How to migrate SBS 2011 to Office 365?

EdbMails Exchange migration software is the ideal application to migrate mailboxes from SBS 2011 to Office 365. With its advanced features such as incremental migration, automatic mailbox-mapping and granular migration, the software transforms and simplifies Exchange 2010 to Office 365 migrations.

SBS 2011 to Office 365 migration

The application sets impersonation rights for Office 365 mailboxes and does not require complex PowerShell scripts or technical expertise to perform the migration. In addition, EdbMails enables you to easily select the mailboxes and folders from the user-friendly interface, connect to the target server and migrate your mailbox data in a few clicks.

SBS 2011 to Office 365 migration checklist

Before you migrate from SBS to Office 365 you must carefully plan the approach based on your current environment and migration requirements. Following is a checklist of items to identify and prepare your environments.

Identify the type of your current migration environment (Hybrid or non-Hybrid)
Determine whether you want to move everything at once or in stages.
Ascertain how much data and mailboxes you plan to migrate.
Check your internet connection speed and network configuration.
Decide if you plan to move Shared Exchange mailboxes and Public folders.
Add and prepare the domains for migrating to the target O365 server.
Create mailboxes and choose the appropriate Office 365 license plan.

Use the Microsoft 365 mail migration advisor to determine which migration method is best for you.

SBS 2011 to Office 365 migration prerequsites
- Step 1: Set the impersonation role on the source to the admin user
  Ensure that you set the ApplicationImpersonation permissions to the admin account on the source Exchange server 2010. Ensure that the mailboxes you migrate are not hidden from the address lists.
- Step 2: Create mailboxes on the target Office 365 server
  Before you migrate to Office 365, ensure that you create mailboxes for users in your organization and assign suitable licenses to them.
  1. Add users and assign licenses to Office 365 users
  2. Assign Microsoft 365 licenses to user accounts
  If you plan to migrate Public folders to Office 365, ensure that you create and configure the Public folder mailboxes on the target server.
  Create Office 365 Public folder and assign mailbox user
  If your mailboxes are in a Hybrid environment, it is not possible to migrate the Public folders directly to Office 365. Refer to this workaround solution to migrate Public folders in a hybrid environment.
- Step 3: Set impersonation role to the admin user on the target
  Ensure that you have set the impersonation rights to the admin account on the target Office 365 server.
- Step 4: Add a custom domain to Office 365 (Optional)
  If you have a custom email domain from your hosting provider to which you want to migrate and receive emails, you must add and verify the domain on Office 365.
  Steps to add custom domain to Office 365
Migrate SBS 2011 to Office 365
There are two methods for migrating Exchange 2010 to Microsoft 365 by using EdbMails Exchange migration
1. Migrate mailboxes to Office 365 using the Cutover method
2. Import mailboxes to O365 using the PST migration method
Steps to migrate SBS 2011 to Office 365 using the cutover method
- Step 1: Download and install EdbMails Exchange server migration software setup
  Download EdbMails and install the application on any computer that is connected to the source and target environment. You can also perform the migration operation by installing EdbMails on a non-Exchange server computer.
  Launch the application and click 'Login' or 'Start Your Free Trial'.
  Select the migration method as Live Exchange migration.
  Refer to the link for a detailed list of EdbMails system requirements for Exchange migration.
  Note: If the Standard folders (such as Inbox, Calendar, Contacts) on your source Exchange server mailboxes are initialized with a different language, follow the details in the link 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).
  Click here to know the steps to change the language and regional settings on Exchange and Office 365
- Step 2: Connect to the Exchange server as Global Admin
  In the Connect to Exchange server (Source) window, select 'Connect using Global Admin User'. You can also load the mailboxes using a CSV file. Refer to the link for instructions on how to use the different Exchange server connection methods supported by EdbMails.
  With EdbMails, you can migrate mailboxes, public folders, and archive mailboxes from Exchange to Office 365.
- Step 3: Select the mailboxes and connect to Office 365
  Select the mailboxes and folders from the Exchange that you wish to migrate to Office 365.
  Click 'Migrate to Office 365' to setup the connection with the target server
  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.
- Step 4: Customize the Exchange to Office 365 migration operation
  EdbMails provides the following additional options to help you customize the migration task.
  Additional Include and Exclude Filter Options
  Filter emails by Date: Migrate to Office 365 by applying the Date filter
  Filter emails by Size: Exclude emails from migration larger than a specified size.
- Step 5: Connect to target Office 365 as Global Admin User
  EdbMails supports both modern and classic authentication. Connect to the target server by selecting Auto or Manual registration for modern authentication and the connection method as Mailboxes, Public folder or Archive Mailbox.
  Connect to Office 365 server using secure modern authentication
- Step 6: Map the mailboxes between the source and the target
  The mapping activity in EdbMails can automatically match and map the mailboxes and folders between the Exchange server and Office 365. This activity saves time when you’re migrating a large number of mailboxes.
- Step 7: Start the migration to Office 365 from Exchange 2010
  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.
SBS to Office 365 migration using the PST method
EdbMails can also assist you in migrating to Office 365, if you have mailboxes exported as PST files from the Exchange server 2010 on SBS. Download and run EdbMails if it hasn't already been installed on your system. The following steps outline how to migrate PST files from Exchange to Office 365.
- Step 1: Select the migration method as Office 365 migration
  On the EdbMails migration selection popup, select the migration method as Office 365 migration.
- Step 2: Add PST files in bulk to migrate to Office 365
  To add the PST files, close the Connect to Office 365 (Source) connection window and click migrate 'PST to Office 365' at the bottom.
- Step 3: Connect to target Office 365 as Global Admin User
  EdbMails supports both modern and classic authentication. Connect to the target server by selecting Auto or Manual registration for modern authentication and the connection method as Mailboxes, Public folder or Archive Mailbox.
  Connect to Office 365 server using secure modern authentication
- Step 4: Map and migrate mailboxes and folders to Office 365
  The mapping activity in EdbMails can automatically match and map the mailboxes and folders from the PST file to Office 365. This activity saves time when you’re migrating a large number of mailboxes. After you complete the migration, verify the count of the migrated items, folders and mailboxes with the help of EdbMails log report.
Post-migration tasks
- Step 1: Update the MX records to point to Office 365
  To receive messages on Office 365, 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 Office 365 mailboxes.
- Step 3: Decommission and uninstall Exchange server 2010
  Follow the instructions provided on Microsoft's website to learn how to uninstall Exchange Server 2010 and see support and solutions for troubleshooting SBS 2011
  See the list of post migration tasks to complete after you finish the Office 365 migration.
Exchange migration troubleshooting
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)

Advantages of EdbMails for Exchange to Office 365 migration

Simple solution to migrate Exchange server to Office 365
If you plan to migrate to Office 365 on your own, you might face challenges and technical roadblocks. EdbMails removes the complexity and technicalities of Exchange and Office 365 migration and enables you to complete the mailbox transfer in a few clicks.
Single hop migration from Exchange 2010 to Office 365 and Exchange
EdbMails is a tailor-made solution to accomplish direct migration from Small Business server and 2010 legacy Exchange server to Office 365. Furthermore, it can also transfer mailboxes to Office 365 from Exchange 2019, 2016, Hosted and Live Exchange server. The application maintains perfect data consistency on the source and target and eliminates intermediate migration hops while performing the migration.
Incremental Exchange to Office 365 Migration
EdbMails supports incremental migration wherein it migrates the new and updated items avoiding duplicates on subsequent migrations to the same target mailbox. The incremental migration facility is valid for all Office 365 mailboxes, Public folder, Shared mailbox, and Archive mailboxes.
Facility to include and exclude email items and folders
During the Exchange 2010 migration to Office 365, you can use filter options in EdbMails settings to include or exclude mail items based on Date, Subject, Sender, and Recipient Address. Furthermore, you can exclude emails and attachments if their size exceeds a specified limit.
Batch or individual Exchange mailbox migration
EdbMails allows you to migrate a single Exchange mailbox or multiple mailboxes in batches. You can migrate folders, specific attachments, contacts and calendars from On-Premises or Hosted Exchange to Office 365.
Automatic handling of Office 365 throttling
EdbMails Exchange migration is an automated tool that is capable of automatically handling Office 365, Exchange throttling and connection interruption during the migration.

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Small Business server 2011 to Office 365 migration

Migrate mailboxes from SBS 2011 to Microsoft 365

SBS 2011 to Office 365 migration checklist

Migrate SBS 2011 to Office 365

Steps to migrate SBS 2011 to Office 365 using the cutover method

SBS to Office 365 migration using the PST method

Post-migration tasks

Exchange migration troubleshooting

Advantages of EdbMails for Exchange to Office 365 migration