Transitioning to Exchange 2010

IT Connect > Software and Hardware > UW Exchange > Transitioning

UW-IT is currently working to upgrade the UW Exchange service from Exchange 2007 to Exchange 2010. As part of the upgrade some UW Exchange users may need to make changes to their client application configuration to work properly with the new version. This page is intended to provide basic information about the upgrade project and general instructions to help our customers through the transition.

Upgrade Timing

Most Exchange 2010 backend server/system upgrades are now complete.
Exchange 2010 mailbox migrations are now in progress and will continue on a phased basis at least through the end of August 2011.
Mailbox upgrades will impact users in small batches on Monday through Thursday between 1:00am and 5:00am PT. Users should continue to have access to their email throughout most of the upgrade process. During the brief period that each mailbox is inaccessible any new messages will be queued for delivery.

Upgrade Approach

UW-IT is employing a "round-robin" approach to upgrading the Exchange mailbox servers in order to reclaim and reuse as much existing server hardware as possible. In other words, each existing 2007 mailbox server will be emptied of user mailboxes by moving those user accounts to an already upgraded 2010 mailbox server. As they are emptied each existing 2007 server will then be upgraded to 2010, providing capacity for the next 2007 server in sequence to in turn be emptied and upgraded, etc.
For redundacy reasons, user mailboxes from each subscribing UW Exchange customer organization are spread across all of the existing mailbox servers, therefore we cannot move all user mailboxes from a given department at the same time, nor can we specify too far in advance when an individual user mailbox will be upgraded.
Though we cannot provide a long-term advance schedule for individual mailboxes, UW Exchange users and Support Organizations will receive notification a day or two prior to when their mailbox will be upgraded. Support Organizations will also receive a report following each upgrade run listing the user mailboxes that successfully upgraded the night before.

Benefits of Exchange 2010

Improved browser support for Outlook Web App: Users get the same great OWA experience within Internet Explorer 7 and later, Firefox 3 and later, Safari 3 and later, and Chrome 1 and later.
Improved Calendar sharing: With Exchange 2010 and Outlook Web App, users can now share calendars and use the Scheduling Assistant to schedule meetings with people inside and outside the organization, and publish their calendar for anonymous access. Users can also print out a calendar showing day, week or a month view.
Conversation view: OWA and Outlook 2010 users can use the new Conversation View, which groups together related messages, to quickly identify the most recent messages and related responses.
Smaller screen size support: Outlook Web App has been redesigned to make better use of the smaller screens on devices such as netbooks, tablets and smartphones
Cached mode improvements: Use of cached mode with the Outlook 2007 SP2 and higher client is now recommended (previous recommendation with Exchange 2007 was to avoid cached mode).
System administration improvements: Exchange 2010 provides enhancements to system architecture, stability, and supportability, which are expected to reduce engineering and support cost to maintain the Exchange environment.

Some Important Things to Know

Many older versions of Apple Mail and Entourage client applications use a protocol called WebDAV to connect to the Exchange server. While we are NOT abandoning support for Entourage, AppleMail, etc., support for the WebDAV protocol has been removed by Microsoft in Exchange 2010. See below for options for clients using WebDAV to connect to Exchange. Note that in many cases the best option will be to upgrade to a current version of the client application.
While most will upgrade fairly seamlessly, some Outlook clients may require rebuilding the user's Exchange profile.
Some Android clients MAY need to manually re-synch their account and/or delete and recreate their Exchange ActiveSync account. In addition,
Some versions of Android firmware may experience certificate errors. Should that occur Android device user may also need to "accept all SSL certificates" or disable "verify certificates" if prompted."

What You Need To Do

If you use one of the common client applications noted below to connect to the Exchange server you need to know the following (Note: This is NOT a comprehensive list of all possible client options and configurations):

Client	Version(s)	Be aware that:	What you need to do when your mailbox is upgraded to Exchange 2010:
Microsoft Outlook	2007 and 2010	If Outlook is open when your mailbox is upgraded you may receive a prompt to close and restart the application Outlook sometimes behaves erratically, therefore some users may need to delete and rebuild their Outlook profile	Restart Outlook application If Outlook fails to perform correctly you may need to delete and rebuild your Outlook profile. You can find generic instructions on the Outlook 2010 and UW Exchange page.
Microsoft Outlook	2003	If Outlook is open when your mailbox is upgraded you may receive a prompt to close and restart the application	Restart Outlook application If Outlook fails to perform correctly you may need to delete and rebuild your Outlook profile.
Microsoft Outlook	Versions prior to 2003	Older versions of Outlook are not supported on Exchange 2010	Upgrade to a supported version of Outlook, such as Outlook 2007 or 2010
Microsoft Outlook	2011 (Macintosh only)	If Outlook is open when your mailbox is upgraded you may receive a prompt to close and restart the application You CANNOT use the “open another user’s folder” option to view the calendar of another user mailbox still on Exchange 2007 (gives an error stating that you do not have the proper permission). You CAN use the “open another user’s folder” option to view the calendar of another user mailbox on Exchange 2010; resource mailboxes function similarly. You CAN use the Scheduling Assistant to see free/busy status of another user still on Exchange 2007.	Restart Outlook application If delegates to your calendar cannot view it, delete the delegation, clear cache, re-add them (note - NEVER have more than 2 delegates!)
Entourage	Entourage 2008, Web Services Edition or newer	If Entourage is open when your mailbox is upgraded you may receive a prompt to close and restart the application Delegates may not be able to view your calendar You CANNOT use the “open another user’s folder” option to view the calendar of another user mailbox still on Exchange 2007 (gives an error stating that you do not have the proper permission). You CAN use the “open another user’s folder” option to view the calendar of another user mailbox on Exchange 2010; resource mailboxes function similarly. You CAN use the Scheduling Assistant to see free/busy status of another user still on Exchange 2007.	Restart Entourage application Confirm that the Exchange server name is set to exchange.washington.edu (it may have been temporarily changed to owa.uw.edu) If delegates to your calendar cannot view it, delete the delegation, clear cache, re-add them (note - NEVER have more than 2 delegates!)
Entourage	Versions prior to Entourage 2008, Web Services Edition	Older versions of Entourage use WebDAV to connect to the Exchange server; per Microsoft, WebDAV will NOT be supported on Exchange 2010 Once your Exchange mailbox is migrated to a 2010 server, the current WebDAV connection will no longer work.	Upgrade to a supported client version, such as the most recent version of Entourage (Entourage 2008 WITH "Web Services Edition" update, e.g., vers 13+). See the Entourage 2008 Web Services Edition and UW Exchange page. OR Outlook included with Microsoft Office 2011 for Macintosh. See the Outlook 2011 and UW Exchange page. OR Use IMAP to connect to the Exchange server. You can find generic IMAP configuration instructions on the IMAP Settings and UW Exchange page.
Apple Mail/iCal	Mac OS 10.6 and newer	Users may see duplicate emails in Apple Mail (but not OWA) due to changing the server name back to exchange.washington.edu from owa.uw.edu. Delegates may not be able to view your calendar	Restart your Apple Mail client If you experience any problems you may need to delete and recreate your Apple Mail account. Confirm that the Exchange server name is set to exchange.washington.edu (it may have been temporarily changed to owa.uw.edu) If delegates to your calendar cannot view it, delete the delegation, clear cache, re-add them (note - NEVER have more than 2 delegates!)
Apple Mail/iCal	Mac OS 10.5 and older	Older versions of AppleMail will not connect to Exchange 2010 (except as a generic IMAP client)	Upgrade to a supported client version, such as the most recent version of Entourage (Entourage 2008 WITH "Web Services Edition" update, e.g., vers 13+) See the Entourage 2008 Web Services Edition and UW Exchange page. OR Outlook included with Microsoft Office 2011 for Macintosh, See the Outlook 2011 and UW Exchange page. OR The current version of AppleMail included with OS 10.6. (Apple Mail from OS X 10.6, e.g., ver 4.3) OR Use IMAP to connect to the Exchange server. You can find generic IMAP configuration instructions on the IMAP Settings for UW Exchange page.
IMAP-based clients, e.g. Pine/Alpine, Thunderbird, etc.	Various	Unix Alpine 2.01 has trouble displaying the body of at least some messages of Content-Type: multipart/mixed, multipart/alternative, and multipart/report.	Restart IMAP client You can find generic IMAP configuration instructions on the IMAP Settings for UW Exchange page.
Exchange ActiveSync	Various, including iPhone, Android, and Windows Mobile devices.	Most Exchange ActiveSync devices should continue to work properly after the upgrade, though some users MAY need to manually re-synch their account and/or delete and recreate their Exchange ActiveSync account. There is an enormous variety of devices, operating system versions, and user interfaces in use at UW. UW-IT cannot provide specific instructions for every potential configuration. Some Android phones, running OS version 2.2 may not be able to connect to Exchange server.	Confirm that the Exchange server name is set to exchange.washington.edu (it may have been temporarily changed to owa.uw.edu) Some devices may require manual synching and/or may require deleting and recreating the Exchange ActiveSync account. Upgrade Android to OS version 2.2.1 (may not be available for all models from all vendors, check with your carrier). " Touchdown" ActiveSync client may be an alternative until OS upgrade is available.

Thank you for your patience as we work to complete the UW Exchange 2010 upgrade! Please address any follow up questions or issues to your departmental IT support organization. If you are a department IT support organization please escalate upgrade-related issues to the UW-IT Technology Service Center at help@uw.edu or call 206-221-5000.

Reviewed 8/2/11 | News Feed

| News Archive | About IT Connect

Need Help?