Exchange: Capturing
an Image and Creating a Tier
Intended for use with Cassatt Active Response V5.0.
The Microsoft Exchange blueprint describes
how to create and deploy a single instance of Exchange in
the Cassatt Active Response environment. If you haven't read Understanding Blueprints for Deploying Applications, read that first for background and context. This blueprint requires you to create
two images:
- MS Active Directory image (a prerequisite)
- MS Exchange 2003 image
These, in turn, run in two distinct Cassatt Active Response tiers.
Prerequisites
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Software requirements:
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Tier Settings:
- SLAs: Determine the capacity settings for the MS
Exchange tier. To understand how to determine capacity
levels, see Understanding Tier Configuration and Personalization.
- Determine which VMware host tier (or tiers) will provide the VMs for your IIS tier.
- Tier Dependencies: Select at least one VMware host tier with as a tier dependency to ensure that VMs are available for this tier.
Also, select the MS Active Directory tier as
a dependency for the MS Exchange tier.
For more information, read
about tier dependencies.
- Custom Attribute: Use the custom attribute from the VMs in the host tier (or tiers). Because the custom attribute represents the storage access, use only one custom attribute to ensure that all VMs allocated to the tier have the same storage access.
- HBA key: FC SAN only—use the HBA key from the VMs in the host tier (or tiers).
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Image host requirements:
- CD-ROM drive if using a CD for software installation
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Network Requirements: Determine the network to associate with the tier. Make sure it has adequate IP addresses free to accommodate maximum nodes for the tier. |
The blueprint steps
This blueprint differs somewhat from the standard high-level
blueprint steps. For this blueprint, reserving the image host
is a prerequisite because VMware must already be running
before starting this blueprint. Also, this blueprint assumes
you have already created an MS Active Directory image and
tier.
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Step 1: Install and configure the operating system
Select Windows. For the MS
Exchange 2003 blueprint, ensure the following during the
Windows setup:
- Install and configure IIS.
- Install the appropriate
Service Pack on the server and the application.
For more details, see System
Requirements for Exchange Server 2003.
- Set up your DNS and WINS settings to point to your Active
Directory Domain and join the Windows domain.
Step 2: Install and configure your software
Install Microsoft Exchange
To install MS Exchange, use the Microsoft
documentation for detailed instructions.
This blueprint assumes a new Exchange
deployment in a new Active Directory domain. If there
is an existing Exchange server or Active Directory domain,
contact your domain administrator to determine
the appropriate Exchange installation options.
- If you are using an .iso image, set up the image
as directed in the VMware documentation, or insert the MS Exchange CD into
the image host's CD-ROM drive.
- Access the CD-ROM to start the Exchange installation.
- During the wizard, make sure that you select the following:
- Select "Installing New Exchange 2003 Servers."
- On the Welcome to the Exchange Server Deployment Tools screen, select "Deploy
the first Exchange 2003 server."
- Click New Exchange 2003 Installation.
- On the Exchange Installation Deployment Tools dialog, complete the following
tasks:
Deployment
tasks to complete... |
Enter when task is
complete |
1. On the server, install Windows
2000 Server SP3 or later, Windows 2000 Advanced
Server SP3 or later, or Windows Server 2003. |
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2. Verify that the NNTP, SNTP,
and World Wide Web services are installed and enabled
on the server. If you are running Windows Server
2003, verify that ASP.NET is installed. |
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3. Install the Windows 2000 SP3
or WIndows 2003 version of the Windows Support
Tools from the Support folder on the Windows compact
disc. Be sure to install the version that matches
the operating system of the server. DCDiag (Domain
Controller Diagnostics) and NetDiag (Network Connectivity
Tester) are included in the Windows Support Tools. |
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4. Run DCDiag to test network connectivity
and DNS resolutions. To run the DCDiag tool, your
account must have Domain Administrator and local
machine administrator permissions. Review the DCDiag
log file you specified for any errors or warnings. |
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5. Run NetDiag to test network
connectivity. To run the NetDiag tool, your account
must have local machine administrator permissions.
Review the NetDiag log file for any errors or warnings. |
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6. Run ForestPrep to extend the
Active Directory schema for Exchange Server 2003. |
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7. Run DomainPrep to prepare the
domain for Exchange Server 2003. |
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8. Install Exchange by running the
Exchange setup. |
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When installing Exchange on Windows 2003
Server SP1, you will see an error message that says:
Exchange Server 2003 has a known compatibility issue with
this version of Windows....
You can safely ignore this for
now, as applying Exchange 2003 SP2 corrects this problem.
- Follow the Exchange post-installation steps.
Install Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 SP2
- If you are using an .iso image,
set up the image as directed in the VMware documentation,
or insert the Exchange Server 2003 SP2 CD into the
image host's CD-ROM drive.
- From the desktop, select Start > Run.
- In the run dialog, open this location on the CD:
setup\i386\update.exe
- Follow the setup instructions to upgrade to Exchange Server
SP2.
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Step 3: Capture the image
In this step, you will capture the base image from the image host using the cccapture command—an interactive script. Although you can change values later, it is most efficient to
supply valid values now.
Follow these steps to capture the MS Exchange image:
- If you haven't already done so, shut down Windows and
VMware on the image host.
If you do not shut down Windows and VMware prior to image capture, the image capture will fail.
- Log into the active control node as root.
- Enter the following command to start the cccapture interactive
script:
/opt/cassatt/bin/cccapture
- Answer each prompt.
The next table lists the recommended values for the MS
Exchange blueprint; unless you have site specific reasons,
you can accept the default values for other cccapture prompts.
For names, descriptions, and other discretionary fields, use values that are meaningful to
you. In the image name, do not use spaces or characters (for example, /) special to Unix-based file systems such as Linux and Solaris.
At this prompt... |
Enter |
Enter the image type (linux,vmhost,windows,solaris): |
windows |
Enter the amount of time in seconds that the system
should wait for the services provided by this image to
start (after this time has passed, the system will attempt
to reboot or replace the node): [] |
1800 |
OS Monitoring Options
Specify the operating system monitoring that will be used
for this image (at least one monitoring option must be
configured):
Monitor via SNMP? [n] |
y |
Monitor via ping? [n] |
y |
- In the Controller, release the image host back to the free pool by selecting the node using the checkbox, then select Node Actions > Release from Image Capture.
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Step 4: Create the tier
Return to the Controller to define the MS Exchange tier. Cassatt Active Response prepopulates tier values with the parameters you set during image capture. If necessary, you can change them during tier creation.
- On the left navigation pane, click Tiers to display the
Tier List.
- On the Tier List page, click the New Tier button (on the right).
- On the Properties page, set the properties for the MS Exchange tier. The next table lists the suggested values for the MS Exchange blueprint; unless you have site-specific reasons, you can accept the defaults in other fields.
At this prompt... |
Enter... |
Notes |
Email Alerts |
On |
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Email On:
Tier Critical
Tier Non-Critical |
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Select all choices |
Reboot on failure |
On |
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Harvest priority |
High |
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Allow harvest |
Off |
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- On the Requirements page, set the hardware requirements for the tier.
At this prompt... |
Enter... |
Notes |
Operational Target |
1 |
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Minimum Nodes |
1 |
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Maximum Nodes |
1 |
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| HBA |
HBAKey |
FC SAN only: select the checkbox and use the same HBA key that's assigned to the VMs that you want Cassatt Active Response to allocate to this tier. |
Custom Requirements |
CustomAttribute |
Assign the same custom attribute to this tier as you assigned to the VMs in the ESX host tier (or tiers) that you want Cassatt Active Response to allocate to this tier. |
Dependencies |
VMHostTier
ActiveDirectoryTier |
Specify at least one VMware host tier. Note that:
- If you select more than one, every tier you select must be activated for this tier to activate.
- If you have multiple ESX host tiers that access different storage locations, you must select only ESX host tiers that access the same storage location.
The MS Exchange tier also depends on the Active
Directory tier. |
- On the Networks page, select the networks that this tier
will run on.
- On the IPs and Hostnames page, assign IP addresses or host names, or accept the default settings.
- You can close the Creating Tier Progress page and continue with the next section.
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Step 5: Personalize the image instances
- On the tier page, select the MS Exchange tier using the checkbox, then select Personalize from the actions dropdown menu.
Cassatt Active Response boots the maximum nodes for the tier.
- For MS Exchange, set the DNS
server name to the IP address of the Active Directory node.
(Look in the Active Directory tier to find this IP.)
- When you are finished, return to the Controller, select the tier, and select "Personalization Complete" for the tier.
Step 6: Allocate nodes and activate the
tier
Follow these steps to allocate nodes and activate the tier.
- From the Tiers table on the Domain page, select the checkbox for the MS Exchange tier.
- From the Tier Actions dropdown menu, select Allocate Nodes. Click Allocate Nodes on the confirmation page.
Cassatt Active Response allocates nodes and displays the Tiers table.
- Make sure none of the VMs allocated to the tier have a VMware Console attached.
The VMware Console can be attached to VMs that are not being activated in this tier, including those running on the same host server.
- Again, select the checkbox for the MS Exchange tier.
- From the Tier Actions dropdown menu, select Activate. Click Activate on the confirmation page.
Cassatt Active Response starts the operating system and the applications on each node in the tier.
Do not attach a VMware Console to an ESX VM before it has finished booting.
Attaching a VMware Console to an ESX VM while it is booting under Cassatt Active Response control can interrupt changes Cassatt Active Response makes to
key definition items, disrupting the boot process.
To determine when it is safe to attach a remote console to a VM, do one of the following in the Controller:
- On the Tier Activation status page, click Show Details.
- In the events table, watch for an event called "Power
Cycle Node" with status "Complete."
OR
- In the node list for the tier, wait until the node is "online."
When either of these things happens, it is safe to attach a remote console to the VM.
This completes the procedure to create and deploy an MS
Exchange image.
VM Reference and Troubleshooting
Read additional information and tips about using VMs in your Cassatt Active Response environment.
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