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This method should create much less potential for grief because you can have practically zero perceived downtime. You can perform all of the steps below at your own pace and in just about any order, and most, if not all, of them during working hours. Furthermore, you can usually very easily back out of any of the steps if things don't go as expected. While not the easiest method technically, it is certainly the least risky and the least likely to deprive you of sleep.

Important Note: Exchange 4.0 and 5.0 "Standard Edition" did not permit multiple servers in the same site. If you have only one server and are running Standard Edition, then you'll need to upgrade to Enterprise, or add the Exchange Connector. You might want to ask your friendly neighborhood Microsoft representative to see if he might be willing to loan you a copy since all you need it for is to upgrade to version 5.5.

Important Acknowledgement: My thanks go to Rich Matheisen for his valuable input to this revision.

The method:

1. Bring up a new server as a new server in the same site with a different name of course.
2. In the old server's Information Store properties, change the location of the mailboxes' Public Folder server to be the new server. This will take care of any newly created public folders. (You'll have to stop and restart the Exchange services before this will take effect.)
3. Check all distribution lists to ensure that none of them specifically name the old server as their expansion server.
4. Move the mailboxes using the Exchange Administrator. Move all at once, one at a time, or at some rate in between. In many cases, you can move the mailboxes during working hours because each user is affected only during the time his own mailbox is the one being moved.
5. Create replicas of the public folders on the new server. When the contents of the folders have replicated (do wait a little while!), remove the replicas from the old server.
6. Move any connectors from the old server to another server.
   1. For each site-type connector on the server you're replacing, create a parallel connector to all connected sites on the new server, including adding the sites in the "Connected Sites" tab. On the server you're replacing, in the connector's "Connected Sites" tab, remove the sites. Recalculate routing. Verify that messages flow through the new connector. Then remove the connector definitions from old server and from the server at the other end of those connectors.
   2. For each IMS Internet connector, create MX records pointing to the IMS on the new server as appropriate, and change the cost on the old MX record so that it is higher than the new one. In the properties for the IMS on server you're removing, remove all Address Space entries. When you have checked and verified that all messages are flowing through the new connector, remove the old one, then recalculate routing again.
   3. For each replication bridgehead server on the server being replaced, change the local bridgehead server property to the new server. Adjust the replication partner's remote bridgehead server property to the new server as well.
   4. For any other type of connector, including Microsoft Mail, move them too.
7. Follow the steps in Q152959.
8. Leave the old server up for a while so MAPI clients connect to the new server automatically. It's true! You don't have to do anything to MAPI clients!
9. Notify POP3 and IMAP4 users of how to reconfigure their clients to point to the new server. (If you have a WINS and/or DNS alias for this address, point it to the new server.)
10. If the old server has a Key Management Server, you'll need to move that too.
11. Stop the Exchange services, then remove the server from the site.

To move Exchange to another server using the same name, follow Q155216.

Last Updated by Simpler-Webb on 8/7/2003 1:59:40 PM (QID #1191)
Categories: Exchange 5.5/The Ed Crowley Server Move Method |