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daveviolanteFlag for Netherlands

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How to migrate from one Exchange Server 2003 to another exchange

I have an Exchnage Server 2003 installed on a VM.

The Exchange is now in production, this is a small comapany. What happen here is that the previous echnage VM died completely and we lost all Data except the mailboxes.

We re-install the exchnage server 2003 in a new fresh VM using the disaster recover switch and we forgot to apply the SP2 on the Windows Server 2003 R2. Anyway the diaster revover went OK and we recovered almost all mails.

The issue is now another one we cannot install the SP2 on Windows server 2003.

We opend another question and we followed advised article that didn't solve the problem.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/948496/en-us

Now we do not have alternative option to create and install another exchnage on the same domain  applying this time all the service pack in advance and move the mailbox from this Exchange to the New Exchange server that will still be Exchnage 2003 just on another VM with Windows server 2003 SP2

Do somebody know all required steps to do so?
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SeeMeShakinMyHead

Well, first off M$ will not support Ex2003 in VM unless it's on a M$ VM platform.  So, if you ever need their support, you could be out of luck.  

What I would do is stand up a fresh exchange 2003 install (same organization name) and same patch level as your current one.  During the install, there will be the option to let this exchange server be part of your existing org, say yes and follow the prompts.  Then, just move the mailboxes from the old one to the new one.  Transfers will depend on the size of the mailboxes of course.  Make sure that no other connections are on the mailboxes (i.e. outlook) are open on the mailbox before the move or it will fail.  

Then, install SP2.
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Yes sb18_exchange,

 you made the point the Original Server Windows 2003 R2 already had SP2 Applied, when I reinstalled the server, I installed the Exchnage before the SP2 was applied, and that is why now I am not able to install the SP2 any longer.

Regarding support it is Ok most of the people here are IT and we are more a LAB Center where we test.

Of course we are still in production because mail sever are important as we exchange info with DataDomain one of the deduplication company that I work for

So just re-install the new Exchnage server on the same organization but of course the new exchange should have different name and different ip, and once i move the mailbox how should I demote the old Exchnage?

I never done that before
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Right yes, but how? I am not exchnage Admin i know the basic anything to follow up such KB articles or any links that can help, I am storage administrator with backup knowledege Exchange something that I learn as hobby but  not sure how a lot of things works
I do not understand the remove from org, I mean yes organization, but I dod I do that? Also how do I unistal from add remove program? I need to know the exact steps I cannot just try something like that
I do not need to remove the entire organization, I will add a new exchange to the organization and I will remove the old one once all mail boxes will be move to the new exchange.

Hopefully that link also explain that.
It does... just a few paragraphs down its starts....

REMOVE EXCHANGE FROM ONE SERVER

Before you remove a Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 server from a production environment that has multiple servers in the administrative group, make sure that you know all the roles that are held by the server. Take steps to move those roles to another server before you follow the steps in this article to remove the Exchange Server. For example, the server may hold special roles such SRS server or routing group master, or the server could be listed as a bridgehead server on a connector such as an SMTP connector or a routing group connector.........
I mean that when you uninstall the old exch svr from the organization the new one will still be there and you won't see the old one anymore in exchange system manager. You will need to be Full Exch admin rights to do all this.
Appears to be a 1 server environment to me
In Reply to LLMorrisson:

How do I move roles to the new server?

Now let's put things more simple, the current server with whatever roles are included need to be migrated to the new server, in order to be able to receive email not anymore through the old SMTP connector but in the new SMTP connector,also I need to know everything else that is necessary to put the new server operative in the same way how the old is right now.

I was also thinking about configuration such front end back end Exchange.

If on the new installed server I move all mail boxes and I set it as back end server would that works fine? The front end server could be used as OWA access is that correct?
You'll need to move the mailboxes from old server to new server using the move mailbox command from the Exchange system manager.

You'll need to ensure you have a valid SMTP connector on the new server. Check the settings of current one on the old server, probably you'll see it in the first routing group.

You'll need to update your route in from outside the organisation. I assume the MX records will stay the same, but you'll need to change the internal IP on your NAT rule to point to the new server so that email hits the new box instead of the old one.