Exchange 2003 to Exchange 2007 Migration Procedure

This article covers the following topics related to Exchange 2003 to Exchange 2007 migration:

Exchange 2003 to 2007 Migration Process Overview
Step by Step migration instructions
What impact will there be to my end users?

Exchange 2003 to 2007 Migration Process Overview

This overview lists out the general process for your migration from exchange 2003 to exchange 2007 and who is responsible for each step.  This process is addressed in more detail in the point-by-point explanation that follows.

1. CUSTOMER: Create your new 2007 account by either contacting our sales department or through the Intermedia web site.
2. CUSTOMER: Log into your new 2007 account and request migration via extended services.
3. INTERMEDIA: Intermedia will copy account configuration information(all account settings except mailbox data) from your 2003 account.
4. INTERMEDIA: Change mail routing on your 2007 account to deliver to your 2003 account.
5. CUSTOMER: Verify that the data copied correctly in step 3. The migration will not proceed until you have verified that the data is correct. At this time you should also provide Intermedia with a cutover date when you can switch your end users to the new account.
6. CUSTOMER: Create an Autodiscover record for you domain and change MX records to point to your 2007 account. (This step is only necessary if Intermedia does not host the name servers for your domain(s).)
7. EVERYONE: Wait 72 Hours for DNS propagation.
8. INTERMEDIA: Intermedia will copy your mailbox data to the new account 48 hours prior to the cutover date.
9. CUSTOMER: Verify that the mailbox data has copied correctly to the new account. Once you have verified the data has been copied correctly the migration will proceed.
10. EVERYONE: Cutover to the new account.
    • INTERMEDIA: Will Change mail routing on your 2007 account to deliver to your 2007 Account. Will move your public folder data from your Exchange 2003 to your new Exchange 2007 Account.
    • CUSTOMER: Configure all your clients and devices to connect to the new server. This will include activating wireless devices on the new account for any users that have them.
11. INTERMEDIA: Change mail routing on your 2007 account to deliver locally.
12. CUSTOMER: Configure all your clients and devices to connect to the new server.
13. INTERMEDIA: Intermedia will copy any mailbox data that has been added since the initial copy.
14. CUSTOMER: Verify that the data has copied correctly. Once you have verified the data has been copied correctly the migration will proceed
15. EVERYONE: Intermedia will work with you to determine if the migration is 100% complete. Once both parties are agreed the migration is complete the support case will be closed and you may proceed to terminate your 2003 account.
16. CUSTOMER: Terminate your 2003 account when ready.

Step by Step instructions

In addition to instructions listed below you may download a Customer Migration 2003 to 2007 document.

Step 1: Create Exchange 2007 account
Step 2: Submit extended service to request migration
Step 3: Copy account information
Step 4: Modify mail routing on Exchange 2007 account
Step 5: Verify account copied successfully
Step 6: Change MX record and create Autodiscover record
Step 7: Wait for 72 Hours
Step 8: Copy mailbox content from Exchange 2003 to Exchange 2007
Step 9: Verify mailbox data copied successfully
Step 10: Cutover to new account
Step 11: Copy differential mailbox data
Step 12: Verify mailbox data
Step 13: Verify migration is complete
Step 14: Terminate your Exchange 2003 account

STEP 1: CREATE EXCHANGE 2007 ACCOUNT. First, create your new 2007 exchange account. You can do this by one of two methods.

• Contacting our Sales Department by calling 1-800-379-7729 and selecting option 2 for Sales.  Our Sales Team will be happy to assist you with creating the new 2007 exchange account.
• Going to the Intermedia web site at www.intermedia.net  to open your new 2007 exchange account.  On the main page select Products and click on the category of plan you are interested in.  (i.e.:  Small Business, Enterprise)  Select your new exchange 2007 plan and sign up.

STEP 2: SUBMIT EXTENDED SERVICE TO REQUEST MIGRATION. Once the new 2007 account is created you will need to begin the migration process. 

1. Log into your new 2007 account and click on Support in the upper right corner of the Hostpilot control panel.
2. Click the link for Extended Services.
3. In the Extended Services page, use the pull-down to select ‘Exchange 2003 to 2007 Migration’.
4. On the 2003 to 2007 Migration page enter the account name of the 2003 exchange account and add any additional information to the Customer notes field.
5. Click Submit Request
6. This will create a case that will be automatically assigned to your migration specialists.

STEP 3: COPY ACCOUNT INFOMATION. Intermedia will copy your existing Exchange 2003 account information to your Exchange 2007 account. All account information except the actual mailbox data and public folder data will be moved during this step.

NOTE: Intermedia does not migrate SharePoint content at this time.

STEP 4: MODIFY MAIL ROUTING ON EXCHANGE 2007 ACCOUNT. This will route mail sent to your 2007 account back to your 2003 account to simplify the migration process and limit the impact of changing MX records.

STEP 5: VERIFY ACCOUNT COPIED SUCCESSFULLY. Intermedia will contact you when the account is prepared for migration.  This contact will be through the 2003 to 2007 migration case that you created.  You will need to confirm that the account is configured correctly.

1. Log in to the 2007 account and review the Users, Exchange Mailboxes, Resource Mailboxes, Company Contacts, Distribution Lists, Organizational Units, Public Folders, wireless users and other features to make sure the account has been configured properly.  Though user mailboxes will be created, passwords are not transferred to the new account.  Mailboxes will be assigned random passwords.  You will be able to set these as you wish, moving forward.
2. Make note of any items that are missing or were not set up properly.  Be prepared to provide detailed information about any discrepancies.
3. During this step you should also enable and configure any additional services for your exchange account such as archiving, disclaimers, or UserPilot. If you have any questions regarding setup of these services please contact our support desk.
4. Contact Intermedia and inform us if the account is set up properly in preparation for migration.  You can contact us using one of the following methods:
   • Reply to the notification e-mail you received from Intermedia asking you to verify the account.
   • Update the case by logging into the Hostpilot control panel.  In the upper right corner click Support and then My Support Cases.  Select the migration case and then click Edit.
   • Call Technical Support and provide the 2003 to 2007 migration case number.
5. If the account is configured correctly simply let us know and we will proceed to the next step of the process.
6. If there are issues with the account set up we will work with you to resolve them.  Once the account set up is updated Intermedia will contact you again to review the account set up.  When set up is confirmed we will proceed with the migration.

STEP 6: CHANGE MX RECORD AND CREATE AUTODISCOVER RECORD. If your DNS is managed by your registrar or authoritative servers other than Intermedia’s, change the MX records to point to the new account.  If Intermedia hosts your name servers we will make these changes for you.

1. You can find the target for the MX record by logging into the Hostpilot control panel for the new 2007 account and going to the Get Started page.  Click on Advanced Settings and it will expand displaying information including the MX record.
2. Change the MX record with your Registrar or authoritative servers to point to the new account.  Your Registrar or authoritative servers’ administrator should be able to assist you with this.
3. To create your autodiscover record contact your Registrar or your authoritative servers and have a sub-domain created for autodiscover.yourdomainname.com  (i.e.: autodiscover.intermedia.net)
4. Create a DNS CNAME record for this sub-domain that points to the Intermedia autodiscover server.  This can be found in the 2007 account at HostPilot > Get Started > Advanced Settings. (i.e.: ar##.serverdata.net)

STEP 7: WAIT FOR 72 HOURS. DNS propagation of your MX records can take up to 72 hours.

STEP 8: COPY MAILBOX CONTENT FROM EXCHANGE 2003 TO EXCHANGE 2007. Intermedia will copy the mailbox content from your Exchange 2003 to Exchange 2007 account using specialized tools on the backend.

STEP 9: VERIFY MAILBOX DATA COPIED SUCCESSFULLY. You will need to verify that the data copied correctly. 

1. Verify that the data migration is complete.  Check the mailboxes on the 2007 account to ensure that there is data in them as appropriate.
2. Note if the migration of data was successful.  If there was data that did not get migrated, gather the details and be prepared to relay the details to intermedia.
3. Notify Intermedia if the data migration is complete.  You can contact us using one of the following methods:
   • Reply to the notification e-mail you received from Intermedia asking you to verify the account.
   • Update the case by logging into the HostPilot control panel.  In the upper right corner click Support and then My Support Cases.  Select the migration case and then click Edit.
   • Call Technical Support and provide the 2003 to 2007 migration case number.
4. If there are issues with the migration of data, we will work with you to correct the issue.
5. A date will then be set for the cutover to the new account.  Please make note of the scheduled cutover.

STEP 10: CUTOVER TO NEW ACCOUNT. Intermedia will modify mail routing to deliver incoming mail to your Exchange 2007 account. You will need to configure all of your mail clients and devices to connect to the new server. Details can be found below based on the client/device in question.

ENTOURAGE

Entourage users will need to run the entourage profile helper or create a new Identity using the Entourage set up instructions.  This will connect them to the new 2007 mailbox.  Entourage will then synchronize with the mailbox.  This will take some time depending on the mailbox size and bandwidth.
Entouage Profile Helper (EPH)

OUTLOOK

Have users run the outlook profile helper from the new 2007 account to create a new profile.  This will connect them to the new 2007 mailbox.  Outlook will then synchronize with the mailbox.  This will take some time depending on the mailbox size and bandwidth. Outlook users will need to recreate and folder shares they had prior to the migration.
What is Outlook Profile Helper? How do I use it?
How do I manually connect Microsoft Outlook 2003/2007 to my Microsoft Exchange 2003/2007 server?

• Backup Outlook rules.
  How do I backup Outlook rules?
• Backup Outlook user settings
  How do I backup Outlook user settings?
• Backup Outlook signatures
  How do I backup Outlook signatures?

ACTIVESYNC 

For activesync devices, remove the old set up and create the new connection.   The following information is available through our knowledge base articles.

ActiveSync setup on Windows Mobile 6 device
How do I set up an email account on iPhone using Microsoft Exchange?

BLACKBERRY

For blackberries, the user will need to wipe the device and then activate to the new account using enterprise activation.  Upon activation, the device will synchronize the contacts and calendar along with recent mail.  The device will only synchronize the last 7 days or 350 mail items.

How do I enable my BlackBerry using wireless Enterprise Activation? 
Troubleshooting BlackBerry Activation issues (Exchange 2007)

GOOD MOBILE

For devices using good mobile, follow the instructions e-mailed to the new 2007 mailbox.  They will explain how to wirelessly activate using Good Mobile’s Over The Air (OTA) Setup.

STEP 11: COPY DIFFERENTIAL MAILBOX DATA. With all mail now delivering directly to the new 2007 account Intermedia will perform a final export and import of mailbox data to capture any new data since the initial copy.

STEP 12: VERIFY MAILBOX DATA. You will need to verify that the data copied correctly.

1. Verify that the data migration is complete.  Check the mailboxes on the 2007 account to ensure that there is data in them as appropriate.
2. Note if the migration of data was successful.  If there was data that did not get migrated, gather the details and be prepared to relay the details to intermedia.
3. Notify Intermedia if the data migration is complete.  You can contact us using one of the following methods:
   • Reply to the notification e-mail you received from Intermedia asking you to verify the account.
   • Update the case by logging into the HostPilot control panel.  In the upper right corner click Support and then My Support Cases.  Select the migration case and then click Edit.
   • Call Technical Support and provide the 2003 to 2007 migration case number.
4. If there are issues with the migration of data, we will work with you to correct the issue.
5. A date will then be set for the cutover to the new account.  Please make note of the scheduled cutover.

STEP 13: VERIFY MIGRATION IS COMPLETE. As a final step to the actual migration process Intermedia will contact you to verify that all your users are on the new account, your data is all available, and the service is behaving as expected. Once you have verified that you are in production on the new account the migration will be complete.

STEP 14: TERMINATE YOUR EXCHANGE 2003 ACCOUNT. With all services set up, user data migrated and users logged into and using the new account, you can now terminate your Exchange 2003 account. Go to the Hostpilot control panel for the old 2003 account. Navigate to Hostpilot > Account > Termination for information on terminating the account.  You  can also contact our Customer Service department for assistance with account termination.  They can be reached at 1-800-379-7729 option 4.

What impact will there be to my end users?

We do our best to minimize user impact but your users will need to take some steps to minimize impact and get set up on the new account.

Outlook:
- Users should expect it to take some time to sync the data back from the server after switching over.
- Users will need to recreate or backup and restore their client side rules, signatures, and visual settings

Entourage:
- Users should expect it to take some time to sync the data back from the server after switching over. 
- Entourage users with many items in a single folder may experience corruption of data. We recommend that no more than 2500 messages be kept in a single folder. 

Activesync:
- Devices will need to be reconfigured but impact is minimal

BlackBerry:
- Users will need to re-activate their devices.
- Only the last 7 days or 350 items will be pulled down to the device. 
- Reactivation can change many settings on the device back to defaults.

Good Mobile:
- Reactivation is required. Only recent mailbox data will be downloaded to the device.

Public Folders:
- Access permissions will need to be recreated on your new account.
- Mail enabled subfolders will need to be re-enabled.

Shared Folders and Delegates:
- Shared folders and delegate permissions will need to be recreated on your new account.

Account Add-ons:
- Additional account features like disclaimers, storage limits, archiving, content sync, or user pilot will need to be setup manually on your new account.