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Moving Mailboxes with ESM and retiring server

I am moving mailboxes with ESM to a new exchange server.

So far on the new server I have installed Windows Server 2003, patched the OS, installed Exchange Server 2003, patched the OS again, added DC, DNS roles, installed IIS, SMTP, and NNTP services.

Tonight I am going to move all of our mailboxes to the new server with ESM. When the mailboxes are finished I am going to export the SSL cert from the old server and set it up on the new server, then update my firewall policy so the NAT'ed external IP for mail points to the new server.

After that, I will need to move the FSMO roles and RUS to the new server - but that  can take place any time after the mailboxes are moved and before the old server is decommissioned correct?

Does this sound right and am I missing anything?


Thanks,
Bobby
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Ok thanks. Should I tell the users their mailboxes will be completely unavailable during the move? I guess until the server gets to their box they will be able to login to OWA and get mail on their PDA but after it starts moving their's it will be unavailable until i move the SSL cert over?
Correct once the move process starts they won't be able to access. Their mailbox.

I suspect you will need to get the SSL re-issued for the new server by requesting a certificate through IIS and submitting a CSR
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The entire process is also covered in the KB article I posted in my first post.
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Thanks for all the info this is very helpful.
I have another question regarding this - I currently have 35 users in 1 storage group on the old server. Our database is currently about 60GB. Should I split these up into 2 storage groups on the new server or keep as 1?
 
Thanks,
Bobby
That's hardly anything I would keep them in a single storage group.

If your using Exchange 2003 Standard then you can only have 1 storage group anyway.
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Ok thanks sounds good. Can I install SP2 for Exchange on the new server even if some other servers in the organization do not have it?
Absolutely, shouldn't make any difference.
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I added the new server to the Replication tab for the public folders - will they replicate on their own?
 
Also - I don't have any option to add a replica server to the System Folders. Any ideas on this?
You following the MS guide?
Yes they will replicate on their own.
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I am following Simon's - I will try the MS one.
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Looks good got everything prepped between the 2 guides. I will start the mailbox move @ 10PM EST. If anyone is around tonight or tomorrow to answer questions for me that would be great as well.
Just post and we will reply if we can.
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Great, thanks. Just started the move - looks good so far.
I have another question - I need to update our PTR record b/c I think it points to a name on the old server (i think it's the fqdn but I am not sure). Do you know where this info is stored on the new server so I can make sure it is configured properly and get it updated?
 
Thanks,
Bobby
Yes, it will be in the Default SMTP virtual Server
configuration.

You cam find this in Exchange System Manager > Administrative Groups > First Adminiatrative Group > Servers > Servername > Protocols > SMTP
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Great thanks. I moved the mailboxes and 3 of them would not move. After the 1st process completed I tried moving the 3 again and still they errored out. The error is the same for all 3:
The Microsoft Exchange Information Store service could not find the specified object - any ideas?
 
Thanks,
Bobby
Are the accounts associated with those mailboxes disabled?
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No they are active users.
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I am trying again 1 at a time instead of all 3 and looks like its working...
OK, excellent.
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When I update the fqdn on the new server from servername.domain.local to servername.domain.com then click Check DNS it says the domain name is not valid. The fqdn on the old server is servername.domain.com and it verifies when I click Check DNS. Do you know what I am doing wrong?
Thanks for all your help...
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I think the FQDN is not resolving because I have not setup a public DNS record for it yet. I will do that and see if that fixes it.
OK that should fix it.
Presumably the DNS configuration is the same on both Exchane servers? Otherwise it wouldn't resolve on the other either unless it has an entry in it's host file?
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Yeah I think so - I am use AD Integrated DNS so the info should be the same on both servers. But this is a host record on the internet for the old server name pointing to the external mail IP so I think I just need to update it.
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Thanks for all your help!!!!