Managing a Mixed-Mode Organization

For the most part, managing a mixed-mode organization is not too difficult. You will just have to keep in mind the distinction between your Exchange Server 2003 servers and Exchange 5. x servers.

Managing Servers

Once an Exchange Server 2003 computer is added to an Exchange 5. x site, the Exchange 5. x servers become visible in System Manager as semitransparent icons, as seen in Figure 11.11. This is really just to let you know that those servers exist. Even though all configuration information for Exchange 5. x servers is replicated to Active Directory with the ADC, you cannot manage Exchange 5. x servers from System Manager. To manage the queues, connectors, address book views, and other configuration details for Exchange 5. x servers, you will have to use the System Administrator tool. System Administrator comes with previous versions of Exchange Server, and you can also install it as a custom option during the installation of Exchange Server 2003.

Figure 11.11: Viewing the Exchange site in Exchange System Manager

Managing Users

Assuming that the ADC is in place and that replication has occurred between Exchange 5. x and Active Directory, you can manage all users from both Exchange Server 2003 servers and Exchange 5. x servers with Active Directory Users and Computers. The property pages of a user object in Active Directory Users and Computers contain all of the same properties that you can find on the property pages of an Exchange 5. x mailbox in System Administrator. This offers the advantage of performing user management from a single location.

Moving Users

Moving users from an Exchange 5. x server to an Exchange Server 2003 server is an important step in migrating to Exchange Server 2003. Two tools are provided for your use in moving mailboxes to the Exchange Server 2003 mailbox stores: Exchange Task Wizard and the ExMerge utility. We will examine the simple process to move mailboxes using the Move Mailbox Wizard in Exercise 11.5.

EXERCISE 11.5: Moving Mailboxes from Exchange 5. x Server to Exchange Server 2003

Click Start > Programs > Administrative Tools > Active Directory Users And Computers.
Expand the container for the appropriate domain.
Expand the user container that contains the Exchange 5. x user you want to move to Exchange Server 2003.
Right-click the user or users and select the Exchange Tasks command from the short cut menu.
On the welcome page of the wizard that opens, click Next.
Select the Move Mailbox option, and then click Next.
Select the server and mailbox store to which you want to move the user, and then click Next.
One of the new features of the Exchange Task Wizard in Exchange Server 2003 is that you can continue to process mailboxes even if errors should occur. Choose the option you want and click Next.
Another new feature is the ability to schedule the move process to occur as desired. This is useful in production environments where you cannot disturb a user ‚ s mailbox during working hours. Configure the desired time and click Next.
A status report will inform you as to the current progress of the move, which may take some time to complete depending on the size of the mailboxes.
On the summary page, click Finish.

If you need to move a large number of mailboxes or want to explore more complex and perhaps scripted migrations, you will want to look into the ExMerge utility. The Exchange Mailbox Merge Program is part of the Exchange Deployment Tools and can be downloaded for Exchange Server 2003 by clicking the Exchange Tools And Updates link on the Welcome to Exchange Server 2003 Setup page that appears when you start the Exchange deployment process.

Note ‚

If a user ‚ s mailbox has not been initialized yet, either by receiving at least one message or by the user connecting to it at least one time, it will not be available for moving with ExMerge. You can, however, move the mailbox using the Exchange Task Wizard as outlined in Exercise 11.4.

Active Directory Account Cleanup Wizard

The Active Directory Account Cleanup Wizard is designed to merge duplicate accounts that may be created when multiple directories are migrated to Active Directory. This tool can be used to clean up after upgrading from Windows NT, migrating user accounts from another operating system, synchronizing with a foreign messaging system, or, as we are most concerned with here, synchronizing with Exchange 5. x directories.

The wizard searches for two types of criteria when performing its cleanup routines:

It attempts to match active user accounts and disabled user accounts that represent the same object.
It attempts to match active user accounts with contact accounts representing the same object.

Exercise 11.6 outlines the steps for using the Active Directory Account Cleanup Wizard to automatically search for duplicated accounts.

EXERCISE 11.6: Using the Active Directory Account Cleanup Wizard

Click Start > Programs > Microsoft Exchange > Active Directory Account Cleanup Wizard.
On the welcome page of the Wizard, click Next to go on.
On the Identify Merging Accounts page, select the containers and subcontainers that you want to search by clicking Add and browsing for directories. By default, the wizard searches the entire Active Directory forest.
Make sure that the Search Based On Exchange Mailboxes Only option is enabled so that only objects created by the ADC are included in the search results.
Begin the search by clicking Next.
When the search is complete, you can review the list of suggested merge operations on the Review Merging Accounts page. We strongly recommend reviewing the operations. Just double-click any merge operation to review the details of the source and target accounts. If you see that a merge is missing, you can add a merge operation to the list using the Add button. You can also remove operations using the Remove button. Once you ‚ ve finished with the review, click Next to go on.
On the Begin Merging Accounts screen, click Begin The Merge Process Now.
The wizard will warn you that merge operations cannot be undone once they are performed. Click Yes to go on.
To begin the merge process, click Next.
You can cancel the merge process at any time, but any operations that have already been completed are irreversible. Once the process is done, an Account Merge Results screen is displayed, where you can review the results of the merge operations.

Real-World Migration from Exchange Server 5.5 to Exchange Server 2003

This is a common scenario that many organizations are having to cope with right now ‚ how to safely and efficiently migrate away from their Exchange Server 5.5 organization to an Exchange Server 2003 organization. What makes this migration so difficult for many is that there is no standard answer or set process that must be followed, because each organization has different needs. There are, however, some basic groups of processes that you should be aware of. How you put them together to reach the final solution will ultimately depend on what you are starting with.

If you are still running Windows NT PDC and BDCs, you should first make the move to Active Directory to upgrade all user accounts. You can go about this in one of two ways: either upgrade the domain controllers (or upgrade/replace them) to Windows 2000 Server or use the Active Directory Migration Tool to clone the NT user accounts into the new Active Directory format. If you opt for ADMT, you can, and should, just jump straight to Windows Server 2003. Be aware that you will be configuring and using a trust relationship between your old NT domain and your new Active Directory domain.

Once your user accounts are solely in Active Directory, you can then move forward and start to migrate from Exchange Server 5.5 to Exchange Server 2003. Remember that Exchange Server 5.5 will not run on Windows Server 2003 but runs just fine on Windows 2000 Server. You ‚ ll want any Windows 2000 Server machines hosting Exchange Server 5.5 to be at SP3 or better and any Windows NT 4.0 machines hosting Exchange Server 5.5 to be at SP6A. Exchange Server 5.5 itself needs to be at SP3 or better before you can migrate. Don ‚ t forget to change the LDAP port on all of your Exchange Server 5.5 computers to something other than 389 if they are running on a Windows 2000 domain controller.

The best possible scenario has you operating with no Windows 2000 Server global catalog servers, although you can still have Windows 2000 Server domain controllers without any issues. Note that you will need to run ADPrep to update an existing Windows 2000 Active Directory schema before you can promote any Windows Server 2003 computers to a domain controller. In this scenario you will need at least two Windows Server 2003 servers in order to get started: one acting as a DC/GC (Domain Controller/Global Catalog) and one as a member server in the domain onto which the first Exchange Server 2003 will be installed. Obviously, you will need to make sure you have an adequate number of Exchange Server 2003 servers to handle the number of users in your organization.

At this point, you ‚ ve migrated user accounts and are using Active Directory for change and configuration management. The servers to host the Exchange Server 2003 installations are available and joined to your Windows Server 2003 Active Directory domain as member servers. At least one Windows Server 2003 global catalog server is also available. All you have left to do now is complete the steps discussed in this chapter and you ‚ re on your way. One final note of caution, though: Exchange Server 5.5 allowed a user to have multiple mailboxes. You will need to normalize your Exchange Server 5.5 mailboxes before attempting the migration. In other words, you need a one-to-one relationship between Active Directory user accounts and Exchange Server 5.5 mailboxes. The Exchange Server 2003 Deployment Guide from Microsoft will be a great asset to you during this process. You can get it at www.microsoft.com/exchange/techinfo/deployment/2003.asp .