Prerequisites for Moving a Database to a Different Storage Group or Server

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An Exchange private mailbox database doesn't "know" which server it is on, which storage group it belongs to, or even what its logical name is. A private mailbox database is tied only to the organization and administrative group names of the server installation on which it is mounted. Everything else is changeable; you can even change the file name of the .stm and .edb files if you want.

An Exchange mailbox database can be taken from its original storage group and mounted on any other Exchange server where:

  • The version of Exchange installed is compatible with the version of the database.

  • The Organization name is the same as on the original server.

  • The Administrative Group name is the same as on the original server.

  • The legacyExchangeDN values on important Exchange configuration objects are the same as on the original server.

    Note

    If you are moving a database between servers that actually belong to the same administrative group, the legacyExchangeDN values will always be compatible. If you are moving a database to a test server that shares the same name but is not actually part of the Exchange organization, you may need to change the legacyExchangeDN values. You can change the values by using the LegacyDN.exe tool, or by finding and altering legacyExchangeDN values in Active Directory.