Migrator for Notes to Exchange 4.15.2 - Scenarios Guide

Step 4: Install and configure Migrator for Notes to Exchange

The Getting Started section of the Migrator for Notes to Exchange Quick-Start Guide explains how to install Migrator for Notes to Exchange. The subtopics below describe several configuration tasks that should be performed now, as part of the Migrator for Notes to Exchange configuration, before the first run of any Migrator for Notes to Exchange admin Wizard. (Some are optional and apply only in particular circumstances, as noted below.)

Consider also whether Migrator for Notes to Exchange’s Self-Service Desktop Migrator (SSDM) will be used as part of your Migration Plan. If so, it should also be installed and configured.

IMPORTANT: Remember also that any antivirus software on the admin workstation must be configured to not scan the Quest program files directory or %temp% directory, or may simply be turned off prior to running any Quest admin application. (Although it may be restored after the program runs.) Migrator for Notes to Exchange program calls will not succeed if an antivirus scan tries to "clean" an Migrator for Notes to Exchange temporary file that it misinterprets as a threat.

Configure SQL server DB and Migrator for Notes to Exchange default settings

Most of the features and Wizards of Migrator for Notes to Exchange require access to information stored in a central database on the SQL server. Most also require access to the Notes server, Exchange server, Active Directory, and the Shared Directories that contain the Self-Service Desktop Migrator and its log and status files, and admin application log files. The features and Wizards therefore need to know the names, locations, configuration options, access credentials and so forth for the various servers.

These Default Settings should be entered now into Notes Migration Manager (the Migrator for Notes to Exchange "console"), before other program features or the Wizards are used, so that the information will be available to them and need not be entered again. If the information is not entered now, upon installation, the features and Wizards will prompt for the values as needed, and most of them will have to be entered more than once—reentered for each feature and Wizard that needs them.

NOTE: Quest therefore recommends you visit all five of the Edit Default Settings screens in Notes Migration Manager now to enter this information. The Notes Migration Manager is described in chapter 1 of the Migrator for Notes to Exchange Administration Guide.

Configure the Task Scheduler for an Office 365 migration

Migrator for Notes to Exchange tasks (program runs) are defined by Migrator for Notes to Exchange’s wizards, most of which also let you schedule tasks to run at particular times on particular days. The Manage Scheduled Operations screen in Notes Migration Manager lets you revise these task-execution schedules. But the wizards and Manage Scheduled Operations screen manage only the scheduling of task runs as these schedules are saved in the SQL database, and a "scheduled" task does not execute by itself. Tasks are executed by Migrator for Notes to Exchange’s Task Scheduler utility, as described here.

Scheduled tasks are executed using a separate command-line application called the Migrator for Notes to Exchange Task Scheduler (qsched.exe, in Migrator for Notes to Exchange’s installation directory). The program regularly checks the SQL database to see whether any tasks have been scheduled to run since the last check, and then executes the tasks at their scheduled times.

The Task Scheduler runs as a Windows service and is automatically installed when you install Migrator for Notes to Exchange. The Task Scheduler is configured by default to autostart (upon every workstation reboot) and run under the credentials of the administrator account that runs the Migrator for Notes to Exchange installer. The Task Scheduler can be managed as any other Windows service using the Windows Service Manager. Instructions for configuring a Windows service can be found at: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms681921(v=vs.85).aspx

Migrator for Notes to Exchange's qsched.exe task-scheduling utility is compatible with Migrator for Notes to Exchange's Admin Account Pool for migrations to Office 365, but only with an additional step added to the process. For some migration scenarios (to an on-premises Exchange, or to Office 365 without the Admin Account Pool) the qsched.exe utility alone manages the execution of scheduled tasks. But Office 365 access restrictions require an intermediate scheduling mechanism to accommodate Migrator for Notes to Exchange's Admin Account Pool, as described here.

When migrating to Office 365 with Migrator for Notes to Exchange's Admin Account Pool, use Windows' Task Scheduler to run Migrator for Notes to Exchange's qsched.exe for each Migrator for Notes to Exchange task you want to run:

When migrating to Office 365 (with or without MSOL AD Sync), but without using Migrator for Notes to Exchange's Admin Account Pool features, the Task Scheduler requires access to an Office 365 admin mailbox via a MAPI profile with cached credentials. However, the Task Scheduler cannot interact with foreground processes, such as a credentials prompt, so it requires a mechanism to provide the credentials and dismiss the prompt.

Create a local Windows user account, or a domain user (see Note below) with rights to access migration resources and login as Windows services. Create a new mail profile for this user and configure the profile with cached credentials to the Office 365 admin mailbox. Then login to the Office 365 admin mailbox at least one time and save the credentials.

Configure the Migrator for Notes to Exchange Scheduler service to run as the Windows user and the service will use the cached Office 365 admin credentials stored with the Windows account, which will remain secure behind the identity of the Windows user.

NOTE: If Migrator for Notes to Exchange's SQL server is configured to use SQL server authentication, the Task Scheduler will automatically discover the SQL server and credentials using Migrator for Notes to Exchange configuration. But if the SQL server uses Windows authentication, the user that will run the Task Scheduler must be granted access to the migration database. If the SQL server uses Windows authentication only and is not hosted on the migration server, you may have to make the shadow user a domain user so he/she can be granted permission to connect to the SQL server.

Log into the migration server as Administrator to configure the Migrator for Notes to Exchange Task Scheduler to run as O365admin. In addition, the service must be configured to start in the "Autostart (Delayed Start)" mode.

Mandatory parameter for Office 365 licensing

The Data Migration Wizard reads a mandatory program parameter to get the two-character Usage Location code that Microsoft requires for its Office 365 licenses (per this Microsoft article). Be sure to set this value, in Migrator for Notes to Exchange Global Defaults or Task Parameters, before you try to License users:

The parameter value is a two-letter keyword, which must conform to the standardized values listed for ISO 3166-1-alpha-2.