Change domain address

[snotty54]

Dear MVP's:

I run a small business and decided to go from peer to peer to SBS 2008. Consider myself a user but not afraid to tackle anything and I'm determined to learn sbs 2008 well enough to take care of it myself. An IT friend loaded sbs 2008 on a new machine I purchased for the server, but since he doesn't specialize in this area, got stuck trying to set up the pop email. Since then I began researching on the net and from this forum I purchased sbs 2008 unleashed and read it slowly from one end to the other. Great book , thank you Dave. I've discovered several things initially, the machine I purchased for a server is totally inadequate other than running sbs 2008 for the short term to learn, all the client computers I plan to connect to the server (4) all had os's that don't work with sbs2008 which is why my IT friend got stuck.
I don't want to waste anyone's time so I've read through every post and thread on this forum back to 2008 when it started, and learned more. I'm excited about making sbs 2008 work for me, and hope I can have the patience to work through all the problems I'm sure I'll encounter. I hope my effort to find the answer any way I can first before querying everyone on here will encourage you to answer me and put me out of my misery, or at least steer me in the right direction.

Since my IT friend loaded the sbs2008 on my box, I have changed the domain of my website. I used the wizard to change the domain and lost the internet. I ended up being late for work but changed the domain back and ran the fix network wizard then finally rebooted the router and got the net back, whew!

The present state of sbs2008 is I have two users installed but no clients yet. I have one laptop with a new os (Win 7 Pro) which I will be installing on all the clients over the next few days.

I apologize for this long post, and if you've made it this far, my question is, what effect will using the set up internet address wizard to change my hosted web site domain address have on the system, OK to change it now before I begin installing clients and actually trying to get email and everything running?

Lastly, if this is an inappropriate post on this forum because of my lack of experience, please let me know.

Thanks,

Scott

 

[markdmac]

Hi Scott, nothing wrong with your post. Welcome to the forum.

I work for a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner that specializes in SBS. It is a great product but as you have learned the hard way you need to know it to really leverage what you have paid for.

My first question for you is if the server hardware is inadequate, are you going to reload on better hardware? A fresh installation early on might be your easiest way to get things right. Especially if you don't know if your friend followed best practices in setting things up.

As for your question, all that should be necessary is for you to run the connect to the Internet Wizard which can be found on the same page as where you found the Fix My Network wizard.

I hope that helps.

Regards,

Mark

Check out my scripting solutions at

http://www.thespidersparlor.com/vbscript

Work SMARTER not HARDER. The Spider's Parlor's Admin Script Pack is a collection of Administrative scripts designed to make IT Administration easier! Save time, get more work done, get the Admin Script Pack.

 

[snotty54]

Thanks Mark, for responding. I will be loading it on better hardware but don't have it in the budget just yet. There is enough power on the mb and processor, and memory is just adequate for a new install, but the storage topography of the box is wholly inadequate. I presume from my initial research, that it isn't too hard to migrate to a new box. If I had known I would have told my IT buddy not to register the sbs 2008 system but to run it in trial mode so I could do several fresh installs to get the feel of it. I presume that'll be problematic now that it's registered?

I'll run the connect to internet wizard again today and if it closes the ports on the router again, I'll just run fix the internet wizard and then reboot the router if necessary. I will be changing all the emails we input in there too. I actually changed the domain name extension as the country I live in manages their country domain and it makes more sense than a .com extension for me at this juncture in my business.

Lastly [for today ] I bought a new more powerful router and plan to install it. I'll turn off the router's dhcp, and run the connect wizard. Hopefully that'll be it.

Thanks,

Scott

 

[markdmac]

You certainly want to have the DHCP turned off on the router, having it running will cause the SBS to shut down its DHCP and then your clients will not get registered with DNS as they should.

For the new email addresses, all you need to do is add the Accepted Domain in Exchange Management Console. Exchange will automatically add the appropriate email to all user IDs. Set it as default to make it be the reply to address for all users.

You should not have a problem with reloading on new hardware even if you registered. You may need to call the toll free number when you go to activate and just tell the MS Support Representative that you only have the OS installed on one system.

Another option and one I would highly recommend is to purchase ShadowProtect from StorageCraft. It is a great backup/disaster recovery system that supports hardware independent restore. Retail for the SBS version is about $450. You could back up to a USB drive with that and then restore onto new hardware when you get it. The ShadowProtect will ask for needed drivers during the restore and make it all work. It is a great product that has saved me a bunch of times.

I hope that helps.

Regards,

Mark

Check out my scripting solutions at

http://www.thespidersparlor.com/vbscript

Work SMARTER not HARDER. The Spider's Parlor's Admin Script Pack is a collection of Administrative scripts designed to make IT Administration easier! Save time, get more work done, get the Admin Script Pack.

 

[snotty54]

Thanks for replying, and confirming on the dhcp. As mentioned earlier, I am making my best effort to research what I need to know to move forward but confirmation and further advice very much appreciated by this neophyte. I have taken an initial look at Shadow Protect and have it on my list as both you and Dave recommend it highly. Unfortunately, due to a lower level of revenue in my business at present, I must delay any further investment in the infrastructure until things improve. I'm sure I'm not alone in that, and many IT professionals are chafing at the lack of resources but expected to deliver.

Making the domain and email changes in the next 24 hours, fingers crossed, things go smoothly.

Thanks,

Scott

 

[happyhacker]

snotty54, I am in the same position as yourselk (UK based) and I volunteer for a charity. I have bought a HP proliant ML115 G5 and configured RAID 1 on two 1Tbyte drives. If that wansn't frightening enough I have now loaded SBS 2008 3 times and I did change the external domain name without any problems. I have done the A record and now have remote access using the included cert.

I have (perhaps foolishly) downloaded Exchange 2007 SP3 (see my other post) and run as many wizards as possible and the BPAs and slowley working through them. What frightens me is the fixes one has to do withour understanding what they are! I would very much like to keep an eye on how you are progressing (If you wish) but don't know if there is a specific way to do this.

I am now due to add myself as an ordinary user and configure POP3 to see if Exchange is really working (re my other post!). Then I shall start adding clients (I have upgraded most of the "Home" ones and even added W7Pro to some PCs which are 6 years old (and they sing very well on it) - had to add a graphics card to some.

Be interseted to know how you progress.

Thanks for your time.

 

[markdmac]

Why use POP accounts? Have your email delivered directly to the server. Configure your Outlook for Outlook Anywhere and you can eliminate the need for POP entirely.

I hope that helps.

Regards,

Mark

Check out my scripting solutions at

http://www.thespidersparlor.com/vbscript

Work SMARTER not HARDER. The Spider's Parlor's Admin Script Pack is a collection of Administrative scripts designed to make IT Administration easier! Save time, get more work done, get the Admin Script Pack.

 

[snotty54]

Hey HH:

Since my last posting I was away on my wife's annual holiday (this is the one where we do whatever she wants to do!) and on my return I foolishly stopped in to Tiger Direct's newly expanded store in Miami and ended up buying all the components to build my new server. They were having a helluva sale. Had to drop the case off to my freight forwarder, couldn't get it on the plane, should have it Tuesday next.

I have five 500gig 7200rpm hard drives and still trying to decide which raid set up will be best. I don't want to ask anyone on here until I've studied up on the various configs a bit more, then perhaps get a best practices answer. Mark, Dave and the other frequent posters are great.

As previously stated I've tried to do as much research as I can and realized I just have to bite the bullet and get going. I've configured two of the four clients in my little world to Win7 Ultimate and have both connected to the server and I've gotten exchange email going today on one of them.

I'm going to be moving steadily towards a network where I control all the communications and also my web site, which is a selling tool for my business. So far so good.

I note that many query solutions on here when they have a problem but only about a 1/4 to a 1/3 follow up with how they resolved it. Shame more don't appreciate the advice, and let us know how it was resolved for everyone's benefit.

 

[snotty54]

Hi Mark:

I'm feeling very ignorant right now, I thought the only way I could get my email while my email and web site was still hosted by another company was to use pop3 pull in? I'll start reading up on Outlook Anywhere, thanks.

Scott

 

[markdmac]

Scott, all you need to do is edit your MX record in public DNS. Set that to your public IP address and make sure your firewall is set to deliver port 25 traffic to your SBS server. Then the SBS server will start receiving email.

Along with this two things you will want to setup. Contact your ISP and make sure you have an RDNS entry. You can look that up and test it at

http://www.iptools.com.

Just enter your public IP address in the RDNS lookup and verify it resolves to your host name (usually something like mail.company.com). If it does not resolve then contact your ISP and ask them to set that up. They have to do it since they own the IP Address.

Second you will want to make sure you have an SPF record. You can use the wizard at

http://old.openspf.org/wizard.html

to figure out the text you need to use. Then enter that in your public DNS.


I hope that helps.

Regards,

Mark

Check out my scripting solutions at

http://www.thespidersparlor.com/vbscript

Work SMARTER not HARDER. The Spider's Parlor's Admin Script Pack is a collection of Administrative scripts designed to make IT Administration easier! Save time, get more work done, get the Admin Script Pack.

 

[markdmac]

A little more detail on my above post. If you are not familiar with working with your public DNS, usually you will create an A record for something like "mail.company.com" and point that to your public IP. Then you will set the MX record to be mail.company.com.

For best practice, you then get a certificate (GoDaddy has them really cheap at $29.00) for mail.company.com and install that using the Trusted Certificate Wizard in the SBS Console.

The certificate is used with Outlook Anywhere, OWA and ActiveSync as well as Remote Web Workplace (in the TS Gateway Configuration).

I hope that helps.

Regards,

Mark

Check out my scripting solutions at

http://www.thespidersparlor.com/vbscript

Work SMARTER not HARDER. The Spider's Parlor's Admin Script Pack is a collection of Administrative scripts designed to make IT Administration easier! Save time, get more work done, get the Admin Script Pack.

 

[snotty54]

Hi Mark:

Thanks. I'm researching a and mx records and how to access, change, create. I've been on Godaddy several times and I can't find the $29 certificate. $49 is the cheapest I see, can you direct me to the $29 one? I'm ready to pull the trigger on that.

My server is working although the 3 clients I have on the server seem to freeze every now and then and it takes awhile before they will respond to the keyboard or mouse. I've checked to make sure all updates are up to date but I have not enable Foreshore Security for the email yet, perhaps that is causing the freezing?

Thanks,

Scott

 

[markdmac]

Sorry I misquoted the price on GoDaddy, been a few months since I looked on their site and I guess they raised the price.

You do get a discount if you get more than 1 year. It is still a LOT less than a Verisign or Thawte Cert.

The Forefront Security is just a trial and is rather expensive. I recommend you look at MXLogic instead. It filters your mail before it gets to your server so you don't waste bandwidth on spam. Also it provides access to mailboxes if your server goes down and will spool your mail if your server is just down for temporary maintenance. Cost on that is currently around $5.00/mailbox/month.

If that recurring cost is too much, look at getting a copy of TrendMicro Worry Free Security for SBS. Free trail available here:

http://forms.trendmicro.com/index.php?dom=us&productID=105.

Much better cost than Forefront.

I hope that helps.

Regards,

Mark

Check out my scripting solutions at

http://www.thespidersparlor.com/vbscript

Work SMARTER not HARDER. The Spider's Parlor's Admin Script Pack is a collection of Administrative scripts designed to make IT Administration easier! Save time, get more work done, get the Admin Script Pack.

 

[snotty54]

Hi Mark:

Heh-heh....oddly enough, in your post message footer is an ad for GoDaddy for an ssl cert for US$12.99! Please hit the link and tell me if that is what I need? It offers that price for up to 5 years, sounds like a great deal. Will that ssl be sufficient?

I've gone to the DNS management console and under forward lookup zones right clicked my external domain where one can create an a record and an mx record. I went to the site you recommended and created an a record to see what happened and it looks fairly straight forward. Is there a way to check to see if I have an existing a and mx record before I go making a new one?

Thanks,

Scott

 

[snotty54]

Mark:

It was in the "ads by google".

 

[markdmac]

If your domain gets email then you have an MX record. You can even have more than one, but in your case you will want only one.

Sorry I don't see that ad, but that does sound right. You don't need their premium cert and in fact I would recommend against it unless you have an e-commerce site. Just a basic cert is all you need.

I hope that helps.

Regards,

Mark

Check out my scripting solutions at

http://www.thespidersparlor.com/vbscript

Work SMARTER not HARDER. The Spider's Parlor's Admin Script Pack is a collection of Administrative scripts designed to make IT Administration easier! Save time, get more work done, get the Admin Script Pack.

 

[snotty54]

Hi Mark:

I managed to grab the Godaddy basic ssl cert for $12.99 year so grabbed 3 years. The link was off this site and I grabbed it from my history file in Chrome. My next move is to sign up for the business adsl so I can get a static ip then I'll be able to apply the cert correctly.

I looked at Trend Micro and the pricing seems reasonable. Right now with the pop3 connector bringing in email from my hosted web site, I presume their antispam/antivirus software is protecting me for the short term.

I'm still trying to figure out the moves to grab email directly as you've suggested, pop3 was only a stop gap until I host my own web site but your solution sounds much, much better than pop3 connector. I'm sure I'll have some more questions on how to do it but I printed off your earlier instructions and will follow those.

Here is another newbie question for you. I have several email addresses, 2 each from different domains. My main domain emails are one for work and one for home. I set up my office computer to receive the work one, and my home computer to receive the home ones. Now I realize I can't receive them the way I used to because exchange only allows each user one exchange mailbox, at least with Outlook 2007, so how do I receive my different emails through exchange? Right now, to get the home one, I'm going to have to enter it as a pop3 email to receive it. Is there a way to bring in several emails through exchange to the same user and have those emails stored in their respective folders so if I want to view my emails from my "home" email address I access that folder and if I want to view my "work" emails I go to that folder, all under the mail exchange folder? Obviously I would have the same logon from different client computers so the desktop and Outlook would be the exact same on different clients, correct?

Sorry if this is a dumb question but I've gone through the SBS 2008 unleashed book and online and can't seem to find an answer.

Thanks,

Scott

 

[markdmac]

You may have confused me here with the description of home and work email without giving examples, but I will try to take a stab at this for you.

Your Exchange will allow you to have a primary SMTP address and as many secondary or "alias" addresses as you like. Your Exchange server can also be responsible to receive email for many domains.

http://www.petri.co.il/configure-exchange-2007-recieve-email-other-domains.htm

You can configure Outlook rules to deliver email to be filtered into different folders based on the address they were sent to. Be aware that Outlook client rules are specific to the Outlook installation, so you would need to duplicate the rules on each PC you use.

Did this answer your question?

Also, I am waiting on formal approval of a new FAQ I wrote. Not sure if you can reach it yet or not but give this link a try and if it does not work try again in a day or two. This lists additional configuration steps I do for SBS 2008.

http://www.tek-tips.com/faqs.cfm?fid=7390

I hope that helps.

Regards,

Mark

Check out my scripting solutions at

http://www.thespidersparlor.com/vbscript

Work SMARTER not HARDER. The Spider's Parlor's Admin Script Pack is a collection of Administrative scripts designed to make IT Administration easier! Save time, get more work done, get the Admin Script Pack.

 

[snotty54]

Hi Mark:

Thanks for your reply. I understand that I can have only one Exchange email box but that I can configure numerous other email addresses as well. I'm looking for the mechanics of how to do it but haven't found that yet. I did enable an email policy but I'm not sure if that is working because I've broken something and not sure how to fix it.

I had assigned my main "home@domain.com" email address to the admin account and after reading more realized that best practice is to not use that on a daily basis but have a user account so I enabled that and I switched the email account for main admin in the "edit user account" dialog, and also switched the "home@domain.com" email to the new daily user account for myself. After enabling the exchange account in Outlook a password dialog comes up with the admin user name in there looking for a password but none of the passwords work, and when I hit cancel, a dialog comes up saying "Cannot Start MS Outlook. Cannot open Outlook window. Set of folders cannot be opened. Must connect MS Exchange with current profile before you can synchronize your folders with your offline folder file".

Any idea how I messed it up?

I tried the "Fix network wizard" and it is saying one of the ports on the firewall is not open "987" but it is open I've checked in the router firewall. All the other necessary ports are enabled in the router firewall.

Rgds,

Scott

 

[happyhacker]

If you are an admin (like me) you would probably need emails going to the admin account. I get users emailing me problems and I need the email "at my side" in the admin page so I can process it easier. Would you not agree?

Thanks for your time.