Hosted Exchange to live Exchange migration

• Step 1: Check that your system meets the Exchange 2019 setup requirements.

  Below links will help you to know about the network, hardware and operating system requirements for installing Exchange server 2019.

  1. Network and directory requirement for Exchange 2019
  2. Hardware Requirements for Exchange 2019
  3. Supported operating systems for Exchange 2019
• Step 2: Prepare your system with the following prerequisites for Exchange 2019

  Complete the following prerequisites for Active Directory, Windows 2019 Mailbox server, and Windows 2019 Edge Transport servers before installing Exchange server 2019.

  1. Prerequisites for preparing Active Directory (AD)
  2. Windows Server prerequisites for Exchange 2019
• Step 3: Setup the target Exchange Server 2019 for migration

  Given below is a list of key points for installing and preparing the Exchange 2019 server for migration.

  1. Prepare the AD and domains
     1. Before installing Exchange Server 2019, 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 2019

     Before installing the Exchange server 2019, ensure that you meet the server system requirements and prerequisites as outlined above. Next, install Exchange 2019 using the setup wizard.

  3. Prepare a clean Exchange 2019 target environment
     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, 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 trust relationship between forests (Optional)

     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.

  5. Assign management roles to the admin account

     Ensure that you have set the following permissions to the admin account on the Hosted Exchange and target server (2019)

     1. On the source
        1. ApplicationImpersonation
     2. On the target
        1. ApplicationImpersonation
        2. View-Only Recipients
        3. View-Only Configuration
  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.

  7. Configure the throttling and message-size limits

     You can manually change the EWS throttling and message size limits on the target Exchange 2019 server by following the steps outlined in the links below.

     1. Change the EWS throttling settings on Exchange server
     2. Change message size limits on target Exchange 2019

Steps to migrate Hosted Exchange to Exchange 2019

• Step 1: Update the MX records to point to Exchange 2019/2016 server

  To receive messages on the Exchange server 2019, 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.

• Step 2: Create a new Outlook profile for users in the new domain

  Configure the Outlook profile for each user in your domain if Outlook has problems connecting to the new Exchange server.

 Refer to the Exchange migration troubleshooting guide for possible solutions related to migration errors. For more information on EdbMails Exchange migration refer to the frequently asked questions (FAQs)