XIMS: How to Configure a Single Domain with Connected Sites via IMS

This article explains how to connect two or more Exchange Server sites in the same organization using the Internet Mail Service. Frequently a company wants to set up a single e-mail domain, such as CompanyName.com, for all Exchange Server sites, and connect the sites over the Internet using the Internet Mail Service. This way, all users have a common e-mail domain regardless of their physical location. Microsoft Exchange Server can provide this functionality.

Assume that the Exchange Server organization is called ExchangeORG, and the three sites are called, SiteA, SiteB, and SiteC. Also assume that the sites are installed, but are not yet connected.

Prerequisites

1. Each site must have a connection to the Internet (by means of the Internet Mail Service).
2. Each site must have a valid (routable) Internet IP address.
3. At each site you should set up a valid Exchange Server Site e-mail domain name, and the corresponding "Site" MX (Mail Exchanger) record and A (Address) records.
   
   The local Internet Service Provider (ISP) in each site enters this information in at least two of the ISP's Domain Name Service (DNS) servers.
   
   NOTE: The purpose of an MX record is to match up the e-mail domain to the mail host for that domain. The purpose of the A record is to match up the mail host (in this case, the Exchange Server computer) to its IP address for the connection.
   
   This step is necessary if you will be using the ISP's DNS servers to send mail between the sites. This step is not be necessary, however, for this example, because the procedures in steps 7 through 12 of this article provides the required connectivity.
4. The company must have registered a valid (registered with InterNIC) Internet e-mail domain, for example, microsoft.com, with their ISP, including the MX and A records. The MX record points to a mail host at one of the sites, and the A record will be that mail host's IP address.
   
   For this example, the configuration is:
   
   SiteA

         MX record:  SiteA.microsoft.com   (10)    Server1.SiteA.microsoft.com
         A Record:   ServerA.SiteA.microsoft.com   10.10.10.10
    
   						

   SiteB

         MX record:  SiteB.microsoft.com    (10)   Server1.SiteB.microsoft.com
         A Record:   ServerB.SiteB.microsoft.com   10.10.10.15
    
   						

   SiteC

         MX record:  SiteC.microsoft.com    (10)   Server1.SiteC.microsoft.com
         A Record:   ServerC.SiteC.microsoft.com   10.10.10.20
    
   						

   Company e-mail domain is microsoft.com

         MX record:  microsoft.com          (10)   Server1.SiteA.microsoft.com
         A Record:   Server1.SiteA.microsoft.com   10.10.10.10
    
   						

How to Set Up the Internet Mail Service and Connectors to the Remote Sites

1. Install the Internet Mail Service at each site using the Internet Mail Wizard. Follow the wizard's instructions, but for this example, when prompted for the e-mail domain name at each site, use SiteA.microsoft.com, SiteB.microsoft.com, and SiteC.microsoft.com, respectively.
2. At SiteA, go to the Internet Mail Service, and click the Connected Sites tab. Click New to set up a new remote site connection over the Internet Mail Service.
3. The Properties dialog box appears. On the General tab, note that the organization field is already filled in. Enter the remote site name, SiteB, in this example.
   
   NOTE: The remote site name must match the directory name of the remote site exactly, not the Display Name. To find the directory name of the remote site, start the Exchange Server Administrator program, and select the Site object. On the File menu, click Properties. The site directory name is listed here.
4. Next, click the Routing Address tab. In the Type field, type SMTP in upper case. Enter the e-mail domain name in the Address field, @SiteB.microsoft.com, in this example.
5. Click OK, and you have finished connecting the first site connector. Complete steps 2 through 5 again for all other sites you want to connect to the Internet Mail Service. For this example, repeat for SiteC.

Making Domain-Specific Routing Entries

1. To send mail to these remote sites, make routing entries. These are domain-specific routing entries that enable you to avoid using DNS servers to route mail to remote domains specified. While you are still in the Internet Mail Service, go to the Connections tab.
2. In the Message Delivery box, click E-Mail Domain.... You can see a routing table where you make specific domain entries.
3. Click Add. In the E-Mail domain field, type SiteB.microsoft.com.
4. Next, click Forward all messages for this domain to host. Type the IP address for SiteB (10.10.10.15).
5. Click OK, and you can see a route just entered.
6. Now, for SiteC, type, SiteC.microsoft.com, and 10.10.10.20.
7. At SiteA, you have now finished making site connectors to SiteB and SiteC. You need to go through steps 2 through 5 of the above section, "How to Set Up the Internet Mail Service and Connectors to the Remote Sites" (if you haven't already done so), and steps 1 through 6 of this section to set up SiteB's and SiteC's connectors. Enter the correct site-specific information.
8. Now all sites should have site connectors to all the other sites they are to connect to by means of the Internet Mail Service. The next step is to set up the Directory Replication Connectors between the Sites.

Setting up Directory Replication by means of the Internet Mail Service

NOTE: Do not set up Directory Replication connectors between sites unless you are prepared to configure both or all sites. The result is a backlog of replication messages that cannot be sent to the remote sites that are not configured.

1. Starting with SiteA, in the Exchange Server Administrator program, select the Directory Replication container under the Configuration object. On the File menu, click New Other, then click Directory Replication Connector.
2. The Directory Replication Connector dialog box appears. The two sites, SiteB and SiteC, should be listed in the drop-down menu. SiteB should be listed first.
3. Type the server name.
   
   NOTE: This is the NetBIOS name, not the host.domain name. You can find the NetBIOS name by starting the Exchange Server Administrator program at the remote site, and clicking the Plus sign (+) next to the Servers object. The server you are to to connect to should be listed. In this example, it is ServerB.
4. Click No, the remote site is not available on this network, and then click OK.
5. Now, the Directory Replication Connector Properties page appears. Just click OK; you can configure the connector later.
6. Repeat steps 1 through 5 of this section for SiteC.
7. Now, repeat steps 1 through 6 of this section again at SiteB and SiteC to set up their Directory Replication connectors. After this is done, you can speed up directory replication between the sites by doing a knowledge consistency check, and an "Update Now" in the Directory Replication Connectors.

Speeding up Initial Directory Replication between Sites

1. At each site respectively, select the server under the Servers object. In this example, ServerA, ServerB, and ServerC.
2. Double-click the Directory Service object in the right pane of the Exchange Server Administrator program. The General tab appears with a button labeled "Check Now."
3. Click Check Now to run the knowledge consistency check, and the new sites appear in the left window of the Administrator program.
4. Next, select the Directory Replication container. In the right window you can see the new Directory Replication connectors. Double-click the first one in the list, Directory Replication Connector (SiteB), or similar, depending on which site you are currently working on. The Properties pages appear.
5. Click the Sites tab. In the left window, you can see the new site you are to replicate with. If configuring SiteA, then you should see SiteB here. Click SiteB, and then click Request Now. Another dialog box appears. Click the Update only New and Modified Items option. This sends out immediate requests for the directory to replicate from SiteB to SiteA. Do the same for SiteC to pull that directory to SiteA also.
6. Remember to go through these steps for each of the directory replication connectors at each of the sites. At this point, all the directories replicate to each other. After replication has completed, you should see all three sites in the Exchange Server Administrator program.
   
   NOTE: You can see all the objects underneath the Configuration object of each site after replication has completed. If you see just the Site and the Configuration objects, then replication is not yet complete.

Setting up a Single E-mail Domain, <CompanyName>.com, for All Users in All Sites

These are the final steps. At this point you should be able to send mail back and forth between the sites. Any user can receive Internet mail, but users in different sites have different domain names, such as User1@SiteA.microsoft.com or User2@SiteB.microsoft.com. The goal is to have all users using the same domain name across the company, User1@microsoft.com, User2@microsoft.com, and so on.

1. At SiteA, go to the Site Addressing object. Double-click the Site Addressing object, and the Properties page appears. Click the Site Addressing tab, and select the SMTP entry.
2. Click Edit to change the Site default SMTP e-mail domain name. Currently you can see the address, @SiteA.microsoft.com.
3. Change this to reflect the new e-mail domain you want to use and that you have set up with your ISP. After you have done so, it should now read, @microsoft.com. Click OK, and then click OK again.
4. You are informed that the SMTP address for the site has been changed, and asked if you would like to update all the recipient mailboxes. Click Yes.
5. The SMTP e-mail address for users in SiteA has now been changed to @microsoft.com. This needs to be replicated to SiteB and SiteC.
6. Go to SiteB and SiteC. At each, double-click the Directory Replication connector for SiteA to open the properties page. Click the Site tab, and then select SiteA. Click Request Now to pull the changes from SiteA to these two sites. Wait for the changes to replicate.
7. After the changes have replicated to SiteB and SiteC, follow steps 1 through 6 of this section, for SiteB and SiteC. In turn, all recipient mailboxes across all sites are updated. All users can receive mail using @microsoft.com for their e-mail address.