How to Create a Migration Endpoint in Office 365 Step by Step?

Your organization has decided to move into the Microsoft 365 cloud. It means it is now your responsibility as the IT admin to figure out how to create a migration endpoint in Office 365.

Don’t worry, making a new endpoint for O365 migration is a fairly simple process. Plus, there is not one but two different methods you can choose from. Here in this blog, we will cover both the GUI-based Admin Center approach and the code-style PowerShell cmdlets. However, before we begin, we hope you have met all the preconditions. Check the next section to know more.

Who is Allowed to Make Endpoints for O365 Migrations and When?

We know that regular users can’t make endpoints. It is the duty of an IT administrator. However, the tricky part is identifying which among the 60+ admin roles actually have the capacity to build an endpoint.

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You dont have to search manually. Just check if you have any one of these three roles, you are good to go:

• Global Administrator
• Exchange Online Admin
• Migration Administrator

Role identification is done, but our task is far from over. Migration to the cloud, especially a brand-new Microsoft 365 environment, needs thorough preparation.
You should not jump straight to endpoint creation when you get the necessary permissions.

Endpoint creation is an important phase; it is neither the first nor the last thing admins do during a migration. So it becomes

Otherwise, even if you create one, it will fail to behave properly.

Here is a checklist of tasks that should be completed before you start.

Another equally important check admins must make is to see whether or not someone else has already made an endpoint. As organizations have multiple admins, it is possible that a lack of effective communication causes the creation of multiple endpoints. To avoid this, you have to do one thing: check

Where Can I Check for Any Pre-Existing Endpoints?

Either on the EAC or a PowerShell instance that is connected to the M365 cloud. Do this before you move on to the answer for how to create a migration endpoint in Office 365.

If you prefer a GUI

• Step 1. Log in to https://admin.cloud.microsoft/exchange#/
• Step 2. From the left-hand pane, select “Migration.”
• Step 3. On the Migration page, click on the Endpoints button present at the top right corner.
• Step 4. A fly-out pane opens from your right side, showing you the list of all the endpoints already present.

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The PowerShell method needs even fewer steps:

• Step 1. Run a PowerShell instance as an Admin.
• Step 2. Type

  Connect-ExchangeOnline

  Press Enter and fill in the credentials when prompted.

• Step 3. To check how many O365 endpoints there are in your tenant, type:

  Get-MigrationEndpoint | Format-List

How to Create a Migration Endpoint in Office 365 Exchange Admin Center?

Even within the EAC, there are two ways: Either you make an Endpoint directly, or you first make a Migration Batch, then make an endpoint there.

Let’s see the direct method first:

• Step 1. Log in to EAC > Migration > Endpoints.
  
• Step 2. Click on the + Add icon.
• Step 3. Choose a Migration Type, Enter a Name, and Fill in other details. Be careful to avoid a failure to create a migration endpoint error.
  
• Step 4. Once done, press Create.

The M365 portal will validate the details and tell you if the operation was successful or not.

If you want to make a migration batch and endpoint together, the steps change a bit.

• Step 1. You still have to log in and go to Migration, but this time, click on Add Migration batch.
• Step 2. Enter a unique name and select the path (which can be either to Exchange Online or from Exchange Online), then hit Next.
• Step 3. Select the migration type from the dropdown and press Next. Pick correctly, otherwise you may encounter problems later.
• Step 4. Check the prerequisite list and see if you have followed everything or not (this changes according to the migration type). Press Next.
• Step 5. Then, you arrive on the Endpoint selection/creation screen. As we want to make a new one, change the radio button accordingly.
• Step 6. Fill in the endpoint details; the fields may vary depending on what your endpoint is. Press Next.
• Step 7. Stay with the default values 20 for “Maximum concurrent migrations” and 10 for “Maximum concurrent incremental syncs.”, No need to change anything, just Press Next.
• Step 8. Wait for a successful message. This is how to create a migration endpoint in Office 365 the right way.

We know that GUI is just one way with which admins make endpoints in O365; a second and possibly faster method is to use scripts. PowerShell specifically lets us see how it’s done.

Which PowerShell Cmdlets Can Manually Create a Migration Endpoint for Office 365?

Although the PowerShell method is complex, it offers much greater flexibility to administrators.

• Step 1. Open a PowerShell window (in admin mode)
• Step 2. Connect to Exchange Online. Type:

  Connect-ExchangeOnline

• Step 3. Do the credential validation and use this cmdlet:

New-MigrationEndpoint
-Name <String>
-Credentials <PSCredential>
-EmailAddress <SmtpAddress>

Replace the variables with your data. The best part is that no external module needs to be installed, and you get a sure-shot answer on how to create a migration endpoint in Office 365.

You can check out the official documentation on this cmdlet to read about all the different custom flags you can include in your code.

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It is not always that the endpoint creation happens smoothly in your system. Mistakes and errors often creep in. Given below is a list of known problems during this manual setup.

Why Things Go Wrong During an Endpoint Creation in M365?

There is no single reason for failure. Rather, it is a combined failure of communication, configuration, or permissions. Go through these reasons that we have discussed and diagnose what is wrong with your case specifically.

1. On-Premises Server & Network Issues:

• In a hybrid to full cloud transition done from an Exchange Server, it is the MRS that performs all the move requests. So, if for some reason Mailbox Replication Service (MRS) Proxy is Disabled, the verification fails, and you get an endpoint creation error.
• If you have an incorrect EWS (Exchange Web Services) setup or problems with autodiscover configuration, then it means that the URL isn’t published correctly or is inaccessible from the internet. So, Microsoft 365 can’t find your server to start the process.
• Other than that, we have SSL Certificate Problems. Your certificate might be expired, you got it from a third party that is not recognised(untrusted), or your host names mismatch.
• Your network security entities, like a Firewall, blocks connections by closing port 443, offloading all SSL traffic(which includes requests from the O365 cloud), or having a pre-authentication connection requirement that is incompatible with what we are trying to do.

2. Authentication and Permission Errors:

• Incorrect credentials, it could be a typo, you may have used the wrong character. Common errors include capital i and small L, the Letter O and number 0, and using Underscore (_) in place of hyphen (-).
• On-premises migration administrator account lacks permissions like ApplicationImpersonation or FullAccess.
• Login attempt fails if you disable the authentication methods (like NTLM or Basic) that Microsoft 365 uses.

3. Migration-Specific & Service Issues:

• Hybrid Configuration Wizard (HCW) Failure with error code HCW8078.
• Wrong IMAP server name or absence of API permissions in Google Workspace.
• The issue may be on Microsoft’s end.

What to Do If You Failed to Create a Migration Endpoint in Office 365?

You can try out these failure-specific remedies:

1. Verify On-Premises & Network Configuration

• Enable MRS proxy on your on-premises Exchange servers by using this cmdlet:

  Set-WebServicesVirtualDirectory -Identity "EWS (Default Web Site)" -MRSProxyEnabled $true

• Then do an IIS reset.
• Go to Microsoft Remote Connectivity Analyzer (“Outlook Autodiscover” test) to diagnose external connectivity issues. It must pass.
• Get the SSL reissued from a trusted third-party CA. Ensure that the server name is in the SAN, and it hasn’t expired. Additionally, use the “SSL Certificate” test in the Remote Connectivity Analyzer.
• Or you can continue with endpoint creation by enabling the Accept untrusted certificates flag.
• Keep the inbound TCP port 443 open to your Exchange servers from all Microsoft 365 IP ranges.
• Then, check the steps to create a passthrough rule for the reverse proxy product you are using. Use it to disable pre-authentication on your reverse proxy for /EWS and /Autodiscover directories.

2. Resolve Authentication and Permission Issues

• Double-check and re-enter the password for the migration administrator account. Ensure the account has “Recipient Management” permissions and the “ApplicationImpersonation” role.
• Verify that Basic and/or Windows Authentication (NTLM) are enabled on the EWS virtual directory in on-premises IIS.
• If you still encounter a failed exchange endpoint, then I suggest you check the Skip Verification flag during the creation process.

3. Use PowerShell for Detailed Diagnosis

• For Hybrid/Cutover/Staged migrations:

Test-MigrationServerAvailability -ExchangeRemoteMove -RemoteServer 'mail.yourcompany.com' -Credentials (Get-Credential)

• For IMAP migrations:

Test-MigrationServerAvailability -IMAP -RemoteServer 'imap.yourcompany.com' -Port 993 -Security SSL -Credentials (Get-Credential)

Conclusion

Here we taught users what they have to do if they don’t know how to create a migration endpoint in an Office 365 environment. Plus, we also gave the steps to troubleshoot and fix issues if you’ve failed to create a migration endpoint for O365.

Once you have made the migration endpoints manually, you need not spend any more time conducting a manual migration. Instead, use the SysTools Office 365 to Office 365 tenant migration tool. We also have solutions available for scenarios where you are migrating from a local Exchange Server to the Microsoft 365 cloud or conducting an IMAP to Office 365 migration. Do contact us if you need software for switching over from Google Workspace to M365.