Exchange 2016 – preparing Active Directory

As with previous versions of Exchange it is necessary to prepare Active Directory before installation.  This can be done with a few simple steps using an elevated command prompt and a user account that is a member of the Enterprise Admins and Schema Admins groups.

Note: these changes are irreversible so please ensure you have a good working backup of Active Directory before proceeding!

The first step is to update the schema:

Setup.exe /PrepareSchema /IAcceptExchangeServerLicenseTerms

Note: this can take several minutes to complete and will fail if the following prerequisites are not installed:

• .Net Framework 4.7.1 (https://support.microsoft.com/kb/4033342)
• Microsoft Unified Communications Managed API 4.0, Core Runtime 64-bit
• Visual C++ 2013 Redistributable Package (https://www.microsoft.com/download/details.aspx?id=40784)
• Active Directory Remote Server Administration Tools (RSAT-ADDS)

Next we must prepare Active Directory:

Setup.exe /PrepareAD /IAcceptExchangeServerLicenseTerms

Finally we must prepare the domain:

Setup.exe /PrepareDomain /IAcceptExchangeServerLicenseTerms

Now the preparation is complete Exchange 2016 can be installed.