Move audit log mailbox in Exchange Server

How to move audit log mailbox in Exchange Server 2010/2013/2016/2019? I recommend you to move the audit log mailbox 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 audit log mailbox to it.

When to move audit log mailbox

• You like to delete a mailbox database. If you don’t move the audit log mailbox, 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 audit log mailbox.

Get audit log mailbox in Exchange environment

Log in to the highest 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. It will let you view the objects in the entire forest. Get the audit log mailbox.

[PS] C:\>Set-ADServerSettings -ViewEntireForest $true

[PS] C:\>Get-Mailbox -AuditLog | Format-Table Name, ServerName, Database, AdminDisplayVersion

Name                                                ServerName Database AdminDisplayVersion
----                                                ---------- -------- -------------------
SystemMailbox{8cc370d3-822a-4ab8-a926-bb94bd0641a9} ex01-2016  DB01     Version 15.1 (Build 2044.4)

Is the audit log mailbox corrupt or not shown after running the above cmdlets? Read the article Recreate audit log mailbox in Exchange Server.

Move audit log mailbox in Exchange to another database

Do you already know which mailbox database you are going to move the audit log mailbox too? Read the article Get Exchange mailbox database mount status. In our example, we are going to move the audit log mailbox from DB01 to DB02.

[PS] C:\>Get-Mailbox -AuditLog | New-MoveRequest -TargetDatabase "DB02"

DisplayName                                         StatusDetail        TotalMailboxSize TotalArchiveSize PercentComplete
-----------                                         ------------        ---------------- ---------------- ---------------
SystemMailbox{8cc370d3-822a-4ab8-a926-bb94bd0641a9} WaitingForJobPickup 0 B (0 bytes)                     0

Check audit log mailbox move request status.

[PS] C:\>Get-MoveRequest | Get-MoveRequestStatistics

DisplayName                                         StatusDetail TotalMailboxSize TotalArchiveSize PercentComplete
-----------                                         ------------ ---------------- ---------------- ---------------
SystemMailbox{8cc370d3-822a-4ab8-a926-bb94bd0641a9} Completed    0 B (0 bytes)                     100

Verify that the audit log mailbox moved to the target mailbox database succesfully.

[PS] C:\>Get-Mailbox -AuditLog | Format-Table Name, ServerName, Database, AdminDisplayVersion

Name                                                ServerName Database AdminDisplayVersion
----                                                ---------- -------- -------------------
SystemMailbox{8cc370d3-822a-4ab8-a926-bb94bd0641a9} ex01-2016  DB02     Version 15.1 (Build 2044.4)

Everything is looking great. The audit log mailbox moved to another database. In the next article, we are going to look at how to recreate the audit log mailbox.

Keep reading: Recreate arbitration mailboxes in Exchange Server »

Conclusion

In this article, you learned how to move audit log mailbox in Exchange Server. First, get the audit log mailbox with PowerShell. After that, move the audit log mailbox in Exchange Server 2010/2013/2016/2019. As of last, verify that the mailbox move is completed and hosted on the target mailbox database.

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