Hi folks. I've been reading quite a bit about cross-forest migrations, as I am about to perform one, and want to do a sanity check on my process and ask a few questions.
First some info:
- Ex2010 Source Forest and Ex2010 or Ex2013 Target Forest (we'll get back to why this is TBD).
- Two-way trust is configured and functioning. 2008 R2 Server is in Target forest For ADMT.
- Customer wants to keep existing SMTP domain
- Customer has numerous Send/Receive connectors to servers
- Public Folders exist in the Ex2010 Forest (which is why we're TBD on Target forest Exchange version). We'll get back to the PFs.
- They have Lync in place. I am not involved with migrating the Lync environment. Another partner is doing so after we move Exchange services.
- About 100 mailboxes, so I am planning to move all mailboxes in one night.
Here is what I think I want to do:
- Build Exchange environment (UM server, two with all roles, DAG, certs, etc.)
- Build Internal Relay between each Org for the existing SMTP domain
- Build receive/send connectors to mirror old Org(they have a few). Make sure new Org servers have perms to send to SharePoint, etc. Gradually have senders change to send to new Org servers (since we have an Internal Relay, we can do this part slowly)
- Configure new Exchange Org to accept existing SMTP domain
- Change DNS/firewall to route inbound mail from smarthost to new Org
At this point, I believe mail flow will function and send emails to the old Exchange org. A good checkpoint to test. Let me know if I am missing anything here.
Once mail flow works, it should be time to migrate mailboxes. These are the steps I am considering:
- Verify the MRSProxy is enabled in the old Org
- Grant rights for all Exchange Admins in both Orgs
- Grant rights to the ADMT migration account to move mailboxes in both Orgs
Any rights I am missing?
- Run Prepare-MoveRequest script in the new Org to create MEUs.
- Use ADMT to migrate users.
QUESTION - Migrate the users and make MEUs or just set up Linked Mailboxes until later?
- Move mailboxes to new Exchange Org
QUESTION/THOUGHT At this point, assuming we aren't using Linked Mailboxes, we have MEUs and mail in the new Org. Will the source AD accounts still be enabled? Which credentials should users use when the log in as there are still resources in the old AD Forest they need to access? Essentially, I need some guidance on the user experience at this point.We don't plan to migrate PCs until a later date - likely after the Lync partner migrates/upgrades everything. Let me know if that's asking for trouble.
Now, Public Folders. From what I have read, there is no supported out-of-box method of moving PFs from Ex2010->Ex2013 cross-forest. I read that here: http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/exchange/en-US/663f0dc3-a977-408a-93c7-94584fbefc62/public-folder-issue-cross-forest-migration-exchange-2010-to-2013?forum=exchangesvrdeploy
So, I see a few options.
- We migrate Ex2010->2010 (anyone have a cross-forest Public Folder migration process for this?), then upgrade/migrate accounts to Ex2013.
- We follow the steps on this blog: http://msexchangeguru.com/2013/04/18/exchange2013-public-folders/Will this work cross-forest?
- We buy a 3rd party tool.
- We 'leave behind' the Public Folders in Ex2010 and migrate them later. Is this even an option?
I think that's everything. I know this is a lot to put in one thread, so I appreciate any thoughts you've got.
Thanks!