Removing Exchange 2003 Public Folders

Question

I am in the process of removing public folders from the old 2003 environment after upgrading to Exchange 2010.  The Exchange 2010 is set as a replica and everything seems to have transferred over.  What are my steps from here?  I have 5 Exchange
2003 boxes to remove.  I have read a few guides and believe my last step is to use the script "MoveAllReplicas"?  Is there anything special I have to do to remove the last 2003 PF database?  Is there a "master copy" which
needs ported to 2010?
Thank you.

Answer 1

Hi Ian,
As a last step, after you confirmed that all the PF have been replicated to the Exchange 2010, you can move all replicas from Exchange 2003 to Exchange 2010. The "move all replicas" will actually remove the Exchange
2003 replicas.
Move the public folder replicas to another server:
To move all Exchange 2003 replicas to Exchange 2010, which will actually remove the Exchange 2003 replicas:
From the Exchange 2010 server:
.\MoveAllReplicas.ps1 -Server "Exchange 2003 Server" -NewServer "Exchange 2010 Server"
http://blogs.technet.com/b/agobbi/archive/2010/08/04/how-to-move-public-folder-from-exchange-2003-to-exchagne-2010.aspx
http://exchangeserverpro.com/migrate-public-folders-from-exchange-2003-to-exchange-server-2010/
When the public folder instances displays an empty list the operation has completed.
Associate mailbox databases with another public folder database 
If any mailbox databases are associated with the public folder database that is to be removed, you must configure another public folder database as their default public folder database. 
1. Identify all mailbox databases that use the public folder database that you want to remove as their default public folder database.
2. Use Exchange Management Console to select another public folder database as the default public folder database for the mailbox databases that you identified in Step 1. 
3. Repeat Step 2 for all mailbox databases identified in Step 1.
Once moved you can, dismount the PF databases on Ex2003 and verify all are working from 2010.
Remove the PF database and delete the database files manually 
1. Now you are ready to remove your Public folder database. To remove a public folder database click on your Public folder database and under Actions select "Remove": 
2. You get a prompt to confirm your Action. 
3. A warning appears, indicating that the database was removed and reminding you to manually remove the database file. 
4. Browse to the folder specified in the Warning message and delete the .edb file from the folder.
Regards,
Satyajit
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