[There's a reason that Yoda is the unofficial mascot of SBS. Size indeed matters not.] Step 26 - moving those public folders - THE OFFICIAL BLOG OF THE SBS "DIVA"
Fri, Jan 21 2011 23:55 bradley

Step 26 - moving those public folders

Next up is Public folders...

Mind you this is where the on premises really differentiates itself from the hosted.  BPOS and Office 365 do not support public folders.  Many hosted exchange providers do but be aware that public folders in a multi tennant environment is a little tricky.  Be lazy and put "everyone" permissions on public folders in a hosted exchange enviornment and your neighbors may be able to get into your public folders.

If public folders is something that the firms you support MUST have for a business process, BPOS and Office 365 for sure won't work.

Move Exchange Server public folders

Note

These instructions are for migrating from Windows SBS 2003. If you are migrating from Windows SBS 2008, see Move Exchange Server public folders (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=144390).

If you are running Microsoft Exchange Server 2003, you can use the Exchange System Manager to move the public folders.

To move Exchange Server public folders

1.   On the Source Server, to start the Exchange System Manager, in the Server Management Console navigation pane, expand Advanced Management, and then expand First Organization (Exchange).

2.   Expand Administrative Groups. If Administrative Groups is not displayed in the navigation pane, do the following:

To display the Administrative Groups

a.   Right-click DomainName(Exchange), and then click Properties.

b.   In the DomainName Properties dialog box, select the Display administrative groups check box, and then click OK.

c.   Restart the Server Management Console, and then repeat steps 1 and 2.

 

3.   Expand First Administrative Group, expand Servers, expand <ServerName>, expand First Storage Group, right-click Public Folder Store (<ServerName>), and then click Move All Replicas.

4.   In the Move All Replicas dialog box, click Public Folder Database <number> in the drop-down menu, where <number> represents the public folder database that resides on the Destination Server, and then click OK.

Warning

If you receive a message that says “The token supplied to the function is invalid” (error ID 80090308), see the Microsoft website (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=208179).

You must wait for the next instance of public folder replication to complete before the public folder replicas are removed.

To verify that all public folders have been moved to the Destination Server

1.   In the Source Server, open Exchange System Manager, expand First Administrative Group, expand Servers, expand ServerName, expand First Storage Group, and then expand Public Folder Store (ServerName).

2.   Click the Public Folder Instances node. After all of the public folder replicas have been moved, the Public Folder Instances node will be empty.

Depending on the replication interval that you set and the amount of information that must be replicated, this process can take several hours or several days to complete.

----

So here's what I did tonight...

What I'll want you to do first is read this:

Warning

If you receive a message that says “The token supplied to the function is invalid” (error ID 80090308), see the Microsoft website (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=208179 ).

If you bought a godaddy cert on your SBS 2003 pay close attention here, you'll want to follow this part.

You receive an SSL Certificate error message when you view public folders in Exchange System Manager:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;324345

Go to the SBS 2003 box and unhook the SSL Cert

  • Remove SSL from the Exadmin virtual root in IIS:
    1. Click Start, point to Programs, click Administrative Tools, and then click Internet Information Services Manager.
    2. Click your server, and then expand the Web site that contains the Exadmin virtual root (the default Web site is "Default Web Site"). (it's under the default web site)
    3. Right-click Exadmin, and then click Properties.

     

    1. Click the Directory Security tab.
    2. Under Secure Communications, click Edit.
    4. Click to clear the Require secure channel (SSL) check box. If Require 128-bit encryption is shaded, click to select Require secure channel (SSL), click to clear Require 128-bit encryption, and then click to clear the Require secure channel (SSL) check box again.
    6. Click OK two times.
    7. Restart Exchange System Manager.

    •  I also had to go into the default web site, directory security tab, click on server certificate and remove the cert completely.

    Do this first...now you are ready to move public folders.

       On the Source Server, to start the Exchange System Manager, in the Server Management Console navigation pane, expand Advanced Management, and then expand First Organization (Exchange).

    Expand First Administrative Group, expand Servers, expand <ServerName>, expand First Storage Group, right-click Public Folder Store (<ServerName>), and then click Move All Replicas.


     

    4.   In the Move All Replicas dialog box, click Public Folder Database <number> in the drop-down menu, where <number> represents the public folder database that resides on the Destination Server, and then click OK.

    You must wait for the next instance of public folder replication to complete before the public folder replicas are removed

    You'll see the folders move over

    To verify that all public folders have been moved to the Destination Server

    1.   In the Source Server, open Exchange System Manager, expand First Administrative Group, expand Servers, expand ServerName, expand First Storage Group, and then expand Public Folder Store (ServerName).

    2.   Click the Public Folder Instances node. After all of the public folder replicas have been moved, the Public Folder Instances node will be empty.

    Depending on the replication interval that you set and the amount of information that must be replicated, this process can take several hours or several days to complete.

     

    You Had Me At EHLO... : How to Remove a Public Folder Database in Exchange Server 2007 RTM:
    http://msexchangeteam.com/archive/2007/07/09/445967.aspx

    When they say days they really mean it may take days if you have large public folder databases.  You also may need to take the limits off the databases

    While this blog is about 2007 - http://msexchangeteam.com/archive/2007/07/09/445967.aspx it points to a nice powershell command to do on the SBS 2011 Exchange management shell to see what folders have moved.

    Type in Get-PublicFolderStatistics -Server <nameofthe SBS 2011 box> and you'll see the status of the folder move.

    That's all so far?

    You've heard the phrase watching paint dry?  This is like watching paint get manufactured and then dry.

    Me, I'm going to bed and will report back in the morning.

     

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