Decomissioning the Exchange Server

[AB_IT]

Hey Guys,

 

Thought I'd post here before I do anything drastic just in case there's something I'm missing. We've made the move to O365 from Exchange (First time I've done it from Exchange) we used a cutover migration method so we're not reliant upon the Exchange server still running like a Hybrid migration.

 

Is there anything I need to be aware of as I was just going to uninstall the IIS and Mail Server role delete the server off AD and remove the .vhdx off our HYper-V altogether to free up some space for a 2019 DC that's going in it's place.

 

If I've missed anything I'd really appreciate you guys letting me know, I don't have much experience with Exchange.

 

Thank you

[3s-gtech]

DNS all set to Office365? No connectors in place for servers (things like FSRM emails etc)? Migrated all policies and mail flow rules?

[AB_IT]

DNS all set to Office365? No connectors in place for servers (things like FSRM emails etc)? Migrated all policies and mail flow rules?

Yes to all I think! So can I just get rid of it?

[3s-gtech]

Your timeline of changes is too brave for me!

 

Your next step is to turn it off, then wait (how long - good question!). If you get no issues, autodiscover, calendars and Teams scheduling all still work and mail is flowing, then you can look at removing it from AD.

[AB_IT]

Your timeline of changes is too brave for me!

 

Your next step is to turn it off, then wait (how long - good question!). If you get no issues, autodiscover, calendars and Teams scheduling all still work and mail is flowing, then you can look at removing it from AD.

Okay thank you, sounds like a plan. The reason I'm moving so fast is that our Exchange server takes up over 1TB of space and our SAN is very nearly full so I wanted to free up a good amount of space.

[Primus]

Go on, blow it away, you know you want to - what's the worst that could happen?!

[3s-gtech]

Any way of moving the VHDX to archive or a NAS? Would be simple enough to move it back then, and won't do any harm once it's off.

[Norphy]

Go on, blow it away, you know you want to - what's the worst that could happen?!

 

[AB_IT]

Any way of moving the VHDX to archive or a NAS? Would be simple enough to move it back then, and won't do any harm once it's off.

Doing that as we speak!

[Cache]

You'll need to properly uninstall Exchange from the server also, just to make sure it tidies up all the AD attributes rather then just delete the server: https://practical365.com/how-to-decommission-an-exchange-server-after-office-365-migration/

[AB_IT]

You'll need to properly uninstall Exchange from the server also, just to make sure it tidies up all the AD attributes rather then just delete the server: https://practical365.com/how-to-decommission-an-exchange-server-after-office-365-migration/

Thank you, I'm trying to do it properly and once I tried to uninstall Exchange it gave me a bunch of errors and won't successfully uninstall. As a result I followed this guide on Spiceworks https://community.spiceworks.com/how_to/165831-how-to-decommission-exchange-server-after-migration but when running the Powershell commands in Step 2 the server just tells me there's no existing command.

 

Any ideas?

 

It was hopeful to think it would just uninstall easily like any normal program I guess

[southhamster]

Are your SPF/DKIM rules updated assuming you are using it?

[AB_IT]

Are your SPF/DKIM rules updated assuming you are using it?

Yes they're both done Pointing to O365 now.

[Cache]

What version of exchange are you uninstalling? I can't remember if it's this guide or another I roughly followed for 2010, but it was fairly straight forward: https://www.itpromentor.com/sbs-remove-exchange/

 

I'll see if I can find the link I used tomorrow (hopefully still on my laptop)

 

If not, if you post a screenshot of the error or PM me it I'll take a look and try to help.

Edited July 21, 2021 by Cache

[AB_IT]

What version of exchange are you uninstalling? I can't remember if it's this guide or another I roughly followed for 2010, but it was fairly straight forward: https://www.itpromentor.com/sbs-remove-exchange/

 

I'll see if I can find the link I used tomorrow (hopefully still on my laptop)

 

If not, if you post a screenshot of the error or PM me it I'll take a look and try to help.

Thank you for being so kind and offering to help, I've been working on this all day and still can't get it to uninstall. Tried everything I can find online and nothing will work. It's Exchange 2013.

 

When I run the command shown in the Spiceworks documentation it just comes back with the following error.

 

[3s-gtech]

Thank you for being so kind and offering to help, I've been working on this all day and still can't get it to uninstall. Tried everything I can find online and nothing will work. It's Exchange 2013.

 

When I run the command shown in the Spiceworks documentation it just comes back with the following error.

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]62664[/ATTACH]

 

You need to put in the database name after that switch. You can find this from ECP - or via Get-MailboxDatabase in PS.

 

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/exchange/get-mailboxdatabase?view=exchange-ps