I'm currently trying to carryout an Exchange 2007 migration onto new hardware. Most of the posts I have looked at don't address this issue (usually upgrades to 2010 etc) This is a first time I have carried out this process so any help would beappreciated. I have installed Exchange 2007 w SP3 on Windows 2008 R2 and have created the Storage Group and Mailstore DB (this seemed easy enough) I am able to transfer mailboxes over to the new store. I have some questions on the migration: How to transfer public folders to new server?How to transfer settings (such as hub transport, client access, etc) Where are these settings stored?How to transfer OWA configuration (Can I just reroute on the FW)?It is best to create the public folder store in it's own storage group (Are there any guidelines on this?) The end goal is to remove the server and I need to ensure that I cover all aspects with best practices. Many Thanks!

1. Create a public folder database and use the following scripts. CD "\Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\Scripts" .\AddReplicaToPFRecursive.ps1 -TopPubicFolder "\" -ServerToAdd PF_SERVER_NAME .\AddReplicaToPFRecursive.ps1 -TopPubicFolder "\NON_IPM_SUBTREE\SCHEDULE+ FREE BUSY" -ServerToAdd PF_SERVER_NAME .\AddReplicaToPFRecursive.ps1 -TopPubicFolder "\NON_IPM_SUBTREE\OFFLINE ADDRESS LIST" -ServerToAdd PF_SERVER_NAME .\AddReplicaToPFRecursive.ps1 -TopPubicFolder "\NON_IPM_SUBTREE\EFORMS REGISTRY" -ServerToAdd PF_SERVER_NAME You can use RemoveReplicaFromPFRecursive.ps1 to remove the old replica when you're ready to decommission the old server. 2. For hub transport, you're looking at send connectors, and maybe routing group connectors if you have Exchange 2003 still present. And you're looking at changing MX records and any SMTP applicances that send mail inbound to point to the new server. 3. DNS or firewall, yes. 4. It's best to create every database in its own storage group.Ed Crowley MVP "There are seldom good technological solutions to behavioral problems."

1. Create a public folder database and use the following scripts. CD "\Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\Scripts" .\AddReplicaToPFRecursive.ps1 -TopPubicFolder "\" -ServerToAdd PF_SERVER_NAME .\AddReplicaToPFRecursive.ps1 -TopPubicFolder "\NON_IPM_SUBTREE\SCHEDULE+ FREE BUSY" -ServerToAdd PF_SERVER_NAME .\AddReplicaToPFRecursive.ps1 -TopPubicFolder "\NON_IPM_SUBTREE\OFFLINE ADDRESS LIST" -ServerToAdd PF_SERVER_NAME .\AddReplicaToPFRecursive.ps1 -TopPubicFolder "\NON_IPM_SUBTREE\EFORMS REGISTRY" -ServerToAdd PF_SERVER_NAME You can use RemoveReplicaFromPFRecursive.ps1 to remove the old replica when you're ready to decommission the old server. 2. For hub transport, you're looking at send connectors, and maybe routing group connectors if you have Exchange 2003 still present. And you're looking at changing MX records and any SMTP applicances that send mail inbound to point to the new server. 3. DNS or firewall, yes. 4. It's best to create every database in its own storage group.Ed Crowley MVP "There are seldom good technological solutions to behavioral problems."

Thanks for the reply. When I run the ".\AddReplicaToPFRecursive.ps1 -TopPublicFolder "\" -ServerToAdd "Exchange" command I receive this error: Set-PublicFolder : Modification of the root folder '\' is not allowed. I see from a previous POST you commented on, that this error is normal and I just need to give it some time to update. What command would I run to confirm that the changes have been completed or are still in progress? When I check PFMC and look at the replication tab under a public folder I still can't see the new server being listed. I presume the script is the quick method to add the server, otherwise I could go through all the public folders manually and add in to the replication set? When I run ".\AddReplicaToPFRecursive.ps1 -TopPublicFolder "\NON_IPM_SUBTREE\SCHEDULE+ FREE BUSY" -ServerToAdd FDC-Exchange" I receive this error: Set-PublicFolder : Cannot save the object '\NON_IPM_SUBTREE\SCHEDULE+ FREE BUSY'. Please make sure that you specified the correct Identity and that you have the necessary permissions to save it.

That warning is telling you that the root folder "\" can't have replicas added. That's normal because it's a placeholder container, not a public folder. The script should still have run on the child folders. Don't worry about that, it's an Exchange 2007 thing, fixed in Exchange 2010. You can check it by running the following command. Get-PublicFolder \ -Recurse | FL Name,Replicas You should see the new server in the list of replicas. I bleieve your second error is the same thing even though the error is different. That is also a placeholder and the important stuff is underneath it. You can run this command to test whether it worked. Get-PublicFolder "\NON_IPM_SUBTREE\SCHEDULE+ FREE BUSY" -Recurse | FL Name,Replicas Ed Crowley MVP "There are seldom good technological solutions to behavioral problems."

That warning is telling you that the root folder "\" can't have replicas added. That's normal because it's a placeholder container, not a public folder. The script should still have run on the child folders. Don't worry about that, it's an Exchange 2007 thing, fixed in Exchange 2010. You can check it by running the following command. Get-PublicFolder \ -Recurse | FL Name,Replicas You should see the new server in the list of replicas. I bleieve your second error is the same thing even though the error is different. That is also a placeholder and the important stuff is underneath it. You can run this command to test whether it worked. Get-PublicFolder "\SCHEDULE+ FREE BUSY" -Recurse | FL Name,Replicas Ed Crowley MVP "There are seldom good technological solutions to behavioral problems."

Excellent! These commands are useful. The second replica server wasn't showing for each of the public folders. I ran this command again and looks like it updated the values and worked. .\AddReplicaToPFRecursive.ps1 -TopPublicFolder "\" -ServerToAdd PF_SERVER_NAME Now when I run this is shows the second server listed in the replica sets. Get-PublicFolder \ -Recurse | FL Name,Replicas I was getting a error with your second command, but this worked correctly when I used "\NON_IPM_SUBTREE" Get-PublicFolder "\NON_IPM_SUBTREE\SCHEDULE+ FREE BUSY" -Recurse | FL Name,Replicas Just another question, although the replica set is showing, how do you determine when you can remove the original replica server? Is there any Powershell to confirm this has worked correctly? Great Help thanks,

You're right about my error. I've fixed it in my post for future reference. Your follow-up question is hard. The real answer is that you really don't know. I tend to look at the item counts in Get-PublicFolderStatistics to ensure they're the same, but that can be a lot of work. Usually, I leave it to the customer to decide when they're ready to accept that everything is replicated. Having said that, it turns out that it really doesn't matter because Exchange won't actually remove a replica until all content has replicated, which is why you may end up with a handful of folders lingering even though you thought you removed them. That's when the fun begins, trying to force all that content to replicate or doing it manually by copying it to a PST and then into a new folder. Ed Crowley MVP "There are seldom good technological solutions to behavioral problems."

Good stuff, I'll go through this to check replication etc. Cheers for the help, good to know there are people in the know on the forums :)

You're welcome. Happy to have helped.Ed Crowley MVP "There are seldom good technological solutions to behavioral problems."