RE: Moving exchange to new hardware (Full Version)

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NileshS -> RE: Moving exchange to new hardware (14.Jan.2009 4:09:05 PM)

quote:


Do you guys really do some kind of a research before giving strict suggestions ???
Are you aware of the impact on a client side when you move mailboxes ??

Single instance strorage will be broken....
Ratish

 
I strongly agree with what Ratish on the above mentioned point. Everybody in here suggested moving mailboxes to a different server. But if I am not wrong, Richard has clearly mentioned that his is an Exchange 2003 STANDARD server. Even though it may have a 75GB upper limit as of now due to SP2; there are chances that the database size can be bloated due to the fact that SIS is broken during move mailboxes.
 
Another thing to keep in mind is that as Richard mentioned that the old Exchange server keeps throwing BSOD so we arent sure how long will it be up and running? What if during the migration process it keeps going down again and again?
 
One more thing I would like to comment on is that if in case you go ahead with the Migration plan be sure to check the "Sitefolderserver" attribute as mentioned by other mates in here. If the migration is graceful, it should be updated; however to be on a safer side its always good to double-check the same.
 
Hence I would say using the plan given by MS in moving the Exchange to a new hardware keeping the same server name is no doubt a BEST action plan according to me in Richard's situation.
 
Cheers,
Nilesh Shetty



richardw1972 -> RE: Moving exchange to new hardware (15.Jan.2009 11:51:42 AM)

So, I set up a new Exchange Server, followed the instructions in this article religiously:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/822931

and used the Move Mailbox method.With mixed success, I have to say.

About a quarter of the mailboxes I have had to delete and re-create from Exmerge backups. Thank GOD I'd done that first.  In most of them, the user got errors like "could not open the set of folders".  When I tried to recreate the profile on the client PCs, Outlook wouldn't open at all in cached exchange mode, and only reluctantly online - with plenty of crashes.

In some mailboxes I had two Inboxes, both updating and causing constant synch errors (I then recreated those ones from PSTs, no problem so far). Also, about half of the mailboxes stopped doing Send/Receive so the users wondered where their new email was. Weird.

My main problem now is folder permissions.  Previously everyone had their calendar shared with Editor permission by default, now permissions are totally random.  They all look like they're shared with Editor permission, but... there are one or two which no-one else can open, and a load of them are just totally random - some users can open them, some can't.  It doesn't make any difference whether they were moved normally via Move Mailbox or whether I recreated them from PSTs.  I suppose I must have missed something somewhere, or maybe Move Mailbox just screwed up the permissions, but I really don't know what to do. Any ideas?



ratishnair -> RE: Moving exchange to new hardware (15.Jan.2009 4:41:25 PM)

quote:

Erm, that was the Technet article I was going to follow until I was persuaded otherwise! Totally confused now, but I'm going to try moving mailboxes and if that doesn't work, I'll use DR as plan B.

 
Now what do I say Richard ?
 
This situation requires close attention:
 
1. "could not open the set of folders". 
2. Outlook wouldn't open at all in cached exchange mode
3. plenty of crashes.
4. some mailboxes I had two Inboxes
5. mailboxes stopped doing Send/Receive
6. main problem now is folder permissions
7. now permissions are totally random
8. I suppose I must have missed something somewhere, or maybe Move Mailbox just screwed up the permissions
 
You could have opted Plan B as per the advice given by Nilesh or me.... we have multiple issues right now...
Regarding Folder permissions, we could have used PFDAVAdmin to export permissions and import back to the Pub folders, but now its too late I'd say
 
If you could refer the post I had made, I did mention that we might be in trouble if we move mailboxes....:-(
 

 



richardw1972 -> RE: Moving exchange to new hardware (16.Jan.2009 3:34:38 AM)

Well, "I told you so" isn't really that helpful, but if it makes you feel better, great.



ratishnair -> RE: Moving exchange to new hardware (16.Jan.2009 7:26:54 AM)

Its not so Richard...

quote:

  Whatever client side configurations on outlook will be lost wiz; Rules, delegates and what not ??


Shared calendar is an OL client side feature and when you moved mailboxes, we might have had a problem.

If you need to get them back, we will have to manually create now and when you recreate a mailbox using Exmerge, the mailbox will be a new one with no features, but only the messages.. Can you post any relevant event id on the server level for this ??



richardw1972 -> RE: Moving exchange to new hardware (16.Jan.2009 7:53:09 AM)

Yes, that's what I'm doing now. What fun!



NileshS -> RE: Moving exchange to new hardware (17.Jan.2009 9:14:12 PM)

Things like these happen a lot during these situations. DR is a process where there is no guarantee that all would be ok.
 
I guess no matter which process Richard would have followed; he would have hit one block or the other. Actually the issue had started when the old server crashed frequently due to BSOD.
 
The fact that some of the mailboxes are screwed up with multiple folders with same name, some folders with no access etc says that the databases were damaged due to the frequent crashing of the server.
 
I can understand the situation that you are in Richard and believe me I have gone through it and know what it means to run to each client workstation and configuring the settings at their end. :(



richardw1972 -> RE: Moving exchange to new hardware (19.Jan.2009 3:56:09 AM)

In the end, I had to recreate every mailbox from scratch - like this..

1. Export entire mailbox to a PST using Import/Export in Outlook. Open PST file and check that all folders are there.
2. Delete and re-create mailbox very quickly.
3. Re-import PST data into Outlook.

x45 ...

Still, all working fine again now, as things stand - permissions OK, Send/receive working OK. Not much fun, all in all. Can't say I'd ever recommend using Move Mailbox to anyone, but you live and learn, I guess. Thanks to all for your input.



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