How to Automatically Configure Outlook Profiles after Mailbox Migration?
Migration to a newer version of Exchange Server brings a lot of new features, mobility, compatibility, and several collaboration tools. And most importantly, it will ensure constant updates and security patches to the system. It also ensures security of the application, protection of the data and the users as well as protection and support in case of any issue. With new system, a new maintenance agreement is set and the system, along with the operating system underneath and the hardware, will be fully supported by the vendor and Microsoft. After a successful migration, one of the biggest challenges is the user setup. If there are only a few users, it is not an issue. However, if you have hundreds of users, this could be a bit of hassle, especially if the new Exchange Server requires a newer Office package installation due to compatibility.
After the migration, you may face an issue with Outlook and the users will not be able to connect to the new server or service. You may encounter the following error:
Outlook cannot log on. Verify you are connected to the network and are using the proper server and mailbox name. The Microsoft Exchange information service in your profile is missing required information. Modify your profile to ensure that you are using the correct Microsoft Exchange information service.
Usually, this error occurs if some registry keys, in the predecessor Exchange Server, which are used by services like Autodiscover, are still pointing to the old (decommissioned) Exchange Server. In this article, we will be going through ways to fix the problem.
The first thing to do is recreate the Outlook profile on the machine. This procedure can be done on any computer which is connecting to the new Exchange Server.
After making sure that Outlook is closed, which can be verified from the Task Manager, the following procedure needs to be followed.
· Click on Start.
· Open the Control Panel.
· Click on View by and click on Small icons.
· Find the Mail (Microsoft Outlook) and click on it.
· Click on the Show Profiles button.
· Now, create a new profile. For this, click on the Add button and give the profile a name. Click OK.
Here, you need to complete the wizard to connect to the new mailbox on the new server. Once this is done and all is working with no issues, you will see both old and new profiles. But when you open Outlook, the old profile will be loaded. To fix this, you can update the When starting Microsoft Outlook, use this profile. Here’s how:
· Click on the Always use this profile.
· Select the new profile.
· Click OK to save the changes.
After this, when you open Outlook, it will open with the new profile without any issues and connect automatically to the new Exchange Server.
Another option to facilitate and automating the matter is to create a script and distribute it via a Group Policy Object (GPO).
First, you need to create the script depending on the Outlook version you have installed. Below are the scripts for Outlook 2013 and Outlook 2016/2019.
Outlook 2013
reg add HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Office\15.0\Outlook\Profiles\<New Profile Name>
reg add “HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Office\15.0\Outlook” /v DefaultProfile /t REG_SZ /d “<New Profile Name>” /F
Outlook 2016/ Outlook 2019
reg add HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Outlook\Profiles\<New Profile Name>
reg add “HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Outlook” /v DefaultProfile /t REG_SZ /d “<New Profile Name>” /F
You will need to replace the <New Profile Name> section with the name of the profile which you would need to setup.
When the script is complete, save the file and change the Save as type to All Files.
Save the file with the .bat extension.
Note: You need to save the .bat file at a location which the affected users have access to, like a common share.
From the Active Directory server, open the Group Policy Management.
Browse to the Organizational Unit (OU) where the users and computers are situated, right-click on the OU and click on Create a GPO in this domain, and Link it here.
Browse to the Scripts (Logon/Logoff) under Windows Settings, Policies and User Configuration.
Click on Properties of Logon.
Click on Add to add the script which you saved above and enter the full network path to the script, for example \\domainserver\commonshare\CreateNewOutlookProfile.bat and click OK.
Close the Group Policy Management Console. The script will automatically be executed on each user on logon. As soon as Outlook is launched, the wizard will automatically be started and the users will be able to add the new profile with no issues and use the new mailbox on the new server.
When migration is complete, usually the Active Directory Schema is cleaned and the server is completely decommissioned. This means that if any data was not transferred or there is a need to migrate some mailboxes, this would not be possible as you cannot open and export directly from an EDB file. In such a situation, you can use Stellar Converter for EDB. With this software, you can open EDB files from any Exchange Server version, browse through them, and granularly export to PST and other file formats. You can also export directly to a live Exchange Server mailbox database of any version. You can also use the application as a migration tool to migrate to Office 365.
