How to Remove Exchange 5.5 Servers from Your Exchange 2003 Organization

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Once you have moved all of the mailbox and public folder data from an Exchange 5.5 server to an Exchange 2003 server you can remove the Exchange 5.5 server from the organization.

Before You Begin

  • The first Exchange server installed in a site contains site folders. These folders consist of the Offline Address Book (OAB) folder, the Schedule+ Free Busy Information folder, and the Organizational Forms folder, if one exists. Before you remove that server, see Microsoft Knowledge Base article 152959, "XADM: How to Remove the First Exchange Server in a Site."

  • If this is the last Exchange 5.5 server, see "How to Remove the Last Exchange 5.5 Server from Your Exchange 2003 Organization" in the Planning an Exchange Server 2003 Messaging System.

  • Verify that there are no mail connectors on the server. If there are, open a connector on another server in the site, and then verify mail flow. Next, remove the connectors on the server to be deleted. Retest message flow. For more information about removing your Exchange 5.5 connectors, see the Exchange 5.5 Help.

  • Ensure that the account to which you are logged on has Exchange Full Administrator permissions, as well as Exchange 5.5 service account administrator permissions for the site.

Procedure

To remove Exchange 5.5 from an Exchange 2003 organization

  1. From the Exchange Server 5.5 CD, run Setup.exe.

  2. On the Microsoft Exchange Server Setup page, click Add/Remove.

  3. Clear the checkbox for Microsoft Exchange Server and click Continue.

  4. Use the Exchange 5.5 Administrator program to connect to another server within the same site. Make sure you are logged on using the Exchange service account or an account with equivalent permissions. To perform this step, you may need to reinstall the Administrator console from the Exchange 5.5 CD. Do not reinstall Exchange 5.5. Only install the Administrator console.

  5. Select the server you want to delete. On the Edit menu, click Delete.

  6. Verify that directory replication is complete and Active Directory Connector (ADC) cleanup has taken place. See "How to Verify Directory Replication and ADC Cleanup" in the Planning an Exchange Server 2003 Messaging System.

For More Information

For more information, see "Planning to Move from Exchange 5.5 to Exchange 2003" in the Planning an Exchange Server 2003 Messaging System.