Exchange 2010 SP3 -> Exchange 2016

[Jawloms]

Hi,

 

I (still) have an onsite Exchange 2010 SP3 which I've been trying to get off for a very long time and just haven't managed for various reasons. I now have an onsite Exchange 2016 server. As far as I can tell it's all setup and raring to go. I've moved a test mailbox to it which I can log in to and send emails from and to, internally and externally. I have now updated my internal DNS so that "mail...sch.uk" points to the new server instead of the old one and checked that servers etc. have noticed this change. If I try and log in to OWA on the new server to my test mailbox it logs in fine. If I try and log in to /ecp as an admin account instead, I get an Internal error 500.

 

A "Get-EcpVirtualDirectory" gives me the full external FQDN for both the internalurl and externalurl as I'd expect. BasicAuthentication and FormsAuthentication are the only two set to "True"

 

Any clues please?

 

Thank you

 

Stuart

[chaplic]

As a test, give you test mailbox org mgmt rights and see if that works..

[Jawloms]

Yup that works. I want to log in with my admin account which doesn't have a mailbox. Do I need to set it one up on the new server in order to log in to the Exchange Admin Center?

[chaplic]

I'm going on very old knowledge but I think so, yeah.

[Jawloms]

I have now found that my admin account does have a mailbox. It's on the old server. moving it to the new server so that should solve that one at least!

 

As an aside from that though, I thought if I was trying to log in to the server which didn't contain the mailbox, it should tell me? Certainly if I try and log in to my migrated mailbox using the 2010 server it gives me a link to the new server saying to log in there instead. Shouldn't the new one either proxy it, or tell me to use the old server?

[chaplic]

For actual mailbox access, yeah (with caveats around mapi over https I recall and probably a few other things)

[Jawloms]

I'm making progress. If I try and log in to a mailbox which is on the new server but via the old servers /owa, it auths me and then tells me to use the URL for the new server. It doesn't work round the other way though. If I try to log in to a mailbox which is still on the old server but via the new servers /owa, it gives me "This page isn't working. HTTP ERROR 500". Any thoughts please?

[chaplic]

You need to ensure the old servers are setup to allow this, I think it's outlook anywhere essentially. The question is though, how long are you going to do coexistance and is it worth the effort?

[Jawloms]

This is partly an unknown as I simply don't know how long these things take! If it's just a case of tell it to move everyone over, point the firewall at the new server and job's a goodun then great, but how long does it take to move 700GB of email from one server to another? I just need to make sure whatever I do, we don't miss any emails. Downtime for clients is obviously acceptable as there are times it's inevitable, but I'd rather it was a short time per person and have a coexistence, than days for everyone and missing external emails as they can't deliver for some reason.

[3s-gtech]

It doesn't take as long as you'd think. I did mine in batches (each year group etc). Once they'd all moved, I poked DNS about and removed the old server (properly). I didn't leave it running any longer than I had to!

[Jawloms]

Perhaps I'll bite the bullet and move all the students over as they aren't logging in during the hols to see how long that takes. I've jigged all the internal DNS already, it's literally just the port forwards on the firewall that need doing. I'm just being a wuss because there's no way of testing if it's going to work, you just need to do it and find out if it does or not!

[3s-gtech]

I know the feeling, but having done it twice (2013->2016 then 2016 to Online) I found it such a doddle using the ECP. Batches allowed me to manage and test the movement. I would definitely do one to test, then start the bulk.

[Jawloms]

All student mailboxes moved to the new server, and the port forward request has been put in to change the firewall to point at my new server

[Jawloms]

Lots more mailboxes moved, and (as far as I can tell) everything is working both on and off site! Thanks for the help, and the nudge to just be brave and do it!

[Jawloms]

When I decommission the old server, how 'decommissioned' does it become? I ask as staff who have left are all in a different database from current staff. Do I need to move them to my new server so that I can access them if necessary, or would I still be able to access the data somehow if I just kept the VM and spun it up in an event? Or do I need to archive the data off some other how? Or could I just keep the last complete backup of it?

[chaplic]

I would move them to the new to keep them as long as you would normally retain. you will also need to move various system mailboxes.

 

In terms of decomming the old, make sure you check through all the logfile directorries (W3SVCn, MessageTracking, EWS, Autodiscover, Connectivity) firstly to see that the size of newish logfiles is much smaller than they used to be, then to explain any logfiles entries and remediate if required

[MS2011]

When I decommission the old server, how 'decommissioned' does it become? I ask as staff who have left are all in a different database from current staff. Do I need to move them to my new server so that I can access them if necessary, or would I still be able to access the data somehow if I just kept the VM and spun it up in an event? Or do I need to archive the data off some other how? Or could I just keep the last complete backup of it?

 

Why don’t you move to cloud? Google or MS online ?

 

Once you move, very easy to manage. No stress of exchange DB backup, corruption etc.