Exchange 2007 to Exchange 2013 Migration : Way to Hassle-Free
The road to execute hassle-free migration from Exchange 2007 to Exchange 2013 is a bit tricky and often requires comprehensive planning for ensuring smooth deployment. Since Microsoft doesn’t provide any native path to move directly from Exchange 2007 to Exchange 2013; it becomes even more difficult for beginners to perform migration successfully.
In this blog, I’ll discuss step-by-step migration from Exchange 2007 to Exchange 2013 so that you can sail through the transitioning process without any trouble.
Step-By-Step Exchange 2007 to Exchange 2013 Migration
Step 1- Exchange 2013 Deployment & Installation
To move from Exchange 2007 to Exchange 2013, it is important to first understand how to prepare Active Directory environment and install Exchange 2013 on the desired server.
To prepare Active directory for seamless migration from Exchange 2003 to 2013, first open the PowerShell and then run the following listed commands with a domain joined machine. Although the machine resembles somewhat similar to the Active Directory domain and the site of the schema master, it requires .NET Framework 4.5 version to be installed along with WCF 3.0 (Windows Management Framework).
Install-WindowsFeature RSAT-ADDS.\setup /PrepareAD /OrganizationName: lepide/IAcceptExchangeServerLicenseTerms
Now, one needs to open the Schema Partition that uses ADSI to validate the Active directory that you recently created using the above command.
After successful AD validation, one needs to create groups with the AD users & computers console as per the reference screenshot attached below.
Now, for carrying out installation, run the PowerShell commands and check your system time to time for receiving updates.
Step 2- Configuring Digital Certificates
The immediate next step in Exchange 2007 to 2013 migration is to configure the digital certificates. The first one that we’re going to create here is SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) which is used to safeguard the inter-communication happening between the server and the client.
Whenever Exchange 2013 is installed, IT administrators need to take care of creating the corresponding SSL certificate which will be required to encrypt the information that client shares within the Exchange server for facilitating communication across the enterprise & outside.
Though Exchange already possesses a self-signed certificate by default, you will have to include correct names and thereby replace the default certificate with a new one that you’re going to create.
One needs to run the following commands after opening Exchange Management Shell to proceed towards creating a digital certificate.
New-ExchangeCertificate -FriendlyName ‘Lepide Exchange 15 Certificate’ -GenerateRequest -PrivateKeyExportable $true -KeySize ’2048′ -SubjectName ‘C=EG, S=”Cairo”, L=”Cairo”, O=”Lepide”, OU=”IT”, CN=mail.contoso.com’ -DomainName‘mail.contoso.com’,’autodiscover.lepide.com’,’legacy.lepide.com’ | out-file c:\sw\e15_csr.txt
In the above command, we’ve used hostname as legacy.lepide.com since similar certificate need to be run on the TMG and Exchange 2007 server.
Now, all you need to do is to just submit the certificate request and import the same by running the following commands.
Import-ExchangeCertificate -filename c:\sw\certnew.cer
After you configure the Exchange server, you need to run the following command for using the certificate.
Enable-ExchangeCertificate -Thumbprint A826389C71ED5870137B866F01192D47F69CE526 -Services IIS, POP, IMAP
Now, one needs to export the certificate using a private encryption key so that the information can’t be hacked by antisocial elements who may be eyeing to break into your server. Import this digital certificate on the Exchange 2007 CAS Servers.
Step 3- Transitioning Client Access
Configuring Virtual Directories
While migrating to Exchange 2013, one needs to configure virtual directories with the help of Exchange 2013 Management shell.
OWA – Outlook Web App
To configure OWA, run the following command in the console:
Set-OwaVirtualDirectory -Identity “e12-01\OWA (Default Site)” -InternalUrl https://legacy.lepide.com/owa -ExternalUrl https://legacy.lepide.com/owa
OAB – Outlook Address Book
Use the following command to configure OAB.
Set-OabVirtualDirectory -Identity “e15-01\OAB (Default Site)” -InternalUrl https://mail.lepide.com/oab -ExternalUrl https://mail.lepide.com/oab
ActiveSync
Following command needs to be run to configure ActiveSync.
Set-ActiveSyncVirtualDirectory -Identity “e15-01\Microsoft-Server-ActiveSync (Default Site)” -ExternalUrl https://mail.lepide.com/Microsoft-Server-ActiveSync-InternalUrl https://mail.lepide.com/Microsoft-Server-ActiveSync
Outlook Anywhere
Perform configuration of Outlook Anywhere by running the following command.
Set-OutlookAnywhere -Identity “E15-01\Rpc (Default Site)” -InternalHostname mail.lepide.com -ExternalHostname mail.lepide.com -InternalClientAuthenticationMethod Ntlm -ExternalClientAuthenticationMethod Basic -ExternalClientsRequireSsl $True -InternalClientsRequireSsl $true
Web Services
Run the following command to configure Web Services-:
Set-WebServicesVirtualDirectory -Identity “E15-01\Rpc (Default Site)” –InternalUrl https://mail.lepide.com/ews/exchange.asmx --ExternalUrl https://mail.lepide.com/EWS/Exchange.asmx
Unified Messaging
Run the following command to configure Unified Messaging -:
Set-UMVirtualDirectory -Identity “UnifiedMessaging (Default Web Site)” –InternalUrl https://legacy.lepide.com/UnifiedMessaging/services.asmx –ExternalUrl https://legacy.lepide.com/UnifiedMessaging/services.asmx
TMG (Threat Management Gateway)
You will either need to update or create TMG rules to publish them.
Updating records in Domain Name Servers
Don’t miss this. You will need to update records in the domain name servers. Moreover, it will also be required to perform testing after accumulating test scenarios for both internal & external clients.
Step 3- Migrating Mailboxes
After completing the testing process, you need to migrate your Exchange mailboxes from older version to newer version. To perform mailbox migration, you shall proceed running the following commands in the EAC or Shell
New-MoveRequest -Identity ‘neha@lepide.com’ -TargetDatabase “DB01″
Step 4- Move your Public Folders
Now it’s time to migrate your Public Folders. Just open the Exchange 2007 Management Shell and run the following commands -:
Get-PublicFolder -Recurse | Export-CliXML C:\PFMigration\Legacy_PFStructure.xml
Get-PublicFolderStatistics | Export-CliXML C:\PFMigration\Legacy_PFStatistics.xml
Get-PublicFolder -Recurse | Get-PublicFolderClientPermission | Select-Object Identity, User -ExpandProperty AccessRights | Export-CliXML C:\PFMigration\Legacy_PFPerms.xml
Rename the folders with a Backslash
Run the following commands in order to rename all the public folders that possess a backslash.
Get-PublicFolderDatabase | ForEach {Get-PublicFolderStatistics -Server $_.Server | Where {$_.Name -like “*\*”}}
Set-PublicFolder -Identity 000000001A447390AA6611CD9BC800AA002FC45A0300D13A87259D34A142BB480F3E89AA82BF00004FD5389E0000 -name “MCS TF2″
Now, for getting public folders that don’t have any previous records of migration, run the following command –
Get-OrganizationConfig | Format-List PublicFoldersLockedforMigration, PublicFolderMigrationComplete
CSV File Generation
To create CSV files, run a script on Exchange 2007 and create the name-to-folder size-mapping file by using the following command.
.\Export-PublicFolderStatistics.ps1 PFStat.csv e12-01
Command To create more CSV files, just copy them to Exchange 2013 while running the above script.
New Mailbox Generation
For generating new mailboxes, you need to run the following command.
New-Mailbox -PublicFolder Mailbox1 –Database DB01 –HoldForMigration: $true
Start Migration Request
To start migration request, you need to run the following command -:
New-PublicFolderMigrationRequest -SourceDatabase (Get-PublicFolderDatabase -Server e12-01.lepide.local) -CSVData (Get-Content FolderToMailbox.csv -Encoding Byte)
Monitoring Migration Status
To obtain migration statistics, run the following command –
Get-PublicFolderMigrationRequest | Get-PublicFolderMigrationRequestStatistics
After you execute all the above steps, run the following command in the Exchange 2007 Management Shell for Exchange 2007 decommissioning.
Get-MailboxDatabase | Remove-MailboxDatabase
Now open command line and navigate to the bin directory. After you enter into the bin directory, execute the following code:
Setup.com /mode:uninstall
Performing Migration the Easy Way – Get rid of all the Complexity, Move Content Automatically in just a few Clicks
No matter what ways you adopt, there’s a lot of complexity associated with moving content from one server to another and hence ensuring 100% smooth & seamless migration still remains a dream for most of the IT organizations.
Besides executing all the above steps, we have an alternative way for you – a reliable, fast and risk-free migration with professional 3rd party tools like Migrator for Exchange. Yes, you heard that right!! You can perform the transition from Exchange 2007 to 2013 by making this challenging task easier, quicker and safer with this tool that not only lets you overcome the limitations & problems encountered in native Exchange migration tools but also helps you in carrying out successful migration. From flushing out all Exchange Migration worries to performing secure migration, this tool can actually meet your business requirements by resolving scalability issues and eliminating all your migration headache. Molreover, this tool can also act as an EDB to PST conversion tool that can transform EDB files in Exchange 2007 directly to Outlook compatible PST files while also helping you to import these PST files later to the live Exchange Server 2013.
So, what are you waiting for? Choose the easy way to migrate hassle-freely from one Exchange server to another and contact our sales team to get the demo version of this tool absolutely free. For expert migration guidance, you may contact our technical experts.
In this blog, I’ll discuss step-by-step migration from Exchange 2007 to Exchange 2013 so that you can sail through the transitioning process without any trouble.
Step-By-Step Exchange 2007 to Exchange 2013 Migration
Step 1- Exchange 2013 Deployment & Installation
To move from Exchange 2007 to Exchange 2013, it is important to first understand how to prepare Active Directory environment and install Exchange 2013 on the desired server.
To prepare Active directory for seamless migration from Exchange 2003 to 2013, first open the PowerShell and then run the following listed commands with a domain joined machine. Although the machine resembles somewhat similar to the Active Directory domain and the site of the schema master, it requires .NET Framework 4.5 version to be installed along with WCF 3.0 (Windows Management Framework).
Install-WindowsFeature RSAT-ADDS.\setup /PrepareAD /OrganizationName: lepide/IAcceptExchangeServerLicenseTerms
Now, one needs to open the Schema Partition that uses ADSI to validate the Active directory that you recently created using the above command.
After successful AD validation, one needs to create groups with the AD users & computers console as per the reference screenshot attached below.
Now, for carrying out installation, run the PowerShell commands and check your system time to time for receiving updates.
Step 2- Configuring Digital Certificates
The immediate next step in Exchange 2007 to 2013 migration is to configure the digital certificates. The first one that we’re going to create here is SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) which is used to safeguard the inter-communication happening between the server and the client.
Whenever Exchange 2013 is installed, IT administrators need to take care of creating the corresponding SSL certificate which will be required to encrypt the information that client shares within the Exchange server for facilitating communication across the enterprise & outside.
Though Exchange already possesses a self-signed certificate by default, you will have to include correct names and thereby replace the default certificate with a new one that you’re going to create.
One needs to run the following commands after opening Exchange Management Shell to proceed towards creating a digital certificate.
New-ExchangeCertificate -FriendlyName ‘Lepide Exchange 15 Certificate’ -GenerateRequest -PrivateKeyExportable $true -KeySize ’2048′ -SubjectName ‘C=EG, S=”Cairo”, L=”Cairo”, O=”Lepide”, OU=”IT”, CN=mail.contoso.com’ -DomainName‘mail.contoso.com’,’autodiscover.lepide.com’,’legacy.lepide.com’ | out-file c:\sw\e15_csr.txt
In the above command, we’ve used hostname as legacy.lepide.com since similar certificate need to be run on the TMG and Exchange 2007 server.
Now, all you need to do is to just submit the certificate request and import the same by running the following commands.
Import-ExchangeCertificate -filename c:\sw\certnew.cer
After you configure the Exchange server, you need to run the following command for using the certificate.
Enable-ExchangeCertificate -Thumbprint A826389C71ED5870137B866F01192D47F69CE526 -Services IIS, POP, IMAP
Now, one needs to export the certificate using a private encryption key so that the information can’t be hacked by antisocial elements who may be eyeing to break into your server. Import this digital certificate on the Exchange 2007 CAS Servers.
Step 3- Transitioning Client Access
Configuring Virtual Directories
While migrating to Exchange 2013, one needs to configure virtual directories with the help of Exchange 2013 Management shell.
OWA – Outlook Web App
To configure OWA, run the following command in the console:
Set-OwaVirtualDirectory -Identity “e12-01\OWA (Default Site)” -InternalUrl https://legacy.lepide.com/owa -ExternalUrl https://legacy.lepide.com/owa
OAB – Outlook Address Book
Use the following command to configure OAB.
Set-OabVirtualDirectory -Identity “e15-01\OAB (Default Site)” -InternalUrl https://mail.lepide.com/oab -ExternalUrl https://mail.lepide.com/oab
ActiveSync
Following command needs to be run to configure ActiveSync.
Set-ActiveSyncVirtualDirectory -Identity “e15-01\Microsoft-Server-ActiveSync (Default Site)” -ExternalUrl https://mail.lepide.com/Microsoft-Server-ActiveSync-InternalUrl https://mail.lepide.com/Microsoft-Server-ActiveSync
Outlook Anywhere
Perform configuration of Outlook Anywhere by running the following command.
Set-OutlookAnywhere -Identity “E15-01\Rpc (Default Site)” -InternalHostname mail.lepide.com -ExternalHostname mail.lepide.com -InternalClientAuthenticationMethod Ntlm -ExternalClientAuthenticationMethod Basic -ExternalClientsRequireSsl $True -InternalClientsRequireSsl $true
Web Services
Run the following command to configure Web Services-:
Set-WebServicesVirtualDirectory -Identity “E15-01\Rpc (Default Site)” –InternalUrl https://mail.lepide.com/ews/exchange.asmx --ExternalUrl https://mail.lepide.com/EWS/Exchange.asmx
Unified Messaging
Run the following command to configure Unified Messaging -:
Set-UMVirtualDirectory -Identity “UnifiedMessaging (Default Web Site)” –InternalUrl https://legacy.lepide.com/UnifiedMessaging/services.asmx –ExternalUrl https://legacy.lepide.com/UnifiedMessaging/services.asmx
TMG (Threat Management Gateway)
You will either need to update or create TMG rules to publish them.
Updating records in Domain Name Servers
Don’t miss this. You will need to update records in the domain name servers. Moreover, it will also be required to perform testing after accumulating test scenarios for both internal & external clients.
Step 3- Migrating Mailboxes
After completing the testing process, you need to migrate your Exchange mailboxes from older version to newer version. To perform mailbox migration, you shall proceed running the following commands in the EAC or Shell
New-MoveRequest -Identity ‘neha@lepide.com’ -TargetDatabase “DB01″
Step 4- Move your Public Folders
Now it’s time to migrate your Public Folders. Just open the Exchange 2007 Management Shell and run the following commands -:
Get-PublicFolder -Recurse | Export-CliXML C:\PFMigration\Legacy_PFStructure.xml
Get-PublicFolderStatistics | Export-CliXML C:\PFMigration\Legacy_PFStatistics.xml
Get-PublicFolder -Recurse | Get-PublicFolderClientPermission | Select-Object Identity, User -ExpandProperty AccessRights | Export-CliXML C:\PFMigration\Legacy_PFPerms.xml
Rename the folders with a Backslash
Run the following commands in order to rename all the public folders that possess a backslash.
Get-PublicFolderDatabase | ForEach {Get-PublicFolderStatistics -Server $_.Server | Where {$_.Name -like “*\*”}}
Set-PublicFolder -Identity 000000001A447390AA6611CD9BC800AA002FC45A0300D13A87259D34A142BB480F3E89AA82BF00004FD5389E0000 -name “MCS TF2″
Now, for getting public folders that don’t have any previous records of migration, run the following command –
Get-OrganizationConfig | Format-List PublicFoldersLockedforMigration, PublicFolderMigrationComplete
CSV File Generation
To create CSV files, run a script on Exchange 2007 and create the name-to-folder size-mapping file by using the following command.
.\Export-PublicFolderStatistics.ps1 PFStat.csv e12-01
Command To create more CSV files, just copy them to Exchange 2013 while running the above script.
New Mailbox Generation
For generating new mailboxes, you need to run the following command.
New-Mailbox -PublicFolder Mailbox1 –Database DB01 –HoldForMigration: $true
Start Migration Request
To start migration request, you need to run the following command -:
New-PublicFolderMigrationRequest -SourceDatabase (Get-PublicFolderDatabase -Server e12-01.lepide.local) -CSVData (Get-Content FolderToMailbox.csv -Encoding Byte)
Monitoring Migration Status
To obtain migration statistics, run the following command –
Get-PublicFolderMigrationRequest | Get-PublicFolderMigrationRequestStatistics
After you execute all the above steps, run the following command in the Exchange 2007 Management Shell for Exchange 2007 decommissioning.
Get-MailboxDatabase | Remove-MailboxDatabase
Now open command line and navigate to the bin directory. After you enter into the bin directory, execute the following code:
Setup.com /mode:uninstall
Performing Migration the Easy Way – Get rid of all the Complexity, Move Content Automatically in just a few Clicks
No matter what ways you adopt, there’s a lot of complexity associated with moving content from one server to another and hence ensuring 100% smooth & seamless migration still remains a dream for most of the IT organizations.
Besides executing all the above steps, we have an alternative way for you – a reliable, fast and risk-free migration with professional 3rd party tools like Migrator for Exchange. Yes, you heard that right!! You can perform the transition from Exchange 2007 to 2013 by making this challenging task easier, quicker and safer with this tool that not only lets you overcome the limitations & problems encountered in native Exchange migration tools but also helps you in carrying out successful migration. From flushing out all Exchange Migration worries to performing secure migration, this tool can actually meet your business requirements by resolving scalability issues and eliminating all your migration headache. Molreover, this tool can also act as an EDB to PST conversion tool that can transform EDB files in Exchange 2007 directly to Outlook compatible PST files while also helping you to import these PST files later to the live Exchange Server 2013.
So, what are you waiting for? Choose the easy way to migrate hassle-freely from one Exchange server to another and contact our sales team to get the demo version of this tool absolutely free. For expert migration guidance, you may contact our technical experts.
