Migrating Exchange Account Information

So far in this migration, we’ve moved the user accounts (commonly referred to as cloning) from the Windows NT account database to Active Directory. If we were to open the properties of a migrated account at this point, we would not see any Exchange-related attributes on the account. To populate the Exchange- related attributes on the Active Directory account, we need to use the ADC to move Exchange 5.5 account directory information to Active Directory.

If this process is a bit confusing, think of it this way: our goal is to have a user account in Active Directory that has both regular Active Directory and Exchange account information. We also want to use the same accounts we’re using in Windows NT and Exchange 5.5. What we are doing is taking the Windows NT account information from the Windows NT account database and then supplementing that account with the Exchange 5.5 account directory information. We use ADMT to move the base account information to Active Directory, and we use the ADC to move the Exchange 5.5 account directory information to form a complete user account in Active Directory.

Before we can use the ADC to move account information, we need to run forestprep and domainprep to prepare the Windows Server 2003 Active Directory to accept Exchange-related information from the Exchange 5.5 directory. All we are doing at this point is moving account information. We have not yet touched the users’ mailboxes, public folders, or any other connectors.

After you run both forestprep and domainprep, you must install the ADC on the Windows Server 2003 domain controller so that you can upload the Exchange 5.5 directory information. You will find the ADC installation program on the Exchange Server 2003 CD ROM in the ADC folder.

When you run setup, you are presented first with a Welcome screen and then the licensing agreement, with which you’ll need to agree. The third screen (Figure 15-16) will ask you whether you want to install the connector service component and/or the ADC management components. The first selection installs the ADC service, and the second selection installs the console.

Caution

It is important to note that the ADC is a service that runs on the Windows Server 2003 domain controller, not on the Exchange 5.5 or Exchange 2003 server. This service is administered from Windows Server 2003 via a snap-in in the Microsoft Management Console (MMC).

Figure 15-16: Selecting the components you want to install.

The next screen asks where you want to install the ADC files, the default location being c:\program files\msadc. You can select the default or enter your own path. We’ve chosen to use the default path.

The Service Account screen appears next. Here you enter the service account information to configure the security context in which the service will run. Be sure to select an account that has write privileges to Active Directory. After you click Next on the Service Account screen, the installation of the ADC service and snap-in begins. When the installation is finished, you are presented with a Finish screen. Click the Finish button to finish the ADC installation.

More Info

For information about how to configure and manage the ADC service, refer to Chapter 16, “Coexisting with Previous Versions of Exchange.”

After the ADC service is installed, you can create a Connection Agreement (CA) to your Exchange 5.5 server. In our scenario, we create a Connection Agreement to PDC1 and move over only the user accounts in the Corp site’s recipient container. Once this is accomplished, the properties of your accounts in Active Directory have Exchange attributes added to them.

Before we continue with our migration scenario, you must understand what happens when you move accounts out of the Exchange 5.5 directory first and then out of the Windows NT accounts database: you produce duplicate accounts. Let’s discuss duplicate accounts in more detail.