Exchange 2010 to 2016 migration – ActiveSync MobileIron not working

We have an Exchange 2010 to Exchange 2016 migration planned. Do you have Exchange 2010 in your environment? If you do, start migrating because Exchange 2010 is coming to an end. We did begin migrating mailboxes from Exchange 2010 to Exchange 2016. After a mailbox finished moving, email is not working on their phones and tablets. It’s working fine in Outlook and webmail. It’s interesting, why is it not working on the phones and tablets. How do we find a solution to this problem?

Exchange infrastructure

First, we need to have a helicopter view of the organization’s infrastructure. The organization infrastructure contains:

• 4x Exchange Servers 2010
• 2x Exchange Server 2016
• 1x MobileIron
• 1x Load Balancer

Exchange Server migration plan

The task is to:

• Migrate the mailboxes from Exchange 2010 to Exchange 2016 servers.
• Make sure that all the mailboxes are moved to Exchange 2016.
• Start uninstalling Exchange 2010 servers.

ActiveSync MobileIron not syncing after Exchange mailbox migration

Let’s reproduce the problem by following the steps:

1. Make a test user mailbox on Exchange Server 2010. For example, test2010@alitajran.com.
2. Download the MobileIron application on your phone or tablet.
3. Configure MobileIron by providing the settings and or credentials.
4. MobileIron will install a profile. After that, it will configure the email test2010@alitajran.com on the phone or tablet.
5. Open the email application on your phone or tablet.
6. Send and receive email from the email account test2010@alitajran.com. All is working fine.
7. Move the mailbox to Exchange 2016.
8. Verify that the mailbox is migrated on an Exchange 2016 database.
9. Load the mail application on the phone or tablet.
10. Email is not loading new emails. The last connection was a couple of minutes ago. A message is showing “Cannot Get Mail, the connection to the server failed”.
    

Solution to ActiveSync MobileIron not syncing after Exchange mailbox migration

Sign in to the MobileIron Admin Portal.

Click Device & Users in the menu. Click ActiveSync.

Select the checkbox for the user that is having the email problem. For example, test2010.

Click the Actions button, and a dropdown menu will show up. Click Remove.

Open the email application on your phone or tablet. Email is working again!

Why is ActiveSync MobileIron not syncing after Exchange mailbox migration

The devices (phones or tablets) with a mailbox that has been migrated from Exchange 2010 to 2016 are having problems. That’s because ActiveSync does not switch to the new ActiveSync protocol that Exchange 2016 uses.

The negotiation between MobileIron and the ActiveSync device is using the ActiveSync protocol. The protocol that is being used is called “version negotiation“. Version negotiation will only take place during the first synchronization and no longer afterward.

By removing the ActiveSync associations from MobileIron, it will force the device to make a new negotiation. This time with Exchange 2016.

Conclusion

You learned that there could be problems when you have an Exchange 2010 to 2016 migration. First, get a helicopter view of the organization. Second, try to reproduce the problem. The last step is to find the solution. In this case, the solution is to remove the ActiveSync associations from MobileIron. Then, the device will make a new negotiation to Exchange 2016.

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