Reader to Reader - 01 Mar 2000

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When you upgrade Exchange Server 5.5 to Exchange 2000 Server, the installation process requires an Active Directory Connector (ADC) to be in place between the Windows 2000 (Win2K) Active Directory (AD) and the Exchange Server 5.5 Directory Service (DS). The installation creates a special type of connection agreement (CA) called a Configuration Connection Agreement (ConfigCA) and homes it on the ADC. The ConfigCA then reads the site information from Exchange Server 5.5 and writes it into AD's Configuration Naming Context.

In addition to having the ADC in place, you must also have CAs for the Exchange Server 5.5 containers that hold the mailboxes, custom recipients, and distribution lists (DLs) you want to upgrade to their Exchange 2000 counterparts. Each of these CAs must point to a particular organizational unit (OU) in the AD hierarchy.

To access both directories, the CA uses Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) and the same LDAP port 389. Therefore, if the Exchange Server 5.5 server is running on a Win2K domain controller or Global Catalog (GC), you must change the LDAP port of the Exchange DS to a value different from the default value. Port 390 is the value that is usually used because no other application uses this port. Here are the steps for changing the LDAP port in Exchange 5.5:

Here are the steps for checking the GC server:

If your Exchange server isn't running on the Win2K GC or domain controller, you don't need to change the LDAP port.

—Dung Hoang Khac
[email protected]