Move arbitration mailboxes in Exchange Server
How to move arbitration mailboxes in Exchange Server 2010/2013/2016/2019? It’s recommended to move the arbitration mailboxes to the highest Exchange Server version in the organization. If you are installing the same version of Exchange Server, you don’t have to move the arbitration mailboxes to it.
When to move arbitration mailboxes
- You like to remove a mailbox database. If you don’t move the arbitration mailboxes, you cannot delete the mailbox database.
- You have installed a higher version of Exchange Server in the organization.
- You want to decommission the Exchange Server that is hosting the arbitration mailboxes.
Arbitration mailboxes are system mailboxes that are used for storing different types of system data and for managing messaging approval workflow.
Get arbitration mailboxes in Exchange environment
Log in to the latest version of Exchange Server. For example, if you have an Exchange Server 2010 and Exchange Server 2016. Log in to Exchange Server 2016. Run Exchange Management Shell as administrator. In my example, it’s Exchange Server 2016.
Run Set-ADServerSettings cmdlet including the -ViewEntireForest parameter. This will let you view the objects in the entire forest. Get the arbitration mailboxes. The arbitration mailboxes are configured in the default mailbox database after installing Exchange Server. If you did rename the Exchange Server default mailbox database, you will see that name.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 | [PS] C:\>Set-ADServerSettings -ViewEntireForest $true [PS] C:\>Get-Mailbox -Arbitration | Format-Table Name, ServerName, Database, AdminDisplayVersion Name ServerName Database AdminDisplayVersion ---- ---------- -------- ------------------- SystemMailbox{1f05a927-259d-4b29-bcd8-76469a2fb004} ex01-2016 DB01 Version 15.1 (Build 1979.3) SystemMailbox{bb558c35-97f1-4cb9-8ff7-d53741dc928c} ex01-2016 DB01 Version 15.1 (Build 1979.3) SystemMailbox{e0dc1c29-89c3-4034-b678-e6c29d823ed9} ex01-2016 DB01 Version 15.1 (Build 1979.3) Migration.8f3e7716-2011-43e4-96b1-aba62d229136 ex01-2016 DB01 Version 15.1 (Build 1979.3) FederatedEmail.4c1f4d8b-8179-4148-93bf-00a95fa1e042 ex01-2016 DB01 Version 15.1 (Build 1979.3) SystemMailbox{D0E409A0-AF9B-4720-92FE-AAC869B0D201} ex01-2016 DB01 Version 15.1 (Build 1979.3) SystemMailbox{2CE34405-31BE-455D-89D7-A7C7DA7A0DAA} ex01-2016 DB01 Version 15.1 (Build 1979.3) |
Find mailbox database in Exchange Server
Before moving the arbitration mailboxes, you have to check what the name of the mailbox database is. It’s good to check if the mailbox database is mounted. Make use of the Get-MailboxDatabase cmdlet. The -IncludePreExchange switch will return information regarding your Exchange Server version and earlier Exchange versions.
An example of what the -IncludePreExchange switch does for you. You have Exchange Server 2010 and Exchange Server 2016 running in the organization. If you run the Get-MailBoxDatabase cmdlet from Exchange Server 2016, it will show you only the databases running in Exchange Server 2016. If you use the -IncludePreExchange switch, it will show you the Exchange Server 2010 mailbox databases.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 | C:\>Get-MailboxDatabase -IncludePreExchange -Status | Sort Name | Format-Table Name, Server, Mounted, AdminDisplayVersion Name Server Mounted AdminDisplayVersion ---- ------ ------- ------------------- DB01 EX01-2016 True Version 15.1 (Build 1979.3) DB02 EX01-2016 True Version 15.1 (Build 1979.3) DB03 EX01-2016 True Version 15.1 (Build 1979.3) |
In the next part, you are going to move the arbitration mailboxes to another mailbox database.
Move arbitration mailboxes in Exchange to another database
You don’t have to separate the arbitration mailboxes in different mailbox databases. In fact, I recommend you to move the arbitration mailboxes to one mailbox database. For example, the mailbox database DB02.
Read more: Create mailbox database in Exchange Server 2016 »
Moving arbitration mailboxes is the same as moving mailboxes to another database. The difference is that you use the -Arbitration parameter.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 | [PS] C:\>Get-Mailbox -Arbitration | New-MoveRequest -TargetDatabase "DB02" DisplayName StatusDetail TotalMailboxSize TotalArchiveSize PercentComplete ----------- ------------ ---------------- ---------------- --------------- Microsoft Exchange Approval Assistant WaitingForJobPickup 121.2 KB (124,156 bytes) 0 Microsoft Exchange WaitingForJobPickup 518.1 KB (530,503 bytes) 0 Microsoft Exchange WaitingForJobPickup 21.12 MB (22,141,001 bytes) 0 Microsoft Exchange Migration WaitingForJobPickup 129.7 KB (132,801 bytes) 0 Microsoft Exchange Federation Mailbox WaitingForJobPickup 117.8 KB (120,610 bytes) 0 E4E Encryption Store - Active WaitingForJobPickup 120 KB (122,897 bytes) 0 Microsoft Exchange WaitingForJobPickup 118.3 KB (121,093 bytes) 0 |
Check the progress of the arbitration mailboxes move requests.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 | [PS] C:\>Get-MoveRequest | Get-MoveRequestStatistics DisplayName StatusDetail TotalMailboxSize TotalArchiveSize PercentComplete ----------- ------------ ---------------- ---------------- --------------- Microsoft Exchange CopyingMessages 21.36 MB (22,396,398 bytes) 30 Microsoft Exchange Approval Assistant Completed 243 KB (248,791 bytes) 100 Microsoft Exchange Completed 630.1 KB (645,173 bytes) 100 Microsoft Exchange Migration Completed 239.1 KB (244,832 bytes) 100 Microsoft Exchange Federation Mailbox Completed 235.7 KB (241,395 bytes) 100 E4E Encryption Store - Active Completed 237.8 KB (243,512 bytes) 100 Microsoft Exchange Completed 241.1 KB (246,932 bytes) 100 |
Verify if the arbitration mailboxes are moved successfully to the target database.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 | [PS] C:\>Get-Mailbox -Arbitration | Format-Table Name, ServerName, Database, AdminDisplayVersion Name ServerName Database AdminDisplayVersion ---- ---------- -------- ------------------- SystemMailbox{1f05a927-259d-4b29-bcd8-76469a2fb004} ex01-2016 DB02 Version 15.1 (Build 1979.3) SystemMailbox{bb558c35-97f1-4cb9-8ff7-d53741dc928c} ex01-2016 DB02 Version 15.1 (Build 1979.3) SystemMailbox{e0dc1c29-89c3-4034-b678-e6c29d823ed9} ex01-2016 DB02 Version 15.1 (Build 1979.3) Migration.8f3e7716-2011-43e4-96b1-aba62d229136 ex01-2016 DB02 Version 15.1 (Build 1979.3) FederatedEmail.4c1f4d8b-8179-4148-93bf-00a95fa1e042 ex01-2016 DB02 Version 15.1 (Build 1979.3) SystemMailbox{D0E409A0-AF9B-4720-92FE-AAC869B0D201} ex01-2016 DB02 Version 15.1 (Build 1979.3) SystemMailbox{2CE34405-31BE-455D-89D7-A7C7DA7A0DAA} ex01-2016 DB02 Version 15.1 (Build 1979.3) |
To clean it up, remove completed move requests. The first cmdlet will remove the completed move requests. If you like to remove all the move requests, use the second cmdlet.
1 2 3 | [PS] C:\>Get-MoveRequest -MoveStatus Completed | Remove-MoveRequest -Confirm:$False [PS] C:\>Get-MoveRequest | Remove-MoveRequest -Confirm:$False |
Did this help you to find and move arbitration mailboxes in Exchange Server 2010/2013/2016/2019?
Conclusion
In this article, you learned how to move arbitration mailboxes in Exchange Server. First, check if the arbitration mailboxes are present and in which mailbox databases. After that, find the mounted mailbox databases. As of last, move the arbitration mailboxes to the mounted mailbox database. Remember to move the arbitration mailboxes to the highest version of the Exchange Server.
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Awesome. Just what I needed with the missing pieces others seemed to leave out. Thank you!