Patching Servers running Microsoft Exchange 2010 and later Data Availability Groups

You can use Server Automation Tasks to patch an operating system running Microsoft Exchange 2010, Exchange 2013 (Exchange 2013 SP1 and later versions), Exchange 2016, and Exchange 2019 Data availability groups (DAG), while maintaining the DAG availability. You patch the operating system using a number of Tasks and a service. The Tasks automate the execution of Microsoft Exchange scripts provided with Exchange 2010, Exchange 2013, Exchange 2016 and Exchange 2019. You run these Tasks in an Automation Plan and you can combine them with custom Tasks for patching the underlying operating system to fully automate the patching process.

Before you begin

For Exchange 2013, Exchange 2103 Service Pack 1 and newer versions are supported. All version of Exchange 2010 are supported.
Before running any of the patching steps, the control scripts must be installed. Use Task 110-Install Windows Cluster Control Application to install the control scripts.
The IBM Exchange Cluster Manager Service must be installed. Use Task 123 Install IBM Exchange Cluster Manager Service to install the service.
.Net Framework 4.0 must be installed on each node. Use Fixlet 40301 UPDATE: Microsoft .NET Framework 4.0 Available -Site-Patches for Windows to install or update the .Net Framework 4.0 on each node.

About this task

The scripts that are run by your Automation Plan are provided by Microsoft. For more information about these scripts, see the following Microsoft resources:

Exchange Server Documentation Homepage (applies to all Exchange Server versions)
High availability and site resilience permissions in Exchange Server (applies to Exchange Server 2016 & 2019)
Installing Update Rollups on Database Availability Group Members (applies to Exchange Server 2010)
Managing Database Availability Groups (applies to Exchange Server 2010)

There are five Server Automation Tasks available for automated patching of Exchange Database Availability Groups:

Table 1. Exchange cluster patching Tasks
Task	Description
Task ID 125 - `Exchange 2010, 2013, 2016 and 2019 Start DAG (Database Availability Groups) Maintenance Task`	Runs the `startDagservermaintainence.ps1` powershell script against the target endpoint. Active DAGs on the node are moved off the endpoint. The endpoint is placed on a `paused` state. If the cluster group is present on the endpoint, it is also moved to another node. The `DatabaseCopyAutoActivationPolicy` is set to blocked after running this script. The script does not move any non-exchange 2010 groups off the node. When this script is run against an endpoint, the endpoint is in a state where any patch or custom Fixlets can be run.
Task ID 127 - `Exchange 2010, 2013, 2016 and 2019 Stop DAG (Database Availability Groups) Maintenance Task`	Runs the `stopDagservermaintainence.ps1` powershell script against the target endpoint. This script resumes a node and also sets the `DatabaseCopyAutoActivationPolicy` to unrestricted for each database on the endpoint. No groups are failed back onto a node after running this script.
Task ID 128 - `Rebalance Active Databases Task Exchange 2010, 2013, 2016 and 2019 DAG (Database availability Groups) Task`	Runs the `RedistributeActiveDatabases.ps1` powershell script against the target endpoint. This script redistributes the active databases across all nodes available to the DAGs. The script uses the `BalanceDbsByActivationPreference` switch. You can run this Task at the end of an Automation Plan against one of the endpoints if you want to redistribute the DAGs across the servers after all patching has been completed.
Task ID 163 - `Check Status and Start Services on Microsoft Exchange`	This Task is optional. This Task runs a script which checks the running status of the Microsoft Exchange services selected by the user on the target endpoint. The script will, by default, try and start any of the selected services which are not in a `Running` or `Pending Restart` state on the endpoint. The Task will fail if all selected services have not changed to a `Running` state within the `Services startup timeout` period. For information about limitations and about using this Task, see Check if File Share Witness is accessible.
Task ID 164 - `Check File Share Witness status on a Microsoft Windows cluster`	This Task is optional. This Task runs a script which checks if the targets nodes can communicate with the File Share Witness. It also checks if the file share configured for the File Share Witness is accessible from the target endpoint. For information about limitations and about using this Task, see Check if File Share Witness is accessible.

You can use the Server Automation template sample plans, changing the template to add your patching Fixlets. Server Automation template sample plans for Exchange are Fixlet IDs 133, 134, 136, 170, and 171. The recommended Automation Plan patching process is as follows, where you complete steps 1 to 4 for the first node in the cluster, and then repeat these steps for the other nodes in the cluster:

Procedure

Add Task ID 125 Exchange 2010, 2013, 2016 and 2019 Start DAG (Database Availability Groups) Maintenance to your plan.
Add your patching Fixlets to the plan.
If a restart is required after the patching Fixlets have completed, add Server Automation Fixlet ID 126 Restart Endpoint and Wait for Restart to Complete to the plan.

Note: If you have a File Share Witness configured on your cluster, you can optionally add Task ID 164 Check File Share Witness status on a Microsoft Windows cluster to the plan after the Restart Endpoint and Wait for Restart to Complete step. If you are using this optional Task, check the Task descriptions for information about usage and prerequisites and see Check if File Share Witness is accessible. You can also add another step to the plan to check the status and start services on Microsoft Exchange. If you want to add this step, add Task 163 Check Status and Start Services on Microsoft Exchange. If you want to add both of these Tasks, add Task 163 after the Restart Endpoint and Wait for Restart to Complete step.
Add Task ID 127 Exchange 2010, 2013, 2016 and 2019 Stop DAG (Database Availability Groups) Maintenance to your plan.
Add 4 or more steps to the plan (depending on whether you added the optional steps) repeating each of steps 1 to 4 for each additional node in the cluster.
Run the plan.

Results

Monitor the execution of the plan from the Automation Plan Action Status dashboard. On successful completion of the plan, the Exchange DAGs have been patched with the patching Fixlets you included in the plan.