Exchange 2K7 on 2003 to 2008 server changeover

Discussion in 'Software' started by nugget, Jul 26, 2010.

  1. nugget
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    nugget Junior toady

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    Hi guys, it seems that I will have a new project coming up shortly and I just wanted to ask your advice. We have our exchange server that we will be decommissioning to be used for a non critical business application and we will then get a new server with similar hardware (and more RAM) to replace it. The new server will be running server 2008r2. Theoretically we will get the new system set up, take the old one offline and run the new one for 2 weeks or so to see if there are any problems.

    At this point I will then have to install exchange 2007 on it and find some way of getting the mailstore put on it (very quickly) from the old server. The problem comes from the fact that they want to name the server exactly the same as the old one so I'm not too sure how that will affect things.

    Any advice, tips and gotcha's are much appreciated.
     
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  2. Josiahb

    Josiahb Gigabyte Poster

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    Just from an asset management point of view I never reuse names on the network, its a whole hell of a lot cleaner that way.
     
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  3. Toasty

    Toasty Byte Poster

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    We had alot of problems upgrading 1 customer to exchange 2007, owa and offline folders not working. (Will look for the webpage with all the lowdown.)

    We have just upgraded another customer this time to Exchange 2010 and all went ok about 600 mailboxes moved.
     
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  4. Sparky
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    Sparky Zettabyte Poster Moderator

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    Why? :blink
     
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  5. nugget
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    nugget Junior toady

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    Why what?

    Why they want the name to remain the same?

    So they can save on a little petty cash for a new certificate. So they don't have to reconfigure the firewall rules. So the documentation doesn't have to be changed. So they can put back number 1 server if anything goes wrong and not have to re-reconfigure the firewall rules. Did I mention they want to save a little petty cash for a certificate? I did? Oh!
     
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  6. craigie

    craigie Terabyte Poster

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    Mate, the server name doesn't have to be the same name to transfer an SSL certifcate, just export it and import it.

    Use a different name to avoid DNS issues.
     
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  7. nugget
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    nugget Junior toady

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    That would be okay with an internally created certificate but this comes from an external CA. I remember the last time I went through the hassle of getting a certificate I had to put in very specific names to be encoded in the certificate.
     
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  8. craigie

    craigie Terabyte Poster

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    When you initially order the certificate you have to complete lots of information e.g. mail.nugget.com

    You can export the certificate from the old Exchange Server by going into IIS6 and then exporting the certificate to pfx file.

    The import the Certificate to the new Exchanger Server, remembering to edit the bindings on IIS7 and also repoint your firewall to look at the new Exchange Server for HTTPS, SMTP etc.
     
    Last edited: Jul 27, 2010
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  9. Sparky
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    You can get it resigned with the new name.

    I had this problem a while ago as the the published name of the server changed while I was migrating to a new Exchange environment.

    Who issued the cert?
     
    Last edited: Jul 27, 2010
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  10. nugget
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    nugget Junior toady

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    Wow, time really flies when you go on holiday and then jump into the fire.

    To cut a long story short, I had to install the server 2008 system 2 times due to some problem with joining the domain. After all the updating I eventually installed Exchange 2007 SP1 and it threw a wobbly while installing the mailbox role. Yes, I know that only SP3 is supported but that wasn't the problem, it was to do with not having permissions to edit the registry. Running the setup.exe in compatability mode did the trick (either as Vista or Server 2008) and then a quick install of SP3 and the Update Rollup 1 and we're in business.

    I didn't realise it but when installing it pulled all the infomation from AD. I was quite surprised to find all the same info and all the same settings, mostly. I will be setting up the storage groups on a different partition as well as the transaction logs too.

    So, this is where I am out of my depth at the moment, and now the questions.

    What is the best way to transfer the mail from the old to the new? Copy the whole SG database or create a new database and transfer the users mailboxes? I'm leaning toward the second option as I think I will end up with a smaller database at the end due to empty space being taken out. I know that Exchange is supposed to compact the databases so there isn't any, but ........ :hhhmmm

    From what I've seen so far, if I tweak the rules on the firewall, I could theoretically unplug the old and use the new server as is (given that I have a users mailbox on this server). From anyones experience, is this likely to be the case?

    I'm sure to have more questions in the next couple of days and these are the main ones that are confronting me at the moment.

    Thanks
     
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  11. Theprof

    Theprof Petabyte Poster

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    I would go with the mailbox migration... Also in doing it this way, exchange cleanses the mailboxes to a certain extent, cleans up some corruptions... And if I am not mistaken this doesn't have to be done offline if it's going from exchange 2007 to 2007.
     
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  12. Sparky
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    Sparky Zettabyte Poster Moderator

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    Yup, moving all the mailboxes out of hours should be the easiest way here.
     
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  13. nugget
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    nugget Junior toady

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    Thanks guys. It's what I thought would be the best way but just wanted to check.
     
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