Help Sly build an Excahnge server in a weekend

**Sly** · 09-26-15, 12:45 PM

I hope to have a Exchange server ready or close to ready to present to my boss on monday any help will be greatly appreciated.

This will be built on a Dell Power Edge 2950 with Servrer 2012r2. Exchange is 2013.

I have implanted this in the past but its been many versions back.

Steps completed

Installed OS (I believe I use this OS as the DC because as I understand Exchange needs to be a Domain Member, The office is currently not a domain)
Virtual Machine setup in Hyper-V with OS 2012r2 installed (this is where I intend to install Exchange)

Future steps as I believe they to be

Install prerequisites on Exchange OS
Install Exchange
Get url from GoDaddy --> point MX records to server external address
Open email ports in the router to Exchange Server

Hoping for input in the case I'm not on the right track or any additional info that might aid in making my boss happy.

TIA

**Warprosper** · 09-26-15, 01:28 PM

Are you using an edge server or opening the whole box up to the outside?

Either way, if you're enabling outlook anywhere, you'll need a few other dns records added. You'll need to have autodiscover records created in your registrar and you'll have to open 443 in addition to 25 on the firewall.

Make sure your firewall has egress filtering to allow only the exchange server to communicate outside over port 25. Helps with blacklisting. For your send connector make sure you require authentication.

When you add your mx records make sure you create an A record for your exchange server, then create your mx record pointing to that hostname. Personal preference here, but I don't like seeing Ip's in the MX record.

Let me know if you have any other issues.

Also, if you really want to impress the boss man, add some transport rules for autosigs and maybe a confidentiality or similar type notice.

**Warprosper** · 09-26-15, 01:33 PM

If you need any other help or info, msg me on steam. I should be home most of the day.

**Kanati** · 09-26-15, 04:55 PM

Don't forget a reverse lookup record as well or email will get rejected by other servers' anti-spam software.

**Kanati** · 09-26-15, 04:56 PM

and make sure you have all your updates installed or you are just asking for trouble.

**rush2049** · 09-28-15, 08:43 AM

Make sure you use the latest exchange build number as well: https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/...or=-2147217396

**Warprosper** · 09-29-15, 08:26 AM

Sly did you finish the project?

**Sly** · 09-29-15, 09:07 AM

Getting close. I have Exchange installed. I'm able to send email. I can log on to local machine with owa. I'm not able to log on to owa from external and I am unable to receive email. I am currently upadating os and exchange. I will get back soon.

**Warprosper** · 09-29-15, 09:35 AM

On your firewall, create a nat rule for 443 from your mail server's external ip to the internal. Do the same thing for port 25.

Outside DNS entries should have something like mail.domain.com point to the external ip of the mail server.
You'll need to have reverse dns for your mail server. Believe or not, old systems still use that nonsense.
You'll need an spf include record for your mail domain created within godaddy's portal.
For the mx record create an A record for your mail server ex. Mail.something.com
Then create an mx record pointing to that A record you just created.

Make sure your firewall access rules allow 443 and 25 to the wan ip of your mail server.

Have fun.

**Sly** · 09-29-15, 06:20 PM