Mailbox move 1

[jgul]

I have built up a second exchange server for our company. I am planning on moving aprox. half of our users'individual mail boxes to the new server. The problem I'm trying to avoid is that last time I attempted migrating users to a new exchange server, some outside email sent to said users during the migration became lost forever. Is this a common problem, how can I avoid this?

 

[brontosaurus]

I don't think that should happen, but a possible workaround could be to create "dummy" accounts. Remove the user's SMTP address from their mailbox prior to the move and assign that same address to the "dummy" account for the duration of the move.

 

[jgul]

Thanks that seems like an excellent solution. Just out of curiosity though, how can I also prevent internal email from being lost forever.

 

[brontosaurus]

internal email should DEFINITELY get a bounce message. So the senders should know they need to retry....

 

[willscarlet]

Hi I found this on the web, probably microsoft.com when I had the same problem. Simple and effective.

XADM: How to Avoid Bouncing Mail Items During a Mailbox Move
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The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Exchange Server, versions 4.0, 5.0, 5.5
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SYMPTOMS
When you move mailboxes with the Move Mailbox command in the Exchange Administrator program, incoming messages may bounce back to the sender during the move process.

WORKAROUND
To work around this problem, supply an alternate recipient for the mailbox during the move process. After you move the mailbox, you can forwarded the mail from the alternate recipient's mailbox to the destination mailbox.

To specify an alternate recipient, open the mailbox properties page, click Modify on the Delivery Options tab in the Alternate Recipients section, and then choose the mailbox to which you want the mail to be redirected. After the alternate recipient is no longer necessary, you can remove the alternate recipient on the Delivery Options tab if you change the alternate recipient to None.