Office 365 Hybrid Deployment With Exchange 2010 SP2 – Part 5

MS Exchange

We have configured ADFS 2.0, Microsoft Online Services Module for PowerShell, enabled a public domain for SSO, activated AD synchronization in Office 365, installed & configured Dir Sync tool in our on-premise environment & sync’d AD with Office 365. Read part one, two, three and four, if you have missed it. In this part, we will add the Office 365 forest in our on-premise Exchange 2010 EMC and configure hybrid deployment to have a seamless functionality irrespective of whether your mailbox is on-premise or in the cloud.

As we have a sync’d AD in the cloud, let’s add the Office 365 tenant to the Exchange 2010 EMC. Launch EMC and select “Microsoft Exchange”. Click on “Add Exchange Forest” on the right hand pane. Type in a friendly name, (say Office 365) and select “Exchange Online” as the fqdn for remote PowerShell instance & click ok.

Add office 365 in EMC

Enter the Office 365 admin credentials.

Credential for connecting o365 to emc

Wait for a minute or two and the console will display the Office 365 options in the EMC.

O365 added in EMC

This is all fine, but we really need to setup the “hybrid deployment” feature in Exchange 2010 SP2 next. A hybrid deployment provides the seamless look and feel of a single Exchange organization between on-premises and cloud based organization. Having hybrid deployment configured properly gives the following benefits for on-premise and cloud based mailbox users.

  • Free/busy sharing
  • Mailbox Moves
  • Message Tracking
  • MailTips
  • Online Archiving
  • OWA Re-direction
  • Secure email using TLS.

Let’s create a hybrid deployment in 2010 SP2. Launch EMC, select Organization Configuration and select “Hybrid Deployment” tab. Click on “New Hybrid Configuration” from the right hand pane. Click “New”.

Hybrid Configuration Wizard_1

Click “finish” and that’s it.

Hybrid Configuration Wizard_2

The above process only creates a new hybrid deployment. The next step si to configure it. Select the “Hybrid Configuration object and click “Manage Hybrid Configuration”. A new wizard starts and this is where we configure the settings for seamless functionality between on-premise and Office 365.

Make sure the pre-reqs are met and click Next. You should have a public certificate for your Exchange services configured, which any org will have.

Manage Hybrid Configuration_1

Enter the admin credentials for Office 365 and on-premise Exchange. Check the “remember my credentials” checkbox.

Manage Hybrid Configuration_2

Add the domain to configure for hybrid setup. This domain has to be an accepted domain in the on-premise Exchange.

Manage Hybrid Configuration_3

Proof of ownership for the domain has to confirmed. You will be asked to add a TXT record in your public DNS. Once that is down, check the box & select “Next”. If the replication takes a while, you can run the wizard again.

Manage Hybrid Configuration_4

Select the on-premise CAS and Hub servers.

Manage Hybrid Configuration_5

Select the public IP through which emails will be received from the cloud. Specify the on-premise hub server fqdn as well and click next.

Manage Hybrid Configuration_6

Select the certificate to be used for secure email using TLS (this has to be a public certificate on the Exchange server). The choice for email flow path can be selected as well.

Manage Hybrid Configuration_7

Have a look at the summary and click “Manage” if you are happy with the settings.

Manage Hybrid Configuration_8

Click “finish”.

Manage Hybrid Configuration_9

You will now have seamless functionality irrespective of the location of the user mailbox.

This concludes part 5. Stay tuned for part 6!

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  1. Thanks for sharing the info. I believe Organization Configuration Container is completely removed when adding Exchange Online in ON-Premise EMC.

    I been heard MS has recently announced that O365 organization changes and modification is only possible through EAC .

    Am i right?

    Reply
  2. Looking for Part 6.

    Specifically though, I’m looking for information concerning how to move *from* a Hybrid Deployment (Exch 2007, Exch 2010, connected to Office 365-Exch2013) *to* Exchange Online-only. In other words, after moving all mailboxes to the cloud, how to get rid of all on-prem Exchange servers.

    Maintaining DirSync is acceptable.

    I’m looking for an officially accepted, supported procedure to do this, ideally something that is documented by MSOL.

    Thanks,
    Steve

    Reply
  3. Hi Rajith
    this is without doubt the best article i have found on this subject – technet documentation is too complex to understand for someone new to exchange but this is well explained –
    what is the ‘forefront online protection for exchange’ bit? Is this referring to the cloud org or on premise org? I thought Forefront is a seperate paid for product that basically is anti virus for Exchange? Sorry for my ignorance. Cheers

    Reply
    • HI Nicholas,

      Forefront Online Protection for Exchange is the cloud based, paid antispam/antivirus solution from Microsoft. It is called FOPE.
      Forefront Protection 2010 for Exchange is the antispam/antivirus software which gets installed on the on-premise Exchange services. Again, it is from Microsoft.

      Reply
  4. In the product documentation you find this information, but this is a very good proces illustrated with pictures, thank you very much.
    Recommend to the six part how to:
    Create mailboxes between organizations
    Moving mailboxes between organizations
    Validate the mail flow, and features of exchange.

    Reply
  5. One question

    My Domain name and smtp names are different one is something say tiger.com (which not owned) and my smtp is lion.com (which i owned) so i can i solve my issue?

    Please help me out in this.

    Thanks in advance.

    Reply
  6. Hi Techies,

    I am awaiting for Part 6..We may have to discuss about the issues which may come up when we create hybrid..

    I would like to be a part of that discussion,

    Regards,
    KIng

    Reply
  7. Thanks so much for this post. i am having trouble with the Hybrid Server ont he last step of configuration because of a cert error ”
    The Client Access Server Mail1 does not have a Certificate that contains the On-premises Web Services External Url domain (domain.org) in the certificate Subject or Alternate Names”. I am using my public cert for webmail.. it should be complete. can someone help? thanks

    Reply
  8. Timely & appreciated! Maybe Part6 will have discuss mail flow/message tracking a little more and Hub Transport/Journal rules administration some? Exchange Active Sync mobility? UAG? Mailbox provising & move-to-cloud scripting? :) So many more pieces – but you are great – thank you for your blog!!

    Reply
    • Hi Learner,

      I wasn’t well for a few days and hence no posts. I haven’t decided what Part 6 should have, but I like your pointers ;)

      Reply
  9. Hi,

    ‘Update-HybridConfiguration’ above may fail if the following conditions are true:

    1/ If using a certificate that includes the e= field in the Subject Name, then the ‘Hybrid Configuration Wizard’ will fail. Interim Update KB2664448 will fix this issue, or you can wait for Update Rollup 1 for E2010 SP2 which will also resolve this.

    2/ In addition, a ‘Free’ certificate from FreeSSL or StartSSL may fail with ‘Invalid Date’ when selecting it via the ‘Hybrid Confguration Wizard’, even though when importing, Exchange reports the certificate ‘Valid for Exchange Server usage’. I am yet to discover why this occurs, but in essence, a pucker UCC SSL cert will not experience this issue currently. So if testing, there may be some odd experiences.

    Hope this helps to keep some ‘testers’ sane.

    Thanks…

    MSEBlogger.

    Reply

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Disable Windows Copilot Using Intune

Windows Copilot is Microsoft’s take on making life easier for Windows users using the power of AI. This article explains how to disable the feature using Intune, if your organization is not ready yet to walk into the AI world.

Disable Windows Copilot Using Intune

We need to create a Configuration Profile for Windows devices in the Intune portal to disable Windows Copilot. Below are the steps that we need to create the profile.

Launch the Intune Portal and login as a Global Admin or Intune Admin.

Navigate to Devices -> Windows -> Configuration Profiles.

Windows Configuration Profile Intune

Click on Create -> New Policy.

Select Windows 10 & later as the platform and Settings Catalog as the profile type & click on the Create button.

Settings Catalog Intune CoPilot

Give the policy a meaningful name & description and click Next.

Policy Name Disable CoPilot

Within the configuration settings, click on the Add Settings option.

Add Settings Disable CoPilot

Search for ‘copilot’, Windows AI will come up as the category. Click on Windows AI and the Turn off Copilot in Windows (User) setting will come up. Check the box and click Next.

Turn off CoPilot Setting Intune
Turn off CoPilot Setting Intune Summary 1

Specify scope tags if required and click Next.

Select tags CoPilot Intune

Select who this policy should apply to in the Assignments section. I have selected to add all users. If you want to test the setting, you can create a test group and select that group here.

Similarly, you can also exclude certain group from disabling AI (say IT team) if required.

Add all users disable copilot intune

A summary of selected settings will be displayed. Click on the Create button to setup the policy to disable Windows Copilot.

Create configuration policy disable CoPilot Intune 1

Wait for the replication to complete in the cloud backend and login to your machine. Your chatty Copilot should now be disabled.

Disable Windows Copilot On Windows 11 Pro

Follow the steps below to disable Copilot on a personal Windows 11 Pro machine (say your own laptop).

Search for ‘group’ in Windows 11 and click on Edit Group Policy option.

Group Policy Windows 11 Disable Copilot

Navigate to User Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows Components -> Windows Copilot.

Windows Copilot GPO setting

Double click on Turn off Windows Copilot setting on the right pane.

Select Enabled and click OK.

Turn off copilot gpo Windows 11 Pro 1

Close the Group Policy Editor. This will disable Windows Copilot on a Windows 11 Pro machine.

Summary

We have learned to disable Windows Copilot using Intune and Group Policy on Windows 11 machines.

Please let me know if you have any questions in the comments section.

Promote Windows Server 2025 To Domain Controller

Domain controllers are the backbone of any Active Directory domains in the Microsoft world. Any Windows server can be promoted to be a domain controller. In this article, we will go through the steps of promoting a Windows 2025 Server to be a domain controller.

Windows Server 2025

The latest version of the server operating system has been named Windows Server 2025. You can start with a 2025 Server & create an AD domain or you can promote a member server that is already a part of a domain.

The Windows Server 2025 needs to be installed on a machine before it can be promoted to be a domain controller.

Promote Windows Server 2025 To Domain Controller

If you have been working with Windows servers long enough, everything starts with the Server Manager app. Promoting a server to a domain controller is no different.

Launch ‘Server Manager’ & click on Add roles and features.

Windows 2025 Server Manager

You land on the summary page that explains what is required to run this wizard successfully. Click Next.

Windows Server 2025 Add Remove Roles

Select Role-based or Feature-based installation and click Next.

Windows Server 2025 Role Based Install

Select the server that needs to be promoted and click Next.

Windows Server 2025 Destination Server

Select Active Directory Domain Services (second option) and click on Add Features.

Windows Server 2025 AD Domain Services

Go with the default options for features that need to be installed.

Windows Server 2025 AD Domain Services Features

A summary of AD DS pops up next, click next to continue.

Windows Server 2025 AD DS

Select Restart the server automatically if required and click Install.

Windows Server 2025 AD Restart Server

You get to keep an eye on the progress of the installation.

Windows Server 2025 AD Install Progress

Once the role has been installed, you will find an exclamation mark on the top right corner of the Server Manager. Click on that and select Promote this server to be a domain controller.

Windows Server 2025 AD Install Continue

You get an error straight away (which you have never seen before) – Error determining whether the target server is already a domain controller. Role change is in progress or this computer needs a restart.

Windows Server 2025 Domain Controller Setup Error

We never needed to restart the server after installing the role in the DC promotion process. Given that it is an insider build of Server 2025, I am hoping that this will get fixed before the public release.

Restart the server, launch Server Manager and click on the Promote this server to be a domain controller option again.

Windows Server 2025 AD Install Continue 1

I am setting up a brand new AD forest and hence I select the third option (Add a new forest) and enter my root domain name.

Windows Server 2025 Add a forest

Next window brings the option to set your forest & domain functional level and the DSRM password. In the insider build, it shows what looks like a variable (the Windows server version on which the you are working).

Windows Server 2025 Forest Functional Level

You can leave the default options in the DNS options wizard and click next.

Windows Server 2025 DNS Options

Enter the netbios name of the domain in the next window and click next.

Windows Server 2025 Netbios Domain Name

You can stick with the default paths for the AD database, log & sysvol folder or pick a location of your choice.

Windows Server 2025 AD Paths

Review the selections that you have made so far and click next.

Windows Server 2025 Options Review

Wait for the green check mark on the prerequisites page and click next.

Windows Server 2025 Pre reqs Check

Click Install in the final window & wait for the magic to happen. Once the machine gets restarted (which it will do automatically), you will have a brand new domain controller based on Windows Server 2025.

Windows Server 2025 AD Snap In

Summary

Promoting a Server 2025 to a domain controller follows pretty much the same steps as previous operating systems. The Insider build has few errors that needs to be fixed, but hey, it is an insider build!

Please let me know if you have any questions in the comments section.

Install Windows Server 2025 – Full Guide

Microsoft has released an insider preview of it’s next server operating system named Windows Server 2025. We will have a look at the installation steps involved in setting up a 2025 server.

Windows Server 2025

Microsoft has gone with the same look and feel of Windows 11 operating system in it’s current server operating system – Windows Server 2025. As the product is in insider preview, there might be slight changes before it hits the public shelves.

It is refreshing to see a ‘modern’ feel in the installation process of a server operating system. Gone are the days where the installation of a consumer based OS felt much better compared to it’s server counterpart.

Installing Windows Server 2025

Let’s take a look at the steps involved in setting up a Windows Server 2025 machine. First step is to download the ISO from the Windows Insider portal.

Next step is to boot the virtual / physical machine from the ISO which will kick off the installation of Server 2025.

First option to select is the language settings. Pick the one based which relates to you and click next.

Windows Server 2025 language settings

Select the keyboard settings in the next screen and click next.

Windows Server 2025 keyboard

You get the option to select whether you want to Install Windows Server or Repair the installation. The bottom left corner also has the option to go to the previous version of setup.

Windows Server 2025 setup option

You are asked to enter the product key, which is available in the Windows Insider portal.

Windows Server 2025 product key

Next option to choose is the type of image you want to install – Windows 2025 core or full blown desktop experience.

Windows Server 2025 Desktop

You need to agree to the licensing terms to move forward in the next step.

Windows Server 2025 Agreement License

Select the partition on which the server OS should be installed and click next. You also have the option to slice the partitions the way you see fit in the same screen.

Windows Server 2025 Disk Partitions

The Ready to Install window comes up, click the install button.

Windows Server 2025 Install 1

Installation of Server 2025 is underway and you get to see the progress.

Windows Server 2025 Install Progress

Once the installation is complete, you need to enter an administrator password of your choice to finalize the setup.

Windows Server 2025 Password

And there you go! You see a Windows 11 login screen staring at you ;-)

Windows Server 2025 Login Screen

After logging in, you get to set the options around sending diagnostic data to Microsoft, which I always set as ‘required only’.

Windows Server 2025 Diagnostic Data

The Windows Server 2025 desktop looks similar, doesn’t it? ;-)

Windows Server 2025 Desktop Feel scaled

Now that the server is up and running, you can promote it to be a domain controller.

Summary

The Windows Server 2025 has the same look and feel as a Windows 11 operating system. The installation options also provide that modern ‘feel’ and makes it a bit soothing to the eyes!

Please let me know if you have any questions in the comments section.