows Server 2016 (Exchange Server 2016 CU3 or higher)

Read more in the article Install Exchange Server 2016 prerequisites.

Before you start to install second Exchange Server in domain

It’s good that after setting up the Exchange Server requirements on the Windows Server, to follow and configure these settings:

• Pagefile Exchange 2013/2016 best practice
• Configure power plan Exchange Server
• Disable NIC Power Management in Exchange best practice
• Configure ReFS volume Exchange 2013/2016/2019

Find Exchange Server version

We recommend installing the same Exchange Server version as the one that is running in the organization. Start Exchange Management Shell as administrator. Run the Get-ExchangeServer cmdlet to check which Exchange Server version is running in the domain.

[PS] C:\>Get-ExchangeServer | Format-Table Name, Edition, AdminDisplayVersion

Name         Edition AdminDisplayVersion
----         ------- -------------------
EX01-2016 Enterprise Version 15.1 (Build 2044.4)

Exchange Server 2016 CU17 is running in the organization.

Install Exchange Server 2016

Download Exchange Server 2016 CU 17 ISO image. Open the ISO image and check to which drive letter it’s mapped. You don’t have to prepare Active Directory and domains for Exchange Server because it did already prepare when you installed the first Exchange Server.

Open Command Prompt as administrator. Run the command to install the Exchange Mailbox server role.

C:\>E:\Setup.exe /IAcceptExchangeServerLicenseTerms /mode:Install /r:MB

Microsoft Exchange Server 2016 Cumulative Update 17 Unattended Setup

Copying Files...
File copy complete. Setup will now collect additional information needed for installation.

Languages
Management tools
Mailbox role: Transport service
Mailbox role: Client Access service
Mailbox role: Unified Messaging service
Mailbox role: Mailbox service
Mailbox role: Front End Transport service
Mailbox role: Client Access Front End service

Performing Microsoft Exchange Server Prerequisite Check

    Configuring Prerequisites                                                                         COMPLETED
    Prerequisite Analysis                                                                             COMPLETED

Configuring Microsoft Exchange Server

    Preparing Setup                                                                                   COMPLETED
    Stopping Services                                                                                 COMPLETED
    Copying Exchange Files                                                                            COMPLETED
    Language Files                                                                                    COMPLETED
    Restoring Services                                                                                COMPLETED
    Language Configuration                                                                            COMPLETED
    Exchange Management Tools                                                                         COMPLETED
    Mailbox role: Transport service                                                                   COMPLETED
    Mailbox role: Client Access service                                                               COMPLETED
    Mailbox role: Unified Messaging service                                                           COMPLETED
    Mailbox role: Mailbox service                                                                     COMPLETED
    Mailbox role: Front End Transport service                                                         COMPLETED
    Mailbox role: Client Access Front End service                                                     COMPLETED
    Finalizing Setup                                                                                  COMPLETED

The Exchange Server setup operation completed successfully.
Setup has made changes to operating system settings that require a reboot to take effect. Please reboot this server
prior to placing it into production.

After Exchange Server setup finished. Restart the Exchange Server.

Read more in the article Install Exchange Server 2016 step by step.

Get Exchange autodiscover URL

After installing Exchange Server, we will get the Exchange autodiscover URL and set the Exchange autodiscover URL. Otherwise, the users will get a security alert certificate warning.

The users will see it as a security risk and will call the IT support desk. Save the support desk from these calls and immediately change the autodiscover URL after you install the second Exchange Server to the domain.

Run Exchange Management Shell as administrator. Run the cmdlet to get the Autodiscover URL. We need to adjust the Exchange Server EX02-2016 AutoDiscoverServiceInternalUri to a generic namespace, just as EX01-2016 is already configured.

[PS] C:\>Get-ClientAccessServer | Select Name, AutoDiscoverServiceInternalUri, AutoDiscoverSiteScope | Format-List
WARNING:  The Get-ClientAccessServer cmdlet will be removed in a future version of Exchange. Use the Get-ClientAccessService cmdlet instead. If you have any scripts that use the Get-ClientAccessServer cmdlet, update
them to use the Get-ClientAccessService cmdlet.  For more information, see http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/p/?LinkId=254711.


Name                           : EX01-2016
AutoDiscoverServiceInternalUri : https://autodiscover.exoip.com/Autodiscover/Autodiscover.xml
AutoDiscoverSiteScope          : {Default-First-Site-Name}

Name                           : EX02-2016
AutoDiscoverServiceInternalUri : https://ex02-2016.exoip.local/Autodiscover/Autodiscover.xml
AutoDiscoverSiteScope          : {Default-First-Site-Name}

Read more in the article: Find autodiscover URL in Exchange with PowerShell.

Set Exchange autodiscover URL

Set the autodiscover URL and restart IIS to apply the changes. We have seen in the past that it’s better to restart the Exchange Server after we configure autodiscover URL to have the change take immediate effect.

[PS] C:\>Set-ClientAccessServer -Identity "EX02-2016" -AutoDiscoverServiceInternalUri https://autodiscover.exoip.com/Autodiscover/Autodiscover.xml

[PS] C:\>iisreset

Attempting stop...
Internet services successfully stopped
Attempting start...
Internet services successfully restarted

Read more in the article: Configure autodiscover URL in Exchange with PowerShell.

After you set the autodiscover URL, you will not bother anyone in the organization with a certificate warning.

What’s next?

Configure the next steps on the second Exchange Server:

• Enter product key Exchange Server 2016
• Configure Internal and External URL in Exchange 2016
• Move mail queue Exchange 2016 to another location
• Cleanup Exchange logs automatically with scheduled task
• Antivirus exclusions for Exchange 2013 and 2016

Conclusion

In this article, you learned how to install a second Exchange Server 2016 in the domain. It’s almost the same process as installing the first Exchange Server. The only difference is that you don’t have to prepare Active Directory and domains.

After you install a second Exchange Mailbox server, pay close attention, and change the autodiscover record. Otherwise, a certification security alert shows up in Outlook, and that will bother the users.

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