SUMMARY
The functionality of the Microsoft Exchange Server Mailbox Manager program included with Exchange Server 5.5 Service Pack 3 (SP3) is not included in Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server. The Mailbox Manager program delivered as part of Exchange Server 5.5 SP3 does
not function on Exchange 2000 unless you follow the procedures documented in the "More Information" section of this article. When you upgrade to Exchange 2000 from Exchange Server 5.5 with Mailbox Manager, you may receive an error message.
You can use the following procedure to clean Exchange 2000 mailboxes that are using the Mailbox Manager program included with Exchange Server 5.5 SP3.
This approach only works in a mixed site or environment with Exchange Server 5.5, and Exchange 2000. It does not work in a pure Exchange 2000 organization, or a pure Exchange 2000 Administrative Group (AG).
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Requirements
There are three fundamental requirements for this setup to work:
- The Exchange 2000 mailboxes must be visible in an Exchange 5.5 container, such as the Recipients container.
- The Mailbox Manager object from the Add-ins container must be replicated to Active Directory.
- Specifications for the Mailbox Manager service account.
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Exchange 2000 Mailboxes Must Be Visible in an Exchange 5.5 Container
The MBClean program included in Exchange Server 5.5 runs by a site's
Recipients container; it does not recognize non-5.5 sites (Administrative Groups), and it does not read Windows 2000 Active Directory (AD). If the mailbox is not in the site's
Recipients container, or other
Recipients containers that are set up in Exchange Server 5.5, it will not be able to be cleaned. Mailboxes that will be cleaned
must reside in the same site from which the Mailbox Manager runs, and the
Recipient objects must be located in one of the site's
Recipients containers.
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"Mailbox Manager" Object from "Add-ins" Container Must Be Replicated to Active Directory
The MCA (Mailbox Cleanup Agent) object must be visible in AD for the MBClean process to access Exchange 2000 mailboxes. This account needs to be introduced to the AD by using a connection agreement (CA). To achieve this, you create a CA that points from the Exchange Server 5.5 site object to a Windows 2000 Organizational Unit.
Warning: If you want to make this CA a two-way agreement,
make sure that you update the Adc.exe file to version 6.0.4418.18 (this is noted in article Q276479, which is referenced below). If you create a two-way agreement, the
Add-ins container in Exchange Server 5.5 is converted to an Organizational Unit in Windows 2000, and is subsequently replicated
back to Exchange Server 5.5 as a
Recipients container. In order to restore the functionality of Mailbox Manager, use the instructions provided in the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
276479 Restoring Default Properties on the Add-ins Container
: A two-way CA continues to overwrite the properties on the
Add-ins container until you convert it to a one-way agreement. This restriction may affect your CA design in general.
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Specifications for Mailbox Manager Service Account
The service account must have permissions to each Exchange 2000 accounts that it is set up to clean. Because the traditional service account for Exchange no longer exists, to provide an account with universal access to all Exchange 2000 mailboxes, you have to either add the MCA service account to each mailbox, or follow the instructions provided in the Knowledge Base articles listed in the "References" section .
Note: The MCA service account in Exchange Server 5.5 SP3 does not allow an account with a blank password to be the service account.
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