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You didn’t think I was going to let you start a migration process without making you read the detailed “how and why”, did you ?
\nThere’s a couple of migration types to keep in mind, where one is easier than the other.
\nUsually the more difficult one is also the most interesting one, but even this is dependant on specific needs.<\/p>\n
The last one (PST) is in most cases forgotten as an official way, since it’s possibly way too simple in Microsoft’s eyes.<\/p>\n
As the target audience for this specific blog post is the average Belgian SME with an average of 5 to 20 employees, I’ll stick to the basics in this post.
\nAn other post will cover the heavier subjects in a nearby future (aka ‘when I feel like it’)<\/p>\n
Difficulty level\u00a0 \u00a0 Microsoft has this pretty cool tool to either upload PST files to a temporary Azure storage or to actually send them a physical copy by mail (yes, snailmail)<\/span><\/p>\n More info on this can be found on\u00a0https:\/\/go.microsoft.com\/fwlink\/?LinkID=544944<\/a><\/p>\n It’s a bit out of the scope of our average situation here, but know that such a method exists. (although Powershell is still the way to go if you really want to impress your customer)<\/p>\n Difficulty level\u00a0 \u00a0 Being a ton easier and providing more oversight than the PST Migration above, the ‘basic’ PST migration will have the average end-user require\/demand your presence more often.<\/p>\n Although remote tools like Teamviewer\/LogMeIn\/… have made the life of the IT’er a lot easier, there’s got to be a bit of physical contact every now and then. This type of migration will give you the opportunity to sit down and explain Office 365 to your users while the data is slowly uploading through MS Outlook. Try to avoid<\/strong> using this migration type, when the customer has an IMAP<\/strong> mail account you need to move to your O365 tenant, as often IMAP saves the mail headers, but not the mail an sich, <\/em>resulting in a very empty mailbox in the end.<\/p>\n Now, how does this process work ? Difficulty level\u00a0<\/em>\u00a0 The difficulty level could vary depending on the version of the IMAP server, but the thought train runs on that same track. (did I just invent a new proverb ?)<\/p>\n First of all, let’s take a look at this schema below, which explains the process of migration quite neatly and in an understandable manner.<\/p>\n If you’ve followed our current steps in the previous posts, we’ve already established the steps up to the creation of the mailboxes, which starts us at step 5. isn’t that tidy ?<\/p>\n You need to create a specific CSV<\/a> file, that we’re going to use in our migration batch. The exceptions to this layout are discussed at this Microsoft page<\/a>.<\/p>\n The general idea behind this CSV file is to provide the mailbox address TO<\/strong> which you need to copy the content of the IMAP folder, together with the username and password of the ORIGINAL<\/strong> IMAP mailbox, where the mail is currently residing.<\/p>\n You can start the migration in the O365 Exchange Control Panel<\/a>, by going to ‘Recipients’ and then clicking ‘Migration’ in the topmenu.<\/p>\n Click the little ‘+<\/strong>‘ and select ‘Migrate to Exchange Online’<\/p>\n Select ‘IMAP migration’<\/p>\n Upload your CSV file and allow unknown columns<\/p>\n Enter the IMAP server data and means of authentication of your old provider<\/p>\n Pressing ‘Next’ will start the initial setup.<\/p>\n The migration top menu will provide you with more information on how your migration is going. You can click the migration batch and review potential errors or view the overall progress.<\/p>\n A picture’s worth a thousand words, so I’m guessing a Youtube video will be worth at least “De Leeuw van Vlaenderen<\/a>” :<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/zupertails.be\/wur\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/paw_black.png\")
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<\/em><\/p>\n
\nIt will require the use of the program AZCopy, which is well explained in the link above.
\nCheck it out if you want to look like a cool IT guy in the eyes of your customer \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\nPST Migration (2)<\/h2>\n
<\/em><\/p>\n
\nGrab some coffee and get your hands dirty as this type of migration will get you closest to the actual customer’s computer than any other.<\/p>\n
\nPretty easy :<\/p>\n\n
\nPreferably redirect the mailflow, by use of the MX record we talked about in this post<\/a>, already 24 hours before starting your PST import, to make sure no trailing mail gets left behind on a mail server you won’t be able to access anymore after migrating.<\/li>\n
\nhttps:\/\/www.msoutlook.info\/question\/827<\/a> explains this quite well.
\nKeep in mind that the PST files aren’t always in their default location. Some customer prefer to save their PST files on a network location or redirected folder.
\nIf you happen to be the IT guy that implemented this specific setup, shame on you. PST files will get corrupted by just looking at them. Placing them in a network drive, will only make things worse.<\/li>\n
\nThere’s a possibility that your user has disabled ‘cached mode’ in Outlook (often occurs in cases of local desktop computers in connection with an Exchange Server on that same location)
\nIn that case you’re more likely to find OST files or something similar.
\nThe ‘clean’ way to go here is to start a simple PST export procedure in Outlook
\nSeeing as reinventing the wheel is not my hobby, here’s the link to the Microsoft article that explains how to do this :
\nhttps:\/\/support.office.com\/en-us\/article\/export-or-backup-email-contacts-and-calendar-to-an-outlook-pst-file-14252b52-3075-4e9b-be4e-ff9ef1068f91<\/a>
\nWriting walls of text is one of my hobbies, though ^_^<\/li>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/zupertails.be\/wur\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/o_profiles_1.png\")
Once you’ve gotten hold of the PST files, there’s a couple of ways to get them in Office 365, but seeing as I already advised to stop your users from using their email for a while, you get to strike while the iron is still hot.
\nThe easiest way is to create a new Outlook profile<\/strong>.
\nMac users : check this out –>\u00a0https:\/\/support.office.com\/en-us\/article\/manage-profiles-or-identities-in-outlook-for-mac-fed2a955-74df-4a24-bef6-78a426958c4c<\/a>
\n![\"ooooh](\"http:\/\/zupertails.be\/wur\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/o_profiles_2-300x193.png\")
Windows users : Open Control Panel, go to Mail (32 bits or no reference to the number of bits, depending on the version).
\nAfterwards, click ‘View Profiles’ and add a new one.<\/li>\n
\nOutlook will start and an empty mailbox or even a partly filled one will appear. Depending on whether you changed the MX record already or left it unchanged.
\nEventually, change the default profile to your new O365 one.<\/li>\n
\nhttps:\/\/support.office.com\/en-us\/article\/import-email-contacts-and-calendar-from-an-outlook-pst-file-431a8e9a-f99f-4d5f-ae48-ded54b3440ac<\/a>
\nIf you’re still using the same version of Outlook (and you’ve set your user’s languages to that same language in the O365 portal *cough*), this will be a breeze. Calendar, Contacts (NO NOT AUTOFILL<\/a>), Tasks, … will be imported.
\nNo stress (*)
\n*actual stress level may vary.<\/li>\nIMAP migration<\/h2>\n
<\/em><\/em><\/em><\/em><\/em><\/em><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/zupertails.be\/wur\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/how_does_imap_migration_work.png\")
\nUsually it will suffice to base yourself on this template<\/a>, but there are exceptions for Exchange, Dovecot, Mirapoint and couple of weirder ones.<\/p>\nEmailAddress,UserName,Password\r\nterrya@contoso.edu,contoso\\terry.adams,1091990\r\nannb@contoso.edu,contoso\\ann.beebe,2111991\r\npaulc@contoso.edu,contoso\\paul.cannon,3281986<\/pre>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/zupertails.be\/wur\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/o365_m2exchange.png\")
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