What are the overall steps for migrating Public folders from Exchange 2007 to 2010?
1) Create Public Folder databases for each server you want to host Public Folders [remember that DAG replication does not replicate Public Folder databases].
To create the databases:
- Open up the Exchange Management Console, expand Organization Configuration, select Mailbox and then the Database Management tab.
- Once this is selected, an option for ‘New Public Folder Database’ appears in the Action Pane on the right. Click this. Give the database a name that will be unique in Exchange and select the server to place the database on. Click Next.
- Enter a path for the logs and databases. Click Next.
- Click New.
2) Create replicas of existing public folders using a Microsoft PowerShell script:
.\AddReplicaToPFRecursive.ps1 -TopPublicFolder “\” ServerToAdd <new server to replicate to>
3) Once completed, you can verify if the servers that are to be replicas for your Public Folders is correct (may have to wait for AD replication) by using this command:
Get-PublicFolder -Identity “\” -Recurse -ResultSize Unlimited |ft identity,replicas –auto
Per Microsoft, this can take hours or days depending on how much you need to replicate. The other consideration you need to take into account is how much data you are replicate will generate logs on the desintation as well as enlarge the mail.que file on the Hub Transport server that replicated this data to Exchange 2010.
4) Wait for all the data to replicate. This can be verified by checking the item count of your folders:
get-publicfolderstatistics -identity “\” -resultsize unlimited |ft folderpath,itemcount -auto
If you wish, the same process can be repeated for System Folders, although I do not recommend this due to the fact that some System Folders that will be replicated are not needed by the new servers.
The command for System Folders would be:
Get-PublicFolder -server <Exchange 2010 PF server name> -Identity “\non_ipm_subtree” -Recurse -ResultSize Unlimited |ft name,replicas –auto
5) Once all the replication has completed, you need to move all replicas to Exchange 2010:
MoveAllReplicas.ps1 -Server <Exchange 2007 srv> -NewServer <Exchange 2010 Srv>
6) Verify content:
Get-PublicFolderStatistics –Server <Exchange 2007>
Get-PublicFolderStatistics –Server <Exchange 2010>
That’s all.
