The following are the steps that I went through to upgrade the Release Candidate Version of Exchange 2010 to RTM edition of Exchange 2010.
I got my copy from TechNet and the same is available under MSDN as well.
There is also a 120 day evaluation copy available here in couple of different formats:-
- Virtual Experience that gives you an chance to try Exchange 2010 and OCS 2007 R2
- Free 120 Day Software Trial
- Pre-configured VHD
- Exchange Online
Steps involved:-
- Backup your server. I use Shadow Protect to backup the VM’s but also equally recommended is DPM 2007 or if you can get your hands on 2010. You can read on Shadow Protect from here
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Get to your Exchange 2010 RTM Setup folder and double click on setup.exe

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Choose your language pack

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Click on Install Microsoft Exchange Server Upgrade Option and Setup will start shortly

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Setup will start with the basics

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Followed by a readiness check

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You may get the following message

Which can be resolved by downloading the required file from here and installing it


- With that the Readiness Check should complete successfully

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The next step the upgrade starts to kick in and will proceed to complete



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Once the upgrade has been completed open up Exchange Management Console and Click on Server Configuration. In the Actions Window click on Enter Product Key
Enter the RTM Product key for the edition that has been licensed to your organization

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Restart Exchange Information Store

And that’s it, your RC Exchange 2010 is now a fully functional RTM Exchange 2010.
Related posts:

New Blog Post: Exchange 2010 RC to RTM Upgrade http://bit.ly/1Ff5lI
Cool. Much easier than going from RC to RTM fo Windows 7
Yep it is. Was quite straightforward.
Cheers
Just testing the new comment system
Nice detail on the upgrade process. Good job.
Mike