Exchange 2013 DAG Status Dashboard – version 1.02

Over the last few weeks I have been working on an update to the EXDSD based upon feedback that I have received from the community.

I have added in some new features such as being able to control Services from the landing dashboard and I have also added a new “Servers” dashboard which allows for you to view some properties of your DAG Servers.

Perhaps the biggest change is the installer. I was very honoured that the EXDSD got a mention in Episode 25 of the UC Architects podcast. One thing that I picked up on from the podcast was that the installation of the tool needed some work (to be fair they were very nice but reading between the lines I think there was a message that the installer sucks balls).

I agreed with them to be honest – so I delved into my money jar and bought a licensed copy of Advanced Installer Pro.

The net result of the above is a far more streamlined and automated installation process – which I hope will support more environments.

Further to the above – I had the pleasure of supporting a chap called Matt Allford who was experiencing some problems with the install of version 1.01 of the EXDSD – the long and short was that as Matt had a multiple domain scenario – my initial installer could not handle that scenario so I helped Matt set the system up manually – but it was clear to me that I needed to get this right – therefore another reason why I have invested in a commercial installer product.

Change History since version 1.01

A specific summary of changes in version 1.02 are:

• Landing Dashboard – Enhanced labelling within the user interface
• Landing Dashboard – Added in Replay Queue Length on DAG Copy Status
• Landing Dashboard – Added in Activation Preference on DAG Copy Status
• Landing Dashboard – Added in Context Index State on DAG Copy Status
• Landing Dashboard – Added in the ability to Stop and Start Services from the Exchange Services area
• New Feature – Server Information Dashboard
• Error Handling – added in more Exception Handling logic for when unexpected things happen
• Installation – New installer:
  • Natively automates the creation of IIS requirements
  • Removes the requirement for a service account

Download

[ EXDSD – Version 1.02 – 1.3 MB ]

[ EXDSD – Installation and Users Guide – 1.1 MB ]

Installation

For specific installation instructions – please read the Installation and User guide – however a key point that you should note is that you MUST remove all previous versions of the EXDSD (e.g. versions 1.0 and 1.01) before you install 1.02.

This includes performing the following actions:

• Remove the program binaries using Windows Programs and Features
• Remove the existing IIS Virtual Directory from within the IIS Service Manager
• Remove the existing IIS Application Pool from within the IIS Service Manager
• Delete the Service Account that was created in Active Directory

The table below provides a summary of the above:

Screen captures

Below are some screen captures of the new features of version 1.02 in action:

Landing Dashboard – DAG Copy Status

You can now view Replay Queue Length, Activation Preference and the Context Index State.

Landing Dashboard – Control Services

You can now control the state of services from the Landing Dashboard.

Servers Dashboard

The servers dashboard is new – from here you can view a number of facets about your individual DAG nodes.