You must prepare your Windows Active Directory before you install your first Exchange 2010 Server in your organization. It is highly recommended that you prepare and test these changes in your lab environment before you touch your production environment.
When we prepared our Windows Active Directory production environment, we encountered the following error messages in the ExchangeSetup.log file when we ran the /prepareAD option. Here are a few snippets from the ExchangeSetup.log file for your review.
[04/06/2010 19:40:22.0899] [2] Beginning processing.
[04/06/2010 19:40:22.0899] [2] Current ScopeSet is: {Domain Read Scope: {, }, Domain Write Scope(s): {, }, Configuration Scope: {, }, Server Configuration Scope(s): {, }, , Exclusive Scope: {, }}
[04/06/2010 19:40:22.0914] [2] Processing object "smtpDomain.com".
[04/06/2010 19:40:23.0008] [2] [ERROR] The e-mail address policy object must have exactly one primary e-mail address with the prefix "FAXMAKER". Property Name:
[04/06/2010 19:40:23.0008] [2] Ending processing.
[04/06/2010 19:40:26.0696] [1] [ERROR] The e-mail address policy object must have exactly one primary e-mail address with the prefix "FAXMAKER". Property Name:
[04/06/2010 19:40:26.0696] [1] 604. ErrorRecord: The e-mail address policy object must have exactly one primary e-mail address with the prefix "FAXMAKER". Property Name:
[04/06/2010 19:40:26.0696] [1] 604. ErrorRecord: Microsoft.Exchange.Data.DataValidationException: The e-mail address policy object must have exactly one primary e-mail address with the prefix "FAXMAKER". Property Name:
The e-mail address policy object must have exactly one primary e-mail address with the prefix "FAXMAKER". Property Name: ; The e-mail address policy object must have exactly one primary e-mail address with the prefix "FAXMAKER".
[04/06/2010 19:40:26.0711] [1] [WARNING] <<< Variable dumping complete. >>
[04/06/2010 19:40:26.0711] [1] Setup is stopping now because of one or more critical errors.
[04/06/2010 19:40:26.0711] [1] Finished executing component tasks.
[04/06/2010 19:40:29.0399] [1] Ending processing.
[04/06/2010 19:40:29.0399] [0] The Exchange Server setup operation did not complete. Visit http://support.microsoft.com and enter the Error ID to find more information.
[04/06/2010 19:40:29.0415] [0] End of Setup
The reason why the Exchange setup to prepare Active Directory failed is because a legacy entry for GFI FAXmaker exists in the disabledGatewayProxy attribute in the E-mail Address Policy object properties.
To fix the problem, follow the steps listed in KB Article 948211. After you make the change, please allow for enough time for Active Directory replication to complete depending on the size of your environment before you run /prepareAD again.
For more information about preparing Active Directory for Exchange 2010, click here.