2

I have Windows SBS 2011. As you know, Exchange 2010 is built in to this. Some time ago, I have started using Office 365 for email. In a perfect world, I would uninstall Exchange 2010, but this cannot be done in SBS. I've also been well advised against turning off services etc.

My problem is this: I want server notification emails. These are delivered to the administrator mailbox on the SBS server.

So my question is: How can I forward these emails from SBS to me at Office365? How can I make an exchange server send via another exchange server???

Warren
  • 137
  • 2
  • 9

1 Answers1

1

Uninstall all components of Exchange 2010 except for Hub Transport and Management Tools. As long as your send connector is correctly configured, server reports will go out to the internet. I'd also recommend removing the internet domain from the accepted domains list and just leave domain.local.

I've migrated half a dozen SBS2011 machines to Office 365 and done this every time. Absolutely no problems to report.

The worst that happens is when you set up new users, you get a warning next to setting up the mailbox and sending a welcome email (which can obviously be expected!). Other than that, nothing is affected.

ChadH360
  • 414
  • 2
  • 3
  • Just to add - I'm assuming that you've already removed public folder and mailbox databases. If not, you will probably need to do that first. – ChadH360 Apr 23 '15 at 23:19
  • 1
    Sorry - just one last comment. Also, be aware that your Office 365 Tenant will also have a myemail@mycompany.onmicrosoft.com email address. You can configure your reports to go that address without having to make any adjustments to your exchange server. Personally, though, I would still recommend removing Exchange from your domain anyway - it will make life much easier when you come to replace that server. – ChadH360 Apr 23 '15 at 23:22
  • Thanks ChadH360 - that all seems to make sense. One question please - what do you mean "uninstall all components"? Where can I do this? – Warren Apr 23 '15 at 23:23
  • In Control Panel ->Program and Features, you can click on Microsoft Exchange Server and then click on Uninstall. If you then untick everything except Hub Transport Role (Tools will be ticked and greyed out - this is fine), it will remove the unnecessary features - Client Access, and Mailbox Roles. This will initially run a check and report any issues, and then allow you to proceed with the removal. It's likely that the check will need you to do some other bits, but it will point you in the right direction. If you get stuck, just drop a note here. – ChadH360 Apr 23 '15 at 23:29
  • Thanks ChadH360. I removed the databases and uninstalled the roles and things are running much faster! Thanks so much already. But now I'm stuck on the Send Connector. I'm googling away and trialing, but any pointers on send connector parameters for o365 would be mucu appreciated. – Warren Apr 24 '15 at 01:42
  • The default SBS settings for the send connector are fine. Did you take out your domain from Accepted domains under Org Config->Hub Transport->Accepted Domains? I just leave the domain.local one there normally. If you still have your public domain there, when the report email is generated, the server will think that it needs to be delivered internally. For the send connector, I have the SBS Internet Send connector left as default settings - for the DNS tab, I use the first option of using MX records to route mail. – ChadH360 Apr 24 '15 at 08:12
  • 1
    There is one other thing you can do - I do it as a matter of course anyway for internal copiers/scanners to be able to send email via O365. I doubt that it's necessary for this, but worth doing anyway. Take a look [here](https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dn554323.aspx) and follow the instructions under SMTP Relay in order to set up a Receive Connector in your O365 Tenant. By doing this, you will also be able to have other devices on your network send email via O365. Ignore step 9 - it's not necessary in this case, but would apply to other multi function devices that you set up. – ChadH360 Apr 24 '15 at 08:19
  • Last thing I would also suggest as part of the Exchange removal is to manually specify the email addresses on the user AD objects. By removing the exchange services, the email address field is now blank. It's not important, but something I generally do. – ChadH360 Apr 24 '15 at 08:26
  • 1
    Actually, just thinking - my last comment could be the cause of your problem. The scheduled report is sent by SBSMonAcct@domain.com (this is hard coded somewhere), and should just work fine. If you manually run a report for testing, it will be sent from the email address specified in the AD user object that you're logged in as - if this is blank, no email will go. – ChadH360 Apr 24 '15 at 08:34