A new command-line environment like Windows PowerShell might be a little intimidating. But, believe it or not, PowerShell and its Exchange Server 2007 extension, Exchange Management Shell, are easy to use and even intuitive. Listing A shows sample syntax for the command you’d need to enable Local Continuous Replication (LCR) on an existing storage group (SG).

The first command, Enable-DatabaseCopy, indicates the order in which to “seed” the mailbox database. (As mentioned in the main article, seeding refers to the creation of the starting point for the LCR version of the database file.) The command is also making a copy of the database from the specified Server/Storage Group/Database (which would be the full path to the .edb file) to the LCR passive-copy location path. The second command, Enable-StorageGroupCopy, is the path for copying the logs and system files. Listing B shows an example of these two commands in a real-world situation.

Now, you might say, “that looks great, but how would I know those commands in the first place?” One way to learn the commands is to use the Ctrl+C key combination while in Exchange Management Console to capture the underlying PowerShell commands for the actions you’re performing in the console. You might still want to use the GUI, but if you capture these commands and paste them into Notepad, you can easily see how they’re formed.

PowerShell commands are an essential aspect of administering Exchange 2007. And, if you’re interested in certification, having a working knowledge of the command functions is an absolute must in order to pass Exam 70-236, TS: Exchange Server 2007, Configuring. So don’t be afraid to dive in to the world of PowerShell.