Install CU23 for Exchange Server 2013

Microsoft Exchange Servers to the latest Cumulative Updates is highly critical. It helps keep your on-premises Exchange Servers ready for the next emergency security updates released by Microsoft to patch vulnerabilities.   

If your server is not running a supported Cumulative Update, it is ineligible for the security updates and remains vulnerable to malicious attacks. With increasing attacks on on-premises Exchange Servers, it’s now more important than ever to keep your servers updated to the latest Cumulative and Security updates. 

Microsoft released the Cumulative Update 23 (CU23) for Exchange Server 2013 on May 3, 2021. The latest Cumulative Update 23 contains all security updates released before May 2021 and is eligible to receive newer security updates and patches.  

Thus, if your organization is running an older Exchange Server 2013 CU, it is highly recommended to update to CU23 to continue receiving the latest hotfixes and stay protected against malicious attacks.

In this post, you will learn the step-by-step process to upgrade Exchange Server 2013 to Cumulative Update 23 and install the latest Security Updates.

Steps to Install Exchange Server 2013 CU23

Follow these steps to install CU23 for Exchange Server 2013.

Caution: Backup Exchange customizations, such as IIS settings, custom registry entries, and Outlook on the web (OWA) customizations (if any) as installing CU may overwrite or remove them.

Step 1: Download the Exchange Server 2013 CU23 Build

Download the Exchange Server 2013 CU23 update released on May 3, 2021. You can also visit the Exchange Server build number and release dates page to download the latest CU and install it.

Make sure to choose your language before downloading the CU.

Step 2: Update Active Directory and Schema

Use /PrepareAD to update and prepare the Active Directory forest on your Exchange Server 2013 for CU23. It is also recommended that you extend schema by using the /PrepareSchema if the system is a member of the same Active Directory.

The steps are as follows:

• Open Command Prompt as administrator and then navigate to the location where the Exchange2013-x64-cu23.exe file is downloaded.
• Then execute the following commands to prepare AD and extend Schema:

.\Exchange2013-x64-cu23.exe /IAcceptExchangeServerLicenseTerms_DiagnosticDataON /PrepareSchema

.\Exchange2013-x64-cu23.exe /IAcceptExchangeServerLicenseTerms_DiagnosticDataON /PrepareAD  /OrganizationName:"<Organization name>"

Once done, move to the next step.

Step 3: Put the Exchange Server in Maintenance Mode

To apply CU23 on your Exchange Server 2013, you must put the server in maintenance mode. The detailed steps are as follows:

• You need to put the HubTransport service to draining state. For this, open Exchange Management Shell (EMS) and then execute the following command:

Set-ServerComponentState -Identity “ExchangeServerName” -Component HubTransport -State Draining -Requester Maintenance

• Now execute the following command to put the Exchange Server 2013 to maintenance mode.

Set-ServerComponentState "ExchangeServerName" -Component ServerWideOffline -State Inactive -Requester Maintenance

• You can execute the following command in the EMS to verify if the Exchange Server 2013 is successfully switched to the maintenance mode.

Get-ServerComponentState -Identity "ExchangeServerName”

Step 4: Install .Net Framework

Exchange Server 2013 CU23 requires .NET Framework 4.8. To install the .NET framework, disable all Exchange 2013 services that are currently running.

Then right-click on the .NET framework.exe file and choose Run as administrator.  

Once installed, re-enable the services you stooped but do not start them.

You can now reboot the server.

Step 5:  Upgrade Exchange Server 2013 to CU23

To upgrade Exchange Server 2013 RTM or later edition to CU23, right-click on the Exchange2013-x64-cu23.exe file and choose Run as administrator.

Then follow the wizard to install the CU23 update.

You may also run the Setup.exe in unattended mode to install CU23 on Exchange Server 2013 using an elevated Command Prompt.

.\Exchange2013-x64-cu23.exe /IAcceptExchangeServerLicenseTerms_DiagnosticDataON /m:upgrade

After the CU23 update is applied, restart the server and reimport your saved customizations.

Step 6: Switch Off the Maintenance Mode

After the successful upgrade to Exchange Server 2013 CU23, you can switch off the maintenance mode by using the following commands:

Set-ServerComponentState “ExchangeServerName” –Component ServerWideOffline –State Active –Requester Maintenance

Set-ServerComponentState “ExchangeServerName” –Component HubTransport –State Active –Requester Maintenance

Execute the following command to verify that the server is not in maintenance mode.

Get-ServerComponentState –Identity “ExchangeServerName”

If the output displays ‘Active‘ Component status, it’s out of the maintenance mode. However, if any component is still inactive, you can activate it using the following command:

Set-ServerComponentState “ExchangeServerName” –Component “ComponentName” –State Active –Requester Maintenance

Once done, reboot the Exchange Server 2013.

Step 7: Install Latest Security Updates

Finally, you can install the latest Security Updates released by Microsoft for Exchange Server 2013 CU23 and patch the vulnerabilities.

The latest Security Update available at the time of writing this blog was released in January 2022. First, download the Security Update (KB5008631) for Exchange Server 2013 CU23 and then follow these steps to install it.

• Open the elevated Command Prompt window and navigate to the location where Security Update is downloaded or located using the cd command.

cd C:\Users\Administrator\Downloads\

• Then execute the following command to apply the Security Updates:

.\UpdateFileName.msp

For instance,

.\Exchange2013- KB5008631-x64-en.msp

• Click ‘Open‘ and then follow the wizard to apply the Security Updates.

You must restart the Exchange Server after applying the Security Updates.

Step 8: Verify Exchange Server 2013 CU23

To check if the Exchange Server is successfully upgraded to CU23, open EMS and execute the following command to check the Exchange Server 2019 build number. If it shows Version 15.0 (Build 15.00), it means the server is successfully updated to CU23.

Get-ExchangeServer | fl Name,Edition,AdminDisplayVersion

To check if the January 2022 Security Update is applied, open Control Panel, go to Programs > Programs and Features, and click View installed updates.

We’re sorry, but Excel has run into an error

‘We’re sorry, but Excel has run into an error that is preventing it from working correctly’ is an error message that usually appears when you try to access or open MS Excel program or Excel workbook (XLS/XLSX) after a Windows or MS Office update. The error message may also pop up when the Excel workbook gets damaged or corrupted due to sudden power failure, system crash, malware/virus intrusion, or MS Excel problem caused by an incompatible add-in or program file.

In case you have encountered this error message and can’t access the Excel workbook, you can follow the methods discussed in this guide to open the Excel workbook and resolve the We’re sorry, but Excel has run into an error issue.

Methods to Fix We’re sorry, but Excel has run into an error Issue

When the error message, “We’re sorry, but Excel had run into an error that is preventing it from working correctly. Excel will need to be closed as a result. Would you like us to repair now?” is displayed, it provides a Repair Now option. You can click on the Repair Now button to start repairing the Excel file.

If this fails, follow these methods to troubleshoot and resolve We’re sorry, but Excel has run into an error.

1. Run Excel in Safe Mode

You can run Excel in Safe Mode and then open the Excel file. This will help you identify if any setting or incompatible add-in is the reason behind the issue. The steps are as follows,

• Press Windows key + R

• Type Excel /safe and press ‘Enter‘ or click ‘OK’ to open MS Excel in safe mode

If MS Excel opens without displaying the ‘We’re sorry, but Excel has run into an error’ message, then remove or disable the Excel add-ins. The steps to remove or disable add-ins are as follows,

• Navigate to File > Options and then click on ‘Add-ins‘

• Click on the Go button to view available add-ins

• Uncheck the checkbox to disable the add-ins

2. Disable Compatibility Mode

If the previous method fails to resolve the We’re sorry, but Excel has run into an error issue, follow these steps to disable Compatibility mode in MS Excel.

• Right-click on Excel (.exe) file and choose Properties. You can find Excel (.exe) file at the following location,
  • C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office15\Excel.exe
  • C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office 15\Root\Office15\Excel.exe

• Click on Compatibility and then uncheck all the boxes. Click OK to save the changes

Now try to open MS Excel or XLS/XLSX file and check if the workbook opens. If it doesn’t, follow the next method.

3. Repair MS Office Installation

To repair MS Office installation, follow these steps:

• Open Control Panel and click on ‘Uninstall a program‘

• Select MS Office from the list and then click on ‘Change’

• Choose the ‘Repair’ option and then proceed with the wizard to repair the MS Office installation

If this doesn’t fix the issue, you may need to remove all MS Office files and registry keys from the system. Then fresh install the MS office. 

DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-Image

 

DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-Image /Restorehealth” is a Dism command that runs a scan for corruption and repairs problems that it finds with the operating system you are logged into.

DISM

The deployment image servicing and management tool (DISM) is manipulated to scan and restore potential issues within the windows that may impact an operating system.

Dism.exe switches

Dism.exe will always target your chosen area; you must either specify the /online or /Image switch. Dism.exe will not foresee a path to an offline image.

• Image switch and online switch

On the other hand, if you consider /image switch, DISM will expect you to restrict the path to the root directory of an offline Windows image. However, the DISM.exe /Online switch means you ask DISM to target the operating system instead of an offline image.

What is a /Cleanup-image switch? How does it work? In this section, we will explain it to you:

For this deployment Image Servicing and Management tool to work, you need to follow other image servicing tools and commands with /online or /Image switch. One of the few is the cleanup-image switch.

• Cleanup-image switch

This switch functions to clean and recover operations and undertakings on the running operating network in Dism.exe/online/Cleanup-image/ Restorehealth” command. Which means when you run dism.exe/Online/Cleanup-image, you are asking the Dism tool to:

1. Cleanup and repair operations on the system.
2. Target running operating system.

The next and last switch is the “DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-Image /Restorehealth” command is the /Restorehealth switch.”

/Restorehealth switch

It attempts to repair the corrupted scanned files automatically from the operating network.

DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-Image /Restorehealth” command does the following:

1) The online switch requires DISM.exe to target the running operating system rather than offline windows image(.wim) or virtual hard disk.

2) The cleanup-image switch has to go for cleaning and recovery operation on a system.

3) The last one, /Restorehealth Switch, scans the ongoing operating system for corrupt files and attempts to restore them.

Check your operating system health

Can Dism.exe help you find problems in the OS? It for sure, can. Have you got some issues with your Windows computer? Use the /scan health switch to execute a progressive scan.

Here’s a command to it:

DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth

You Want To Run Dism.Exe From Windows Recovery Mode?

You want to repair your windows10 computer that doesn’t boot at all, use the following steps:

1. Download Windows 10 ISO, burn it in your DVD, and boot your system.
2. When you see your computer boots displays on the screen, press any key to boot into the Windows 10 DVD.
3. Click next on the window setup screen. Then click repair your computer.
4. Click troubleshoot next. Then hit the command prompt button.
5. Command prompt loads.

We need to extract the file before using the DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth command with a WIM file.

Follow the steps below to extract the OS WIM file from install.esd:

1. You need to determine the drive your ISO image was mounted first. However, this depends on the number of drives on your computer. Acknowledging that it can’t drive C, try D and then E, and so on.
2. Enter the drive name, followed by a colon to alter the drive name. Then, press enter.

D

3. Proceed, type Dir and press the enter key.

DIR

Observe possible drive letters until you find the one with folders, boot, EFI, sources, and support. This is the drive your windows 10 Iso has made file directories of on a storage device.

4. Next, you have to find out the index number of the Windows10 edition you would prefer to use.

To do this, you need to follow the below command:

CD sources

1. Type this command and hit the enter key.

    dism /Get-WimInfo /WimFile:install.esd

You will see an outcome to the command written above.

In short, DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-Image /Restorehealth” is an extremely significant and helpful windows command.