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How to Configure the Edge Transport Server Role by Using Cloned Configuration Tasks

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Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 will reach end of support on April 11, 2017. To stay supported, you will need to upgrade. For more information, see Resources to help you upgrade your Office 2007 servers and clients.

 

Applies to: Exchange Server 2007, Exchange Server 2007 SP1, Exchange Server 2007 SP2, Exchange Server 2007 SP3

This topic explains how to use the provided Exchange Management Shell scripts to duplicate the configuration of a computer that has the Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Edge Transport server role installed. This process is referred to as cloned configuration. Cloned configuration is the practice of deploying new Edge Transport servers based on the configuration information from a previously configured source server. The configuration information from the previously configured source server is copied and exported to an XML file, which is then imported to the target server.

You may deploy more than one Edge Transport server in the perimeter network and load-balance network traffic among all Edge Transport servers by defining more than one mail exchange (MX) resource record with the same priority in the Domain Name System (DNS) database for your mail domain. Edge Transport server configuration information is stored in Active Directory Application Mode (ADAM) and is not replicated among multiple Edge Transport servers. By using cloned configuration, you can make sure that every Edge Transport server that is deployed in the perimeter network is operating by using the same configuration.

Important

Cloned configuration doesn't duplicate the Edge Subscription settings of a server. The certificates that are used by the Microsoft Exchange EdgeSync service are not cloned. You must run the EdgeSync process separately for each Edge Transport server. The Microsoft Exchange EdgeSync service overwrites any settings that are included in both cloned configuration information and in EdgeSync replication information.

Note

Exchange 2007 Service Pack 1 (SP1) supports deployment of server roles on a Windows Server 2008 computer. If the Edge Transport server is installed on Windows Server 2008, ADAM is replaced by Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services (AD LDS). Windows Server 2008 includes several features that have been enhanced or renamed. For information about the feature changes between Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2008, see Terminology Changes.

Before You Begin

For more information about the configuration data that is cloned and the parameters that can be used with the cloned configuration scripts, see Using Edge Transport Server Cloned Configuration.

Install the Edge Transport server role on the source server, and configure the server.

Install the Edge Transport server role on the target server.

Included with the Edge Transport server installation are two Exchange Management Shell scripts that you use to perform the following cloned configuration tasks:

  • ExportEdgeConfig.ps1   This script exports all user-configured settings and data from an Edge Transport server and stores that data in an XML file.

  • ImportEdgeConfig.ps1   During the validate configuration step, the ImportEdgeConfig.ps1 script checks the XML file to see whether the server-specific export settings are valid for the target server. If settings have to be modified, the script writes the invalid settings to an answer file that you modify to specify the target server information that is used during the import configuration step. During the import configuration step, the script imports all user-configured settings and data that is stored in the intermediate XML file that was created by the ExportEdgeConfig.ps1 script.

These scripts are located in the \scripts folder in your Exchange installation folder. The default location for this folder is C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\Scripts.

To perform the following procedures on a computer that has the Edge Transport server role installed, you must log on by using an account that is a member of the local Administrators group on that computer.

Note

If any Send connectors are configured to use credentials, the password is written to the intermediate XML file as an encrypted string. You can use the -key parameter with the ImportEdgeConfig.ps1 and ExportEdgeConfig.ps1 scripts to specify the 32-byte string to use for password encryption and decryption. If you do not use the -key parameter, a default encryption key is used.

Note

In the release to manufacturing (RTM) version of Exchange 2007, when the configuration information is exported from the source Edge Transport server, the transport configuration object is not written to the intermediate XML file. Therefore, the configuration information for this object is not cloned to the target server. The settings of the transport configuration object define server-wide e-mail transport settings for an Edge Transport server. After you import the intermediate XML file to the target server, the settings of the transport configuration object have default values. If you want the target server to use the same configuration for this object as the source server, after the import process is complete, you must configure the settings by using the Set-TransportConfig cmdlet. For more information, see Set-TransportConfig.

New in Exchange 2007 SP1

Edge Transport servers that have Exchange 2007 SP1 installed include the transport configuration object in the information that is written to the intermediate XML file. Therefore, the settings of the transport configuration object on the target server will have the same values as the source server after the intermediate XML file is imported.

Procedure

To use the Exchange Management Shell to clone a source server by using the Exchange Management Shell scripts

  1. Copy the ExportEdgeConfig.ps1 script to the root folder of your user profile on the source server.

  2. On the source server, export the server configuration data by using the ExportEdgeConfig.ps1 script. Run the following command in the Exchange Management Shell. In the command, replace C:\CloneConfigData.xml with the full path of the XML file to be created by the ExportEdgeConfig.ps1 script.

    ./ExportEdgeConfig -CloneConfigData:"C:\CloneConfigData.xml"

    The confirmation message, "Edge configuration data is exported successfully to: C:\CloneConfigData.xml," appears.

  3. Copy the output file to the target server.

To use the Exchange Management Shell scripts to validate a configuration file and to create an answer file

  1. Copy the ImportEdgeConfig.ps1 script to the root folder of your user profile on the target server.

  2. On the target server, validate the configuration file by using the ImportEdgeConfig.ps1 script. Run the following command in the Exchange Management Shell. In the command, replace C*:\CloneConfigData.xml* with the full path of the XML file that was created by the ExportEdgeConfig.ps1 script. Replace C:\CloneConfigAnswer.xml with the full path of the answer file that will be used by the ImportEdgeConfig.ps1 script to configure server-specific settings.

    ./importedgeconfig -CloneConfigData:"C:\CloneConfigData.xml" -IsImport $false -CloneConfigAnswer:"C:\CloneConfigAnswer.xml"

    The confirmation message, "Answer file is successfully created," appears.

  3. Open the answer file and modify any settings that are invalid for the target server. If no modifications are required, the answer file will have no entries. Save your changes.

To use the Exchange Management Shell to import a configuration file

  • Import the server configuration data by using the ImportEdgeConfig.ps1 script. Run the following command in the Exchange Management Shell. In the command, replace C:\CloneConfigData.xml with the full path of the XML file that was created by the ExportEdgeConfig.ps1 script. Replace C:\CloneConfigAnswer.xml with the full path of the answer file that was created by the ImportEdgeConfig.ps1 script.

    ./importedgeconfig -CloneConfigData:"C:\CloneConfigData.xml" -IsImport $true -CloneConfigAnswer:"C:\CloneConfigAnswer.xml"

    The confirmation message, "Importing Edge configuration information succeeded," appears.

For More Information

For more information, see Using Edge Transport Server Cloned Configuration.