To add a new Office 365 mailbox migration job, right-click the Mailbox Synchronization node in the management tree and click Add Office 365 Mailbox Migration Job on the shortcut menu. This will start the Add Office 365 Mailbox Migration Job wizard, which will install a Migration Agent for Exchange instance and help you to set up and configure the job.
This section guides you through each step of the wizard and explains the options for migration to Office 365.
Step 1: Specifying Source Exchange Organization
Select the source Exchange organization, the source Active Directory account and the separate source Exchange account (if necessary) for the Office 365 mailbox migration job.
Step 2: Specify Office 365 Tenant
Select the Microsoft Office 365 tenant to migrate mailboxes to from the list of registered in Migration Manager for Exchange console ones. For information how to register new Microsoft Office 365 tenant, refer to Registering Microsoft Office 365 as Migration Destination.
Step 3: Configuring Notification Messages
After a mailbox has been migrated and switched to Microsoft Office 365, Migration Manager for Exchange sends notification email messages to the old on-premises and new cloud mailboxes to inform user that that user's new mailbox has been provisioned and all new mail goes into that new mailbox. Also notification messages may contain additional instructions how to configure mail client to use Microsoft Office 365 mailbox, etc.
You can use predefined notifications or write your own based on the default message templates, for the source and target mailboxes separately.
Step 4: Specifying Migration Agent for Exchange Installation Settings
In this step, you need to specify agent host server and path where Migration Agent for Exchange performing Office 365 mailbox migration job should be installed. The default installation path is in the hierarchy of the Program Files system folder. You can customize the path, but your custom path will be used only if there are no previously installed instances of the Migration Agent for Exchange on the computer. Otherwise, the agent will be installed to the same location as the other existing instances regardless of the path you specify.
You can also override the default credentials that the agent will use. However, note that in this case you will be changing the credentials not only for the agent instance you are installing, but also for any existing agent instances on the agent host.
Step 5: Completing the Wizard
Finally, you need to review the changes that will be made and apply them. When done, you can start dividing mailboxes you plan to migrate into Office 365 mailbox collections in Migration Manager for Exchange console.
To create a new Office 365 mailbox collection for an existing Office 365 mailbox migration job, right-click the job in the management tree and click Add Collection on the shortcut menu.
This will start the Add Office 365 Mailbox Collection wizard, which will help you to set up and configure a new collection for the Office 365 mailbox migration job. Each step of the wizard is described below.
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Note: All configuration settings that you specify for the collection during the wizard can be later changed. For that right-click the collection node in the management tree and select Properties. |
Step 1: Specifying General Options
In the first step of the wizard, specify a name for the collection. You can optionally provide a text description for the collection. Also you can specify the Migration Agent for Exchange instance that should process the collection.
Enable the collection to force the corresponding agent to start processing the collection at scheduled time that will be specified on the next step of the wizard. Otherwise, the collection will not be involved in the migration process until you enable it.
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Caution: The corresponding Migration Agent for Exchange instance must be running to start processing the collection. To check the agent state, go to the Agent Management node in the management tree. |
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Note: You may enable the collection anytime later by clearing Disable option in the collection context menu or by selecting Enable collection in the collection properties. |
Step 2: Specifying Workflow
Set the preferred start date and other options for migrating the collection. By default, the option to start as soon as possible is selected. You can also specify a particular date and time to start migrating mailboxes from the collection.
Step 3: Populating the Collection
You can add mailboxes to the collection in the following ways:
- Explicitly add mailboxes to the collection by clicking the Add User button and selecting mailboxes from the list.
- Implicitly add mailboxes located in the containers by clicking the Add Container button and selecting the appropriate container check box. To add the mailboxes from the subcontainers as well, select the Include subcontainers check box. You can create and apply a LDAP filter to mailboxes of the Exchange organization using the Advanced tab.
- Implicitly add mailboxes listed in the groups. To add the mailboxes listed in the nested groups, select the Expand nested distribution groups check box.
To preview the list of mailboxes added to the collection, click Preview.
Step 4: Selecting Subscription Plan
Select the subscription plan for users whose mailboxes will be migrated within the collection from ones available in the Microsoft Office 365 tenant specified as migration target for the Office 365 mailbox migration job. By default, each user that does not have Exchange Online license yet, will be assigned all licenses from the selected subscription plan when the migration starts. That will give the user access to the licensed services provided by the plan. Assigning the license will also provision a mailbox for user in Microsoft Office 365.
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Caution: Make sure the plan you selected contains Exchange Online service. |
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NOTE: You can configure Migration Agent for Exchange to assign users only Exchange Online license instead of all licenses at once. For more information how to do that, refer to the Knowledge Article 136629. |
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TIP: The information about the selected subscription plan is displayed for your information. |
Step 5:Configuring Mailbox Switch
After you selected a subscription plan, you need configure mailbox switch options. If you prefer to switch mailboxes manually using the Migration Manager for Exchange console, select the Mailboxes will be switched manually option. Otherwise, you can schedule when to start a mailbox switch.
You can optionally select whether a mailbox should be switched even if no more than specified number of errors occurred during synchronization.
Manually Switching Mailboxes and Undoing Mailbox Switch
- Select the node of the mailbox collection you need.
- In the right pane, go to the Statistics tab.
- Select the mailboxes you need in the table at the bottom
- The Actions pane shows either the Switch or the Undo Switch action item, depending on the state of the mailboxes. Click the action item to perform the required operation.
Step 6: Configuring Office 365 Settings
At the final wizard step, specify Microsoft Online Services ID and password of Office 365 administrative account under which Migration Agent for Exchange specified on step 1 will access Microsoft Office 365.
Speeding Up Calendar Synchronization
It is recommended to create a separate administrative account for each collection. That speeds up calendar synchronization and prevents possible throttling limit excesses resulting in account locks.
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Note: Total number of administrative accounts should be calculated based on throttling policy limitations. |
To start migrating mailboxes to Microsoft Office 365, perform the following:
- Select the Office 365 mailbox migration job in the management tree, and then click the Agent Manager toolbar button.
- After that in the agent host pane select the agent host where the agent instance specified for the mailbox collection you plan to migrate is installed.
- Finally, right-click the corresponding agent instance from the list of agent instances below and select Start from the shortcut menu.
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Note: You can temporarily disable any collection so that it will not be involved in the migration process until you enable it. For that, select Disable in the collection context menu. |
You can get track the mailbox migration using the Statistics dashboard. For information on how to do that, refer to the corresponding section of this document.
