How to perform Staged Exchange and Office 365 migration?

Exchange server staged migration

Steps to migrate Exchange to Office 365 using staged migration

What is Staged migration?

Staged Migration is a migration technique which migrates all the existing users’ mailboxes from on-premises Exchange to Exchange online (Office 365).In staged migration, the mailbox migration can be performed in two stages if necessary. This migration method is recommended for medium and large sized organizations with high data volumes. Because of the increased data volume, it cannot be migrated overnight or over weekends like cutover migration. For organizations that operate 24/7 and can’t afford longer downtime in their operations, staged migration is an ideal solution. Basically, the staged migration process is divided into two stages.

In the first stage, you migrate data which is either older or newer than a particular date. You then transfer the domain to the destination server and update the MX records after you complete the migration. In the second stage, you migrate the remaining data from the first stage.

An advantage of the staged migration method is that you migrate the most recent data first during off-hours or on weekends, then transfer the domain and update the MX records. This methodology enables your users to resume working in the new environment while you migrate the remaining data from the source to the target.

Exchange server staged migration

Who can perform Staged Migration?

Staged Migration is suitable for medium sized organizations and this technique can be chosen when you have your source email system in Exchange or Office 365.

You can perform Staged Migration effortlessly without requiring any expertise using EdbMails Exchange Migration tool. You can migrate Exchange to Exchange of the same domain or to different domain, on-premises Exchange to Hosted Exchange and to Office 365.

Staged migration with EdbMails Exchange migration software
Steps for staged migration
- Step 1: Download and install EdbMails Exchange server migration software setup
  Download EdbMails and install the application on the source Exchange server or any other computer. 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'.
  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, the following details describe how 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 server
- Step 2: Select the required migration technique from the menu
  From the EdbMails migration wizard, select 'Live Exchange Migration' or 'Office 365 migration' depending on which source server you want to migrate from.
- Step 3: Set the impersonation rights and connect to the source server
  Login as a global admin if you are migrating mailboxes on behalf of other users in your organization. If you do not have the necessary permissions, set the impersonation rights for the admin user account on the source Exchange server. You can also load the mailboxes using a CSV file.
  If your source is Office 365, follow the instructions on how to connect to Office 365 mailboxes and set impersonation rights.
  With EdbMails, you can migrate mailboxes, public folders, and archive mailboxes between your Exchange and Office 365 environments.
- Step 4: Choose the mailboxes and connect to the target server
  On successful login, you can see a list of mailboxes from your source server. Choose the mailboxes and folders you want to migrate to the target Exchange or Office 365.
  Click 'Migrate to Live Exchange' or 'Migrate to Office 365' to set up connection with the preferred 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 5: Migrate data newer than a specific date
  The first stage of the staged migration involves migrating mail data newer than a specific date. You can use the Date filter in EdbMails settings to migrate mail data newer than a specific date.
- Step 6: Connect to target server as a Global Admin user
  Connect to your target server using the same steps as the source. If you plan to migrate mailboxes on behalf of other users, make sure you log in as Global Admin.
  Connect to the target Exchange server
  Connect to the target Office 365 server
- Step 7: 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 source and target server and saves time when you migrate a large number of mailboxes.
- Step 8: Start the staged migration from the source to the target
  After you complete the mailbox mapping step, start and monitor the migration operation. Finally, verify the count of migrated emails, folders and mailbox items with EdbMails text-based log report.
Post-migration tasks for staged migration
- Step 1: Update the MX records to point to the target server
  To receive messages on the target Exchange or 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 the new server.
- Step 3: Migrate the remaining data to the target server
  After completing the first stage of the staged migration, you can migrate to the same target server using EdbMails incremental feature. This facility enables you to perform subsequent migrations from the same computer thereby avoiding duplicate item 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 using EdbMails for staged migration

Incremental migration to prevent migration of duplicate items on successive migration operations to the target.
Advanced include and exclude filter options for mailbox items and folders
Facility to migrate Exchange Public folders and Shared Mailbox
Direct mapping of mailboxes between the source and the target
Migrate to Exchange and Office 365 without technical expertise
Fast migrations with complete data consistency between the source and target servers
EdbMails automatically reconnects on intermittent internet connection during the migration operation.
You can perform batch migration/ Selective folder migration according to your migration requirement.
The application does not cause downtime or affect users' mailboxes during or after the migration.

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Exchange server staged migration

Steps to migrate Exchange to Office 365 using staged migration

User Manual

What is Staged migration?

Who can perform Staged Migration?

Staged migration with EdbMails Exchange migration software

Steps for staged migration

Post-migration tasks for staged migration

Exchange migration troubleshooting

Advantages of using EdbMails for staged migration