The Provision wizard in Migrator for Notes to Exchange (MNE) is often is a source of confusion for many migration engineers. The MNE Provision wizard does have an important purpose; however, the decision to use it depends strictly on how you are planning to migrate and how your environment has been configured.
There are typically 4 main scenarios that exist with regards to migrations. Which scenario you choose, dictates whether you will need to use the Provision wizard or not.
Here are the main migration scenarios:
Scenario 1: Only contacts exist, no security object:
In this situation, the MNE Migrate User Data wizard can be used to create mailboxes directly from the contacts.
NOTE: There could be potential issues and\or special considerations with group provisioning and ACLs under this scenario. To enable this functionality an additional parameter will need to be added to MNE.
Scenario 2: Only security objects exist, no contacts:
With this environment, the MNE Provison wizard can be run to create mail-enabled objects from the security objects. The main benefit of running the Provision wizard in this scenario is that additional email aliases will be migrated from Notes, which will help maintain the fidelity of ACLs, migrated migrated meetings, etc. Then the MNE Migrate User Data wizard can then create mailboxes from the mail-enabled objects.
Scenario 3: Existing security objects and CMN Directory Connector created contacts:
The MNE Provision wizard should be run to merge the two objects into a single mail-enabled object and preserve the routing of any messages delivered through the contact. Then NME Migrate User Data wizard can be used to create mailboxes.
Scenario 4: Empty AD (no contacts, no users)
MNE Provision wizard can be used to create mail-enabled user objects in AD.
There are other possible scenarios that may require a different approach or set of procedures; however, these are the most popular scenarios that most of our customers will encounter. The above should be considered general guidelines or possibilities. Developing an appropriate strategy for each customer environment requires planning and verification.
