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I need some help and suggestion for some mailbox migration. I have an Active Directory domain where all my new Exchange Server 2016 is installed and configured. The domain name is mydomain.com which is also same for public side too (I guess Split-DNS it is called).

Now I have a very old mail server on Windows 2003, using MailEnable 7.5 that is not on any Active Directory domain, using it for the last 4 years. the email domain on the old server is also mydomain.com and for both this old and new Exchange 2016, the mail server is mail.mydomain.com.

Exchange has IMAP, POP, Web based mail and probably MAPI configured too. However the old server is using POP only. (SMTP common on both).

Now I want to migrate all the email from the old one to the new Exchange server. I access old email server using Outlook 2010, so tried using the pst file, the files have a size some 7 to 20 MB in size, but when I import them to the same email user name on Exchange 2016, is says there is nothing on the pst file.

I found it is not possible to do migration, still I am seeking help and suggestion to make the transition possible.

To note: I have tried installing exchange 2007 on another machine to do migration from the old mail enable server to exchange 2007 first, but I cannot install exchange 2007 due to I have already Exchange 2016 installed on my infrastructure which is not allowing the old Exchange 2007 on the Active Directory for integration. Microsoft says it is not possible to install old exchange version once a new one is installed (Exchange is heavily integrated to Active Directory)

I cannot use any paid migration service due to the existing old server is on public side though, the new exchange server is still on private internal network. paid service requires access to both old and new one, and by the way, they are very expensive.

Where I am stuck is, old one is using POP, no option to setup IMAP since I am using the free licenses New exchange is though using all protocol but exchange is very different even using the same protocol specially on authentication, I cannot use outlook pst file from the old server's mailboxes, even cannot install exchange 2007, and also both old and new mailserver is using same domain, just one is exposed to public, and new one is internal. I can expose the new one to public only after completing migration of emails on old server's mailboxes.

Manjurul Islam
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1 Answers1

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Import the PST file through Outlook, rather than Exchange.

Therefore extract the email via Outlook connected to Mail Enable. Once you have it all, reconfigure the Outlook client with just the Exchange account. Confirm it works, import the email with the wizard.

I would make the switch on email delivery to the new server before you do the import though. That will allow you to confirm it works, but also ensure that nothing is lost.

Sembee
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  • When I connected to the old mailenable server from outlook, it created the pst file. Are you suggesting me to import from that same file, isn't it just going to overwrite the same email account again on outlook client? – Manjurul Islam Jul 19 '16 at 18:31
  • PST files are just data storage points. They have nothing for the account. Therefore once you have all of the email in the PST file, delete the Outlook Profile and recreate it for Exchange using the defaults. That will not use the PST file that you have already got. (To be double sure, move it to another location). Then do the import, which will import the email in to the Exchange mailbox. Once complete the PST file can be disconnected. – Sembee Jul 20 '16 at 08:20
  • Thanks, I did this, it worked like a charm, I have all the old emails on the new Exchange. – Manjurul Islam Jul 20 '16 at 14:51