Recently, I went on a vacation without my laptop. While I was gone, I checked my email by using a convenient computer and noticed that I couldn't open my mailbox. Like many other Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server administrators, my Exchange servers provide mail to my own organization, as well as to several other businesses with which I'm affiliated. If I couldn't get my email messages, neither could my partners, subcontractors, and others who depend on my service. However, I was 500 miles away from my Exchange Server system, and no one (except possibly the cat) was available to fix the problem. What to do?
Examining Options
As with any server problem, I had several options. First, I could choose to ignore the problem, move on to other activities, and wait until I got home to fix whatever was ailing my server. Because my partners expect a reasonable degree of email availability, this choice wasn't really an option—and probably isn't an option for most Exchange administrators. Second, I could drop what I was doing, go to the server, and fix it. If I'd been close to home, this approach might have been a viable option, but in this case I wasn't willing to pack up, go home, and miss my vacation. My third and final option was to access the misbehaving server remotely over the Internet to fix the problem.
Preparing for the Worst
Fortunately, I had gathered several tools before I left on vacation and was prepared to troubleshoot the problem remotely. Naturally, these tools, most of which are free, will help you only if you have the foresight to install and configure them before you need them.
The most important tool for remote troubleshooting is finding a way to get to the console of the server you want to troubleshoot. (For a primer on remote access tools, see Don Jones, "Must-Have Remote Administration Tools," May 2002, InstantDoc ID 24536.)
If you're running Exchange on Windows 2000, you can use the built-in Win2K Server Terminal Services component. You can install Terminal Services in one of two different modes: remote administration mode or application server mode. Remote administration mode lets you establish two separate Terminal Services sessions to each server you manage without any additional licensing; application server mode requires extra licenses. To activate Terminal Services, perform the following steps:
- Open the Control Panel Add/Remove Programs applet.
- Click Add/Remove Windows Components.
- Scroll down the Components list to find the Terminal Services component, select the Terminal Services check box, then click Details.
- In the Terminal Services dialog box, make sure Enable Terminal Services is checked. Click OK, then click Next in the components wizard.
- The component installer will ask you whether you want to configure Terminal Services for remote administration mode or application server mode. Select the Remote administration mode option, then click Next.
Of course, you need to make sure that the accounts you want to use for remote administration can log on locally to the servers you need to manage—as a result, you might need to use the Microsoft Management Console (MMC) Active Directory Users and Computers snap-in to tweak the user permissions.
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