Q196927: XIMS: Configuring a Single Domain w/ Connected Sites via IMS
Article: Q196927
Product(s): Microsoft Exchange
Version(s): 5.0,5.5
Operating System(s):
Keyword(s):
Last Modified: 06-AUG-2002
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The information in this article applies to:
- Microsoft Exchange Server, versions 5.0, 5.5
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SUMMARY
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This article explains how to connect two or more Exchange Server sites in the
same organization using the Internet Mail Service. Frequently a company wants to
set up a single e-mail domain, such as <CompanyName>.com, for all Exchange
Server sites, and connect the sites over the Internet using the Internet Mail
Service. This way, all users have a common e-mail domain regardless of their
physical location. Microsoft Exchange Server can provide this functionality.
MORE INFORMATION
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Assume that the Exchange Server organization is called ExchangeORG, and the
three sites are called, SiteA, SiteB, and SiteC. Also assume that the sites are
installed, but are not yet connected.
Prerequisites
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1. Each site must have a connection to the Internet (by means of the Internet
Mail Service).
2. Each site must have a valid (routable) Internet IP address.
3. At each site you should set up a valid Exchange Server Site e-mail domain
name, and the corresponding "Site" MX (Mail Exchanger) record and A (Address)
records.
The local Internet Service Provider (ISP) in each site enters this information
in at least two of the ISP's Domain Name Service (DNS) servers.
NOTE: The purpose of an MX record is to match up the e-mail domain to the mail
host for that domain. The purpose of the A record is to match up the mail
host (in this case, the Exchange Server computer) to its IP address for the
connection.
This step is necessary if you will be using the ISP's DNS servers to send mail
between the sites. This step is not be necessary, however, for this example,
because the procedures in steps 7 through 12 of this article provides the
required connectivity.
4. The company must have registered a valid (registered with InterNIC) Internet
e-mail domain, for example, microsoft.com, with their ISP, including the MX
and A records. The MX record points to a mail host at one of the sites, and
the A record will be that mail host's IP address.
For this example, the configuration is:
SiteA
MX record: SiteA.microsoft.com (10) Server1.SiteA.microsoft.com
A Record: ServerA.SiteA.microsoft.com 10.10.10.10
SiteB
MX record: SiteB.microsoft.com (10) Server1.SiteB.microsoft.com
A Record: ServerB.SiteB.microsoft.com 10.10.10.15
SiteC
MX record: SiteC.microsoft.com (10) Server1.SiteC.microsoft.com
A Record: ServerC.SiteC.microsoft.com 10.10.10.20
Company e-mail domain is microsoft.com
MX record: microsoft.com (10) Server1.SiteA.microsoft.com
A Record: Server1.SiteA.microsoft.com 10.10.10.10
How to Set Up the Internet Mail Service and Connectors to the Remote Sites
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1. Install the Internet Mail Service at each site using the Internet Mail
Wizard. Follow the wizard's instructions, but for this example, when prompted
for the e-mail domain name at each site, use SiteA.microsoft.com,
SiteB.microsoft.com, and SiteC.microsoft.com, respectively.
2. At SiteA, go to the Internet Mail Service, and click the Connected Sites tab.
Click New to set up a new remote site connection over the Internet Mail
Service.
3. The Properties dialog box appears. On the General tab, note that the
organization field is already filled in. Enter the remote site name, SiteB,
in this example.
NOTE: The remote site name must match the directory name of the remote site
exactly, not the Display Name. To find the directory name of the remote site,
start the Exchange Server Administrator program, and select the Site object.
On the File menu, click Properties. The site directory name is listed here.
4. Next, click the Routing Address tab. In the Type field, type "SMTP" (without
the quotation marks) in upper case. Enter the e-mail domain name in the
Address field, @SiteB.microsoft.com, in this example.
5. Click OK, and you have finished connecting the first site connector. Complete
steps 2 through 5 again for all other sites you want to connect to the
Internet Mail Service. For this example, repeat for SiteC.
Making Domain-Specific Routing Entries
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1. To send mail to these remote sites, make routing entries. These are
domain-specific routing entries that enable you to avoid using DNS servers to
route mail to remote domains specified. While you are still in the Internet
Mail Service, go to the Connections tab.
2. In the Message Delivery box, click E-Mail Domain.... You can see a routing
table where you make specific domain entries.
3. Click Add. In the E-Mail domain field, type "SiteB.microsoft.com" (without
the quotation marks).
4. Next, click "Forward all messages for this domain to host". Type the IP
address for SiteB (10.10.10.15).
5. Click OK, and you can see a route just entered.
6. Now, for SiteC, type, "SiteC.microsoft.com" (without the quotation marks),
and "10.10.10.20" (without the quotation marks).
7. At SiteA, you have now finished making site connectors to SiteB and SiteC.
You need to go through steps 2 through 5 of the above section, "How to Set Up
the Internet Mail Service and Connectors to the Remote Sites" (if you haven't
already done so), and steps 1 through 6 of this section to set up SiteB's and
SiteC's connectors. Enter the correct site-specific information.
8. Now all sites should have site connectors to all the other sites they are to
connect to by means of the Internet Mail Service. The next step is to set up
the Directory Replication Connectors between the Sites.
Setting up Directory Replication by means of the Internet Mail Service
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NOTE: Do not set up Directory Replication connectors between sites unless you are
prepared to configure both or all sites. The result is a backlog of replication
messages that cannot be sent to the remote sites that are not configured.
1. Starting with SiteA, in the Exchange Server Administrator program, select the
Directory Replication container under the Configuration object. On the File
menu, click New Other, then click "Directory Replication Connector".
2. The Directory Replication Connector dialog box appears. The two sites, SiteB
and SiteC, should be listed in the drop-down menu. SiteB should be listed
first.
3. Type the server name.
NOTE: This is the NetBIOS name, not the host.domain name. You can find the
NetBIOS name by starting the Exchange Server Administrator program at the
remote site, and clicking the Plus sign (+) next to the Servers object. The
server you are to to connect to should be listed. In this example, it is
ServerB.
4. Click "No, the remote site is not available on this network", and then click
OK.
5. Now, the Directory Replication Connector Properties page appears. Just click
OK; you can configure the connector later.
6. Repeat steps 1 through 5 of this section for SiteC.
7. Now, repeat steps 1 through 6 of this section again at SiteB and SiteC to set
up their Directory Replication connectors. After this is done, you can speed
up directory replication between the sites by doing a knowledge consistency
check, and an "Update Now" in the Directory Replication Connectors.
Speeding up Initial Directory Replication between Sites
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1. At each site respectively, select the server under the Servers object. In
this example, ServerA, ServerB, and ServerC.
2. Double-click the Directory Service object in the right pane of the Exchange
Server Administrator program. The General tab appears with a button labeled
"Check Now."
3. Click Check Now to run the knowledge consistency check, and the new sites
appear in the left window of the Administrator program.
4. Next, select the Directory Replication container. In the right window you can
see the new Directory Replication connectors. Double-click the first one in
the list, Directory Replication Connector (SiteB), or similar, depending on
which site you are currently working on. The Properties pages appear.
5. Click the Sites tab. In the left window, you can see the new site you are to
replicate with. If configuring SiteA, then you should see SiteB here. Click
SiteB, and then click Request Now. Another dialog box appears. Click the
Update only New and Modified Items option. This sends out immediate requests
for the directory to replicate from SiteB to SiteA. Do the same for SiteC to
pull that directory to SiteA also.
6. Remember to go through these steps for each of the directory replication
connectors at each of the sites. At this point, all the directories replicate
to each other. After replication has completed, you should see all three
sites in the Exchange Server Administrator program.
NOTE: You can see all the objects underneath the Configuration object of each
site after replication has completed. If you see just the Site and the
Configuration objects, then replication is not yet complete.
Setting up a Single E-mail Domain, <CompanyName>.com, for All Users in All Sites
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These are the final steps. At this point you should be able to send mail back and
forth between the sites. Any user can receive Internet mail, but users in
different sites have different domain names, such as User1@SiteA.microsoft.com
or User2@SiteB.microsoft.com. The goal is to have all users using the same
domain name across the company, User1@microsoft.com, User2@microsoft.com, and so
on.
1. At SiteA, go to the Site Addressing object. Double-click the Site Addressing
object, and the Properties page appears. Click the Site Addressing tab, and
select the SMTP entry.
2. Click Edit to change the Site default SMTP e-mail domain name. Currently you
can see the address, @SiteA.microsoft.com.
3. Change this to reflect the new e-mail domain you want to use and that you
have set up with your ISP. After you have done so, it should now read,
@microsoft.com. Click OK, and then click OK again.
4. You are informed that the SMTP address for the site has been changed, and
asked if you would like to update all the recipient mailboxes. Click Yes.
5. The SMTP e-mail address for users in SiteA has now been changed to
@microsoft.com. This needs to be replicated to SiteB and SiteC.
6. Go to SiteB and SiteC. At each, double-click the Directory Replication
connector for SiteA to open the properties page. Click the Site tab, and then
select SiteA. Click Request Now to pull the changes from SiteA to these two
sites. Wait for the changes to replicate.
7. After the changes have replicated to SiteB and SiteC, follow steps 1 through
6 of this section, for SiteB and SiteC. In turn, all recipient mailboxes
across all sites are updated. All users can receive mail using @microsoft.com
for their e-mail address.
Additional query words: imc shared address space
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Keywords :
Technology : kbExchangeSearch kbExchange500 kbExchange550 kbZNotKeyword2
Version : :5.0,5.5
Issue type : kbhowto
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