Scribd
Upload
5 views

Exchange Migration

Uploaded by

Wahyu Kurniawan
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
5 views

Exchange Migration

Uploaded by

Wahyu Kurniawan
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 36

8/26/2021 Migrating Exchange 2003 to 2010 — Part I

Migrating Exchange 2003 to 201 0 — Part I

Gareth Gudger

With Exchange 2003 going end of life in less than two weeks, I have had a significant influx of
lastminute migrations and migration questions.

For those that don't know, Exchange 2003 is reaching end-


of-life on April 8th, 2014.

What this means is that there will be no further patches or


service packs for this product, nor, will you be able to
receive any form of paid assistance from Microsoft.

You may be able to find a consultant that can help with Exchange 2003 for years to come. Keep in
mind, that finding someone with that knowledge and skillset will diminish over time.

Real World: A couple of years ago I helped a friend with a failed Exchange 5.5 box. Yes, that is not a
typo. We were able to get it operational. The miracle is that I remembered a best-kept secret from
5.5 to get it going. These were things I hadn't thought about in 12 years!! I truly shocked myself.
The larger concern, however, is the complete lack of updates. If an exploit were to be found in the
product, after April 8th, you are on your own.

Now, is the time to upgrade!


There are many great articles that have already covered this process. One of my favorites is by Jaap
Wesselius. And while Jaap writes a fantastic article I wanted to write my own article for a slightly
different audience in mind.

That of the small business.


Specifically, seventy-five users and below.

"Seventy-five?" you might say, "Isn't that the max number of users for Small Business

Server 2003?"
Yes, yes it is.

I will be focusing on a small company running Exchange 2003 Standard. While this will focus on
the full version of the product, you can easily transpose this for Small

Business Server.

https://www.printfriendly.com/p/g/xYHqav
8/26/2021 Migrating Exchange 2003 to 2010 — Part I

-
We will focus on transitioning from a single server running Exchange 2003 to a single
server running 2010. We will use a Cisco ASA 5505 as our firewall. Our network will
look like this.

(click for a larger image)

"Why not go directly to Exchange 2013?" you may ask.


Well, simply put, you can't.

Microsoft has not released an upgrade path from 2003 to 2013. If your final goal is to
get to Exchange 2013, Microsoft recommends you go to 2007, or, 2010 first. Exchange
2003 and 2013 cannot co-exist in the same forest.

Tip: Now you can cheat, and use products like MigrationWiz, to perform what they call
a cross-forest migration. And it will get you directly to Exchange 2013. But that is
exactly what you will get. A brand new forest and a brand new domain. And that
comes with its own set of challenges. Don't get me wrong, MigrationWiz is a fantastic
product. In fact, keep your eyes peeled for an article in April that covers transferring
mailboxes from Lotus Notes to Exchange 2010 using MigrationWiz. But for now, let's
follow Microsoft best practice.

First things first. The prerequisites. We need to do this before we even consider putting
in the Exchange DVD.
8/26/2021 Migrating Exchange 2003 to 2010 — Part I

Step 1: The Prerequisites

https://hm,w.' printfriendly.com/p/g/xYHqav
Before we can get started we need to do some checking in of
Active Directory and the current Exchange environment.

First, we need to check the Exchange Organization mode. We


need to make sure it is Native. To do this:

1. Open Exchange System Manager.


2 Right-click on the top-level item and select Properties from the context menu.

3. Check the box that says Operation


Mode.
o If this box says Native Mode
(no pre-Exchange 2000
servers) then you are all set.
Proceed to Step 4.

o If this box says Mixed Mode


(can support pre-
Exchange 2000 Servers) click
the Change Mode button.

4. Click Ok.

Next, we need to determine the domain functional level.


We need to make sure this is a minimum of Server 2003.

Note: You can NOT do this if you have any Server 2000 (or
older) domain controllers in the environment. Those will
need to be upgraded or decommissioned first.

To check and modify the domain functional level:

Open Active Directory Users


and Computers 2 Right-click
on the name of your domain.
3. Select Raise Domain Functional Level from the context menu.
8/26/2021 Migrating Exchange 2003 to 2010 — Part I

4. From the Select an available domain drop-down, box choose


Windows Server
2003.
5. Click the Raise button.

6. You will be prompted to confirm and wamed the action is irreversible. Click Ok.
7. You will receive a dialog determining whether or not this was successful. Click Ok.
8. TO confirm this worked, right-click on your domain and select Raise Domain
Functional Level again. It should look like the screenshot below. Click Close.
Next, we need to determine the forest functional level.
Like we did with the domain level, we need to make sure
this is a minimum of Server 2003.

Note: If you have more than one domain in your forest, all
domains must be at a Server 2003 domain functional level
before the forest functional level can be raised.

TO check and modify the forest functional level:

1. Open Active Directory Domains and


Trusts
2. Right-click on the top-level node, Active Directory
Domains, and Trusts, and select Raise Forest
Functional Level from the context menu.
3. From the Select an available forest
drop-down box, choose Windows
Server 2003.
4. Click the Raise button.

5 You will be prompted to confirm and warned


the action is irreversible. Click
Ok.
a You will receive a dialog determining whether or
not this was successful.

Click Ok.
7. To confirm this worked, right-dick on
the top-level node and select Raise
Forest Functional Level
again. It should look like the
screenshot below. Click Close.

Next, we need to determine if the


Domain Controllers themselves are at
the minimum service pack level. If your
domain controllers are all Server 2008
or newer then no problem. You are
good to go. However, if you have any
Server 2003, Or, they are all 2003, then
we need to check
1. Log onto your domain controller.

2 Go to Start, right-click on My
Computer and select Properties.
3. Under the General tab, in the System section,
look for a Service Pack level.
4. Repeat this for all domain controllers.

We need to make sure our domain controllers are at


a minimum Service Pack 1 (or running Server 2003
R2). If not, then you need to run Windows Update

Technically, only the Domain Controllers hosting the


Schema Master and Global Catalog roles need to
be at Service Pack 1 , but for the sake of
simplicity, let's get all our DCs patched up.

The next prerequisite is to make sure we Suppress


Link State Updates. We do this from the registry of
the Exchange 2003 server.

To do this, follow the steps in this Microsoft TechNet Article:

https://docs.microsoft.com/enus/previous-versions/office/exchange-server2010/
dd346700(v=exchg.141 )

That's all for Part l. In the next part in our series we will extend the Active
Directory Schema to allow for Exchange 2010 and begin preparing our server that
will host all our Exchange roles.

I NEXT: Migrating Exchange 2003 to 2010 — Part Il


8/26/2021 Migrating Exchange 2003 to 2010 — Part I
8/26/2021 Migrating Exchange 2003 to 2010 — Part I
8/26/2021 Migrating Exchange 2003 to 2010 — Part I
8/26/2021 Migrating Exchange 2003 to 2010 — Part I
8/26/2021 Migrating Exchange 2003 to 2010 — Part I
8/26/2021 Migrating Exchange 2003 to 2010 — Part I
8/26/2021 Migrating Exchange 2003 to 2010 — Part I
8/26/2021 Migrating Exchange 2003 to 2010 — Part I
8/26/2021 Migrating Exchange 2003 to 2010 — Part I
8/26/2021 Migrating Exchange 2003 to 2010 — Part I
8/26/2021 Migrating Exchange 2003 to 2010 — Part I
8/26/2021 Migrating Exchange 2003 to 2010 — Part I
8/26/2021 Migrating Exchange 2003 to 2010 — Part I
8/26/2021 Migrating Exchange 2003 to 2010 — Part I
8/26/2021 Migrating Exchange 2003 to 2010 — Part I
8/26/2021 Migrating Exchange 2003 to 2010 — Part I
8/26/2021 Migrating Exchange 2003 to 2010 — Part I
8/26/2021 Migrating Exchange 2003 to 2010 — Part I

You might also like