I had recently been tasked with removing one exchange server from an on-prem three-node cluster. These are the steps that I had to take to remove the server. As with any decommissioning process, make sure to take a full backup and arrange for downtime 🙂
Before runs command bring is exchange snap in for on Exchange PowerShell by running below
Exchange 2007:
Add-PSSnapin Microsoft.Exchange.Management.PowerShell.Admin;
Exchange 2010:
Add-PSSnapin Microsoft.Exchange.Management.PowerShell.E2010;
Exchange 2013:
Add-PSSnapin Microsoft.Exchange.Management.PowerShell.SnapIn;
Before decom server mailboxes need to move to another DB.
Before you move the mailboxes, run the Set-ADServerSettings cmdlet, including the -ViewEntireForest parameter. This will let you view the objects in the entire forest.
Set-ADServerSettings -ViewEntireForest $true
- Run the Get-MailboxDatabase cmdlet, including the -Status parameter, to check which mailbox databases are present and whether they are mounted.
Get-MailboxDatabase -Status | Sort Name | Format-Table Name, Server, Mounted
- Run Get-Mailbox to find all mailboxes in the database that you are going to delete.
Get-Mailbox -Database “DB01” -ResultSize Unlimited
Move all mailboxes from one database to another with the New-MoveRequest cmdlet.
Get-Mailbox -Database “DB01” -ResultSize Unlimited | New-MoveRequest -TargetDatabase “DB02”
Move Archive mailbox
Find archive mailboxes in the database.
Get-Mailbox -ResultSize Unlimited | Where {$_.ArchiveDatabase -like “DB01”}
Move archive mailboxes to another database.
Get-Mailbox -ResultSize Unlimited | Where {$_.ArchiveDatabase -like “DB01”} | New-MoveRequest -ArchiveTargetDatabase “DB02”
Move Public folder mailbox
Find public folder mailboxes in the database.
Get-Mailbox -Database “DB01” -PublicFolder
Move public folder mailboxes to another database.
Get-Mailbox -Database “DB01” -PublicFolder | New-MoveRequest -TargetDatabase “DB02”
Move Arbitration mailbox
Find arbitration mailboxes in the database.
Get-Mailbox -Database “DB01” -Arbitration
Move arbitration mailbox to another database.
Get-Mailbox -Database “DB01” -Arbitration | New-MoveRequest -TargetDatabase “DB02”
Move Audit Log mailbox
Find audit log mailboxes in the database.
Get-Mailbox -Database “DB01” -AuditLog
Move audit log mailboxes to another database.
Get-Mailbox -Database “DB01” -AuditLog | New-MoveRequest -TargetDatabase “DB02”
Disable Monitoring mailbox
Find monitoring mailboxes associated with the mailbox database.
Get-Mailbox -Database “DB01” -Monitoring | Format-Table Name, DisplayName, Database, Servername
Disable monitoring mailboxes.
Get-Mailbox -Database “DB01” -Monitoring | Disable-Mailbox -Confirm:$false
Please note that the above listed steps need to be done for each DB on the server that is going to remove in order to remove all the mailbox DBs from the server.
Verify mailboxes move
Verify that all the mailboxes are moved. After that, remove completed move requests. If you don’t, you will get the error this mailbox database is associated with one or more move requests. If you want to remove all move requests, run the third command.
Get-MoveRequestStatistics -MoveRequestQueue “DB02”
To remove only selected DB moves,
Get-MoveRequest -SourceDatabase “DB02” -MoveStatus Completed -ResultSize Unlimited | Remove-MoveRequest -Confirm:$false
If you want to remove all the move request run,
Get-MoveRequest -MoveStatus Completed -ResultSize Unlimited | Remove-MoveRequest -Confirm:$false
Get-MoveRequest -ResultSize Unlimited | Remove-MoveRequest -Confirm:$false
Reboot the server
Make sure to check send connectors and Firewall to see any dependencies before remove completely.
Set the Exchange to maintenance mode
Set-ServerComponentState <ServerName> -Component ServerWideOffline -State Inactive -Requester Maintenance
Validate
Get-ServerComponentState <ServerName> | Format-Table Component,State -Autosize
After that you will need to go to ECP and delete the DBs. After that on the exchange server you will be able to uninstall from add/remove in control panel.
Some Useful Documents:
NetSideTech 