Exchange 2003 clustering is an excellent way to improve the availability of you Exchange Database servers, however, it does introduce a number of complexities, especially when you are applying updates to Windows or Exchange 2003.

In this article I would like to take you through what I have found the safest way to upgrade your Exchange 2003 Clusters.

Before we begin – Backups;

It goes without saying, but – take a backup of your Exchange environment before you apply any for of patch. You would be surprised the amount of people that I have worked with that have cooked Exchange installations because they thought that it would be ok to apply that “one little update” that seemed to do nothing important.

Believe me, assume that all updates are important, and assume that they could all cause some form of havoc (remember the Scalable Networking Pack in Windows 2003 SP2??).

When backing up a Windows 2003 Cluster which is running Exchange you will need a verifiable backup of at least the following components:

• Each Node’s System State (this will include the Quorum)
• An Online backup of each Information Store that you have

These can be done by using NTBACKUP – or indeed the software vendor of your own choice, and I recommend that you do a backup to disk which in the event of something going wrong is quicker to restore.

Installing Updates;

NOTE: Before we begin it is important to know that the update process will require some down time on your Exchange Server – the down time will be dictated by the amount of time it takes the Primary Cluster Node to fail-over to the Passive Node – therefore it is recommended that all updates are performed outside Hours.

Now for Exchange updates there are a couple of methods that you can use to get the updates onto your Exchange Server;

• Download the required updates manually and then apply them using the method below
  • Pros: Full control over the process Cons: When faced with updated that post-date others it can be difficult to ascertain which updated needs to be applied an in what order.
• Use a management tool such as SMS or LANDESK to patch the server
  • Pros: Automated Process Cons: Can be complex to configure in the context of Exchange clusters, and products like SMS still require you to manually select the update you wish to apply within a package.
• Use Windows Update
  • Pros: The Latest versions are automatically detected and downloaded and then installed Cons: Requires the installation of an ActiveX control, some small pre-installation work needs to be done on the server (see below)

I tend to favour the latter of the ideas, as I prefer to be 100% sure that the update that I have chosen does indeed apply to my installation and it give me full control over the whole process.

Applying Updates to Exchange 2003 Clusters using Windows Update;

I am sure that there are many Exchange installations out there which are at different Operating System patch levels, and indeed different Exchange levels, so for the purposes of this article the following is the configuration of my LAB server – it doesn’t really matter if your installation differs as the process for installing patch should be the same. It is also important to note that the process of installing a Patch differs from the process of installing a Service Pack.

• Windows 2003 Enterprise Edition Service Pack 2 with all the latest (as of 22/10/2007) Operating System Patches
• Exchange 2003 Enterprise Edition with Service Pack 2 (no patches)

Step 1 – Move all Cluster Services;

On your Primary go to “START -> PROGRAMS -> ADMINISTRATIVE TOOLS -> CLUSTER ADMINISTRATOR” (see below)

In the Cluster Administrator under the “Groups” section Right Click on the “Cluster Group” and from the context menu that appears select “Move Group” – then repeat this step for the group which contains your Exchange Virtual Server. (see below)

When the Cluster Groups have moved over to the passive cluster node correctly – right click on the previously active nodes account in the cluster administrator and select “Stop Cluster Service” – see below

The cluster service on the node will then begin to stop – see below:

When the cluster service on the node has stopped, close the Cluster Administrator and then open up Internet Explorer and enter in the following URL: http://update.microsoft.com/microsoftupdate/v6/default.aspx?ln=en-us – you might be required to install an ActiveX control – please follow the process through until you arrive at the follow screen:

Click on the “Custom” button and Microsoft Update will go away and look for the latest updates for your server – AND – Exchange Server – see below

When Microsoft update has finished check you will be presented with the screen that looks like the following:

It is important to note that at this stage you might also be presented with Windows Server updates – you can choose to remove them for this session and only install the Exchange updates, or you can install the Windows updates first – or you can install them all at the same time – however if you choose to do the Windows updates first there is a strong chance that your Node will require a reboot, which if this is the case you will need to stop the Cluster Service again when the machine boots backup (you will not need to move the Cluster Groups).

If you choose to install the Exchange Updates first -or– if all you see in the list is Exchange Updates click on the “Review and Install Updates” link and the screen will change to the following:

Click on the “Install Updates” button to begin the download and installation process – see below:

Generally speaking when applying updates to Exchange via Microsoft Update they will prompt you to to run through installation wizards – see below

When prompted with such a situation please follow the wizard through – you will be prompted with a license agreement – you will need to select the “I agree” option and then click on the “Next” button– see below;

The installer process will then begin to analyse your system and backup files that need to be replaced – see below;

As a result of the system analysis some of the patches for Exchange might need to stop some services – in this case you will be prompted with a dialog box like the one below – in this case click on the “Continue” button;

When the patch has finished installing you will be presented with a dialog box informing you that the installation was completed – see below;

You need to follow the above process for each update. When the updates have completed I recommend that you reboot the node.

When the Reboot has completed you will need to ensure that the Cluster Service has been started on the node you have been working on, and then fail the Exchange services back to the Active Node. You can then repeat the same process on the Passive node.

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