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Pause mailbox move request in Exchange Server

Today is an excellent day because you need to move mailboxes to a new database. You like to pause the mailbox move request because it takes a long time. The resume of the mailboxes will be later on the day when the staff will leave work. In this article, you will learn how to pause a single mailbox or all mailboxes with PowerShell.

Pause single mailbox

To suspend a single mailbox move request, follow the below steps:

Step 1: Get move request

Do you already know which mailbox you want to pause? That is great and proceed to the next step. If not, let’s get the move request statistics.

Run Exchange Management Shell as administrator. Next, run the Get-MoveRequest cmdlet.

[PS] C:\>Get-MoveRequest "john.doe@exoip.com"| Get-MoveRequestStatistics
 
DisplayName    StatusDetail    TotalMailboxSize               TotalArchiveSize PercentComplete
-----------    ------------    ----------------               ---------------- ---------------
Doe John       CopyingMessages 2.423 MB (2,540,313 bytes)                      39

Step 2: Suspend single mailbox move request

We like to pause the mailbox of Doe John. Let’s run the Suspend-MoveRequest cmdlet and the mailbox email address or the user display name after the -Identity parameter.

[PS] C:\>Suspend-MoveRequest -Identity "john.doe@exoip.com"

[PS] C:\>Suspend-MoveRequest -Identity "Doe John"

Step 3: Check move request

Check the move request statistics. It will show the mailbox status detail as Suspended.

[PS] C:\>Get-MoveRequest -Identity "john.doe@exoip.com" | Get-MoveRequestStatistics
 
DisplayName    StatusDetail    TotalMailboxSize               TotalArchiveSize PercentComplete
-----------    ------------    ----------------               ---------------- ---------------
Doe John       Suspended       2.423 MB (2,540,313 bytes)                      41

Step 4: Resume single mailbox move request

Let’s resume the mailbox move request. We will run the Resume-MoveRequest cmdlet. Run one of the two commands.

[PS] C:\>Resume-MoveRequest -Identity "john.doe@alitajran.com"

[PS] C:\>Resume-MoveRequest -Identity "Doe John"

Pause all mailboxes

To suspend all mailbox move requests, follow these steps:

Step 1: Get all move request

Do you already know which mailbox you want to pause? That is great and proceed to the next step. If not, let’s get the move request statistics.

Run Exchange Management Shell as administrator. Next, run the Get-MoveRequest cmdlet.

[PS] C:\>Get-MoveRequest | Get-MoveRequestStatistics
 
DisplayName    StatusDetail    TotalMailboxSize               TotalArchiveSize PercentComplete
-----------    ------------    ----------------               ---------------- ---------------
Flowers Alima  CopyingMessages 5.063 KB (5,184 bytes)                          29
Wells Jamal    CopyingMessages 2.423 MB (2,540,313 bytes)                      25
Harwood Haidar CopyingMessages 302.3 KB (309,603 bytes)                        52
Wu Samantha    CopyingMessages 4.377 MB (4,589,389 bytes)                      30
Lester Shana   CopyingMessages 231.6 MB (242,877,775 bytes)                    89
Fowler Simone  CopyingMessages 3.148 GB (3,379,905,224 bytes)                  47

Step 2: Suspend all mailbox move request

Run the command to suspend the mailboxes. After that, check if the move request is in a suspended state.

Note: We will use the -Confirm:$false switch. You will not get a confirmation message asking if you are sure to suspend the move request.

[PS] C:\>Get-MoveRequest -MoveStatus InProgress | Suspend-MoveRequest -Confirm:$false

Step 3: Check all move request

All the mailbox move requests are now Suspended.

[PS] C:\>Get-MoveRequest | Get-MoveRequestStatistics
 
DisplayName    StatusDetail TotalMailboxSize               TotalArchiveSize PercentComplete
-----------    ------------ ----------------               ---------------- ---------------
Flowers Alima  Suspended    5.063 KB (5,184 bytes)                          30
Wells Jamal    Suspended    2.423 MB (2,540,313 bytes)                      27
Harwood Haidar Suspended    302.3 KB (309,603 bytes)                        54
Wu Samantha    Suspended    4.377 MB (4,589,389 bytes)                      31
Lester Shana   Suspended    231.6 MB (242,877,775 bytes)                    89
Fowler Simone  Suspended    3.148 GB (3,379,905,224 bytes)                  47

Step 4: Resume all mailbox move request

Now we like to Resume the mailbox move request. Run the command and check if the move request is in a resume state.

[PS] C:\>Get-MoveRequest -MoveStatus Suspended | Resume-MoveRequest

[PS] C:\>Get-MoveRequest | Get-MoveRequestStatistics
 
DisplayName    StatusDetail    TotalMailboxSize               TotalArchiveSize PercentComplete
-----------    ------------    ----------------               ---------------- ---------------
Flowers Alima  CopyingMessages 5.063 KB (5,184 bytes)                          34
Wells Jamal    CopyingMessages 2.423 MB (2,540,313 bytes)                      39
Harwood Haidar CopyingMessages 302.3 KB (309,603 bytes)                        61
Wu Samantha    CopyingMessages 4.377 MB (4,589,389 bytes)                      32
Lester Shana   CopyingMessages 231.6 MB (242,877,775 bytes)                    91
Fowler Simone  CopyingMessages 3.148 GB (3,379,905,224 bytes)                  5

That’s it!

Read more: Migrate Exchange mailboxes through text file »

Conclusion

You learned how to pause and resume mailbox move requests in Exchange Server. It’s essential to suspend the mailbox moves when there are network issues. After you fix the network issues, resume the move request. With PowerShell, it’s easy to read the mailbox move request data, and act fast with a couple of commands.

Did you enjoy this article? You may also like Move all mailboxes from one database to another. Don’t forget to follow us and share this article.

ALI TAJRAN

ALI TAJRAN

ALI TAJRAN is a passionate IT Architect, IT Consultant, and Microsoft Certified Trainer. He started Information Technology at a very young age, and his goal is to teach and inspire others. Read more »

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