Is the attribute LegacyExchangeDN used in Exchange 2010

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ASKER

OK, thanks. Looks like I will need to contact Microsoft support on this one. I would think it would be OK to eventually remove the 2003 Admin Group after decommissioning the server but I should check with them. In all the migrations I have done, I never remember going back to the users mailbox and "updating" the LegacyExchangeDN to match the new Admin Group after they have been migrating nor do I ever remember reading about it as a step after migrating from one platform to another. Not sure what you mean by the last comment. Are you saying there could be issues if I delete the legacy 2003 Admin Group?

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ASKER

I think the LegacyExchangeDN they refer to is the attribute of RPCClientAccessServer, a FQDN that is mapped to the databases for access. Ours is outlook.domain.com and that name is load balanced across all 3 CAS servers we have with a hardware load balancer. I don't see what this has to do with the legacyExchangeDN attribute of a user.

ah my bad - but the steps provided should be of help to you.

Regards,
Exchange_Geek

ASKER

Not sure I want to get into modifying the LegacyExchangeDN of every user if I don't have to. My only concern was the old 2003 Admin Group from whence these users originated and if there would be issues if I deleted this Admin Group. Everything I have since read indicates the LegacyExchangeDN is just a value that needs to be unique for each user but not necessarily tied to a specific Exchange Admin Group. We have 3 versions of Exchange in our environment right now. 2003, 2007 and 2010 so I have users with 2003 LegacyExchangeDN, as well as 2007 and 2010 as their mailboxes were created on the newer platforms. I think I will just leave well enough alone.

Do not delete the old admin group. You do not need to modify any LegacyExchangeDNs, but deleting the old administrative group would orphan the legDNs resulting in Free/Busy issues. Keep in mind that public folder based Free/Busy lookup relies on the Admin Group and LegDN. If you disable public folders as a Free/Busy point and use only the Availiability Service, then you will not have any issues.

Also keep in mind that clients older than Outlook 2007 cannot function without public folders for Free/Busy.

As for Exchange_Geek's comment, he/she is correct if you are performing a migration of mailboxes to a new Active Directory forest. This step is not necessary when performing an upgrade in the same Active Directory environment.

ASKER

Thanks page1985. We have no Outlook clients older than 2007. We use the Availability service exclusively for free/busy and do not publish FB to public folders so that is not a concern for me. If that is the only issue, then I think I can safely remove the Old Admin Group when the time comes.

@osiexchange: thanks for posting your feedback, help me understand for what reason are you wanting to remove an AD object? Is it causing issues OR do you have any app that would affected if the AG is still into existence?

Regards,
Exchange_Geek

BTW - my profile and my birth certificate states I'm a guy, so it's a he :)

ASKER

Neither of those. Its a legacy AG that was put in place by the first install of Exchange years ago. There is only one server left in this AG and that will go away soon. I figured after that, there is no reason to keep it because it will be empty.

@osiexchange: the best method is to shut the box for at least a week to find if the box does cause issues, reminds me of what my granny used to tell me

"Remember: Breaking something is the easiest of all tasks, the tough part is to join what you've broken"

so, play it safe (just as many of those ADs say) and shut the box and wait for those cranky user-phone calls.

Regards,
Exchange_Geek

ASKER

I don't know what you mean by shut the box. It's and Admin group. Either it's there or it's not so either I delete it or I don't. When I remove the final server, all I will have left is an Admin Group with a few empty containers below it.

Well, i meant was - if you haven't removed the E2003 box yet - then just shut it for a week, shutdown the server for a week - that's it.

If you're present environment can survive with no issues with E2003 server shut down, that means you do not need the E2003 environment anymore.

You can go ahead and remove E2003 by restarting post-1-week waiting time.

Regards,
Exchange_Geek

I understand the desire to keep the directory clean of old objects, but as someone who has worked for Microsoft in their Las Colinas location supporting Exchange 2010, I can tell you that the official recommendation if you contact Microsoft Professional Support Services is to leave the legacy Administrative Group in place. Deleting it will potentially cause more problems than it can fix.

The only thing you should do with the AG is, once you completely decomission all servers from it, run the Exchange Best Practices Analyzer. Likely, BPA will point out one or more properties of the old AG that need to be updated to point to new objects in the new 2010 environment.

evegter

hi, if your org originates from exch 2003 then your public folder hirarchy is still registered under the old 2003 admin group. you must move/migrate that. plenty of whitepapers/blogs how to do that too.
did you phase all 2003 servers by now?

ASKER

I still have one 2003 server left but that will go away over the next few months. From what I have been reading here, I may just leave the Admin group in place after decommissioning that server. It sounds like there may be too many things tied to it.