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michaelmelson

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can linux 2.0.29 e-mail be migated to microsoft exchange 5.5
Avatar of graham_leach
graham_leach

Is it safe to assume that you mean you want to move from a sendmail back end to an Exchange 5.5 back end?

An important thing to volunteer would be your motivation for such a technology switch.  It would also be nice to know what operating system your clients are running on, though I think it's safe to assume Wintel of some flavour.  :)

Are you trying to:

1)  Move all users transparently from Internet mail to Exchange.

2)  Move all users and the contents (and structure) of all their mailboxes transparently from Internet Mail to Exchange

Answering this would clarify the question for all of us.

QUICK ANSWER:
-----------------------------

The answer to your question, if the questions is "Is it technically feasible to move from a Linux mail host to an NT mail host"?

The answer is YES.  Both mail processes speak SNMP.  Both mail processes accept connections from clients and conduct exchanges (sic) with those clients.  It could be something as simple as re-mailing everything back to yourself via a host somewhere else, downing one server and upping another.

If the question goes on to ask:  "while retaining all user setups and mailbox contents", the answer would then morph to

MAYBE - depends on how many users you have and how much intervention on their part you want to enlist.  You may want to encourage them to run TWO mail clients for a little while, downing the Linux server and upping the Exchange server.  That way their mail (I am assuming that the mail is spooled locally) would have one head cut off and replaced by another, but mail which has already been receieved would remain untouched.  Turn the Linux mail server off of it's source for all mail transactions except outbound ones.  That way the users can "throw important mail over the fence" by sending mail from their old client to their new one.  Split mail domains are key here.

If the question ends with "What is the name of the tool that can accomplish this and I don't have to do any work other than run it?"

The answer turns to I DON"T KNOW OF ONE.
Avatar of michaelmelson

ASKER

my clients just bought microsoft small buisness server and want to use the interface of exchange. they figure they paid for it so they will use it. the exsisting linux mailserver is running fine and i will still use it for firewall purposes. the clients are running windows 95 with outlook express. i do want to move all user accounts and mail contents. i know passwords can't be done but that doesn't matter. i would like this to be transparent to the user except for the change of passwords.
1. setup Exchange
2. setup W95 clients to use Exchange *and* Internet Mail from your Linux box (so each user gets the mails still on it into his local MUA)
3. setup Echange as your SMTP gateway
4. when all users got their mails from the Linux box, connect your Exchange as SMTP gateway


Another way would be to use Linux as mail forwarder to Exchange, leaving Exchange talking its proprietary protocol. But this needs
the additional Internet Mail Service on each Outlook clients too
(see 2. above).
You can still use Outlook with a Linux server too.  They can have the same "interfaace" wether they switch or not!

this is not the point. i know i can connect the two together and have mail forwarded between the two. i know outlook clients can download e-mail from linux post offices because that is what the clients are already doing. but they want the postoffices to be moved to the exchange server and leave linux as the fire-wall. i know this sounds like blasphemy to everyone here but i felt like this would be the place to go to get answers because i am not that familiar with linux and i need the help from some experienced administrators. i hope to learn it soon and i believe in any operating system that works and is free.
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stormerider

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will this migrate the exsisting linux user postoffices and e-mail
to the exchange server or will the users have to log in and download all mail before the change is made.