IMAP Migration FAQ
A major update for the MS transporter suite is released which supports migration from IMAP/POP servers https://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=35FC4205-792B-4306-8E4B-0DE9CCE72172&displaylang=en. It is much more easier to use the suite than using the below hints.
Q: Can i migrate from a legacy messaging system that supports IMAP4 directly to Exchange 2007?
A: No
Q: How can i upgrade then?
A: In order to upgrade from a messaging system that uses IMAP4 such as iPlanet, Netscape, etc... you have two options. First one is to use a third party tool, second option is to use the Exchange 2003 Migration Wizard
Q: Can i install the Exchange 2003 server after creating the Exchange 2007 Organization?
A: NO, You MUST install an Exchange 2003 box before you introduce the Exchange 2007 servers to the Organization, after that start installing your Exchange 2007 servers according to your design.
Q: Can I use the Exchange 2003 Migration Wizard to migrate the mailboxes directly to the Exchange 2007 server?
A: No, You can't use the Migration wizard to do one step migration to the Exchange 2007 mailbox server, you MUST first migrate to the Exchange 2003 server then move the mailbox from the Exchange 2003 to the Exchange 2007 mailbox server
Q: Can i use the Exchange 2003 ADUC or the Exchange console to move the mailboxes to the Exchange 2007 mailbox server?
A: No, you MUST move the mailboxes using the Exchange 2007 server to move the mailboxes from the Exchange 2003 to the Exchange 2007 mailbox server
Q: How can i use the Exchange 2003 Migration Wizard to migrate to Exchange 2007?
A: In order to migrate from IMAP4 to Exchange 2003 you need to have the migration file posted with the appropriate information, you can simple use the Migration Wizard "Migrate from Internet Directory (LDAP visa ADSI)" option for building up this migration file by extracting the information from the LDAP server used by the IMAP4 server. Sample of the file would be like this
IMAP_Mailbox,SMTP_Address,IMAP_Password,IMAP_Server
mailboxname,alias@contoso.com,PASSWORD,mail.contos.com
After you build the migration file you have to replace each line with the correct mailbox password. The next task after that is to use the "Migrate from Internet Mail (IMAP4)" option and use the migration file you build to migrate the mailboxes content to the Exchange 2003 server.
Q: In my organization it is impossible to know the password for each and every mailbox, what shall i do?
A: If you are using a LDAP server that can supports multiple attribute for the password such as Sun LDAP then simply you can add an extra attribute "userPassword" with a standard password as the value on all of the user accounts, as a result each useraccount will be having his/her own password and another password that is known by the you and that you can use in the migration file. became an easy task now to add this standard password in the migration file!!!
Q: How can i stamp this attribute in all of the user accounts in my LDAP server?
A: use a script to crawl the directory for all of the users CNs and then use LDF file to import this attribute on all of them "scripting guys task:)"
Q: How can i know if my LDAP server supports this secondary password feature?
A: You can use any LDAP Administrator and try to add an extra attribute with the name of "userpassword", if it accepts it and prompts you for the password vale then it works...
Q: I'm having an Active Directory domain that users use to use the domain services, how can i force the migration wizard to match my mailboxes on the IMAP4 server with the coorect user account in the AD?
A: Migration Wizard match based on email address so all you need is to stamp the correct email address for each mailbox to the correct user account in the AD.
Q: What else should i take care of?
A: Note that users might see two Junk E-Mail folders, this is depending on the system you are migrating from, after the migration you should delete the migrated one so the users will be having only the Outlook Junk E-mail folder. Also note that POP3 users will have all of their emails in an unread status, this is due to the fact of POP3 don't store message status on the server itself. Finally user awareness in such migrations is a must and important