How to use the ExMerge tool to upgrade to Exchange 2000 Server or to Exchange Server 2003 (327304)

SUMMARY

This article describes how to use the Exchange Server Mailbox Merge Wizard (ExMerge) tool to upgrade to Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server or to Microsoft Exchange Server 2003. This upgrade method is intended primarily for single-server/single-site scenarios.

To obtain the Exchange Server Mailbox Merge Wizard (ExMerge) tool, visit the following Microsoft Web site: For more information about how to download Microsoft Support files, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: ExMerge is also located in the Support\Utils\I386\Exmerge folder on the Exchange 2000 CD and on the Exchange 2003 CD. To obtain the latest version of ExMerge for Microsoft Exchange Server 5.5, contact Microsoft Product Support Services.

To use ExMerge to upgrade to Exchange 2000 or to Exchange 2003, follow these steps:

1. Use the ExMerge tool to export all of the user's mailbox data to a .pst file, and then export public folder data to a .pst file by using a Microsoft Outlook (MAPI) client.
2. Remove Exchange Server 5.5 from the existing server (if the same server is being used).
3. Install Exchange 2000 or Exchange 2003. This includes the latest service pack and update rollups.
4. Import your mailbox and public folder data from the .pst files that you created in step 1.

The following sections of this article describe how to migrate mailbox data and public folder data in more detail.

The following list describes some of the advantages of using ExMerge to upgrade to Exchange 2000 or to Exchange 2003:

• ExMerge provides an alternate recovery method that you can use in case an in-place upgrade is not successful.
• You can use ExMerge to secure data from a failing server and to run a clean installation of Exchange 2000 or Exchange 2003.

The following list describes some of the disadvantages of using ExMerge to upgrade to Exchange 2000 or to Exchange 2003:

• You must create new mailboxes for all users before you import the mailboxes.
• You must re-create all permissions on the public folders.
• You cannot reply to old messages from users on this server.
• You must reconfigure all connectors.
• You must re-create all distribution lists.
• You must re-create custom recipients.
• You must create new Exchange client profiles at each user desktop. If the server name does not change, new client profiles may not be required.
• If users use Offline Folder Storage files (.ost), they must export these files to a .pst file before they connect to the new server. You will lose single-instance storage in your mailbox store. This loss may potentially cause your mailbox database to grow two or more times its original size. However, the mailbox database growth is typically less than that. The amount of growth depends on your internal use of distribution lists (DLs) and the retention of e-mail messages that were sent to those DLs.

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Migrating Mailbox Data

1. Stop the Exchange Server 5.5 message transfer agent (MTA) to prevent new messages from arriving.
2. Make full online backups and offline copies of your databases (Priv.edb and Pub.edb).
3. Use ExMerge to run stage 1 of a two-stage ExMerge procedure to export all mailbox data to a .pst file on a shared network drive.
4. On the new Exchange 2000 computer or Exchange 2003 computer, open the Active Directory Users and Computers management console, right-click a user account (you can select multiple user accounts at a time), and then click Exchange Tasks.
5. Click Create Mailbox, and then click Next.
6. Verify that the correct Exchange 2000 or Exchange 2003 computer and mailbox store are selected, click Next, and then click Finish.
   
   NOTE: Make sure that you create mailboxes using the mailbox alias name that was used on the server that was running Exchange Server 5.5.
7. Assign the Administrator account the appropriate permissions to use ExMerge on all mailboxes on the Exchange 2000 computer or on the Exchange 2003 computer.
8. Make sure that the default recipient policy in Exchange System Manager is configured to stamp mailboxes with the correct domain names (the name after the @ sign) and that new mailboxes have been stamped with the correct Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) address.
9. Use ExMerge to run stage 2 of a two-stage ExMerge procedure, and then import all mailbox data from the .pst file that you exported to the network drive in step 3.

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Migrating Public Folder Data

ExMerge does not work with public folders, it only works with mailboxes. When you use ExMerge to upgrade to Exchange 2000 or to Exchange 2003, you have to download public folders on the server that is running Exchange Server 5.5 to a .pst file on an Outlook (MAPI) client, and then publish this file on the new Exchange 2000 computer or on the new Exchange 2003 computer.

1. Use an account on a Microsoft Outlook 2002 or Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 client computer that has administrative rights to log on to a mailbox on the server that is running Exchange Server 5.5.
2. On the File menu, point to New, and then click Outlook Data File.
3. Click Personal Folders File (.pst), and then click OK.
4. Name the file Public.pst, save the file to a path that has a lot of free disk space, and then write down the location where the file is saved.
   
   NOTE: The .pst files have storage limits of 2 gigabytes (GB) each. For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

   208480 Description of the purpose and capacity of Outlook storage facilities

5. Accept the default settings that are listed in the Create Microsoft Personal Folders dialog box, and then click OK.
   
   A new folder group that is named Personal Folders is created in Outlook.
6. In the Outlook folder list, expand Public Folders, and then expand All Public Folders.
7. Drag each top-level public folder that you want to export to the Personal Folders folder that you created in step 4.
   
   All top-level public folders and their subfolders are copied.
8. Log off the Outlook client.
9. From the Outlook client, use an account that has administrative rights to log on to a mailbox that is homed on the Exchange 2000 computer or on the Exchange 2003 computer.
10. On the File menu, point to New, and then click Outlook Data File.
11. Click Personal Folders File (.pst), locate and click the .pst file that you created in step 4, and then click OK two times.
12. Drag the folders from the Personal Folders folder to All Public Folders in the Outlook folder list.

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