Cannot move Exchange Server 5.5 mailbox to Exchange Server 2003 by using Active Directory Users and Computers

When you use Active Directory Users and Computers to try to move a user's Exchange Server 5.5 mailbox to Exchange Server 2003, you cannot move the Exchange Server 5.5 mailbox. Additionally, you may receive the following error message in the FailureReport.xml file on the Exchange Server 2003 computer:

This problem typically occurs when the distinguished name (DN) of the Exchange Server 5.5 mailbox does not match the legacyExchangeDN attribute in Active Directory directory service.

For example, if the following conditions are true, the user's mailbox cannot be moved successfully:

• The legacyExchangeDN attribute in Active Directory appears as:
  /o=org name/ou=AdminGroup/cn=Recipients/cn=MailBoxName-1
• The distinguished name of the user's mailbox appears in Exchange Server 5.5 Directory Services as:
  cn=MailBoxName,cn=Recipients,ou=AdminGroup,o=org name.

In this example, the legacyExchangeDN attribute in Active Directory has -1 added to the Exchange Server 5.5 mailbox name. When you try to move the mailbox, the corresponding Exchange Server 5.5 mailbox distinguished name cannot be found in Active Directory. Therefore, you cannot move the mailbox.

Warning If you use the ADSI Edit snap-in, the LDP utility, or any other LDAP version 3 client, and you incorrectly modify the attributes of Active Directory objects, you can cause serious problems. These problems may require you to reinstall Microsoft Windows 2000 Server, Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server, Microsoft Exchange Server 2003, or both Windows and Exchange. Microsoft cannot guarantee that problems that occur if you incorrectly modify Active Directory object attributes can be solved. Modify these attributes at your own risk. To work around this problem, use the Active Directory Service Interfaces (ADSI) Edit tool to modify the legacyExchangeDN attribute in Active Directory to match the Exchange Server 5.5 distinguished name, and then delete the msExchADCGlobalNames value.

To do this, follow these steps.

Note The ADSI Edit tool is located in the Support\Tools folder on the installation CD for Windows 2000 Server or for Windows Server 2003.

Note You must perform this task on the Exchange Server 2003 computer or on any computer that has the Active Directory Users and Computers MMC snap-in installed.

Exchange Server 2003 on a Windows 2000 Server-based computer

1. After you have installed ADSI Edit, click Start, point to Programs, point to Windows 2000 Support Tools, click Tools, and then click ADSI Edit.
2. In the ADSI Edit snap-in, expand Domain NC, expand DC=DomainName,DC=com, expand CN=Users, right-click the account of the user whose mailbox cannot be moved, and then click Properties.
3. In the CN=UserName Properties dialog box, click the list next to Select a property to view, and then click legacyExchangeDN.
4. In the Edit box, make sure that the legacyExchangeDN attribute matches the distinguished name of the Exchange Server 5.5 mailbox.
5. Click the list next to Select a property to view, and then click msExchADCGlobalNames. Click Clear, select the text in the Edit box, press the DELETE key, and then click OK.

Exchange Server 2003 on a Windows Server 2003-based computer

1. After you have installed ADSI Edit, click Start, point to All Programs, point to Windows Support Tools, and then click Command Prompt.
2. At the command prompt, type adsiedit.msc, and then press ENTER.
3. In the ADSI Edit snap-in, expand Domain NC, expand DC=DomainName,DC=com, expand CN=Users, right-click the account of the user whose mailbox cannot be moved, and then click Properties.
4. In the CN=UserName Properties dialog box, click the list next to Select a property to view, and then click legacyExchangeDN.
5. In the Edit box, make sure that the legacyExchangeDN attribute matches the distinguished name of the Exchange Server 5.5 mailbox.
6. Click the list next to Select a property to view, and then click msExchADCGlobalNames. Click Clear, select the text in the Edit box, press the DELETE key, and then click OK.

Note In Exchange Server 2003, you use the Create a Failure Report option to generate a report log. This report is in XML format. This report is saved in the systemdrive\Documents and Settings\profile name\My Documents\Exchange Task Wizard Logs folder, where systemdrive is the drive where Microsoft Windows is installed, and where profile name is the profile folder for the user who initiated the mailbox move procedure.

The Exchange Server 2003 Software Developers Kit has XSL/HTA files that show you how you can change the format of XML reports to a more readable format.