Exchange hybrid prepareAD

Question

Hello,

I need to migrate Exchange 2013/2016 to Exchange 2019 in hybrid environment.

According to this article /prepareAD is different in hybrid environment:
Setup /PrepareAD /TenantOrganizationconfig:C:\0365oconfig.xml /IacceptExchangeServerLicenseTerms
https://www.c-sharpcorner.com/article/hybrid-exchange-2010-to-hybrid-exchange-2016-part-one/

Microsoft says that you need to run this command only if after /prepareschema you receive the error message and only for Exchange 2013/2016
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/exchange/troubleshoot/administration/error-when-running-setup-prepareschema

Do I need to preperaAD this way in hybrid environment?:
Setup /PrepareAD /TenantOrganizationconfig:C:\0365oconfig.xml /IacceptExchangeServerLicenseTerms

Thank you

Answer 1

Hi @fsdg ,
The command line in the article you provided is the command line that needs to be run under specific circumstances. Normally, you can directly run the following command line to complete Prepare AD.

<Virtual DVD drive letter>:\Setup.exe /IAcceptExchangeServerLicenseTerms_DiagnosticDataON /PrepareAD  

It should be noted that the above command line is only available from the latest CU of Exchange 2016 and Exchange 2019 in September 2021. Respectively Exchange 2016 CU22 and Exchange 2019 CU11. For more informatin you could refer to: Use unattended mode in Exchange Setup and Exchange Server build numbers and release dates

If your on-prem Exchange server is not the latest CU version, please run the following command line Prepare AD.

<Virtual DVD drive letter>:\Setup.exe /IAcceptExchangeServerLicenseTerms /PrepareAD  

For more informatin you could refer to: Prepare Active Directory and domains for Exchange Server

The following is my test in the hybrid lab environment. Directly running the above command line can successfully Prepare AD.

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Answer 2

To install Exchange Server 2019, connect the Exchange Server 2019 media to the server machine and mount the ISO. Then open the Command Prompt window to navigate to the Setup.exe location using the cd (change directory) command.

Then run the below command in Command Prompt window to prepare the Schema and the AD.

Setup.exe /PrepareSchema /IAcceptExchangeServerLicenseTerms
Setup.exe /PrepareAD /OrganizationName:”Contoso” /IAcceptExchangeServerLicenseTerms

Here you have prepared the Active Directory to be Exchange 2019 friendly and now you can start the installation. Before you start, make sure that no new updates are available for the prerequisites you’ve installed.

Now launch the Setup.exe.

For more detail check this Step by Step guide - How Do I Migrate from Exchange 2013 to 2019?

Answer 3

All you need to run is:

Setup /PrepareAD//IAcceptExchangeServerLicenseTerms_DiagnosticDataON

The new switch is required for the latest CUs