SBS 2003 Migration to Server 2008 R2 & Exchange 2010

[guest]

We plan to replace our SBS 2003 box shortly, one possibility discussed was replacing the SBS 2003 box with two separate boxes.

Box 1 - Windows 2008 Server R2 w/ DC & Active Directory Roles
Box 2 - Windows 2008 Server R2 w/ Exchange 2010

Are there any step by step guides explaining how to migrate from Exchange 2003 (ideally in SBS 2003 environments) to Exchange 2010.

I found this guide explaining how to migrate from SBS 2003 w/ Exchange 2003 to Windows Server 2008 w/ Exchange 2007
http://www.itexpertmag.com/server/upgra ... hange-2007

One line confuses me:
Now you can start the process of installing Exchange 2007 on the new server. There’s one key issue that needs to be dealt with first. Exchange 2007 needs to install on a server that’s a Schema Master.

I thought the Schema Master would be the Domain Controller / Active Directory box? If thats the case how would I run Exchange 2010 on a separate box? Or am I miss understanding the Schema Master role.

I'm hoping to splice two guides together, SBS 2003 -> Windows Server 2008 for Active Directory, and another guide for Exchange 2003 -> Exchange 2010.

So my questions are clarification on Schema Master role and any guides detailing migration from Exchange 2003 to Exchange 2010

[guest]

You need to make sure that you have a Windows Server 2003 SP2 as a GC


These articles will give you a clear idea for your upgrade:
Prepare legacy exchange permissions: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/libr ... 32348.aspx
Upgrade from Exchange 2003 Client Access: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/libr ... 32348.aspx
Upgrade from Exchange 2003 Transport: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/libr ... 32348.aspx
Move mailboxes from Exchange 2003 to Exchange 2010: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/libr ... 38187.aspx

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[guest]

bought the book Exchange 2010 Unleased, it detailed the entire processes very well (Active Directory & Exchange). I also recommend reading the Deploying Exchange 2010 documentation from Microsoft
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/libr ... 51084.aspx

For some odd reason Fax Mail Transport no longer works in Online Mode w/ Exchange 2010, I have an open support case w/ Microsoft on that, which isn't going anywhere fast.

Had a few minor issues:
1. The Offline Address book was giving me an event log error about regeneration failing so I deleted it and recreated it. (yes I moved it to the new server)
2. In the event log I was getting frequent messages saying Exchange 2010 was looking for a database on Exchange 2003 (SBS), I used ADSI Edit to remove the old entry for the Exchange 2003 server from Active Directory and the problem was solved (I tried numerous VM test benches and was unable to find a way to NOT get that error after the disconnection / removal of Exchange 2003)
3. Only envelope journaling is supported in Exchange 2010, so I needed to create a Transport Rule to simulate the old Message Journaling of 2003.
4. iPhones didn't automagically connect to the server, I had to instruct all the users to delete their exchange account on the phone and recreate it, after that everything was good :)
5. Windows Desktop Search needs to be installed on the clients to use the new search syntax supported by Exchange 2010 (unless your using RDS w/ R2 in which case you need to install the Windows Search Feature) Not really an issue... but still.
6. Some of the mailboxes weren't inheriting permissions which prevented us from moving them to the new box until the permissions were fixed (don't remember how I fixed it, I found the fix on google)
7. On some Public Folders I get errors that the properties on this object have invalid data.. It doesn't seem to affect anything and resetting the folder properties appears to fix the issue..

Tips:
Use VirtualBox and do a test run w/ a few VM's on an internal network, yeah, it wastes a few hours but you'll feel more confident about the process.
Go through the event log before removing the exchange server and after removing the exchange server to locate any possible issues..

Asside from a few small hiccups the migration went smoothly, Exchange 2010 is really nice :) Looking forward to the release of Office 2010 so all the new features (Mail Archiving, especially will be supported.)

[guest]

I'm doing the same thing, from SBS 2003 (w/o ISA) to two Windows Server 2008 R2 and one with Exchange 2010. I should mention that I haven't had to (got to) get this heavy into it since I trained up about ten years ago.

It would have been nice to have an entire step-by-step from the start though..
Note: Make sure to get all of the updates available for both servers, including the ones mentioned in the link in step 1.

Here's what I've done so far, with the intent of having one of the 2008s be a DC running Exchange 2010..

Step 1. Add the 2008 server to the SBS 2003 network - http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/libr ... 8131(WS.10).aspx
Note: If by you lose the initial configuration screen on the 2008 server, just run oobe.exe

Step 2. Switch the old Exchange 2003 server to Native mode - http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/libr ... 9(EXCHG.65).aspx

Step 3. Raise the forest functional level to 2003 on the SBS server - http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/libr ... 0862(WS.10).aspx

Step 4. The new Exchange server needs to be able to talk to the Schema Master http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/libr ... 6697(WS.10).aspx and Enable the new server to be a global catalog http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/libr ... 8330(WS.10).aspx
Note: I should mention that in the last link, the instructions are sort of vague, but you'll go:
- run mmc on either the old or new server
- add AD sites and services
- sites
- default-first-site-name
- Servers
- right click on the new server
- properties
- have global catalog checked

Step 5. Come to this thread and find the above links posted by Elie Bou Issa.

Edit: Those links from Elie Bou Issa fail, try this - http://www.experts-exchange.com/article ... 08-R2.html