You Cannot Install Exchange Server 2010 SP1 if the NetBIOS Domain Name of the DC Contains an Ampersand (&) Character

If you try to install Exchange Server 2010 Service Pack 1 (SP1) on a server in the environment where the NetBIOS domain name of a domain controller contains an ampersand (&) character, the server installation will fail and you are likely to see the following error.

An error occurred while parsing EntityName. Line7, position 12.

This issue occurs because the “&” character is a reserved character in XML. Therefore, the character causes the parsing for current logon user to fail. Here’s how you can solve the problem. The solution used to be documented in KB article 2491951 but recently when I tried to find the article on the Internet I was unsuccessful. Luckily, I have documented the solution for you in the following steps.

1. Copy all the installation files from the CD to a hard disk, and then open the ManageScheduledTask.ps1 file in the scripts folder.
2. Locate the following lines.
   function Get-CurrentUserName
   {
   [System.Security.Principal.WindowsIdentity]$id = [System.Security.Principal.WindowsIdentity]::GetCurrent()
   $id.Name
   }
3. Change the lines as below.
   function Get-CurrentUserName
   {
   [System.Security.Principal.WindowsIdentity]$id = [System.Security.Principal.WindowsIdentity]::GetCurrent()
   [System.String]$fixedName = $id.Name.Replace(‘&’,’`&’)
   return $fixedName
   }
4. Save the file, and then try to install Exchange Server 2010 SP1 from the hard disk.
5. Install Update Rollup 4 for Exchange Server 2010 Service Pack 1.

Copyright ©2011 Zubair Alexander. All rights reserved.