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J.C. Wallace

SBS 2008 Exchange 2007 to Exchange 2013 Installation Fail Safe

Migrate Exchange Server 2007 from SBS 2008 to a new Exchange Server 2013 on Windows Server 2012 R2

I’m at the stage where the next step is:
4. Install Exchange Server 2013 on the new Windows Server 2012 R2 member server

At what point (if any) might this interfere with the operation of the existing (SBS 2008) Exchange 2007 functionality?

My concern is that if, after starting the install, we run into a problem with 2013... and it does interfere... is there a way to temporarily ‘disable’ 2013 so that we could continue operations with 2007 until we’re able to get 2013 squared away?

Thank you!

asked09/05/2019 16:09
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Last Activity 09/11/2019 17:58

1 Answer(s)

  • Mariette Knap

    Exchange Server 2013 can down proxy any connection to the old Exchange Server 2007. If DNS and Firewall have been properly configured all connections should go to the server that runs Exchange Server 2013. Even if a mailbox is still on the 2007 server connection will be proxied but you must have two domains for this. One for the SBS 2008, probably remote.domain.com and one for the Exchange Server 2013, possibly mail.domain.com. On both servers, you MUST have a working certificate from an official CA.

    If the above has been done you should not have any issues migrating the mailboxes. You can even do that in batches if you wish.

    There is only one issue and that is Public Folders. Imagine UserA has been migrated to the Exchange Server 2013 and the Public Folder are still on the Exchange Server 2007 that user will not be able to open the Public Folder in Outlook and you will probably see certificate warnings and login boxes.

    You cannot disable Exchange Server 2013 once it is installed and part of your organisation and as a matter of fact it is not needed.

    answered 09/05/2019 16:28
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    J.C. Wallace

    Assuming that we could do the 2007->2013 Mailboxes Migration overnight (and that the Mail Server downtime would be acceptable) could we dispense with the need to create the second Domain (as there would be no need for 2013 to Down-Proxy to 2007) ??  

    If so, I could block any ongoing mail traffic at the Firewall during the process (and we have an External Mail Service that would buffer/spool new items until we’re back online).

    Re the Public Folders:  They have never been used on this SBS Server (at least not by actual Users, I don’t know if the System may use them) so would there be any reason to even Migrate them?

    Thanks again
     

    Mariette Knap

    Yes! That will work just fine. If you do not have used Public Folders and therefor not migrate them you can skip that chapter but you must remove them from the old Exchange Server 2007 before you can uninstall it from the SBS 2008. This is described in Uninstall Exchange Server 2007 from SBS 2008 but there are rare circumstances where the uninstall does not complete contact me.

    replied 09/05/2019 17:37
    J.C. Wallace

    I’ve got Ex2013 operational on 2012-R2 now and I went thru all the preceding steps at:

    Uninstall Exchange Server 2007 from SBS 2008

    but at step 10 the uninstall process fails with this message:

    The following server roles will be removed

        Mailbox Role

        Client Access Role

        Hub Transport Role

        Management Tools

    Performing Microsoft Exchange Server Prerequisite Check

        Mailbox Role Checks              ......................... COMPLETED

        Client Access Role Checks        ......................... COMPLETED

        Hub Transport Role Checks        ......................... COMPLETED

     There are 2 messages waiting in the 'TW-SVR-11\Unreachable' queue. Proceeding with the removal of the server role may result in data loss.

    Configuring Microsoft Exchange Server

        Mailbox Server Role              ......................... FAILED

         Object is read only because it was created by a future version of Exchange: 0.10 (14.0.100.0). Current supported version is 0.1 (8.0.535.0).

     

    I’m not concerned about the messages in the Unreachable queue but that last one is stopping me cold.  Ideas?

     

    replied 09/09/2019 06:13
    Mariette Knap

    Most of the time this has to do with Public Folders, you may want to read https://practical365.com/exchange-server/object-is-read-only-removing-exchange-server-2007-public-folder-database/ though this is much the same as in the Exchange 2007 removal guide. There could also be another reason for this, see http://www.sbsfaq.com/how-to-do-exchange-2013-migration-without-migrating-public-folders/. If you do not want to do this yourself pls open a ticket https://server-essentials.com/support/premier-support

    replied 09/09/2019 06:32
    Mariette Knap
    You need to use ADSI edit for the above procedures and if you do it wrong you render your server useless.
    replied 09/09/2019 06:35
    J.C. Wallace

    I wasn’t able to use the procedure at:
    https://practical365.com/exchange-server/object-is-read-only-removing-exchange-server-2007-public-folder-database/
    because that’s being done from Ex2010 but our Ex2013 EMS doesn’t recognize the cmdlet Remove-PublicFolderDatabase

    So I tried doing the same thing from the Ex2007 EMS and got this:

    [PS] C:\>Remove-PublicFolderDatabase "Public Folder Database"
    Remove-PublicFolderDatabase : The public folder database "OurSBS2008-ServerName\Second Storage Group\Public Folder Database" contains folder replicas. 
    Before deleting the public folder database, remove the folders or move the replicas to another public folder database. 
    For detailed instructions about how to remove a public folder database, see http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=81409.

    The instructions at the site referenced http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=81409 seem dated (there’s some warnings that I don’t think apply with versions >= to Ex2013 or Outlook 2010) and requires Migrating/Moving the (in our case unused, non-existent) Public Folder Data to another Server/Database and has a number of steps that look like they might cause problems and it just seemed like an awful waste of time & effort...

    However, the procedure at the other link you provided http://www.sbsfaq.com/how-to-do-exchange-2013-migration-without-migrating-public-folders was quick & easy enough (even with being excruciatingly careful & documenting the changes in ADSIedit just in case) and appears to have worked fine with no problems or reported errors even after rebooting the SBS2008 and the new DC and Exchange Servers.

    Next up I’ll retry uninstalling Exchange from the SBS2008 Server again and hopefully it’ll work now that the Public Folders are gone...

    So thanks again Mariette!
     

    replied 09/11/2019 17:58
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    replied 09/05/2019 17:31
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