Exchange 2010 to Exchange 2013 Public Folder Migration

Hello,

I was looking for confirmation that I am thinking about this public folder migration correctly. The overview is:

- Migration from Exchange 2010 to Exchange 2013
- All user mailboxes will be moved prior to migrating public folders
- There is approximately 860GB of PF data to migrate
- There are only a handful of top level public folders, approximately 15
- There are 49,041 folders in the entire hierarchy
- No folder within the hierarchy has more than 10,000 folders directly beneath it

If I am reading this correctly, we should be safe to migrate from 2010 to 2013 provided we have 10 public folder mailboxes with a limit of 100GB each, right? https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dn594582(v=exchg.160).aspx 

Also, users should see no real difference in the way that they view their data, as the hierarchy is stored within each public folder mailbox?

Finally, are there any caveats I should be aware of?

Thank you for your time.
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advserverAsked:
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Todd NelsonConnect With a Mentor Systems EngineerCommented:
Have you reviewed this article and the reference article (https://supertekboy.com/2014/10/13/2013-public-folder-migration-made-easy/) ?  Gareth makes the process easy to understand and perform.  I hate the MS references for migrating PFs, as they are inconsistent and lacking important content and flow.

First, take a backup--Should go without saying.

Personally, I would take a "snap shot" of the PF permissions that are currently set and remove any orphaned permissions.

Report all PF permissions...

Get-PublicFolder -Identity "\" -Recurse -ResultSize Unlimited | Get-PublicFolderClientPermission | Select-Object Identity,User,@{Name="AccessRights";Expression={$_.AccessRights} } | Export-Csv "C:\PFPermissions.csv" -NoTypeInformation

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Check for orphaned permissions...

Get-PublicFolder -Identity "\" -Recurse -ResultSize Unlimited | Get-PublicFolderClientPermission | Where-Object { $_.User -like "NT User:S-1-*" } | Select-Object Identity,User,@{Name="AccessRights";Expression={$_.AccessRights} } | Export-Csv "C:\OrphanedPFPermissions.csv" -NoTypeInformation

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Remove all orphaned permissions...

Get-PublicFolder -Identity "\" -Recurse -ResultSize Unlimited | Get-PublicFolderClientPermission | Where-Object { $_.User -like "NT User:S-1-*" } | % { Remove-PublicFolderClientPermission -Identity $_.Identity -User $_.User -Access $_.AccessRights -Confirm:$false }

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Lastly, I would ensure that all of the Exchange servers are running supported versions of Exchange 2010 SP3 UR (UR15) and Exchange 2013 CU (CU14).
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Dan ArseneauConnect With a Mentor Commented:
Make sure you don't have any quota limitations placed on the newly created PF mailboxes.
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AmitConnect With a Mentor IT ArchitectCommented:
Microsoft completely redesigned PF with Exchange 2013 release. The main purpose for this change, is to force admins to move over to SharePoint. However, as you know PF is in use for several years and tons of application relies on PF. So, MS decided to still keep it. However, there are lot of limits added with it. With new design now you can use DAG with PF. But read my note section at the end.

Read here:https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dn594582(v=exchg.150).aspx

Seeing your PF Size, I don't think it will be an easy migration. You might need to fix lot of things before starting the migration, especially, if you have space or any special character not supported in 2013. There are several articles available for PF migration. However, I am pointing you to the best one:
http://msexchangeguru.com/2013/04/18/exchange2013-public-folders/

Use this article for smooth migration. I highly suggest you to test in lab first and understand how it works.

Note: I haven't pointed out the issues related to customer with Exchange running on multiple sites with PF servers. There you will see lot more different issues and challenges.
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Todd NelsonConnect With a Mentor Systems EngineerCommented:
I disagree with this statement...

The main purpose for this change, is to force admins to move over to SharePoint.

The public folders that were left for dead and de-emphasized beginning with Exchange 2007 have been revived.  Because they are now a mailbox object they can be included in a DAG for resiliency and high availability--which wasn't the case before--and more easily accessible.  Microsoft has put forth extraordinary efforts to keep them around to the point that they are even asking the community for input to test and improve  migration strategies they are developing for on premises and Exchange Online.

Personally, I think there was any emphasis to move public folders to SharePoint and there was to move the Exchange database to SQL Server--which wasn't much.

However, I do agree that SharePoint is a much better use for the files than the ones that get dumped into public folders.
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Todd NelsonConnect With a Mentor Systems EngineerCommented:
As Amit suggested, invalid characters in the public folders will need to be fixed.  You can check with this command...

Get-PublicFolder -Identity "\" -Recurse -ResultSize Unlimited | findstr "Warning" >> C:\PFAliases.txt

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The output will not be ideal but it will be usable to address any issues that need correcting.

This reference was useful with a migration we did from Exchange 2003/2007 to 2010 to speed up the process to fix invalid characters for mailboxes.  May work with PFs but don't know for certain ... https://gallery.technet.microsoft.com/scriptcenter/411aec4e-8c01-4594-b993-fbd968f15399
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Marshal HubsEmail ConsultantCommented:
First I would suggest to take backup Before starting with any migration process. Whichever method you use, make sure to take back up of that Public Folder Database. Please check this link for Exchange 2010 public folder to Exchange 2013 migration: http://msexchangeguru.com/2013/04/18/exchange2013-public-folders/
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Ajit SinghCommented:
If you are planning to decommission the Exchange 2010 server then you should move to the Exchange 2013, that means just you can enabled the public folder replication, If their is no plan to decommission you carry on, but better. you can enabled the replication to exchange 2013 server also, because it would be useful.

After all the mailboxes were migrated, you can migrate the public folders to exchange 2013. Users are able to access the public folders from exchange 2013 directly.

First of all the best to do is make a good backup and be sure there is no previous record of migration on the source Exchange 2010. If yes, you need to reset it.  

Then generate CSV exports and prepare target Exchange 2013 after that start migration process with New-PublicFolderMigrationRequest cmdlet

To get in detailed please refer to below in formative resources:

Migrating Public Folders from Exchange 2010 to Exchange 2013:
http://www.petenetlive.com/KB/Article/0000789

Moving Public Folders to Exchange 2013 and decommissioning old Exchange:
http://mstechtalk.com/step-by-step-guide-to-migrate-from-exchange-server-2007-to-exchange-server-2013/

Hope this helps!
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advserverAuthor Commented:
All, this is great information, and I appreciate your thoughtful answers. From what I gather, yes we are able to migrate to Exchange 2013 (although it will be quite the process), and no, users will not see a difference in the way that the public folders are displayed in Outlook. Is this correct?

Sorry for the delay in response.
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AmitIT ArchitectCommented:
There are few limitation. Check this KB:
https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj552408(v=exchg.160).aspx


Are there any limitations in the clients?



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Outlook on the web (formerly known as Outlook Web App) is supported, but with some limitations. You can add and remove public folders to your Favorites (if they are Mail, Post, Calendar, or Contact public folders) and perform item level operations, such as creating, editing, deleting posts, and replying to posts. But, you can’t do the following in Outlook on the web:

•Create or delete public folders


•Drag-and-drop content


•Access public folders located on servers running previous versions of Exchange

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Todd NelsonSystems EngineerCommented:
Sufficient information provided to implement requested solution.
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