Moving Mailboxes In Exchange Server 2013 Using Shell And EAC

How to Move Exchange Mailbox from One Database to Another in Exchange 2013

Today we are going to discuss a new topic of Exchange Server which is to move Exchange mailbox from one database to another in Exchange 2013 using EAC as well as Commands. Read the article where we have discuss the process of moving exchange mailboxes using PowerShell Commands and Exchange Admin Centre. As you know that I always feel proud while writing a post about Exchange Server. You might have read my last post which I had written about the conversion process of Linked mailbox to User mailbox.

Move Mailbox from One Database to Another Exchange 2013 Via Exchange Admin Center

Moving a Single Exchange Mailbox is really an easy task to perform using EAC. Just follow the below steps for migration:

1. Go recipients and then select mailboxes in EAC. Now select a mailbox by clicking on that then navigate to the Action Pane at right side and then click on To another database link at bottom in Move Mailbox section.
   
   
If you couldn’t find the move mailbox section then you may go through an alternate way. Instead of mailboxes tab click on migration tab and then click on + symbol and then select Move to a different database.



2. Now select mailboxes which you want to move to other database and click on Next button to proceed.
3. Now you will see a New Migration Batch wizard. Just enter New migration batch name and select any radio button according to your choice. In this example I have selected Move the Primary mailbox and the archive mailbox if one exists. Select Target Database by clicking on Browse button. If you want to move mailboxes to archive database then you may select archive database by clicking on browse button. Leave Bad Item Limit as 10 and Click on Next button to proceed.
   
4. Now you have to provide at least one recipient to get notification emails of moving mailbox process. In this example I have selected Administrator as a recipient. After selecting a recipient select automatically start batch option and then again select automatically complete the migration batch option.
   
5. At last click on New to start moving mailboxes.
   

Move Exchange Mailbox from One Database to Another In Exchange  2013 Via Exchange Management Shell

Just run the below command for moving mailboxes using PowerShell Commands:

1. Command:

Get-Mailbox -Database DBname | New-MoveRequest -BatchName “batch name” -SuspendWhenReadyToComplete

Where:
Dbname is the hosted database name

batch name is complete batch to be moved

SuspendWhenReadyToComplete is for preventing automatic completion therefore move process will not start in business hours. There is no target database is assigned there for Exchange server will automatically distribute all batch mailboxes in available databases.

2. To view the distribution mailboxes for target databases run the below command:

Get-MoveRequest -BatchName “batch name”

3. To monitor the Mailbox move request process run the below command:

Get-MoveRequest -BatchName “batch name” | Get-MoveRequestStatistics

4. At 95 percent completion of moving mailboxes process it will show AutoSuspended status but Mailboxes can be accessed during AutoSuspended. Now you have to resume the move mailboxes process for completion. Therefore first remove AutoSuspended flag by running following command:

 Get-MoveRequest -BatchName “batch name” | Set-MoveRequest -SuspendWhenReadyToComplete:$false

5. Now resume moving mailboxes request process by running Resume-MoveRequest Command as written below:

Command:

Get-MoveRequest -BatchName “batch name” | Resume-MoveRequest

6. Keep monitoring till the completion of move request of mailboxes by running commands written in step 3 to move mailbox from one database to another Exchange 2013 PowerShell.

Note: As we know that Exchange database file is the main repository of the Microsoft Exchange Server & it is prone to corruption and because of this there are chances that the EDB goes into dismounted or offline state. So, it is necessary to repair the corrupted Exchange database file. In that case, users can use the SysTools Exchange Recovery Tool which supports Offline or Dismounted .edb file (Public & Private) and provides Quick and Advance scan mode option which repair and recover Exchange mailbox and EDB file from minimal as well as major corruption in a hassle freeway without using any command. After recovery, users can export the recovered mailboxes to the Live Exchange Server 2016/2013/2010/2007/2003 mailboxes, Office 365, and various file formats without any hassle.
 

Conclusion

In this write-up, we have provided the solution to move Exchange mailbox from one database to another in Exchange 2013. We discussed the process using two ways, one is using Exchange Admin Centre and another way is using PowerShell Commands. As you saw that both ways for moving mailboxes were good and easy to perform. In case your Exchange .edb file gets corrupted then you can use the advance solution mentioned in the above section which easily repair the minimally or highly corrupted offline/dismouted EDB file without any hindrance. Therefore you may select whatever way looks good for moving Exchange mailboxes in the Exchange server 2013. 

I will write again a new post about new features and functionalities of exchange server therefore keep reading my exchange server guide blog.

Thank You for reading.