Installing Exchange Server 2016 into an Existing Organization

Exchange Server 2016 can be installed into an existing Exchange organization as long as it meets the system requirements. This includes:

• No Exchange Server 2007 or earlier versions of Exchange in the organization
• Any Exchange Server 2010 servers must be running at least Service Pack 3 with Update Rollup 11
• Any Exchange Server 2013 servers must be running at least Cumulative Update 10

You can have a combination of Exchange 2010 and 2013 servers in the organization as long as they each meet those minimum versions.

If you have Edge Transport servers or legacy server objects that were not properly removed from Active Directory you may encounter a setup error when you first try to install Exchange Server 2016. You can find more details about this, and the solutions, at the following article:

• All Exchange 2013 Servers in the Organization Must Have Exchange 2013 Cumulative Update 10 or Later Installed

In your Active Directory environment the following requirements exist:

• All domain controllers must be running at least Windows Server 2008
• The forest functional level must be at least Windows Server 2008 (steps here)

The system requirements for Exchange Server 2016 may change over time so always be sure to check TechNet for the latest information.

When you have your environment ready you can:

• Install the Exchange Server 2016 pre-requisites on the server that will be running Exchange
• Install Exchange Server 2016

When you’re running Exchange setup note that:

• You do not need to provide an organization name when you’re installing into an existing organization
• There is Active Directory preparation performed automatically by setup when you install the first Exchange 2016 server. If you’d prefer to handle those steps separately you can do so (the steps are broken out separately in this article)

After Exchange Server 2016 has been installed you should, at minimum, configure the Autodiscover namespace to avoid certificate warnings appearing for Outlook clients in your environment. You can then proceed with the rest of your Exchange Server 2016 configuration, such as:

• Namespace configuration
• SSL certificate installation

This article Installing Exchange Server 2016 into an Existing Organization is © 2015 ExchangeServerPro.com

Get more Exchange Server tips at ExchangeServerPro.com