Moving an Exchange 5.5 Server to Another Exchange 5.5 Server 13

[tekquest]

hey guys,

I am looking to upgrade my exchange 5.5 server computer to a new 2ghz, 512mb ram, scsi disks etc pc, something a bit more powerful than the current p500mhz with 256mb ram!,

my question is, I want to set up the new pc, install windows nt4 on it as well as exchange 5.5, but i want to know how i can transfer users and routing information etc over, is their an easy way to do this?

thanks,


Luke

 

[KingofSketch]

Your best bet is to have exchange running on both machines to start with, When you load Exchange on your new machine it will ask you if you want to join a site, agree to this and a quick wizard will help you locate the server that currently has exchange on it.

Once these are connected,

Go to your old server and then go into the "server recipents" folder.

Highlight all the mail boxes and then click Tools/move mailbox,

this will bring up a list of the avaiable servers, pick your new server (N.b. make sure no one os logged in to their mailbox when you do this or else you'll be entering a world of hassle)

Once you've moved the mailboxes, run the exchange optimizer on the new server, there will be an option to recreate the connectors, make sure you have this ticked

and then your sorted

hope this helps
Sketch
"Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines"

 

[fuego007]

I disagree with the previous posting, as it will result in the loss of single instance attachment storage. Follow the procedure below to replace your existing hardware with new. This procedure is a modification of Microsoft TechNet article 155216.

Procedure for replacing an existing Exchange server with new hardware.

This must be done when you can have e-mail unavailable for about 4 hours.

First, ensure you have a current backup of the existing server.

From Exchange Admin, open the properties window for the server. Select the Database Paths tab and note where each item is located.

Stop all Exchange services and set them to manual startup.

Ensure there is a local administrator account on the server.

Rename the server and restart.

Delete the original server name from the domain.

On the new hardware, install NT and create partitions to math what you have on the old hardware (drive-wise, not size-wise).

Once the original server's name has disappeared from the server manager window, rename the new server using the original server's name and join the domain.

Install Exchange server on the new hardware using the same Organization, Site, and Server names used on the original server. Ensure all NT and Exchange service packs have been applied that were installed on the old server.

Run Exchange Optimizer and make sure the database paths match the information gathered from the original server.

Once Optimizer completes, stop all Exchange services.

Find the following folders on all drives: mdbdata, mtadata, dsadata.

In each folder, create a folder named 'Hold', and move the contents of the folders into the respective 'Hold' folders.

COPY (DO NOT MOVE) the data from the above folders on the old server to the corresponding folders on the new server, being careful to move data from drive C: to drive C:, D: to D:, etc.

When all data has been copied over, open a DOS window and execute the following command:

c:\exchsrvr\bin\isinteg -patch

When this completes, you will receive a message that the database was successfully updated. If you get any errors, try changing the directory to the drive and folder containing the priv.edb and pub.edb, and try again.

Once you have received the message that the database was successfully updated, you can start the Exchange services. If you had installed the internet mail connector on the original server, you will have to re-install it on the new server.

 

[mike722]

If loss of single instance attachment storage isn't a problem for you (depends how big your IS is) then I would do it kingofsketchs way. Fuego007 way sounds good, but is considerably more risky.

mfd

 

[fuego007]

Actually, the process I outlined is not risky at all, as you always have the option of bringing the original server back on-line if there are problems. On top of that, I have personally performed this procedure several times, and talked others through it over the phone even more.

 

[tekquest]

Thanks for the info guys, there is a question regarding the names of the two servers, lets say the original (current old slow mail server) is called Mserver, obviously I cannot call the new one Mserver because there would be a name conflict, if I was to call it Mserver2 and connect it up to the existing mail server's site, transfer the data and set it up and have them both working together.

When I wanted to remove Mserver, is it just as simple as renaming the computer Mserver2 to Mserver? as every user on the networks mail profile has "Microsoft Exchange Server" with Mserver as the Microsoft exchange server site, if this was not possibly, it would mean going from pc to pc and updating the exchange server site, which wouldn't be a problem either.


Thanks for the info, much appreciated,

Luke

 

[fuego007]

Luke,

If you use the procedure I outlined above, you will first rename the old server (to, say, Mserver_old), then remove MServer from the domain. After waiting for the name to disappear, you will then rename the new server using the old server's name. After this is done, you install Exchange server.

I hope this clears things up.

If you have questions, contact me directly at robert.robinson@tma.osd.mil.

Bob

 

[spiderman81]

FYI: You do not lose single instance storage when moving mailboxes to another server in the same site.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;175481

Either method will work, move mailboxes or forklifting the databases, i personally like the database forklift, but it's really what works best for you.

You can still refer to my instructions on EE if you want...

-=Kevala=-

 

[alfabob]

Luke

The easiest way to do this is to do a "disaster recovery" of the server. The Microsoft Exchange Disaster Recovery Whitepapers detail the DR process and should be read before attempting this.

You don't mention if the machine is a domain controller or a member server, or if it has any other functions e.g. File/Print this doesn't really matter but the process will need to be adapted to suit, hopefully the Exchange service account is a domain account.

Step one
write down the following information a) the server name b) the Exchange service account and password c) the Exchange Organisation and site name. d) the location i.e. path of the edb files (dir, priv, pub) e) the service pack level of both NT 4.0 and Exchange


Step two
Shutdown the Exchange servers (just stop the system attendant) and take a backup of the edb files to tape

step three
Remove from the network or rename the orginal server. If possible remove the server as you won't need to do anything distructive. If the server is the only domain controller the best approach here is to install a temporary controller and promote it to be the PDC.

step four
Install NT 4.0 on the new server giving it the same name and ip address as the orginal (this is crucial) apply the correct service pack.

step five
Reinstall Exchange using the "/r" option when prompted create a new Exchange site which has the same organisation and name as the original, (do not attempt to join), also when prompted enter the Exchange service account and pasword. Install the correct service pack also using the "/r" option. This process puts Exchange into recovery mode. You can safely ignore any messages about not being able to find log files etc

Step six
Run the optimisation tool and "move" the location of the edb file to reflect the noted location, once again ignore any messages about log files.

Step seven
Restore the edb files to correct location, and then run isinteg -patch from a DOS prompt isinteg should be located in the Exchange\bin directory

Step eight
You can now restart the Exhanges services. I would do them one at a time, checking the application event log for any errors

Notes:
If the server is a member server and the Exchange account is a local account then you will need to affect a recovery of the SAM on the server.

 

[JWilliams]

Tekquest,
Follow

http://www.swinc.com/files/Exchange5.5FAQ.pdf.

You will not loose SIS and you will not have to update each user.

Jessica

 

[janderegg]

We just finished moving from an NT 4.0 server with Exchange 5.0 to a Windows 2000 server with Exchange 5.0 using fuego007's method. After the move everything worked fine and then we upgraded to Exchange 5.5 on the new server.

We used the same procedure on an NT 4.0/Exchange 5.5 to faster hardware NT 4.0 /Exchange 5.5 for another of our customers. Again, went off without a hitch. Just an FYI.

 

[cahelmster]

Attempted fuego007's method of moving Exchange today. We moved Exchange 5.5 from an old NT server to a new 2000 server. It went extremely well. We did run into an issue with the "c:\exchsrvr\bin\isinteg -patch" command. We ended up having to start the Exchange Directory service and we had to attempt to start the Information Store service (service errored out on starting) before the "isinteg" command would complete successfully. Other than that, the whole process seems to have completed without a hitch. After the "isinteg" process, all the services started successfully.

Thanks to fuego007!

 

[cahelmster]

By the way...after we moved Exchange successfully, now we are having problems with DNS resolution. Before, a new computer obtained an IP address from DHCP and we didn't have to manually configure DNS, WINS, etc. on each PC and DNS resolution worked fine. Now, the only way I can browse the Internet is to manually configure DNS servers in the Network properties of each PC (mostly WIN2K). Any ideas on what happened?

Thanks!

 

[Bartelby]

I tried this over the weekend and it didn't work. I was moving from an NT 4.0 SP6 with Exchange 5.5 SP4 to and new server with Windows 2000 SP3 and Exchange 5.5 SP4.

All the services started after I had to run a defrag and isinteg -patch. I started the System Attendant the DS when I tried to run IS the event log told me to run a defrag. What went wrong was when I went to open Exchange Admin I received the following error.

Exchange Server US not found
DS_E_Communications_Problem.

Any idea as to what I did wrong?

 

[Bartelby]

Is there anyone out there that might be able to help?

 

[Roadkillzz]

Additional issue on this one...

I moved all mailboxes to a "new" Exchange 5.5, replicated en homed all Private and Public data onto the "new" Exchange and swithed site roles from the 2 Exchange Servers (both NT4 Member Servers).

After shutting down the "old" Exchange, no ploblems with sending/receiving mail, accessing Public Folders and generating offline address books works as well. But with some mailboxes some delegates can no longer access the calendar. So delegate 1 still has access but delegate 2 has not..?!?!?! in Outlook they get a message about the Information Store.
Putting the first Exchange back online, resolves this problem.

So my guess is that there's still some "configuration data" on the first Exchange which has to replicate/moved/homed on the new one. But what...????

All pointers/information on this one is appreciated..
Cheers,
Arnold

 

[orange5]

We have a similar problem which we can't see a quick way around. We need to move exchange 5.5 from an NT server, with a name that includes an underscore, to a w2k server which can not be named using an underscore. So we are moving to different hardware a with different server name & OS. The only way we can see of ensuring we move all data is to create new mail boxes on the new install of exchange and import PST's of each user.

If anybody knows of a quicker way that ensures all mail & sub folders etc are ported across I would love to hear about it.

 

[ghowson]

Can anybody tell me what a "loss of single instance attachment storage" means and the implications?

Thanks

 

[jefblack]

Single Instance Storage comes into play when a message is sent to more than one user. A single copy is stored and is mapped to each specified recipient, rather than having a copy for each recipient. This is to save space.

 

[Xanthras]

We need to move out Exchange to a new 5.5 server before continuing to 2000 and i was wondering how i go about moving it to a new server when my Information store is spread accross several drives? Will the Optimizer i have heard about take care of this issue by combining them to one drive?