Active Directory Server requirements for Exchange 2013 Preview

Exchange 2013 preview supports the minimum forest function level set to Windows Server 2003. If you are running Windows 2003 SP2 Active Directory environment then you will have to upgrade your existing Windows 2003 SP2 Active Directory environment to support Windows 2008 / Windows 2008 R 2 Domain Controllers. The main reason to upgrade your existing Windows 2003 Active Directory environment is Exchange 2013 installation requires to have one Global catalog server and one writeable Domain Controller in each Active Directory site where you plan to install Exchange 2013 preview.

Note: - Soon, I will prepare the step by step document to upgrade the existing Windows 2003 AD environment to support windows 2008/Windows 2008 R2 environment and upload it here.

Component	Requirement
Schema master	By default, the schema master runs on the first Windows Server 2012 or Windows Server 2008 R2 or Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2003 domain controller installed in a forest. The schema master must be running any of the following: Windows Server 2012 Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard or Enterprise Windows Server 2008 Standard or Enterprise (32-bit or 64-bit) Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition with Service Pack 2 (SP2) or later (32-bit or 64-bit) Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition with SP2 or later (32-bit or 64-bit)
Global catalog server	In each Active Directory site where you plan to install Exchange 2013 Preview, you must have at least one global catalog server running any of the following: Windows Server 2012 Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard or Enterprise Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter RTM or later Windows Server 2008 Standard or Enterprise (32-bit or 64-bit) Windows Server 2008 Datacenter RTM or later For more information about global catalog servers.
Domain controller	In each Active Directory site where you plan to install Exchange 2013 Preview, you must have at least one writeable domain controller running any of the following: Windows Server 2012 Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard or Enterprise SP1 or later Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter RTM or later Windows Server 2008 Standard or Enterprise SP1 or later (32-bit or 64-bit) Windows Server 2008 Datacenter RTM or later
Active Directory forest	Active Directory must be at Windows Server 2003 forest functionality mode or higher.
IPv6 Support	IPv6 is supported only when IPv4 is also used; a pure IPv6 environment isn't supported. Using IPv6 addresses and IP address ranges is supported only when both IPv6 and IPv4 are enabled on that computer, and the network supports both IP address versions. If Exchange 2013 Preview is deployed in this configuration, all server roles can send data to and receive data from devices, servers, and clients that use IPv6 addresses. Exchange 2013 Preview support is similar to support for Exchange Server 2007.

Next week, I will also try to upload the step by step document for Exchange 2013 preview installation.