In the first part of this Screencast – How to Upgrade from Exchange 2003 to Exchange 2010 SP1, we have introduced Exchange 2010 SP1 to our existing Exchange 2003 organization. Still all resources reside on the legacy Exchange 2003 server. E-mail traffic is flowing through the old server. Remote clients continue using Exchange Server 2003 for OWA, Outlook Anywhere and mobile devices connectivity.

In Part 2, we demonstrate the quick upgrade scenario – following our usual Step-by-Step approach. Our main goal is to provide detailed, from start to finish instructions about the upgrade process from Exchange 2003 to Exchange 2010 SP1. To keep the logical flow of the upgrade uninterrupted, we have included the installation of a GoDaddy Multiple Domain SSL certificate/UCC, instead of publishing a separate Screencast about it. The correct installation and configuration of Multiple Domain certificate in Exchange 2010 SP1 is crucial to completing the upgrade with minimal interruption to the end users, so we focus a lot of our attention on it – Step3 and Step4.

Another critical moment is the mail flow redirection – Fig1

Fig2

Fig3 , and we discuss it in details in Step5.

Moving the mailboxes is probably one of the most hectic moments. We demonstrate how to perform and monitor the move both in Exchange Management Console and Exchange Management Shell (especially useful if you have to bulk move a large number of mailboxes). Once the process completes, we test the result using local clients (both cases – when the client is up and running and when the client is closed) and remote clients (OWA, Outlook Anywhere and ActiveSync).

Often, one of the overlooked tasks is Moving All Public Folder replicas. If there are issues with Public Folder replication, this could bring your upgrade to a stall. As you will see, Exchange 2003 cannot be decommissioned until the list of Public Folder Replicas on the server is empty. Following the principle that it’s better to be prepared and expect problems than to be surprised, we show you how to configure and use diagnostic logging and message tracking on both exchange servers, and how to monitor the public folder replication. If you are pressed on time we discuss an option to speed up the replication process.

For your convenience, we have published the text file with the commands which we are using in the Screencast here .

Step 1 First, we rename and relocate Mailbox and Public Folder databases and log files to improve Exchange 2010 SP1 performance and recoverability.

Step 2 We cover a lot of ground in this step – Public Folder replication, upgrading Address lists and E-mail Address policies, upgrading custom LDAP filters and moving the OAB.

Step 3 In this step, we generate a Multiple Domain CSR (Certificate Signing Request) and submit it to GoDaddy.

Step 4 Here we confirm the CSR, download and install the intermediate Certificates bundle and the UCC. Finally, we assign the new certificate to the installed Exchange Services.

Step 5 This step is focused on modifying the mail flow. We configure the required Send and Receive connectors, and a Relay connector for the documented devices/applications which are allowed to relay through Exchange 2003. Then we create an autodiscover record in the external DNS zone and forward port 25 and 443 to Exchange 2010.

Step 6 Moving Exchange mailboxes is one of the key moments in this upgrade. You can see how to perform and monitor the move in GUI – EMC, and in the shell – EMS. Once the process completes, we demonstrate the result on local and remote (OWA, Outlook Anywhere, ActiveSync) clients.

Step 7 Decommissioning the old Exchange 2003 server is also a very critical step. You will see in details the different tasks included in this process. Special attention is paid to configuring and using diagnostic logging when moving All Public Folder replicas.