Installing, configuring, and using the InterOrg Replication utility

This document describes how to use the Microsoft Exchange Server InterOrg Replication utility to share free and busy and public folder information. The InterOrg Replication utility is made up of two programs, the Exchange Server Replication Configuration utility (Exscfg.exe) and the Exchange Server Replication Service (Exssrv.exe). You can use these programs to coordinate meetings, appointments, and contact information between members of two different Exchange organizations. Additionally, message types can automatically be converted to posts and added to public folders that can then be replicated.

By using a configuration file created by the Exchange Server Replication Configuration utility, the Exchange Server Replication Service continuously updates information from one server (designated as the publisher) to one or more Exchange computers (designated as subscribers). Schedule+ free and busy information is replicated from publisher to subscriber only. Because of this, you must have two free and busy sessions to bi-directionally update free and busy information. Public folders can be replicated from publisher to subscriber or bi-directionally. You can configure the replication frequency in addition to the logging of message and folder replication, and how much processing power you want devoted to the replication process.

Note For specific information about creating a session configuration file, see the Help file for the InterOrg Replication Configuration utility (Exscfg.exe).

Multiple Exchange Server organizations in a single company

Multiple Exchange Server organizations may exist in a single company. This situation may occur when:

• A merger or acquisition of a company that has a separate Exchange Server organization takes place.
• Servers are added to a different Exchange Server organization that may or may not be merged with the parent organization.
• Earlier versions of Exchange Server must share folder and free and busy information with Exchange Server computers in different organizations using Microsoft Exchange Server 5.5 or later.
• Exchange Server computers are administered separately in different organizations because of geographical constraints.

If an Exchange Server topology that includes two or more organizations exists, you can use the Exchange Server InterOrg Replicator utility to share information until a permanent organizational architecture is established.

Multiple organizations that span companies

Sharing information between companies requires tight integration of network security and detailed management of information sharing. The InterOrg Replicator utility allows detailed management of intra-organizational content access and security for files transported outside of the Exchange Server organization security layer. The InterOrg Replicator utility does this by:

• Limiting the interaction of other organizations to a specific folder or folders.
• Preventing administrators of other organizations from seeing the structure of your public folder system, and preventing users who have not been granted permission from replicating free and busy information.

Security

Whenever information is accessed on an Exchange Server computer from another domain or organization, a security breach may occur. The InterOrg Replicator utility helps maintain the privacy of the shared information while it is being duplicated between Exchange Server organizations. Additionally, secondary information, such as the number and names of folders on the opposite Exchange Server computer, is not available to either system administrator.

System requirements

Computers that are running the Replication Configuration utility and Replication Service must meet the following requirements:

• Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 Server with Service Pack 4 (SP4) or later
• One of the following:
  • Exchange Server 5.0 Standard Edition or Enterprise Edition with SP2 or later
  • Exchange Server 5.5 Standard Edition or Enterprise Edition with SP3 or later
  • Exchange 2000 Server Standard Edition or Enterprise Edition

Network requirements

• A Messaging Application Programming Interface (MAPI)-capable local area network (LAN) connection between different Exchange organizations

Setup and installation

Installing the InterOrg Replication utility for use with Exchange Server consists of the following steps, which are expanded on below:

1. Prepare the publisher.
2. Prepare the subscribers.
3. Install the InterOrg Replicator utility files.
4. Create a configuration file.
5. Set up the replication service.

Prepare the publisher

The first step in configuring the InterOrg Replicator utility is to prepare an Exchange computer to be a publisher. The publisher collects information from an Exchange Server organization, packages it, and sends it to subscriber Exchange computers outside the Exchange Server organization, based on a schedule you create.

To prepare the publisher, you must create a service account and mailbox for the utility to use during the replication process. You also must assign the appropriate permissions to that service account and mailbox, and create a public folder for the utility to use during replication.

The service account and mailbox that you create must be listed as an owner of each public folder and subfolder you want to replicate, on either the publisher or the subscriber. This allows the utility to replicate Anonymous and Default permissions from one organization to the other. Use Microsoft Outlook to change the ownership and the permissions of public folders.

To prepare the publisher server for InterOrg Replication:

1. Create a Windows NT account and an associated Exchange mailbox for the utility to use as a service account. Note The mailbox must be created on an Exchange server that has a public folder store.
2. Using Outlook, add the service account mailbox that you created as an owner for every top-level folder and subfolder you want to replicate.
3. Using Outlook, create a public folder named ExchsyncSecurityFolder in the root public folder. Grant Folder Visible permission to the service account mailbox that you created. Do not specify any Default or Anonymous permissions on this folder; it is used by the Replication Service for additional security and must be present on both the publisher and subscriber servers.

Prepare the subscriber

A subscriber is an Exchange computer outside your organization, where you want to replicate information using the InterOrg Replicator utility. To configure a subscriber, you must create a Windows NT account and an associated Exchange mailbox that the utility can use as a service account. Additionally, you must create the public folders that the utility requires for the replication process.

To prepare the subscriber server for InterOrg Replication:

1. Create a Windows NT account and an associated Exchange mailbox for the utility to use as a service account.
   
   Note The mailbox must be created on an Exchange server that has a public folder store.
2. Use Outlook to create a top-level folder for every part of the folder hierarchy that you are replicating. The utility creates subfolders automatically.
3. Use Outlook to grant Publishing Editor permission for each top-level folder to the service account mailbox that you created.
4. Use Outlook to create a public folder named ExchsyncSecurityFolder off the root public folder. Grant Folder Visible permission to the service account mailbox that you created. Do not specify any Default or Anonymous permissions on this folder; it is used by the Replication Service for additional security and must be present on both the publisher and subscriber servers.

Install the InterOrg Replicator or the InterOrg Replication utility files

The following files are located in the Support\Exchsync\I386 folder on the SP3 CD:

• Exscfg.exe, the Exchange Server Replication Configuration program
• Exssrv.exe, the Exchange Server Replication Service

The computer must meet the following requirements.

Exchange 5.5 version of the InterOrg Replicator tool

• On a non-Exchange computer, you can install Outlook 98 and the Exchange 5.5 Administrator. You must have at least the Exchange Server 5.5 Service Pack 3 version of Exchange Administrator.
• On an Exchange 5.5 SP3 computer, you must have a Typical install that includes the Exchange 5.5 Administrator. Make sure that Outlook was NEVER installed on the computer.

Exchange 2000 version of the InterOrg Replication tool

• On an Exchange 2000 computer, you must install Exchange System Manager. Make sure that Outlook was NEVER installed on the computer.
• On an Exchange 5.5 SP3 computer, you must have a Typical install that includes the Exchange 5.5 Administrator. Make sure that Outlook was NEVER installed on the computer.
• Not supported for non-Exchange computers.

Exchange 2003 version of the InterOrg Replication tool

To obtain the Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 version of the Inter-Organization Replication tool, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

• On a non-Exchange computer, you must have Exchange System Manager for Exchange 2003.
• On an Exchange 2000 computer, you must install Exchange System Manager. Make sure that Outlook was NEVER installed on the computer.
• On an Exchange 5.5 SP3 computer, you must have a Typical install that includes the Exchange 5.5 Administrator. Make sure that Outlook was NEVER installed on the computer.

Important For public folder replication to be successful, the folder permissions for a specified user in each forest must be identical. If the permissions do not match, replication will fail. Replication may appear successful in the interface, but an error will be written to the log file. This is by design.

Note If you configure and then try to run the Replication Service on a computer that does not have Exchange installed on it, you receive the following error in the log file: To set up the InterOrg Replicator utility:

1. Create a working directory for the utility to use (such as C:\Exchsync).
2. Copy the Exssrv.exe and Exscfg.exe files to your working directory.

Create a configuration file

To set up replication, you must create a configuration file for the replication of free and busy information, as well as a configuration file for public folder replication.

To create a configuration file for free and busy replication:

1. Double-click the Exscfg.exe file.
2. On the Session menu, click Add.
3. In the Select Session Type box, click Schedule+ Free/Busy Replication, and then type a display name for the session.
4. In the Schedule box, enter the time, day, and frequency for the replication session.
5. If you want the utility to write a log during the replication process, click Logging, and then set the appropriate parameters.
   
   Note Log files report if the service starts or stops, any errors it encounters, and statistical information for each session (for example, number of messages and folders replicated).
6. Type the publisher and subscriber server names, and the service account mailboxes that you created for each.
7. Click Advanced, and then type the Windows NT domain, service account, and password for each of the publisher and subscriber accounts.
8. Click OK to add the session to the configuration file, and then save.

To create a configuration file for public folder replication:

1. Double-click the Exscfg.exe file.
2. On the Session menu, click Add.
3. In the Select Session Type dialog box, click Public Folder Replication, and then type a display name for the session.
4. In the Maximum Task Number box, enter the number of threads you want to use for replication.
   
   Note The number of threads must be less than or equal to the number of sites that you want to replicate information for. If you use higher task number values, you may negatively affect performance.
5. In the Schedule box, enter the time, day, and frequency for the replication session.
6. If you want the utility to write a log during the replication process, click Logging, and then set the appropriate parameters.
   
   Note Log files report if the service starts or stops, any errors it encounters, and statistical information for each session (for example, number of messages and folders replicated).
7. Type the publisher and subscriber server names and the service account mailboxes that you created for each.
8. Click Advanced, and then type the Windows NT domain, service account, and password for each of the publisher and subscriber accounts.
9. Click Folder List to select the folders that you want to replicate. In the Session Folder List dialog box, select the folder or folder hierarchy on the publisher that you want to replicate, and then select the destination folder on the subscriber.
10. Click the > button as soon as to replicate public folder information only from the publisher to the subscriber. Click it again to toggle bidirectional replication.
11. Click OK to add the session to the configuration file and save.

Set up the replication service

Before you start the replication service, you must provide the program with some information that is required for the replication process.

1. Double-click the Exssrv.exe file. The first time that you run the Exssrv.exe file, click Install.
2. Type the Windows NT domain\account name and password from the service account and mailbox that you created. You can use either the publisher service account or the subscriber service account.
3. Type the path and file name of the configuration file that you created.
4. Specify whether you want the service to automatically start when you turn on the computer.
   
   After you have installed the service, click Start, or start it from Control Panel.

Note For each mailbox in the publisher server that you want to replicate free and busy information to, a corresponding custom recipient must exist on the subscriber server. The SMTP address of the mailbox is the unique key that is used to match mailboxes to custom recipients.

For more information, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: