Exchange server 2010 reached the end of its support on October 13th 2020 and is no longer supported by Microsoft. With this notification, you no longer receive critical updates, bug fixes or security patches that would otherwise protect your Exchange server from threats. Going forward, if you continue using Exchange 2010, it makes your data highly vulnerable and you might experience poor performance.
Exchange 2016 provides better features compared to 2010 and comes with a centralized Exchange admin center (EAC) to manage your Exchange server. The number of server roles is reduced to two compared to the previous versions: the Mailbox and Edge Transport server roles. The other updates include data loss prevention, mail flow rules, In-Place archiving, retention and eDiscovery, Anti malware protection and so on. See what’s new in Exchange server 2016 and learn what’s replaced or have been discontinued in Exchange 2016. Considering these factors, it is now the right time to start planning the server upgrade and migrate 2010 to 2016 Exchange.
Exchange 2010 and 2016 can coexist in the same AD environment and you can perform a direct migration from the source to the target. It is important to note that you must have the update Rollup 11 installed for Exchange 2010 SP3 or later. In addition to this, Exchange 2016 can coexist with 2013 and supports Hybrid deployment with Microsoft 365.
EdbMails is the best tool for Microsoft Exchange migration. It can help you migrate and upgrade Exchange 2010 to 2016. You can transfer all mailboxes, mail data, user folders, public folders, shared mailboxes, contacts, calendars, permissions, mail header data, and many others from the source to the target with complete data consistency. One of the benefits of EdbMails is that you can perform Exchange server migration from 2010 to 2016 without the need for PowerShell scripts. This saves a significant amount of time and effort when you want to upgrade older Exchange versions without worrying about coexistence issues.
For Exchange 2016 migration from the 2010 version, you must have a complete migration plan and prepare your environments to ensure compatibility. The following points provide you with a general checklist to make the migration operation as smooth as possible.
Before you migrate your mailbox data to Exchange 2019, ensure that your current environment and hardware is compatible for the transfer. The following links will help you to know about the network, hardware,.NET framework and operating system requirements for installing Exchange server 2016.
Note: Exchange 2016 requires Active Directory forest functional level of Windows Server 2008 R2 or higher and a .NET Framework 4.8 on a Cumulative Update (CU) of 15. The Mailbox and Edge Transport servers require Windows Server 2012 Standard or Datacenter and higher. See the Exchange 2016 server supportability matrix for more information.
Ensure that you meet the following prerequisites for Active Directory, Windows 2016 Mailbox server and Windows 2016 Edge Transport servers for installing Exchange 2016.
Consider if you want to migrate email using the Exchange cutover method, staged or with the Hybrid deployment. EdbMails can help you with the 2010 to 2016 Exchange migration without downtime or data loss. The advantage with it is that you can keep using your mailboxes during the migration without disconnecting your Exchange server.
| Current environment and requirement | Ideal migration approach | How does the migration take place? |
| You want to perform a complete Exchange 2016 migration in a single event and in a limited time frame. | Exchange 2010 to 2016 cutover migration | In this approach, you set up the target Exchange server and migrate everything in a single sitting. Suitable for large mailbox migration |
| You have little time and want to migrate mailboxes from Exchange 2010 to 2016 in phases or over the weekends | Staged Exchange migration | In this approach, you migrate your mailboxes and mail data in stages and transfer the most recent data first, followed by the others. |
| You want to migrate from Exchange 2010 to a Hybrid 2016 and Office 365 environment | Exchange Hybrid migration to Office 365 | In this approach, you migrate from the source server to a Hybrid Exchange and Office 365 environment. See the prerequisites for a Hybrid deployment |
Given below is a list of key points for installing and preparing the Exchange 2016 server for migration.
Note: If you have already installed and configured Exchange 2016 in the target environment, skip to point 4 in this step.
Ensure that you meet the server system requirements and prerequisites outlined in the preceding sections. Next, install Exchange 2016 mailbox server and edge transport server using the setup wizard.
You must create mailboxes and mail-enabled Public folders on the target for the migration. Also, assign suitable licenses to them.
For migrating Exchange server 2010 to Exchange 2016, it is required that you have installed the latest cumulative updates (CU) on the source server (2010).
A forest trust is an authentication between two domains within the same Active Directory forest which creates a trust between two root domains for exchanging information. By creating a trust in advance, it is possible to address the trust issues during or after the migration. See steps if you want to perform cross forest migration from Exchange 2010 to 2016.
Note: This step applies to Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows Server 2012. Creating a trust relationship is not required for SBS based environments.
Ensure that you have set the following permissions to the admin account on the source (2010) and target server (2016)
Check to see if the admin account that has been assigned management roles has a valid and non-hidden mailbox on the Exchange 2010 server. This property also applies to all the other user mailboxes.
You can manually change the EWS throttling and message size limits on the target Exchange 2016 server by following the steps outlined in the links below.
After you complete the pre-migration activities, you can migrate directly to Exchange 2016 with the following Exchange migration steps. EdbMails also supports migrating to Exchange 2019, Office 365, Live Exchange and Hosted Exchange server.
See the best practices for migration from Exchange 2010 to 2016
Download EdbMails and install the application on the source Exchange server (2010) or any other computer. You can also perform the migration operation by installing EdbMails on a non-Exchange server computer.
See a detailed list of EdbMails system requirements for Exchange migration.
On the EdbMails migration screen, select the option 'Exchange migration (Hosted, Hybrid, on-premises and more..)' and proceed to the connection page.
Note: If the Standard folders (such as Inbox, Calendar, Contacts) on your source Exchange server mailboxes are initialized with a different language, follow the below details to migrate these folders to the respective system folders on the target (destination) server.
For Instance: If your source Inbox folder is named 'Boîte de réception', which is in French language and you migrate this folder directly to the destination server, then by default it will not be mapped to the 'Inbox' folder on the target server. In order to map the folder with the french name to the respective folder, change the regional settings on the target server to match that of your source mailbox folder language (in this case, it is French).
Know how to change the language and regional settings on Exchange server
In the Connect to Exchange server (Source) window, select 'Connect using Global Admin User'. Ensure you have already set the impersonation rights and the appropriate permissions to migrate mailboxes.
You can also load the mailboxes using a CSV file. See how to use the different Exchange server connection methods supported by EdbMails.
Tip: You can connect to Exchange with the Default connection where you specify the Exchange server name and Exchange version, or the Autodiscover Email option where you directly login with the user credentials.
Select the mailboxes and folders from Exchange 2010 that you want to migrate to the Exchange 2016 server.
Tip: If this is the first time you’re migrating with EdbMails, the migration is a full migration. On subsequent migrations from the same source to the target, the migration is incremental. If you have duplicate mail items such as emails, contacts in your Exchange 2010 mailboxes, you can remove them with EdbMails duplicate email remover for Exchange.
Click 'Migrate to Live Exchange' to setup the connection with the target server
Tip: EdbMails provides the following additional options to help you customize the migration task.
Connect to the target server by selecting the option 'Connect using Global Admin User' and the migration scenario as Mailboxes, Public folder or Archive Mailbox.
Tip: The mapping activity in EdbMails can automatically match and map the mailboxes and folders between the two Exchange servers and saves time when you’re migrating a large number of mailboxes.
Start and monitor the migration operation after you complete the mailbox mapping. Finally, verify the count of migrated emails, folders and mailbox items with EdbMails text-based log report.
If you want to migrate your on-premises Exchange 2010 to a Hybrid Exchange 2016 and Office 365 environment, then this migration method is ideal for you. The Hybrid setup enables you to use the same domain for both the Exchange and Office 365 with a unified Global Address List (GAL) or a shared address book. See a detailed list of Exchange hybrid deployment features. Before you consider migrating to the hybrid environment, consider the Hybrid deployment prerequisites
After you have followed the proceeding prerequisites, run the Hybrid Configuration Wizard (HCW) to configure the Hybrid deployment between the on-premises server and Exchange online.
Tip: By using EdbMails, you can directly migrate Exchange 2010 to Office 365 and Exchange 2016 Hybrid deployment.
Note: If your Exchange 2010 is already in a Hybrid environment, you can configure the target Exchange 2016 server and perform a Hybrid Exchange migration to Office 365 and Exchange with EdbMails. After the migration is complete, you can decommission your Exchange 2010 server.
In this migration method, you can use an Exchange 2010 EDB file to migrate mailboxes to Exchange 2016. EdbMails enables you to fully repair an Exchange EDB file and import the mailboxes from EDB to Exchange. The following steps describe the migration operation from the Exchange database file.
After you download and install the application, select the option 'EDB to Office 365 and EDB to Exchange' from the main window as shown.
Select and add the offline EDB file for migration. If the EDB file from Exchange 2010 is corrupted, you can fully repair it with EdbMails EDB repair tool. The application recovers mailboxes, Public folders, contacts, calendars and all of your mailbox data.
After the repair operation, you can preview specific emails, notes, calendars, tasks from the preview pane. Select the required mailbox data and folders to migrate. Select the EDB to Exchange migration option as shown and define the target connection to Exchange 2016.
Match the folders and verify the mapped folders and mailboxes. Finally, set the Action to 'Migrate' and start the Exchange migration to the target. Verify the migrated items with the log report.
If you have Exchange 2010 mailboxes exported as PST, you can directly bulk migrate the PST files to Exchange 2016 with EdbMails. This is one of the best options if you want to move arbitration mailboxes known as SystemMailbox to the target server.
Create a backup of all your PST files and download EdbMails if it hasn’t been installed on your system. The following steps outline the PST to Exchange migration.
On the EdbMails migration selection window, select the migration method as Exchange migration.
To add the PST files in bulk, close the Connect to Exchange (Source) connection window and click 'Migrate PST to Live Exchange' as shown. Proceed to the Exchange server connection after adding the PST files.
Next, define the Exchange connection option. You can connect to a specific user account, load mailboxes with a CSV file or migrate to a Hosted Exchange server. Select the mailbox connection, Public folder or Archive mailbox depending on your target migration preference.
The mapping activity in EdbMails can automatically match and map the mailboxes and folders from the PST file to Exchange. After you complete the migration, verify the count of the migrated items, folders and mailboxes with the text based 'View Log' report.
To receive messages on the Exchange server 2016, change the DNS records known as MX records to enable email to work with the new server you have migrated to. In addition, configure the Autodiscover record to allow Outlook to connect to the migrated mailboxes. Test email routing to make sure that email is being delivered to the correct mailboxes on the Exchange 2016 server.
Ensure you have the latest version of Outlook client installed on your computer to avoid compatibility issues. Configure the Outlook profile for each user in your domain if Outlook has problems connecting to the new Exchange server.
Wait for a few days and check if you are receiving emails correctly and that everything is working as expected. Finally decommission the source Exchange server. Follow the instructions provided on Microsoft's website to learn how to uninstall Exchange Server 2010 after completing the migration to Exchange 2016.
See Exchange migration troubleshooting guide for possible solutions related to common migration errors.
EdbMails simplifies the Exchange 2010 to 2016 migration and does not require technical knowledge or complex scripts. The application has a user-friendly interface and enables the migration without limit to the mailbox size or email data.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
What are the steps to migrate Exchange 2010 to 2016?
This step includes identifying the scope of the migration, creating a schedule, and gathering all the necessary resources.
This step includes installing the Exchange 2016 software on a new server and preparing the server for migration.
It involves configuring the Exchange 2016 server and setting up features such as email routing, public folders, and client access.
In this step, you move the mailboxes and data from Exchange 2010 to Exchange 2016. You can choose from various methods, such as a cutover migration, staged migration, hybrid migration or migration with an EDB file depending on your requirements.
After the migration is complete, you can decommission the Exchange 2010 server and remove it from the network.
What are the prerequisites for migrating from Exchange 2010 to 2016?
You must meet the following prerequisites before you can start the migration
Can I migrate directly from Exchange 2010 to Exchange 2016?
With EdbMails, you can perform Exchange migration from 2010 to 2016 without upgrading to a newer version of Exchange first. It is recommended that you install the latest service pack and the latest rollup update for Exchange 2010 Service Pack (SP3) before starting the migration.
Can I migrate my public folders from Exchange 2010 to 2016?
Yes, you can migrate your public folders as part of the migration process. However, you need to make sure that your Exchange 2010 public folders are in good health and are mail enabled before the migration. EdbMails supports Exchange 2010 to 2016 Public folder migration and enables you to migrate mailboxes and archive mailboxes without PowerShell scripts.
How long does it take to migrate from Exchange 2010 to 2016
The length of time it takes to migrate from Exchange 2010 to 2016 depends on the size of your organization and the complexity of your environment. It is therefore important to plan and prepare carefully and allocate enough time and resources for the migration process.
Can I use the same SMTP domain name for Exchange 2016 that I used or Exchange 2010?
Yes, you can use the same SMTP domain name for Exchange 2016 that you used for Exchange 2010. However, you must ensure that the necessary DNS records are configured correctly and that the domain is verified in Office 365 (if you are using a hybrid deployment).
EdbMails Demo / Trial Version
Step 1. Download and install EdbMails
Step 2. Click the 'Start Your Free Trial' button
Hi, May I help you?
Hide Chat Now