A quick post as the Exchange 2013 Cumulative Update 1 Help file (.CHM) file for offline usage has been released on the Microsoft Download Center.
The offline help files files are convenient if you’re on the road or in a location (yes, that happens sometimes) without internet connection.
You can download the Exchange 2013 Cumulative Update 1 .CHM Help file dated April 4th, 2013 for On-Premise and Hybrid deployments here.
Today the Exchange Team announced postponing the release of Exchange 2013 Cumulative Update 1 for a few more days. Originally, CU1 was scheduled for Q1 2013, but the date has been set now at April 2nd, 2013.
While it may sound disappointing when you’re waiting for Exchange 2013 RTM CU1, it makes sense to postpone it a bit. As the team indicated,the time is used to add functionality required for coexistence scenarios with Exchange Server 2010 which otherwise had to be put in an update for Exchange 2010 Client Access servers. I expect people to be less happy as Exchange 2010 Service Pack 3 was heralded as the Exchange 2010 product level for coexistence support with Exchange 2013 (running CU1).
Also, looking at time frames involved with testing and accepting updates in production environments, I personally applaud this decision as putting that code in Exchange 2013 at the cost of a few days may in the end be faster than adding that code to Exchange Server 2010, requiring customers to initiate test an acceptance tracks for production updates.
So, until further notice we’ll have to wait just a few more additional days to see what Cumulative Update 1 will bring us.
In the list of expected products to accompany Exchange 2013, Microsoft today released JetStress 2013, version 15.0.651.0.
Jetstress is your tool of choice to check the performance and stability of your storage design under load. It simulates Exchange I/O behaviour using Exchange 2013 patterns allowing you to verify dimensioning and validate performance expectations from a database perspective.
To run JetStress 2013 you need:
Note: The installer currently installs a shortcut named “Exchange JetStress 2010″, but it really is JetStress 2013.
You can download the Jetstress 2013 here.
Few days ago, the Exchange Team published their intentions for Exchange 2013 regarding update schemes (or as Microsoft calls it, servicing). While the article describes the policy with a Q&A section at the bottom, there are still some grey areas. In this blog, I’d like emphasize on some elements and point out those grey areas.
As you probably read before, with Exchange 2013 the Rollup packages will be replaced by Cumulative Updates (CU), a name change probably inspired by Lync’s Cumulative Update packages. But it’s more than just a name change and admins or people involved managing releases should become familiar with the new policy as it will have some features that you don’t want to get surprised by.
One of the major changes in my opinion is that there will be one team working on the product; code bases for on-premises Exchange and Exchange Online (Office 365) will brought up to par. A small change is that Microsoft will first implement – or dogfood – the Cumulative Update in their Office 365 environment after while it will be made available for on-premises or hybrid deployments. While this may improve the quality of the Cumulative Update, not all kinds of deployments will be tested so it’s no warranty. However, looking at the current situation with Office 365, it may put stress on Microsoft procedures as there are already big variations between the various regions regarding Exchange Online implementations as well as Exchange Online and the on-premises version.
It’s the intention Cumulative Updates will be released on a quarterly basis. Each Cumulative Update will consist of a full installation set, so for example you can install Exchange 2013 Cumulative Update 2 straightaway whereas with Rollups you had to implement the Service Pack level prior to applying the related Rollup. So, this is a big convenience when for example installing greenfield scenarios or adding systems.
However, unlike Rollups you can’t uninstall a Cumulative Update once it has been installed. This could worry people, looking back at the qualify of some past Rollups which were pulled, rereleased and in some rare cases pulled and rereleased again. But since Microsoft will now implement Cumulative Updates first, bad Cumulative Updates will become Microsoft’s problem first, not yours as it seemed to few people with some of those Rollups.
Security updates will become Cumulative Update bound, meaning they are to be installed on a specific Cumulative Update. However, there can be two supported Cumulative Update “active” at a time, so I assume security updates can be installed on both (unless Microsoft will be making two versions of each security update). The next Cumulative Update will include security updates released since the previous Cumulative Update was released. However, it might be that security updates won’t make it in the a cumulative update because of the freeze period, the period before releasing the Cumulative Update when no more updates will be added, and one needs to wait for the Cumulative Update to be released or install the security update, wait for the Cumulative Update, install the Cumulative update and reinstall the security update, in which case you might prefer waiting for the Cumulative Update. Some might rushing (security) updates won’t harm you, but remember KB2624899 fixing the IE9/MMC issue, the initial EX2010SP2RU5 which caused DAG issues or KB2750149 which broke the WS2012 Fail-over Cluster snap-in and required KB2803748 to fix the issue. Yes, Microsoft will implement Cumulative Updates first but this will also raise the expectations set on Microsoft’s internal Quality Control enormously. They don’t want to end up in a situation releasing a faulty Cumulative Update to public, since it will be impossible to uninstall. Then again, nobody said Cumulative Updates would make the best practice of testing and accepting updates before implementing them in production environments obsolete.
A major change is that Cumulative Updates will be supported for 3 months after the next Cumulative Update is released. Because Cumulative Updates are to be released quarterly, this sets the support-window of a Cumulative Update (or plain, non-Cumulative Update) to 6 months. This may seem long, but I know a lot of companies will have an issue with this window because their test and acceptance periods easily transcends half a year, especially if schema updates are involved (yes, Cumulative Updates can require schema updates). And don’t forget about cases where customers adopted a building block model where they will need to test that Cumulative Update against their Operating System building block with all the additional components, like Anti-Virus, Backup agents or Management software involved.
Finally, an odd element in this scheme are the Service Packs of which Microsoft said they will be getting released. But where in the past only Service Packs could embed Active Directory schema updates, that’s also something a Cumulative Update might require, making Service Packs effectively an Über Cumulative Update.
Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below.
A quick post as the Exchange 2013 Help (.CHM) files on the Microsoft Download Center have been updated. The offline help files files are convenient if you’re on the road or in a location without internet connection.
You can download the updated files dated January 18th, 2013 for On-Premise and Hybrid deployments of Exchange 2013 here.
On another note, there’s a new Office Visio 2013 stencil for Exchange 2013, including on-premise and hybrid deployments. You can download it here.
For planning and validation purposes, Exchange 2013 preparation of the forest and domain results in the following:
The Exchange Schema Versions page has been updated with this information.
If you’ve got a TechNet or MSDN subscription, you can get the RTM bits of Exchange Server 2013, Lync Server 2013, Office 2013 Professional Plus and Sharepoint 2013 NOW!
With the RTM bits available, you can start testing the product itself as well as compatibility with 3rd party products or in-house developed solutions. Be advised that a schema update is required to support Exchange Server 2013.
Finally, the updates for Exchange Server 2007 and Exchange Server 2010 required for co-existence are still not available. Exchange 2010 SP3 is expected first half of 2013; no details have been disclosed on the update for Exchange Server 2007.
A quick post for those interested, e.g. you’re planning for or about to implement Exchange 2013 or just want to look up something: the Exchange 2013 RTM help file has been made available for download (dated Oct2012).
Note that the help file is still incomplete, so I expect it gets updated in the upcoming period.
It comes in a Hybrid as well as an On Premise version; you can get them here.
Last week, the Exchange team released what they called the “Exchange 2010 datacenter switchover tool” (note that the title mentions troubleshooter). The tool could prove helpful to some and can be insightful to others.
While I applaud any effort put in to minimize risks and the possibility of human error, especially in stressful situations like data center switchovers, I do have some suggestions for improvement.
First, the name. A “tool” might imply it’s something to aid in the switchover process, while in fact it’s more of an interactive decision maker or guide walking you through the process and can be utilized to practice dry runs or test formalized procedures.
That brings me to my second point, which is the format. A process like a data center switchover with all its decision moments is perhaps better translated to a flow chart rather than an interactive PowerPoint slide deck, which looks good on screen but can’t be printed. Also, a PDF or XPS might be more convenient; not everyone has PowerPoint at hand all the time, especially when working remotely on servers.
Finally, the contents is almost taken directly from the original Technet data center switchover article here, with the same questions and steps. It could perhaps be turned in a more valuable tool if it could read the environment and tailor questions based on what it discovers.
You can check out the “troubleshooter” yourself by downloading it here. Of course, this is only the first version; I suggest you leave feedback and suggestions on how to improve the tool in the accompanying article on the Exchange Team blog here.
Update October, 24th:UC Architects fellow Serkan Varoglu created a Exchange Data Center Switchover workflow diagram; you can download it here.
Yesterday, the Exchange Team reached another milestone by releasing Exchange Server 2013 to manufacturing.The version number of Exchange 2013 RTM will be 15.0.516.32.
Some information regarding what when to expect:
For those interested in the changes, consult the Changes in Exchange 2013 or MEC 2012 Summary posts. Note that information contained in these articles may be subject to change while their based on the pre-RTM product.
Note that also Lync Server 2013, Sharepoint 2013 and Office 2013 went RTM. More information on that here.
