Decommissioning Exchange Server 2013

Organizations that have migrated all mailbox and Exchange resources to exchange online will be left with a redundant Exchange Server with no dependencies. Thus it is better that they follow the step for Decommissioning Exchange Server 2013 and removing the hybrid setup. Following content deals with uninstalling/ decommissioning of MS Exchange Server 2013 and also with the removal of the hybrid setup.

Manual Steps for Decommissioning Exchange Server 2013

Step 1: Remove Hybrid Configuration

The Remove-HybridConfiguration PowerShell command is used to execute in on-premise exchange server. The removal of all the objects that were created at the time of hybrid setup cannot be removed by only the PowerShell commands. Some manual interventions are also required to clean up all the associated objects.

Step 2: Remove Hybrid Connectors Manually

You need to double-check that no other domains are used to relay mail between Office 365 and on-premises before deciding on removing the connectors. The MX record must have already been cutover to the Exchange online and then remove the inbound and outbound connectors if there are no dependencies.

Step 3: Remove Organizational Sharing Manually

The organizational sharing rules for free/busy and calendar sharing between Office 365 and on-premises are to be removed. This task makes the tenant clean and even though this is an optional task, it is better that you remove all the settings that are no longer used.

Step 4: Clean-up Mailbox Database

The next step is to see how many databases are holding the mailboxes like the system, Arbitration or Discovery mailboxes, or are mounted or are working. The databases are to be cleaned and all the mailboxes residing in these databases are to be removed. Then the database is removed or else this task cannot be done at a later stage. Use this cmdlet to know the location of the databases:

 Get-Mailboxdatabase: fl edbfilepath

You will get an error if you try to remove the mailbox databases without removing the residential mailboxes. This error notifies that the mailboxes in the databases have to be removed before the database removal. When you have removed all the mailboxes from the database, run the cmdlet to remove the mailbox databases-

 Get-Mailboxdatabase | Remove-mailboxdatabase.

The database system has some system and arbitration mailboxes. These must be disabled before you attempt to delete the mailbox database otherwise, the default mailbox database will not be deleted.

Step 5: Disable Arbitration Mailbox

Use the Powershell command to check the number of arbitration mailboxes residing in the default database: Get-Mailbox-Arbitration –Database. Then, Run the Powershell command to disable all the arbitration mailboxes:

 Get-Mailbox -Arbitration –Database | Disable-Mailbox –Arbitration –DisableLastArbitrationMailboxAllowed

Step 6: Delete Default Mailbox Database

Run the PowerShell command to delete the default mailbox database:

Get- MailboxDatabase | Remove-MailboxDatabase

Though the process will be completed without any flaws, you may still get a warning that appears because of replication failure in active directory topology.

Step 7: Remove Messages from the Queue

We are still a step away from the final task of decommissioning the Exchange from the Server. The last step in this final task is to remove all the messages that may still be present in the queue. Run the cmdlet to remove the messages:

 Get-Message : Remove-Message

Step 8: Uninstall Exchange

Now go to the Add/Remove program option in the control panel and start the decommissioning of the Exchange. After completion of this task, a reboot is required for the complete removal of the Exchange.

What Makes Manual Method Fail in Some Cases

As seen above, the manual method for Decommissioning Exchange Server 2013 is a very lengthy process and requires time and effort of the user. The execution of the PowerShell commands requires some technical knowledge. Hence, it becomes very tough for a non-technical novice to undertake the manual process of decommissioning the Exchange Server. Any mistake in executing the commands, results in data loss in severe circumstances and then the data recovery may not be possible.

Professional Tool

Looking at the drawbacks of the manual method, it is recommended that it is in the interest of the user to have the help of a professional tool like the SysTools Exchange to Office 365 Migrator. This user-friendly tool provides delete after download option that can help you while decommissioning of the Exchange Server and also helps in migration of any server version. It keeps the folder structure intact while copying the on-premise Exchange Data and also it is reliable and efficient and guarantees that no data is lost during the migration process.

EndNote

This blog discussed the manual method of decommissioning Exchange Server 2013 and it has some limitations. This suggests the use of automated tool because of reliability and effectiveness.