This browser is no longer supported.
Upgrade to Microsoft Edge to take advantage of the latest features, security updates, and technical support.
![](data:image/svg+xml, %3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' height='64' class='font-weight-bold' style='font: 600 30.11764705882353px "SegoeUI", Arial' width='64'%3E%3Ccircle fill='hsl(163.2, 79%, 25%)' cx='32' cy='32' r='32' /%3E%3Ctext x='50%25' y='55%25' dominant-baseline='middle' text-anchor='middle' fill='%23FFF' %3EJE%3C/text%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Hi,
We had an on premise Exchange 2016 server that was used for management of on premise AD synced objects/Exchange attributes, as well as acting as an Office365 SMTP relay.
We have added a new Exchange 2016 server built on our new infrastructure to replace this old one.
We have had some weird routing of relayed SMTP messages, where things would be submitted to the new server, which would route them to the old server, which would route them back to the new server, which then routes them to Office365.
Is anyone able to offer any suggestions why this routing is taking place in this way, and more importantly, what process I should follow to decomission the old Exchange server?
Can I simply run the Exchange installer to remove Exchange from that server, or are there prerequisites I need to follow such as migrating Health/Monitoring mailboxes from the old Exchange server to the new?
Many thanks
James
![](data:image/svg+xml, %3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' height='64' class='font-weight-bold' style='font: 600 30.11764705882353px "SegoeUI", Arial' width='64'%3E%3Ccircle fill='hsl(25.6, 67%, 12%)' cx='32' cy='32' r='32' /%3E%3Ctext x='50%25' y='55%25' dominant-baseline='middle' text-anchor='middle' fill='%23FFF' %3EJS%3C/text%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Is there any progress so far about decomission your Exchange server?
If an Answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and upvote it.
Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.
That's expected. Exchange does that by design.
Since you have the new Exchange Server up, - IF you haven't done this already - run the Hybrid Configuration Wizard and make the new server the hybrid endpoint with 365. Ensure the firewall ports are up to date to allow this.
Verify things work - SMTP routing etc...
Once done, move all the arbitration mailboxes to the database on new server:
Get-Mailbox -Arbitration | New-MoveRequest -TargetDatabase <NewDB>
Then remove the old server from any send connectors
Then remove Exchange from Add/Remove Programs.
No need to move the monitoring mailboxes. Once you remove the old server, verify things work again.
Thanks.
Is this because of the "Shadow Redundancy" feature?
HCW has been run and the new server has been set as the 365 endpoint. Firewall sorted and tests run and confirmed ok (other than the aforementioned routing thing).
The only oddity we found was if the old server was shut down, we cannot access ECP on the new server.
Have removed the old server from the send connectors already, so looks like my final step is moving arbitration mailboxes and uninstalling Exchange.
Thanks
James
Yep, sounds like you are good. Move those arbitration mailboxes and remove it!
It will flag anything you may have missed.
(and yes part of the shadow redundancy stuff :) )
Cool thanks, will give it a go and feed back.
So, I have moved all mailboxes over and shutdown the old Exchange server temporarily.
When trying to load ECP on the new server, I get this error:
Something went wrong
We can't get that information right now. Please try again later.
X-FEServer Server_Name
Date:24/12/2021 20:49:26
An MS KB suggests OAuth cert is missing, but running the command it suggests, a certificate thumbprint is returned.
Any ideas what else may be causing this issue?
Additionally, when loading Exchange Management Shell, it tries to connect to the old server first. Is there a way to set the new one as the primary, or will this happen once Exchange is uninstalled from the old server?
Thanks
James
What server are you running this from?
Is there any load balancer here? Are you sure you moved all the arbitration mailboxes?
set-adserversettings -ViewEntireForest $true
Get-Mailbox -Arbitration
This issue is on the new, replacement Exchange server, after shutting down the old one.
No load balancer exists, and no DAG either.
Yes pretty sure all mailboxes have been moved.
The command lists 7 mailboxes, all of which show the new Exchange server as their ServerName.
So when accessing EAC from the new server itself you see this?
I'm accessing the EAC that is hosted on the new Exchange server, but remotely from my client machine.
I have not tried accessing it locally whilst logged into the Exchange server itself.
Thanks
James
Try using an incognito browser and going direct to the new server from your workstation.
Incognito window using our DNS name works fine.
Using the server's FQDN in a normal window works fine.
As it's only when using the DNS name in a normal window, is it going to just be a case of clearing browsing data to resolve this?
Cheers
James
Yea, sounds like something cached there.
Bingo, seems to have done the trick, thanks.
I'll report back and mark your post as the answer once the old Exchange server has been fully decomissioned/uninstalled.
Cheers
James
I have not yet uninstalled the old server, and have it powered off, but am still getting this error a lot:
Given my Exchange Management Shell still tries to connect to our old server when first starting, could it be related?
Will uninstalling the old server change this behaviour in EMS and fix this ECP issue?
Even when connecting directly to the old server you get this?
How about powershell, how are you connecting to the new server?
I am not connecting to the old server, I am connecting to the new server via a DNS name that resolves to the FQDN of the new server.
Powershell I am simply opening the Exchange management shell I have installed on my client machine.
It automatically tries to connect to the old server, and after what I think is about 1 minute, it fails (because it's powered down) then tries to connect to the new server, which succeeds.
Many thanks.
Yea the powershell issues sounds normal. What are you using for a connection string?
When you see that ECP issue, can you check the IIS logs on the new server and see if its trying to connect? That doesnt seem right if you connecting directly to the new server.
Hi Andy, I'm not using one I defined.
I simply launch EMS, and it tries to connect automatically, using what I assume is a connection string defined by EMS itself, this is transparent to me.
All I see is the error when it times out, and before it then tries to connect to the new server instead:
At line:1 char:1
I will try to have a look through the logs in IIS at the time of this issue, but not an IIS wiz so not 100% I will be able to spot anything myself.
Will feed back on that part of it.
Cheers
James
Ok, so the Powershell failure makes sense if not connecting to the new sever directly from your workstation.
You can set directly:
$Session = New-PSSession -ConfigurationName Microsoft.Exchange -ConnectionUri http://<ServerFQDN>/PowerShell/ -Authentication Kerberos -Credential $UserCredential
Yeah but how does the Exchange management shell determine what server to connect to, as I'm not specifying it, it decides itself what to connect to and how.
if you arent specifying the server in the remote string, I assume you installed the Exchange mgmt tools on the workstation?
Yes that's correct
Ok, that makes sense then. If you look at the shortcut properties of the Exch mgmt tool PS icon, you will see it using a RemoteExchange script that looks for an Exchange Server to connect to.
Are you connecting from this same machine to EAC?
If so try connecting from an entirely new machine and see if still see those EAC web errors.
Yes this is the same machine I'm using to connect to EAC.
I see the EMS shortcut has this parameter on the properties:
Connect-ExchangeServer -auto
So to me, it feels like something in AD is saying that the old server is the "primary" if you like, and EMS sees this and therefore tries to connect to it first?
I don't have anything else with the management tools on at the moment, but will see if I can find somewhere to install them and try.
Yea and most likely it just connects to the oldest server first.
You can change that shortcut:
Workaround
To work around the issue, open the EMS by running a full command-line every time. The following is an example of a full command-line.
Open a command prompt, and type the following command:
C:\Windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe -noexit -command ". 'C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\V14\bin\RemoteExchange.ps1'; Connect-ExchangeServer <target server>"Note<target server> is the placeholder for the name of the target server.
I've seen some people suggest it connects to the "closest" server, however the heck that is determined.
I appreciate the suggestion, but I think I'll leave the shortcut as is otherwise sods law it'll be one of those things I'll never think about again and it will catch me out in the future.
I'm hoping that uninstalling Exchange from the old server will remove Exchange related objects for this server from AD, so there is only one for it to connect to, which it will then select by default.
Cheers
James
Yea, if they were in different sites, I could see that lol
The Autodiscover lookups traditionally have started at the oldest server.
Well, today we did it!
We had an audit log mailbox that had not been migrated, but after moving this to the DB on the new server, we were able and have successfully removed Exchange from the old server.
EMS now connects directly to the new server as expected, and so far everything seems to be working exactly as it should.
I'll mark your answer as the answer, but will report back if any issues down the line.
Many thanks for all your help and advice!
James
Agree with the suggestions above from Andy, you could share any update about your question here.
And you could refer to the steps introduced in this article, it is also suitable for your scenario: Step-by-Step: How to upgrade a Legacy Hybrid Exchange Server to 2016
Please Note: Since the web site is not hosted by Microsoft, the link may change without notice. Microsoft does not guarantee the accuracy of this information.
If an Answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and upvote it.
Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.
Check out this video for more help. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slmDf9G50o4
Please mark as "Accept the answer" if the above steps helps you. Your suggestion will help others also !