Migrate Single Exchange 2003 Server/ Server 2003 to new servers

your plan is good.

I hope the migration of  mailboxes from exchange server and exchange 2010 running.. includes the migration of public folders, configuring and send and receive connectors to point to exchange 2010, OWA url point to exchange 2010 etc..

I might suggest to complete the DC part first and then do the Exchange transition part. I guess you know during this process you need extend the schema etc. Make sure to have full backup of current servers before you do the decom. Not sure how big your env is, lot of time application servers are tied to old server and after decom only you find it.

You also need to remember the certificate requirement for Exchange 2010 and Client requirement too...If you have using Outlook 2003 you might need to install a patch on all clients else you will find connection, free/busy, shared calendar or mailbox access issues.

Also if your user configured any shared mailbox, ask them to note down before you move the accounts to 2010 Exchange servers, because after move, it might be gone.

Next, if you are using Public folder, you need to do PF migration first and then mailbox migration. Remember, there is a known invalid character issue with PF migration. If current, PF have any invalid characters like trailing space etc, in that case that won't replicate and you might need to fix that before adding the replica.

I don't want to scare with this long story, however i did a migration recently and it took me a year as customer setup was huge and spread across the globe.

Hope you find this useful. Rest other EE's already agreed with your plan.

Please check with http://support.microsoft.com/kb/822945

Thanks
Kernel Recovery Tools

Go to disagree about the plan being good.

"I have a single 2003 server with exchnage 2003 installed, this is the only DC and server currently in domain."

"6 Then demote old 2003 AD server 2003
7 Confirm users and profiles are all functioning from the new DC
8 Remove old exchange 2003 from old server 2003"

That isn't going to work. Running DCPROMO on a server with Exchange installed will break Exchange and you will be unable to remove Exchange 2003 correctly.

Remove Exchange from the DC first, then restart both servers. Only remove the GC role from the old DC once Exchange has been removed. While Exchange is installed on the server all Exchange servers (the new one as well) will ONLY use that DC. Therefore by removing Exchange and then rebooting both servers will ensure that the new server will use the other DC.

Simon.

Don't know how much of a guru you are with Exchange 2010, but MS did not make this a simple and easy migration.  I am including documents that MS provided for me that made the process go so much more smoothly.



http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb125224.aspx  - Prepare Active Directory and Domains
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa996719.aspx  - Exchange 2010 System Requirements
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb691354.aspx  - Exchange 2010 Prerequisites
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=88b304e7-9912-4cb0-8ead-7479dab1abf2&displaylang=en  - Exchange Pre-Deployment Analyzer
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd638130.aspx  - Install Exchange 2010 in an Existing Exchange 2003 Organization
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa998604.aspx  - lists the scenarios in which coexistence between Exchange 2010 and earlier versions of Exchange are supported and information about upgrading your organization to Exchange 2010
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd298136.aspx  - What's New in Exchange 2010
http://www.microsoft.com/exchange/2010/en/us/licensing.aspx#ExServCom 
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee681665.aspx  - Exchange 2010 Deployment Assistant
http://msexchangeteam.com/archive/2009/11/09/453117.aspx  - Exchange 2010 Mailbox Server Role Requirements Calculator
http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/datacenter/?p=1380  - Reduce hardware needs and ease administration with Exchange 2010
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa998911.aspx  - Discontinued Features and De-Emphasized Functionality
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd298026.aspx  - Overview of Exchange 2010 Server Roles
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd346701.aspx  - Understanding Server Role Ratios and Exchange Performance

RELATED KNOWLEDGE BASE ARTICLES
=================================
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb123715(EXCHG.140).aspx - Planning Active Directory
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd298174.aspx - Understanding Move Requests
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd335149.aspx - Remove-MoveRequest

I agree with jhyiesla, migration is not that simple. Lot of things you need to figure out and fix them during the actual migration.

Did you manage to get an answer for your query?

Thanks to all for your input this seemed to be what I needed at this time