I have to move a mailbox from Exchange 2010 back to Exchange 2003. The Local Move Request fails with this error: Error: Mailbox fa25756f-ac77-4e29-992a-ccb1e2eeba34 tombstone is present in the destination database. It must be cleaned up before the move operation can proceed. The Exchange 2003 Server records this error: Event Source: MSExchangeIS Mailbox Store Event ID: 1205 Description: Failed to create the mailbox of /o=<Organization>/ou=< Administrative Group>/cn=Recipients/cn=<mailbox> with error 0x4e3. I have run Cleanup Agent on the Exchange 2003 stores but no disconnected mailboxes are found (there is only 1 non-system mailbox still on this server). Any suggestions on where the problem might be?

A- You may wish to restart the IS service B- You may wish to change the mailbox retention setting to 0 and restart the IS service. Allow online maintenance to run. Then set it back to 30. Mike Crowley Check out My Blog!

Hi davidagosta, How about your question? Any updates? Frank Wang TechNet Subscriber Support in forum If you have any feedback on our support, please contact tngfb@microsoft.com Please remember to click Mark as Answer on the post that helps you, and to click Unmark as Answer if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.

Thanks Mike, I've already tried "A", I'll give "B" a try tonight and report back.

Hi davidagosta, How about your question? Any updates?Please remember to click Mark as Answer on the post that helps you, and to click Unmark as Answer if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.

OK as suggested I changed the mailbox retention setting to 0, restarted the IS service and waited for online maintenance to run. I tried running the local move request but get the same errors as before (first post). Creating a new mailbox works without issue. Any other suggestions?

Are you using the Exchange 2007 tools to make the move? If not, you will fail. Any mailbox move between versions needs to be done from the Exchange 2007 utilities.

This is from Exchange 2010 to Exchange 2003, and yes we are creating the Local Move Rquest from 2010's EMC. Exchange 2007 was never part of our enviroment.

Sorry for the mistype - you may need to clear your Ex2k3 mailbox dumpster to get this move to succeed. Was this mailbox on the Ex2k3 server, then moved to Ex2010, and now you wish to move it back?

Yes it was originally on the Exchange 2003 server. Due to an application incompatibility it has to go back to Exchange 2003. Server Clean-up Agent finds no mailboxes awaiting purging. As per Mike Crowley’s suggestion the IS was set to purge deleted mailboxes immediately (even if not backed-up). The IS service was then restarted and an Online maintenance allowed to run. To my knowledge that process should have forced purging of anything in the dumpster. Thanks for the suggestion though.

David, does your post above mean that didn't work? At this point, i think you need to enable diagnostic logging on the IS service on both sides and start reading event logs. Mike Crowley Check out My Blog!

This may also be something left over in the AD ... Not sure how to clear out tombstones there, but that might solve your problem.

I enabled the following logging for ExchangeIS Ex2003 server: System\General System\Connections System\Content Engine System\Move Mailbox Mailbox\Transport General Mailbox\General Mailbox\Background Cleanup Mailbox\IS/AD Synchronization Ex2010 server: Private\DS Synchronization System\General System\Move Mailbox No new errors are logged on either server. Any recommendations on what else to log?

Hi davidagosta, I guess you also restarted the IS service on Exchange 2003 server, right? Please make sure the AD replication is good. Could you please create a new database on the Exchange 2003, then move mailbox into it? Please also run isinteg against the old database. About the event 1205, please see: http://www.microsoft.com/technet/support/ee/transform.aspx?ProdName=Exchange&ProdVer=6.5.6940.0&EvtID=1205&EvtSrc=MSExchangeIS Frank Wang TechNet Subscriber Support in forum If you have any feedback on our support, please contact tngfb@microsoft.com Please remember to click Mark as Answer on the post that helps you, and to click Unmark as Answer if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.

Hi davidagosta, Any updates on your issue?Please remember to click Mark as Answer on the post that helps you, and to click Unmark as Answer if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.

>I guess you also restarted the IS service on Exchange 2003 server, right? Yes I did. >Please make sure the AD replication is good. Yes AD replication is working correctly >Could you please create a new database on the Exchange 2003, then move mailbox into it? >Please also run isinteg against the old database. Sorry for the delay other issues took precedence. I will likely try these tonight. I'll update the thread whether it works or not.

Hi David, How did you solve this problem? Darby

Nothing I tried fixed it. The mailbox I needed to move was for a service account. The vendor released an Exchange 2010 compatable version and this became a non-issue. That app was the last thing on Exchange 2003, so once it was gone we retired it. Sorry I couldn't be of any help. David.