Exchange Server 2010 RTM Upgrade and Installation - Phase 3

This is the third and final phase of my Exchange 2010 / Windows Server 2008 R2 / Hyper-V migration. Phase 1 can be read here and phase 2 can be read here.

At this point, my Hyper-V host server is still running Windows Server 2008 SP2 and also functions as my Exchange Edge Transport server (currently Exchange 2007 SP2). It is hosting three VM guests: a Windows Server 2008 R2 domain controller/global catalog server; an Exchange 2007 SP2 server running the Hub/CAS/Mailbox roles; and a new Exchange 2010 server running the Hub/CAS/Mailbox roles. All mailboxes have been moved to the new E2010 server.

In phase 3, I will uninstalled the Exchange 2007 Edge Transport server role from the host, upgrade the host server to Windows Server 2008 R2, install the Exchange 2010 Edge Transport role, and decommission my last Exchange 2007 Hub/CAS/Mailbox server.

I began by uninstalling Forefront Security for Exchange Server from the Exchange 2007 Hub/CAS/Mailbox server. In order to do this, you must stop all the Exchange services and then uninstall the product using Programs and Features in Control Panel.

Next, I created a new Public Folder database on the Exchange 2010 Mailbox server and enabled replicas on the E2010 mailbox server using the Exchange 2010 Public Folder Management Console in the Exchange Management Console (EMC). I then removed all the Public Folder replicas from the Exchange 2007 Mailbox server role using the Exchange 2007 Public Folder Management Console in the EMC.

You cannot decommission an Exchange mailbox server that contains active mailboxes. They must be moved to another server or disabled. Since I had already moved all my user and resource mailboxes to the new Exchange 2010 server, all that was left was the system CAS mailbox which must be disabled (it cannot be deleted or moved). This is accomplished using the following command from the Exchange Management Shell (EMS):

Get-Mailbox -Database "EX\Mailbox Database" Disable-Mailbox

Now I'm finally ready to uninstall Exchange 2007 from the Hub/CAS/Mailbox server using Programs and Features in Control Panel. However, removal of the Mailbox role fails with the error, "Object is read only because it was created by a future version of Exchange: 0.10 (14.0.100.0). Current supported version is 0.1 (8.0.535.0)." I also discover I get the same error if I try to delete the E2007 Public Folder database.


After some research, I found that the only way to delete the "upgraded" Exchange 2007 Public Folder store is using ADSIEdit. This is detailed here, but the basic steps are to navigate to the Public Folder store in ADSIEdit and delete it, which I've done here.

Once the Public Folder database was removed, I ran the uninstallation again, which then succeeded. After Exchange 2007 was uninstalled, I completed the decommissioning by dis-joining the Exchange 2007 server from the domain and turned it off. I then tested mailflow to ensure that inbound/outbound SMTP email is working properly.
Next, I began the operating system upgrade of the Hyper-V host server by uninstalling Forefront Security for Exchange Server and the Exchange 2007 Edge Transport role. This went very smoothly with no issues.

In preparation for my OS upgrade, I shutdown and exported my two Hyper-V VMs to a new folder, H:\Exports. Exporting an VM exports the VM configuration, which includes the hardware, drives, networks (and most importantly, MAC addresses) to an XML file. This allows you to import the VM into a new Hyper-V host server without further configuration.

My process for upgrading the host server was to perform an in-place installation, not an upgrade. This is performed by booting to the Windows Server 2008 R2 DVD and choosing a new installation. Setup will warn that there is already a copy of Windows installed and prompt to continue. When you continue, setup will copy all the old user folders (Documents and Settings), Program Files, and the Windows folders to a new folder named C:\Windows.old, which can be accessed later from the new operating system. When setup completed, I was left with a base Windows Server 2008 R2 server.
I then installed the Hyper-V role and imported the VMs from H:\Exports. I started them up and verified that everything was running properly. I was very pleased to see that the VMs performed faster, due to R2's improved handling and performance of dynamic VHDs.

Next, I installed the Exchange 2010 Edge Transport server role on the host server, reconfigured my anti-spam settings, and created a new Edgesync subscription. After importing the Edgesync subscription in the Exchange 2010 Hub Transport server, I tested Edgesync and mailflow, which worked as expected.

I hope this series helps some of you out!