Choosing Network Migration Tools

Microsoft has provided a number of important tools for your migration. In this chapter and the next, we’ll discuss how to use them when migrating from Exchange 5.5 Server to Exchange Server 2003. Three tools in particular have the potential to help you with your migration process: Move Server Wizard, Exmerge, and Exchange Migration Wizard. Another more comprehensive tool, called the Active Directory Migration Tool, can help you with planning your migration to Active Directory.

As part of your migration strategy, you’ll need to decide whether you’re going to migrate all the information at the same time or in stages. If you decide to migrate in stages, you’ll need to ensure that messages flow between your systems, Global Address Lists are updated appropriately, and public folder access is not diminished.

Move Server Wizard

Move Server Wizard enables you to collapse your Exchange 5.5 organization into fewer source sites—that is, move smaller sites of servers into larger ones— so that the migration is more easily accomplished.

We should mention from the outset that this tool can be complex to use, and you might need to do substantial groundwork on your Exchange 5.5 server before you can use the tool. In many scenarios, Move Server Wizard won’t meet your needs.

Here are the key features of this tool:

• Uses same hardware All operations are performed on the same server. Mailboxes are not moved to a new server.

• Moves directory information Directory information associated with a mailbox is moved to a new site.

• Moves distribution lists and contacts Distribution lists (DLs) and contacts are moved to the target site.

• Cleans up the source site Objects that have been moved to the new site are deleted in the source site automatically.

• Preserves addressing information The Reply-To addressing information in the properties of the moved objects are preserved.

As with nearly all tools, Move Server Wizard has some drawbacks. The first is that your Outlook profiles will need to be reset after the server moves—there is no getting around this. Second, public folders are not preserved. Hence, you’ll need to re-home your public folders before you use Move Server Wizard so that you don’t have any orphaned folders in the source site. And finally, access control security settings are not preserved, so you’ll need to reconfigure them before using the Move Server Wizard.

Two more issues might indicate that this tool is not the best choice in your situation. First, once you start your migration to Exchange 2003, you cannot use Move Server Wizard and there is no rollback that will allow you to use it. Second, using this tool requires a fair amount of planning and effort, and you might find that using it costs you more time and effort than using other tools, approaches, and migration paths to achieve your ultimate goal. Specifically, you must verify the following list of issues before you use the tool:

• Public folders (including system folders) are re-homed on another server in the same site.

• No users default to this server for public folder access.

• News feeds are re-homed.

• INS (Internet News Service) is removed completely.

• KMS (Key Management Server) isn’t installed.

• IMS (Internet Mail Service) isn’t installed.

• Event service isn’t installed.

• No connectors are installed.

• Server is not the routing calculation server for the site.

• There is no target server on a connector.

• There is no messaging BHS (Bridgehead Server).

• There is no Directory Replication BHS (DRBHS).

• You must be running Exchange 5.5 SP2 or later.

• There is no cluster server.

• Server monitors can’t shut down the moved server or any server in the original or destination site.

• Directory replication is complete.

• Full online backup is complete.

Exmerge

Exmerge (Exchange Server Mailbox Merge) is a very flexible tool that helps you perform bulk export and import actions on mailboxes, and during a migration scenario, you would use it to move a large number of mailboxes between servers in different organizations without moving the servers as well. Essentially, this tool exports an individual mailbox to a .pst (Personal Store) file for importing into an Exchange 2003 mailbox. (We know of more than a few environments that also use this tool for disaster recovery of individual mailboxes.) Exmerge can work in the Exchange 5.5, Exchange 2000, or Exchange 2003 environments.

One of the tool’s drawbacks is its inability to move directory information when the mailbox is moved. Also, a mailbox must exist on the target system into which the .pst file can be imported, and Exmerge does not preserve reply-to capabilities. In addition, the Outlook profile will need to be reconfigured at the client after the mailbox information is moved to the new mailbox. (We illustrate how to use this tool in Chapter 15.)

Exchange Migration Wizard

Exchange Migration Wizard is another tool for moving mailboxes between servers and organizations. This tool uses a single-step process to export mailboxes from an Exchange 5.5 Server and import them into an Exchange Server 2003 and can be also be used to migrate system information to and from the Exchange 5.5 server to the Exchange 2003 server. Exchange Migration Wizard will preserve mailbox directory information during the migration and populate Active Directory with new information as needed. Reply-to abilities are maintained along with the X.500 Distinguished Name (DN) of the mailbox.

Like all tools, Exchange Migration Wizard has some drawbacks. First, it does not clean up accounts in the Exchange 5.5 directory after the migration. You will need to do this manually. Second, it will not move distribution lists, and you will need to reconfigure each client’s Outlook profile after the move is completed.

Active Directory Migration Tool

Active Directory Migration Tool is a handy, comprehensive tool that, when used properly, ensures you have a clean, error-free migration to Active Directory. (We highlight this tool in Chapter 15.)

Active Directory Migration Tool is a Microsoft Management Console (MMC) snap-in that provides wizards to automate migration tasks such as moving users, groups, and computers between or within forests. This tool can also migrate trusts and perform security translations.

Using ADMT, you can migrate user and machine accounts from Windows NT to Active Directory and upload Exchange 5.5 directory information to Active Directory to supplement account attributes. This tool offers a trial mode, which logs all activity that takes place but does not actually perform the task at hand. This allows you to test your migration plan and see the results without actually performing the migration.