Can someone please help me, my question is I have a windows 2003 DC with exchange 2003 (std) on a box. I now have to upgrade to exchange 2007.We have virtualised environments so i would be creating a seperate win 2003 64/ win 2008 server for exchange. Can someone please give me an idea of best practise on how to go about my migrationWhat i have in mind is 1. create the exchange 2007 environment 2. test and test again.3. change MX and move mailboxes4. uninstall exchange 2003 from DC ( i want to leave the old box as DC) Please let me know if i am on the right track and any input would be much appreciated.Regards

In addition to move the mailboxes you have to consider your connectors and system public folders.This is an interesting articlehttp://www.msexchange.org/articles_tutorials/exchange-server-2007/migration-deployment/removing-last-exchange-2003-server-exchange-2007-part1.html

Hi,Please try to refer the detail steps in article below totransition from Exchange 2003 to Exchange 2007. Transitioning from Exchange Server 2000/2003 to Exchange Server 2007http://www.msexchange.org/tutorials/Transitioning-Exchange-2000-2003-Exchange-Server-2007-Part1.htmlRegards,Xiu

So, you want to upgrade to Exchange 2007.You have the first step, you bought a new system to host your single instance of Exchange 2007.TO create your Exchange Server you will setup Exchange and select CAS, Hub and Mailbox Roles. At that point you should have a connector setup automatically beween your 03 and 07 environment. I would create a test mail account on 07 to verify that mail flow is working there. The next step would be to test OWA, export your OWA cert with the private key and import it into Exchange 07. Configure your URL and authentication (typically Forms), set up a host file and test your OWA connection. You will want to use https://mail.url.com/exchangefor the URL.Configure your REceive and Send connectors on Exchange 2007. Next test your SMTP communication between the 03 server and 07 server: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/153119 You will want to do this from 03 and 07, it will verity that port 25 is working. Once this is done create a test email account and send emails to that guy, make sure it works between 03 and 07.Now once you have confirmed your mail flow and your OWA access you can change your MX record. Once MX record is changed move the mailboxes to the new exchange serverRemove 03 and there ya go.BP

The previous posts referenced good articles about the necessary steps - steps that you should not ignore.It is not like "Remove 03 and there you go". If it would be as easy I would be unemployed.

Exactly, My post is to give you an idea of the steps that you need to take and help you open your mind to the way to do it. There are many good articles out there on how to do what I and other users have explained. The goal of my posts are to give you a push in the right direction. There are many steps involved in upgrading from Exchange 2003 to Exchange 2007. You started off right by getting a new server to install Exchange 2007 on. Exchange 2007 is not recommended to be on the same server as a Domain Controller.Being that you are on a single server you will not have to worry about communication between different Exchange 2007 servers, but you will want to test your SMTP connectors by telneting to port 25. You will want to test OWA conenctiving by doing an https://servername/exchange and try to access mailboxes on both 03 and 07 (these should be test accounts starting out). You can also emulate a Windows Mobile Device (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=windows+mobile+emulator) which can help you find information on performing this. Once you have tested your owa and smtp routing (send and receive connectors) and mail routing between 03 and 07 you can start to route your mail (change MX records and delete smpt conncetors) through your 07 enviornment. Moving Mailboxes are very simple and can be done a number of ways. Techncially you can move up to 30 mailboxes at once using the get-mailbox -database exchange03 | move-mailbox -Targetdatabase exchange07\sg\database -Maxthreads 30 command. May want to put a -Confirm:$false in there. ;)But yes, there are many good articles out there on how to do it and it sounds like you are moving in the right direction.BP