Migrating from Novell GroupWise to Exchange Server 2003

This section explains how to migrate a group of users from Novell GroupWise to Exchange 2003. The guidelines are recommended for most migrations and consist of extracting data from a Novell GroupWise post office and immediately importing it into Exchange 2003. However, in some cases you might want to edit the extracted data before importing the data into Exchange 2003, as explained in Understanding Interoperability and Migration in Exchange Server 2003. It is recommended that you configure a dedicated migration server rather than performing the migration through the connector server.

Performing a Novell GroupWise to Exchange 2003 migration consists of the following steps:

1. Set up a migration server for Novell GroupWise and Exchange 2003   The computer that you use to run the Exchange Migration Wizard is generally referred to as a migration server. The migration server must be able to communicate with Novell GroupWise and Exchange 2003. To install the Exchange Migration Wizard on the migration server, run the Exchange 2003 Setup program and select the option to install Exchange System Manager. For best results with the Exchange Migration Wizard, use the following software versions on the migration server:

   • GroupWise 5.2.5   This recommendation pertains only to the migration server. GroupWise users can use the latest GroupWise client.

   • Novell NetWare 4.8   This recommendation pertains only to the migration server. Users can use the latest NDS client.

     Note

     It is recommended that you install multiple migration servers to distribute the workload. For example, you can use five migration servers to migrate 100 users and balance the load so that each migration server handles 20 users. Powerful hardware is not required for your migration servers. You can use a workstation-type computer (a single-processor computer with 128 megabytes (MB) of RAM or more).

2. Prepare the users' Novell GroupWise mailboxes   To migrate data from Novell GroupWise to Exchange 2003, the Exchange Migration Wizard requires access to the mailbox for each user who is migrated. By default, only the owner of the mailbox has access. Novell GroupWise users must grant proxy access to the GroupWise account that you are using to perform the migration. For detailed directions about how to grant proxy access, see How to Grant Full Proxy Access to a User Mailbox Using the Novell GroupWise Client.

   It is also a good idea to run the Novell GroupWise Check (GWCheck) tool on the GroupWise accounts that you want to migrate to ensure that database inconsistencies are eliminated. The GWCheck tool is available from Novell. If you discover GroupWise database problems, you might have to run the GWCheck tool several times to repair a user's messaging database.

   If the GWCheck tool is unable to clear existing corruption, you might be able to solve the problem by creating a new Novell GroupWise post office in another location and moving the mailboxes that have problems into the new post office. This typically clears any corruption that is not resolved by the GWCheck tool. You can then migrate the users from the new post office to Exchange 2003 or move the users back to the old post office before migration.

   In addition to running the GWCheck tool, you might want to perform the following Novell GroupWise tasks:

   • Delete users that no longer exist from Novell GroupWise.

   • Run the Novell VREPAIR tool, available from Novell, to repair any problems on traditional Novell NetWare volumes.

   • Run the Novell Timesync tool, available from Novell, at the server console to ensure that the time on all servers across the network is consistent.

   • Clean all mail queues of old mail.

3. Migrate data from Novell GroupWise to Exchange 2003   The next step in performing migration from Novell GroupWise to Exchange 2003 is to migrate the users and mailboxes from Novell GroupWise to the Exchange 2003 server. You do this by running the Exchange Migration Wizard on an Exchange 2003 server with Novell NetWare client and Novell GroupWise client installed (for example, the server that you configured to run Connector for Novell GroupWise). The Exchange Migration Wizard uses the Novell GroupWise client API to access GroupWise mailboxes.

   Important

   Stop the Connector for Novell GroupWise service during migration to prevent directory synchronization from propagating migrated Novell GroupWise accounts as Exchange 2003 mailboxes before you verify that your migration is successful. If a migration attempt ends unsuccessfully, delete any mailboxes and recipient objects created during the migration attempt from Active Directory. Restart Connector for Novell GroupWise and perform a manual directory synchronization to bring both messaging systems back in sync. For more information about troubleshooting migration problems, see Troubleshooting Interoperability and Migration Issues in Exchange Server 2003.

   It is often sufficient to accept the defaults in the Exchange Migration Wizard. If you have specific needs, you can change the following options on the Migration Information wizard page:

   • Information to create mailboxes   When selected, a new mailbox is created for users migrated from Novell GroupWise to Exchange.

   • Personal e-mail messages   When selected, the user's e-mail stored on Novell GroupWise is migrated to Exchange. You can select either All to migrate all of the user's mail or Dated from to specify a date range of messages to migrate.

   • Calendar Items   When selected, the user's appointments, notes, and tasks are migrated to Exchange. You can select either All to migrate all the user's information or Dated from to specify a date range of schedule information to migrate.

     Note

     Any meeting requests in users' Inboxes that have not been accepted are migrated as text messages. Users must manually add these meetings to their calendars. Before you complete the migration, ensure that users accept any outstanding meeting requests.

   The Exchange Migration Wizard creates a mailbox-enabled Active Directory account for each user being migrated. All new user accounts are placed in the target organizational unit that you select on the Container for New Windows Accounts page. If accounts already exist in Active Directory, for example because you created disabled Windows accounts for all Novell GroupWise users through directory synchronization beforehand, you must verify that the accounts are matched correctly. You can associate the correct account using the Find Existing Account option on the Windows Account Creation and Association page. You can also choose to create a new account using the Create New Account option. For new accounts, the Exchange Migration Wizard can generate a random strong password, which is stored in the Accounts.Password file in the \Program Files\Exchsrvr\Bin directory on the Exchange 2003 server.

   After migration is complete, review the Application Log for information about the migration progress. Look for event log messages with the source MSExchangeMig. It might be helpful to configure and apply a filter in Event Viewer to list only those event log messages from the Exchange Migration Wizard.

4. Migrate calendar information   The Exchange Migration Wizard migrates calendar information by generating a SCHEDULE+ FREE BUSY public folder import file for each user. This file contains the user's schedule information. Users receive this file as an attachment to a new message in their Inboxes. Your users must manually import their schedule data.

Message Conversion Issues

When the Exchange Migration Wizard migrates data, it converts Novell GroupWise messages and other items to Exchange 2003 formats. Table 1 shows how certain Novell GroupWise items are converted during migration to Exchange 2003.

Table 1   Novell GroupWise item conversion

Table 2 shows how Novell GroupWise message formatting is converted during the migration process.

Table 2   Novell GroupWise message formatting conversion

Table 3 shows how Novell GroupWise folders convert to Exchange 2003 folders.

Table 3   Novell GroupWise folder conversion

Migrating Local Archives

The Exchange Migration Wizard migrates data stored on the Novell GroupWise server, but not data in local archives on Novell GroupWise clients. Novell GroupWise clients include automatic archive functionality to store messaging data locally. To migrate local archives, users must convert their local archives back to standard e-mail data and transfer it back into the GroupWise mailboxes.

Novell GroupWise users can store large amounts of e-mail data in their local archives, which means putting these items back into their GroupWise mailboxes will greatly increase the amount of data that must be migrated. You must ensure that your GroupWise system and the Exchange 2003 server have sufficient disk space to store the data. If you are concerned that migrating local archives impedes your migration process, you might want to consider migrating local archives for executives and employees with specific permission only.

Migrating Personal Address Books

The Exchange Migration Wizard is unable to migrate personal address books from Novell GroupWise to Exchange 2003. However, it is possible to export personal address books from GroupWise into .nab files, which are text-based files that can be converted into comma-separated value (.csv) files using a macro in Microsoft Excel, for example. The primary task is to reorder the fields to match the layout required by Outlook. Outlook provides the functionality to import Contact objects from a .csv file.

To determine the order of fields in a .csv file for Outlook, create a sample contact object in Outlook and then export this contact into a .csv file using the Import and Export command on the File menu in Outlook 2003. Chose Export to a file and then select Comma Separated Values (Windows). Select the Contacts folder where you created the sample contact, and complete the export procedure. Open the resulting .csv file in Excel. You should find the list of fields in the first row. The following is a list of all header fields that Outlook recognizes:

"Title","First Name","Middle Name","Last Name","Suffix","Company","Department","Job Title","Business Street","Business Street 2","Business Street 3","Business City","Business State","Business Postal Code","Business Country","Home Street","Home Street 2","Home Street 3","Home City","Home State","Home Postal Code","Home Country","Other Street","Other Street 2","Other Street 3","Other City","Other State","Other Postal Code","Other Country","Assistant's Phone","Business Fax","Business Phone","Business Phone 2","Callback","Car Phone","Company Main Phone","Home Fax","Home Phone","Home Phone 2","ISDN","Mobile Phone","Other Fax","Other Phone","Pager","Primary Phone","Radio Phone","TTY/TDD Phone","Telex","Account","Anniversary","Assistant's Name","Billing Information","Birthday","Business Address PO Box","Categories","Children","Directory Server","E-mail Address","E-mail Type","E-mail Display Name","E-mail 2 Address","E-mail 2 Type","E-mail 2 Display Name","E-mail 3 Address","E-mail 3 Type","E-mail 3 Display Name","Gender","Government ID Number","Hobby","Home Address PO Box","Initials","Internet Free Busy","Keywords","Language","Location","Manager's Name","Mileage","Notes","Office Location","Organizational ID Number","Other Address PO Box","Priority","Private","Profession","Referred By","Sensitivity","Spouse","User 1","User 2","User 3","User 4","Web Page"

Migrating Personal Dictionaries

Personal dictionaries cannot be migrated from Novell GroupWise to Exchange 2003 and Outlook. The Novell GroupWise spelling checker dictionary is stored in separate, identifiable files. However, these files are encrypted and encoded and cannot be migrated to Outlook. Users must add their words to the spelling checker dictionaries in Outlook and Microsoft Office manually.

Migrating Client Rules and Proxy Access

The Exchange Migration Wizard cannot migrate client rules from Novell GroupWise clients to Outlook 2000. Users must re-create their rules in Outlook. Users can access the Rules and Alerts command from the Tools menu in Outlook 2003 to re-create their rules.

Users must also migrate proxy access permissions to the mailboxes manually. In Outlook, proxy access is referred to as delegate access. In Outlook 2003, from the Tools menu, click Options, and then in the Options dialog box, switch to the Delegates tab, where you can click the Add button to configure delegate access. Because Outlook and Exchange 2003 handle delegate access differently than Novell GroupWise does, it is recommended that you train your users to set up delegates and send messages on behalf of another user in Outlook before you perform the migration.

Migrating Shared Folders

Novell GroupWise users can share their mailbox folders with other users, and the Exchange Migration Wizard can migrate the shared folders to Exchange 2003, but shared folder permissions cannot be migrated. To share folders after the migration, users must re-create these permissions on the appropriate folders in Outlook. To grant another user access to a folder in Outlook 2003, right-click the folder, select Properties, and then switch to the Permissions tab.

Migrating External Entities

The Novell GroupWise directory is separate from NDS, and Novell GroupWise allows objects to exist in the GroupWise directory without having an NDS linked object. This kind of object is called an external entity. In Exchange, external entities are handled as normal mailbox-enabled accounts and are migrated using the Exchange Migration Wizard.