Previous Page TOC Next Page



— 8 —
Moving from Another Mail System


by Dennis Brazil

Moving from another e-mail system is one of the most important tasks you undergo when you're implementing a successful roll-out of Microsoft Exchange. With a proper migration plan and the proper tools, you have more support to help you in winning your proposition to the executive staff to move to Microsoft Exchange as well.

The migration process can be simple as well as complex. The latter is especially true when you consider your current network LAN/WAN infrastructure, the multiple post offices and sites, the multiple flavors of operating systems, maintaining coexistence between systems when migrating a large number of users, and more. Again, whatever the complexity or your current environment, you can successfully migrate to Microsoft Exchange with proper planning and tools. Migration is especially simple when you are only migrating from just one mail server.

In this chapter, you learn about the following:

You also consider a specific migration case study: Clarify, Inc.

Planning Considerations and Migration Strategies


When you develop a migration plan to Microsoft Exchange, you need to consider many elements. Before developing a plan, you should have a full map or schema of how your current messaging system looks. A sample map should include all sites in the organization and how they are connected both on the network and application levels, any messaging gateways (such as Internet or Fax gateways), and so on. You also should include an "inventory" of your complete organization structure. This inventory should include your network operating systems (NOSs), a complete list of the different client operating systems involved, the total number of users to migrate, and so on.

A strategy (or plan of attack) should also be part or your plan. It is especially necessary when you're migrating large or complex sites. Although more than one strategy can work for your organization, choose one that not only will suit the organization's needs and current infrastructure but one that also best fits with clients. The satisfaction of the clients will make a difference in the end.

Planning Considerations


When you develop a migration plan, you need to consider the following (where applicable):

Figure 8.1. Choosing the method of migration in the Microsoft Exchange Migration Wizard

Figure 8.2. Unselecting the Shared Folders migration option in the Migration Wizard. This is unselected during a mailbox migration because the folders will be moved separately using the Migration Wizard.


Migration Strategies


The following sections cover the different methods you can use to migrate your users.

Single-Phase Migration "Cut-Over" Method

A single-phase migration consists of migrating all users at once. You should use this migration strategy if you meet any of the following criteria:

This method is straightforward and easy. Using this method, you can avoid coexistence issues between foreign messaging systems.

Multiphase Migration

A multiphase migration consists of migrating users in phases. This migration is very complex, and much more planning is needed. You should use this method when you meet any of the following criteria:



Although you can connect to other systems on the server end, the Microsoft Exchange client also supports more than one transport. Microsoft calls its Exchange client the universal inbox and can be proven so by loading more than one provider on the client end. See Figure 8.3 to see how multiple services are loaded into the client. You can learn more about this process in Chapter 12, "Configuring Microsoft Exchange Clients."

Figure 8.3. Example of multiple services loaded in the Microsoft Exchange client.



If no connectors for your messaging system exist for Exchange, you're not completely out of luck. If your messaging system has x.400 or SMTP gateway support, you can still achieve coexistence between the two systems. You can connect the two systems by taking advantage of Exchange's x.400 or Internet (SMTP) connectors. This method, however, requires one more step to achieve total coexistence: You must update the global address directories manually as you migrate users between systems.


Multiphase Migration Approach: Top-Down or Bottom-Up?

When you're considering multiphase migration for multiple sites, you must also consider the migration approach. Doing so is useful when a large or complex hierarchy exists in your messaging infrastructure. The two approaches are as follow:

No matter which approach you take, coexistence should and must be maintained to minimize end-user confusion.

Mailbox Migration Levels

When you are migrating mailboxes, you have to decide if mailboxes and their contents can be completely migrated and cut over to Microsoft Exchange, if new mailboxes should be manually created, or if users must maintain access to mailboxes on both the existing system and Microsoft Exchange.


Tools for a Successful Migration to Exchange


The following sections describe the different Exchange migration tools you can use.

Migration Wizard


The Migration Wizard is a program made to import directory, message, schedule, and shared folder information. Although the Migration Wizard can import all this information, not all this data can be exported from all messaging systems. When starting the Migration Wizard (located on the Exchange Server), you can choose to migrate from three sources: Migration files created by a source extractor, MS Mail for PC Networks, and Lotus cc:Mail. See Figure 8.4 to see what the selection of the migration type looks like in the Migration Wizard.

Figure 8.4. You use the Migration Wizard to choose the type of migration.



Scheduling information stored using Lotus Organizer can be imported directly from Schedule+ on the client computer. Figure 8.5 shows most of the import options in Schedule+.

Figure 8.5. Select file type for import into Schedule+.

Source Extractors (for Import By the Migration Wizard)


Microsoft defines source extractors as utility programs that copy mailbox information from an existing system. The source extractor copies messages, attachments, personal address books (PABs), and schedule information from the server. This copied data is output to three separate migration files. In the following sections, you explore further how these files should be formatted for creating custom source extractors for importing to Microsoft Exchange via the Migration Wizard.

Extractors Included with Microsoft Exchange

The following are sources extractors included with Microsoft Exchange:



When you perform the two-step migration with the Migration Wizard, it creates the three required packing list files: XXX.PKL, XXX.PRI, and XXX.SEC. For a description of these files, see "Creating Your Own Source Extractor," later in this chapter.



Although Exchange comes with all the extractors listed here, the most common migrations occur with Microsoft Mail for PC Networks. Also included is a case study, with a case study of Clarify, Inc.


Creating Your Own Source Extractor

You might want to create your own source extractor if none exists for your messaging system. I must warn you, however, that it can be a lengthy and difficult task to undertake. It requires planning, and can potentially require extensive programming and testing, although your current messaging systems might also have utilities to export mailbox information to a file format that can be modified using a tool such as Microsoft Excel and then imported into Microsoft Exchange.



If you are importing mailbox information only to create users without needing to migrate additional objects (such as messages, attachments, personal address books, and so on), then you should use the Directory Import/Export method. See "When to Use the Directory Import Feature" section for more details.

The Migration Wizard requires three files to import data created by a source extractor:



All three source extractor files must reside in the same folder or directory.



Upon migration of files from a source extractor, both the schedule and PAB data are transformed into mail messages to the mailbox created by the Migration Wizard. The schedule file is stored into a message as a Schedule+ file to be imported into Schedule+ by the user at a later date, and the PAB entries are stored as a file attachment in a comma-delimited format to be imported into the user's local PAB file.

Figure 8.6. Information to import from a Source Extractor using the Exchange Migration Wizard.

You can find complete specifications for creating a source extractor in the "Migrate" folder in the Exchange Server CD. Other recommended reading is Appendix B of the same "Migrate" folder of the CD, "Creating a Source Extractor."

Exchange Server Administrator (Directory Import and Export)


By performing a directory import, you can add or change the directory objects that consist of the following information in the Exchange Directory:

Figure 8.7. Example configuration of the Directory Export feature.

When to Use the Directory Import Feature

Using the Directory Import/Export feature is a great way to make system-wide changes to mailbox naming conventions. Before importing mailbox information, you can modify the file to be imported using a plain-text editor (such as Notepad or Write) or even a spreadsheet program such as Microsoft Excel. Using Microsoft Excel is a great way to make mass changes by way of using macros or formulas.

Figure 8.8. Extracting user accounts from a Netware Server using the Exchange Administrator program.


Migration Case Study: Clarify, Inc.


Clarify provides the industry's most comprehensive suite of client/server software for enterprise sales and support solutions. Clarify's products integrate the key components of customer interaction: sales and marketing, customer service, problem resolution, field service, logistics, defect tracking, and help desk applications.

Clarify currently has approximately 350 employees throughout the world. Before migrating to Microsoft Exchange, Clarify runs one Microsoft Mail post office for the whole organization. All remote users in remote offices do not have their own post offices yet. Therefore, they currently dial in to the headquarters to send and receive e-mail.

Clarify also sends Internet mail, using the Microsoft SMTP Gateway, forwarding all mail to a "smart host." In return, this smart host acts as a liaison between the Internet and the MS Mail post office.

Because I am currently dealing with just one post office, the migration path will be relatively simple. What follows is a simple sequence of events that occurred to move Clarify to Microsoft Exchange successfully.

  1. Set up Exchange Server.

  2. Create sample clients on Exchange Server.

  3. Test mail delivery between Exchange mailboxes.

  4. Install MS Mail connector.

  5. Change the MS Mail post office to be a DirSync Requestor. This enables directories on both systems to be up-to-date.

  6. Set up the Directory Synchronization Server on Exchange.

  7. Set up Remote DirSync Requestor on Exchange.

  8. Perform directory synchronization (ensure that all names from MS Mail were brought over and vice versa).

  9. Test mail delivery between the MS Mail post office.

  10. Install the Internet Mail Connector (IMC).

  11. Test sending mail through the IMC. Note: Only Exchange users are sending Internet mail via the IMC at this time. MS Mail users are still using the SMTP Gateway for MS Mail.

  12. Migrate over the IS Team for pilot.

  13. Upon approval of the first pilot, migrate over two more departments (a total of 10 to 20 individuals).

  14. Convert all users (including MS Mail users) to using the IMC instead of the SMTP Gateway. This step involved setting up the SMTP Gateway access component (not the server component) and pointing it to the "shadow PO" on the Exchange Server.

  15. Shut down the SMTP Gateway.

  16. Migrate all users at headquarters to Exchange.

  17. Send diskettes to all remote users, and migrate on a scheduled basis.

Here are some notes on the migration:

Figure 8.9. Sample Internet Mail connector configuration to allow mail incoming from a smart host that processes incoming Internet mail.

Figure 8.10. Sample dialog box that shows up when you start Schedule+ after reinstalling the Microsoft Exchange Client.

Figure 8.11. Setting up the Schedule+ permissions for user access to the user's schedule.

Summary


Even though no two mail systems are configured exactly the same, there is a wealth of information at your disposal. Microsoft also includes various utilities in Microsoft Exchange to help make your job as the administrator easier to migrate from another mail system.

Along with the Exchange Server online documentation, you can also find more information from the following sources:

Previous Page TOC Next Page