EDB to live Exchange migration step by step guide

EdbMails, a Microsoft-partnered migration software, allows you to import mailboxes from an EDB file to a live Exchange server in just a few clicks. It supports all Exchange Server versions, including 2013, 2016, and 2019, making mailbox transfers simple and efficient. If you're looking to migrate mailboxes between Exchange servers, EdbMails provides a dedicated Exchange migration tool.

One of the key benefits of EdbMails is its ability to repair corrupted EDB files and restore mailboxes, including emails, calendars, notes, and tasks. No technical expertise or complex cmdlets are required. The migration is incremental, ensuring that only new or modified items are transferred in subsequent operations, preventing duplicates and reducing transfer time.

EdbMails creates target mailboxes automatically and recovers EDB files from issues like Dirty Shutdown, Jet Engine errors, database mounting problems, and consistency check failures.In the following sections, we’ll go through the steps to recover and import mailboxes from an EDB file to Exchange server

1. Prerequisites to migrate EDB to Live Exchange
   • Step 1: Check that your system meets the Exchange server setup requirements

     Note: Exchange 2010 has reached the end of support on October 13, 2020 and Exchange 2013 will reach the end of support on April 11, 2023. Therefore it is highly recommended that you migrate your mailboxes and Public folders to Exchange 2016 or 2019.

     The following links help you to set up your target Exchange server. Learn more about the network, hardware, coexistence scenarios, and operating system requirements for installing Exchange.

     1. Exchange 2013 Server setup
     2. Network and directory requirement for Exchange 2016
     3. Network and directory requirement for Exchange 2019
     4. Hardware Requirements for Exchange 2016
     5. Hardware Requirements for Exchange 2019
     6. Supported operating systems for Exchange 2016
     7. Supported operating systems for Exchange 2019
   • Step 2: Prepare your system with the following prerequisites for Exchange

     Complete the following prerequisites for Active Directory, Windows Mailbox server, and Windows Edge Transport servers before installing the target Exchange server.

     1. Exchange 2019 prerequisites for preparing Active Directory (AD)
     2. Windows Server prerequisites for Exchange 2019
     3. Exchange 2016 prerequisites for preparing Active Directory (AD)
     4. Windows Server prerequisites for Exchange 2016
   • Step 3: Set up the target Exchange server for migration

     Given below is a list of key points for installing and preparing the Exchange server for migration.

     1. Prepare the AD and domains
        1. Before installing Exchange Server, you need to prepare your Active Directory forest and its domains for the new version of Exchange.
        2. If you have a separate team to manage the Active Directory schema, you need to first extend the active directory schema, else proceed to the next step to prepare the Active Directory.
        3. If you have multiple domains you need to additionally prepare the Active Directory domains.
     2. Install Exchange server on your computer

        Ensure that you meet the server system requirements and prerequisites as outlined previously. Next, follow the link to install Exchange 2016 or install Exchange 2019 from the setup wizard based on which server you want to migrate to.

     3. Prepare a clean Exchange target environment

        Configuring Exchange Server for Mail Flow and Connectivity

        1. Create and configure a Send connector to send mail outside the Exchange organization.
        2. By default, Exchange automatically creates receive connectors for inbound mail flow when the mailbox server is installed. If you need to configure receive connectors manually, follow the steps in the link.
        3. Add accepted domains to allow recipients to send and receive email from another domain.
        4. Configure the default email address policy to add the accepted domain to every recipient in the organization.
        5. Configure external URLs (domains) on the virtual directories in the Client Access (frontend) services on the Mailbox server to allow clients to connect to your server from the internet (outside the organization’s network).
        6. Configure internal URLs on the virtual directories in the Client Access (frontend) services on the Mailbox server to allow clients to connect to your server from the internal network.
        7. Configure SSL certificates from a third-party certificate authority for services such as Outlook Anywhere and Exchange ActiveSync.
        8. Verify the Exchange server installation by running the command Get-ExchangeServer on the Exchange Management Shell (EMS).
     4. Create mailboxes and Public folders on the Exchange server

        Before you migrate your mail data, ensure that you create mailboxes on the target server and assign suitable licenses to them. For the Public folder migration, create mail-enabled Public folders.

         See how to create mailboxes in Exchange server

         Steps to create Public folder in Exchange server

     5. Assign management roles to the admin account
        1. Application Impersonation
        2. View-Only Recipients
        3. View-Only Configuration

        Also assign the Organization Management role group to the admin user. It is an elevated permission that is required for mailbox and Public folder migration.

     6. Verify the mailbox of the admin account

        Check to see if the admin account that has been assigned management roles has a valid and non-hidden mailbox on the Exchange server.

     7. Configure the throttling and message-size limits

        Change the EWS throttling and message size limits manually on the Exchange server by following the steps in the link.

        1. Change the EWS throttling settings on Exchange server
        2. Change message size limits on Exchange

2. Steps to import EDB to Exchange server using EdbMails

   • Step 1: Download and install EdbMails software

     • Download and install EdbMails

       

        See a detailed list of EdbMails system requirements for EDB Recovery and migration.

     • Launch the EdbMails software and log in with your email and password or click the ‘Start Your Free Trial’ button

       

     • Select ‘EDB Recovery (Offline) and Migration’.

       

     • Select 'EDB to Live Exchange'

       

     • You can either keep the default job name or click the ‘New Job’ button to change the job name.

       

   • Step 2: Select the offline EDB file for recovery and migration

     • Click the ‘Browse for EDB file’ button.

       

     • Select the offline EDB file from your computer drive, then click the ‘Next’ button to continue.

       

     • EdbMails scans the EDB file and recovers the data in case of corruption.

       

     • After recovery, click on any folder to preview the emails, contacts, notes, tasks, and calendars etc, directly within the application’s preview pane.
     • Select the required mailboxes/folders and click the 'Next' button to continue.

       

   • Step 3: Connect to the target Exchange server

     • Click the ‘Add New Connection’ button to establish a new connection to the target Exchange server. To use a previous connection, select it from the connection list and click the ‘Connect to Existing’ button to proceed.

       

     • Select the required connection options and click the ‘Next’ button.

         Different options to connect to Exchange server in EdbMails

       

     • Enter the target Exchange server details and click the ‘Login’ button

       

     • Select one of the methods to load the mailboxes. You can also load mailboxes using CSV files.

       

   • Step 4: Map source and target mailboxes

     • Choose the required mailbox mapping option

       

     • If you have installed EdbMails on your Exchange server, you can choose to automatically create mailboxes on the target Exchange server.

         Click here to know more about automatic mailbox creation

     • EdbMails automatically maps the mailboxes and folders between the source and target servers. You can also manually map source mailboxes to the target mailboxes

       

     • EdbMails allows you to apply the filters to customize your migration process. For instance, you can apply date filters to migrate the items within a certain date range.

   • Step 5: Start EDB to live Exchange migration

     • Once the mapping is complete, click the ‘Start Migration’ button.

       

     • During migration, you can track progress in real-time. Once completed, a confirmation message will appear.

       

     • Click the ‘View Logs’ button to access the migration log report and verify the count of migrated emails, folders, and mailbox items.