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Retiring on-prem Exchange after a full migration

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Retiring on-prem Exchange after a full migration

What must be true before the last Exchange server can go: recipient management, relay, public folders, management-tools-only, and the removal sequence.

Solving Microsoft 365 · www.solvingmicrosoft365.com/guides/exchange-hybrid-decommission-last-exchange-server

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What the last server is actually doing

Inventory before anything else. On the server, and in the surrounding environment, look for:

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Step 1: recipient management without the server

Since Exchange 2019 CU12, and continuing in Exchange Server Subscription Edition, Microsoft supports installing the Exchange Management Tools on a domain-joined workstation or server without a running Exchange server, t…

Solving Microsoft 365 · www.solvingmicrosoft365.com/guides/exchange-hybrid-decommission-last-exchange-server

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Step 2: relay

Every device relaying through the server needs a new path. Choices, from best to worst:

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Step 3: public folders and the rest

Migrate on-prem public folders to Exchange Online (a batch migration, documented and slow) or to SharePoint or shared mailboxes if the content deserves it. Remove any journaling or archiving integration. Re-point Autodi…

Solving Microsoft 365 · www.solvingmicrosoft365.com/guides/exchange-hybrid-decommission-last-exchange-server

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Step 4: the removal sequence

Only when every item in the inventory has a new home:

Solving Microsoft 365 · www.solvingmicrosoft365.com/guides/exchange-hybrid-decommission-last-exchange-server

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What needs support, and what has downtime

Microsoft support is not required for any of this, though a hybrid organisation with unusual history — multiple past migrations, an organisation relationship to a tenant you no longer own — sometimes surfaces stale obje…

Solving Microsoft 365 · www.solvingmicrosoft365.com/guides/exchange-hybrid-decommission-last-exchange-server

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