Maybe it's time? Such a question sooner or later appears among colleagues who use Lotus as an email client or workflow system. A request for migration (in our experience) can arise at completely different levels of the organization: from top management to users (especially if there are many of them). Here are a few reasons why migrating from Lotus to Exchange is not an easy task:
- The IBM Notes RTF format is not compatible with the Exchange RTF format;
- IBM Notes uses the SMTP address format for external mail only, Exchange for all;
- The need to save delegations;
- The need to preserve metadata;
- Some of the messages may be encrypted.
And if Exchange is already there, but Lotus is still in use, coexistence problems arise:
- The need to use scripts or third-party systems to synchronize address books between Domino and Exchange;
- Domino uses plain text to send mail to other mail systems;
- Domino uses the iCalendar format to send invitations to other email systems;
- The impossibility of Free-Busy requests and joint resource booking (without the use of third-party solutions).
In this article, we will analyze specialized Quest software products for migration and coexistence: и respectively. At the end of the article, you will find a link to a page where you can apply for a free test migration of several mailboxes to demonstrate the simplicity of the process. And under the cut, a step-by-step migration algorithm and other details on the migration process.
If we distinguish between approaches to migration, we can assume that there are three main types:
- Transition without migration. Users receive empty mailboxes, the original mail service continues to work in read-only mode.
- Migration with coexistence. Integration between the source and target systems is set up, after which the mailbox data is migrated to the new system in stages.
- Offline migration. The original system is shut down, all user data is migrated to the new system.
Below we will talk about offline migration and coexistence migration. For these processes, as we wrote above, two Quest products are responsible: Coexistence Manager for Notes and Migrator for Notes to Exchange, respectively.
Coexistence Manager for Notes (CMN)
This solution performs two-way synchronization of LDAP directories, creates contacts for mail objects (boxes, lists, mailing lists, resources) from the source system. It is possible to customize attribute mapping and use data transformation on the fly. As a result, you will get identical address books in Lotus and Exchange.
CMN also provides SMTP communication between infrastructures:
- Edits letters on the fly;
- Converts to the correct RTF format;
- Handles DocLinks;
- Packs Notes data into NSF;
- Handles invitations and requests for resources.
CMN can be used in clustered mode for fault tolerance and improved performance. As a result, you will get the preservation of message formatting, support for complex schedules and resource requests between email systems.
Another important CMN feature is Free-Busy emulation. With it, colleagues do not need to know who uses what: Lotus or Exchange. Emulation allows the mail client to obtain user availability data from another mail system. Instead of synchronizing data, requests between systems are sent in real time. As a result, you can use Free-Busy even after some users have migrated.
Migrator for Notes to Exchange (MNE)
This tool performs a live migration. The migration process itself can be conditionally divided into several stages: pre-migration, migration and post-migration.
Pre-migration
At this stage, the initial infrastructure is analyzed: domains, addresses, groups, etc., collections of mailboxes for migration, accounts, and association of contacts with an AD account are created.
Migration
Migration copies mailbox data across multiple streams while preserving ACLs and metadata. Groups also migrate. If necessary, you can perform a delta migration if for some reason it was not possible to do it all at once. The MNE also takes care of mail forwarding. All migration happens at the speed of a network connection, so having the Lotus and Exchange environments in the same data center has a big speed advantage.
Post-migration
At the post-migration stage, local/encrypted data is migrated via self-service. This is a special utility that decrypts messages. When you delta again, these emails will be transferred to Exchange.
Another optional migration step is application migration. To do this, Quest has a specialized product − . In a separate article we will talk about working with it.
Step by Step Migration with MNE and CMN Solutions
Step 1. Performing an AD update using Coexistence Manager. Retrieve data from the Domino directory and create mail-enabled user accounts (contacts) in Active Directory. However, no user mailboxes have been created in Exchange yet. User records in AD contain the current addresses of Notes users.
Step 2. Exchange can redirect messages to Notes user mailboxes as soon as the MX record is changed. This is a temporary workaround to redirect incoming Exchange mail until the first users are migrated.
Step 3. The Migrator for Notes to Exchange Data Migration Wizard enables the migrating users' AD accounts and sets up Notes mail forwarding rules so that mail addressed to already migrated users' Notes addresses is redirected to their active Exchange mailboxes.
Step 4. The process is repeated as each group of users migrates to the new server.
Step 5. The Domino server may be down (actually not if there are applications left).
The migration is complete, you can go home and open the Exchange client there. If you are already thinking about migrating from Lotus to Exchange, we recommend reading our blog . And if you want to see the test migration in action and make sure that Quest products are easy to use, leave a request in and we will conduct a free test migration to Exchange for you.
Source: habr.com