SBS2003 Exchange Remove/ReInstall

Hey All,

I've taken over a network which is running a 2003 SBS AD Site with
Exchange and when the system was setup the main system disk (70GB) was
split into 2 partitions - OS(26GB), and APPS(44GB).

For the most of it everthing was installed onto the OS partition, but
there were a few of the core applications (Exchange, SQL, Anti-Virus etc
etc) that was installed onto the APPS partition. The OS partition has
basically run out of space.

I want to merge the two partitions back into a single disk (IMHO it
should have never been split but thats a different topic altogether). I
know how to merge the disks and thats all fine, my problem is with Exchange.

Exchange has been installed directly onto the APPS partition, and to
allow the merge of the two partitions I need to remove exchange from the
system. This is where it becomes a problem. To uninstalled exchange I
need to remove everyones mailbox account from the system, problem with
that is theres about 30 users + a bunch of public folders. The only
process I can think of to achive my goal is to do the following:

1. Catalog all email addresses stored in the AD Config (was thinking of
writing a VBS script to do this)
2. Use ExMerge to export everyones mailboxes to PST
3. Remove all user mailboxes
4. Remove Exchange
5. Merge Partitions
6. Reinstall Exchange
7. Enable Mailboxes for all Users
8. Add all email addresses for users back into AD config (again thinking
of writing a VBS script to read the file produced from step 1 to
recreate email addresses)
9. Use ExMerge to import everyones mailboxes.

Is there anyway I can remove exchange from the system without removing
the configuration from AD so that when I install exchange after merging
the disks all I need to do is add the exchange databases back and it
picks up where it left off?

Kind Regards
Chris @ TechCon

P.s Apologies for the long post.

Is it Excahnge itself that's the problem, or the mailstore?

if it's the latter (e.g. the huge data files) then you can probably
move the store onto new discs (get some extra RAID disks in the box).
That would future-proof you.

Seems a lot easier than reinstalling exchange, with all the hassle
that entails.

Steps here:

http://www.petri.co.il/move_exchange...erent_disk.htm



Jim

On Wed, 30 Sep 2009 22:10:01 +0800, "Chris @ TechCon"
<chris@techconit.net.au> wrote:

>
>Hey All,
>
>I've taken over a network which is running a 2003 SBS AD Site with
>Exchange and when the system was setup the main system disk (70GB) was
>split into 2 partitions - OS(26GB), and APPS(44GB).
>
>For the most of it everthing was installed onto the OS partition, but
>there were a few of the core applications (Exchange, SQL, Anti-Virus etc
>etc) that was installed onto the APPS partition. The OS partition has
>basically run out of space.
>
>I want to merge the two partitions back into a single disk (IMHO it
>should have never been split but thats a different topic altogether). I
>know how to merge the disks and thats all fine, my problem is with Exchange.
>
>Exchange has been installed directly onto the APPS partition, and to
>allow the merge of the two partitions I need to remove exchange from the
>system. This is where it becomes a problem. To uninstalled exchange I
>need to remove everyones mailbox account from the system, problem with
>that is theres about 30 users + a bunch of public folders. The only
>process I can think of to achive my goal is to do the following:
>
>1. Catalog all email addresses stored in the AD Config (was thinking of
>writing a VBS script to do this)
>2. Use ExMerge to export everyones mailboxes to PST
>3. Remove all user mailboxes
>4. Remove Exchange
>5. Merge Partitions
>6. Reinstall Exchange
>7. Enable Mailboxes for all Users
>8. Add all email addresses for users back into AD config (again thinking
>of writing a VBS script to read the file produced from step 1 to
>recreate email addresses)
>9. Use ExMerge to import everyones mailboxes.
>
>Is there anyway I can remove exchange from the system without removing
>the configuration from AD so that when I install exchange after merging
>the disks all I need to do is add the exchange databases back and it
>picks up where it left off?
>
>Kind Regards
>Chris @ TechCon
>
>P.s Apologies for the long post.

My reply is at the bottom.

Chris @ TechCon <chris@techconit.net.au> wrote:
> Hey All,
>
> I've taken over a network which is running a 2003 SBS AD Site with
> Exchange and when the system was setup the main system disk (70GB) was
> split into 2 partitions - OS(26GB), and APPS(44GB).
>
> For the most of it everthing was installed onto the OS partition, but
> there were a few of the core applications (Exchange, SQL, Anti-Virus
> etc etc) that was installed onto the APPS partition. The OS partition
> has basically run out of space.
>
> I want to merge the two partitions back into a single disk (IMHO it
> should have never been split but thats a different topic altogether).
> I know how to merge the disks and thats all fine, my problem is with
> Exchange.
> Exchange has been installed directly onto the APPS partition, and to
> allow the merge of the two partitions I need to remove exchange from
> the system. This is where it becomes a problem. To uninstalled
> exchange I need to remove everyones mailbox account from the system,
> problem with
> that is theres about 30 users + a bunch of public folders. The only
> process I can think of to achive my goal is to do the following:
>
> 1. Catalog all email addresses stored in the AD Config (was thinking
> of writing a VBS script to do this)
> 2. Use ExMerge to export everyones mailboxes to PST
> 3. Remove all user mailboxes
> 4. Remove Exchange
> 5. Merge Partitions
> 6. Reinstall Exchange
> 7. Enable Mailboxes for all Users
> 8. Add all email addresses for users back into AD config (again
> thinking of writing a VBS script to read the file produced from step 1 to
> recreate email addresses)
> 9. Use ExMerge to import everyones mailboxes.
>
> Is there anyway I can remove exchange from the system without removing
> the configuration from AD so that when I install exchange after
> merging the disks all I need to do is add the exchange databases back and
> it
> picks up where it left off?

Nope. If you leave any shards of it in AD it will expect things to be where
they were. But read on!
>
> Kind Regards
> Chris @ TechCon
>
> P.s Apologies for the long post.

I don't think I'd do this, honestly. What a huge pain in the ___. You're
going to end up with much larger mailboxes at the end of the day (and if the
users' mailboxes are larger than about 1.8GB forget exmerge).

If it's just the Exchange binaries on the APPS drive (which is what I'd
expect from the name), then they shouldn't take up much space. If the
database & log paths are pointing there ... well, get more disks for this
server and move the database/log files there.

How to move Exchange databases and logs in Exchange Server 2003
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/821915

[It is not recommended that they be on the same volume as the binaries
anyway. Ideally, they'd be on separate arrays, but just for organizational
(as opposed to performance!) reasons they can certainly be on a separate
partition. If you have the chance to set up hardware RAID on this server
now, go for it.]

A swing migration to newer, better hardware may be a good long-term solution
to this client's problems anyway.

Thanks Jim,

> Is it Excahnge itself that's the problem, or the mailstore?
>
> if it's the latter (e.g. the huge data files) then you can probably
> move the store onto new discs (get some extra RAID disks in the box).
> That would future-proof you.

Its more exchange itself. The stores are already on a larger DATA RAID
array, so im already future proof in regards to the mailstores.

Thanks Lanwench,

>
> Nope. If you leave any shards of it in AD it will expect things to be where
> they were. But read on!

Figured as much...

>
> I don't think I'd do this, honestly. What a huge pain in the ___. You're
> going to end up with much larger mailboxes at the end of the day (and if the
> users' mailboxes are larger than about 1.8GB forget exmerge).
>
> If it's just the Exchange binaries on the APPS drive (which is what I'd
> expect from the name), then they shouldn't take up much space. If the
> database & log paths are pointing there ... well, get more disks for this
> server and move the database/log files there.

As I mentioned in reply to Jims post, the logs and databases/stores are
already on a seperate drive, its just the binaries that are on the APPS
partition.

The partition that has exchange on it has plenty of space left, its the
OS partition thats running out of space and I wanted to utilise the
space on the APPS partition.

>
> How to move Exchange databases and logs in Exchange Server 2003
> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/821915
>
> [It is not recommended that they be on the same volume as the binaries
> anyway. Ideally, they'd be on separate arrays, but just for organizational
> (as opposed to performance!) reasons they can certainly be on a separate
> partition. If you have the chance to set up hardware RAID on this server
> now, go for it.]
>
> A swing migration to newer, better hardware may be a good long-term solution
> to this client's problems anyway.
>

A swing migration is not a option seeing as the server is no older than
18months, its not nessaceraly a hardware problem, more of a
configuration fault thanks to the previous IT guy.

Looks like I'm stuck with it... Depending the outcoming of another
problem I'm having with the same server a full reinstall may be the only
option.

Thanks Kindly,
Chris

On Wed, 30 Sep 2009 23:17:18 +0800, "Chris @ TechCon"
<chris@techconit.net.au> wrote:

>Thanks Jim,
>
>> Is it Excahnge itself that's the problem, or the mailstore?
>>
>> if it's the latter (e.g. the huge data files) then you can probably
>> move the store onto new discs (get some extra RAID disks in the box).
>> That would future-proof you.
>
>Its more exchange itself. The stores are already on a larger DATA RAID
>array, so im already future proof in regards to the mailstores.


The binaries on my SBS 2003 SP2 are only 271 MB. Peanuts in the grand
scheme of things, and fairly static in size. I'm sure you could free
up more space by looking elsewhere - temp files, pagefile etc.

The idea of removing an reinstalling Exchange, especially on a
tightly-integrated setup like SBS, would fill me with absolute horror.



Jim

On Wed, 30 Sep 2009 23:29:38 +0800, "Chris @ TechCon"
<chris@techconit.net.au> wrote:

>Thanks Lanwench,
>
>>
>> Nope. If you leave any shards of it in AD it will expect things to be where
>> they were. But read on!
>
>Figured as much...
>
>>
>> I don't think I'd do this, honestly. What a huge pain in the ___. You're
>> going to end up with much larger mailboxes at the end of the day (and if the
>> users' mailboxes are larger than about 1.8GB forget exmerge).
>>
>> If it's just the Exchange binaries on the APPS drive (which is what I'd
>> expect from the name), then they shouldn't take up much space. If the
>> database & log paths are pointing there ... well, get more disks for this
>> server and move the database/log files there.
>
>As I mentioned in reply to Jims post, the logs and databases/stores are
>already on a seperate drive, its just the binaries that are on the APPS
>partition.
>
>The partition that has exchange on it has plenty of space left, its the
>OS partition thats running out of space and I wanted to utilise the
>space on the APPS partition.
>
>>
>> How to move Exchange databases and logs in Exchange Server 2003
>> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/821915
>>
>> [It is not recommended that they be on the same volume as the binaries
>> anyway. Ideally, they'd be on separate arrays, but just for organizational
>> (as opposed to performance!) reasons they can certainly be on a separate
>> partition. If you have the chance to set up hardware RAID on this server
>> now, go for it.]
>>
>> A swing migration to newer, better hardware may be a good long-term solution
>> to this client's problems anyway.
>>
>
>A swing migration is not a option seeing as the server is no older than
>18months, its not nessaceraly a hardware problem, more of a
>configuration fault thanks to the previous IT guy.
>
>Looks like I'm stuck with it... Depending the outcoming of another
>problem I'm having with the same server a full reinstall may be the only
>option.
>
>Thanks Kindly,
>Chris


just for ref, swing back to the same hardware is perfectly feasible.
I've done it 3 or 4 times now. In all cases the disc were grossly
under-specced (and business acquisition didn't help!). Swing to a VM
under VMWare running on my laptop, backup, backup (again), format live
server (with totally new RAID array) and then swing back and restore
the data and data store. About a day's work - and not a fun day, but
farly painless.



Jim

While the other input you have received is all valid I question what is
taking up the space on your 26 GB OS partition? I have several older
installs with 12-15 GB OS partitions that I have moved various non-critical
folders and logs to other partitions (following guidelines in the MS
whitepaper) and still have 2-3 GB of free space. That is a bit tight but
manageable. Other newer installs are 20-25 GB OS partitions and there is
plenty of free space available on them. I suggest you take a close look at
what is on that 26 GB OS partition that could be moved.

"Chris @ TechCon" <chris@techconit.net.au> wrote in message
news:%23EfJ1edQKHA.2092@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
> Hey All,
>
> I've taken over a network which is running a 2003 SBS AD Site with
> Exchange and when the system was setup the main system disk (70GB) was
> split into 2 partitions - OS(26GB), and APPS(44GB).
>
> For the most of it everthing was installed onto the OS partition, but
> there were a few of the core applications (Exchange, SQL, Anti-Virus etc
> etc) that was installed onto the APPS partition. The OS partition has
> basically run out of space.
>
> I want to merge the two partitions back into a single disk (IMHO it should
> have never been split but thats a different topic altogether). I know how
> to merge the disks and thats all fine, my problem is with Exchange.
>
> Exchange has been installed directly onto the APPS partition, and to allow
> the merge of the two partitions I need to remove exchange from the system.
> This is where it becomes a problem. To uninstalled exchange I need to
> remove everyones mailbox account from the system, problem with that is
> theres about 30 users + a bunch of public folders. The only process I can
> think of to achive my goal is to do the following:
>
> 1. Catalog all email addresses stored in the AD Config (was thinking of
> writing a VBS script to do this)
> 2. Use ExMerge to export everyones mailboxes to PST
> 3. Remove all user mailboxes
> 4. Remove Exchange
> 5. Merge Partitions
> 6. Reinstall Exchange
> 7. Enable Mailboxes for all Users
> 8. Add all email addresses for users back into AD config (again thinking
> of writing a VBS script to read the file produced from step 1 to recreate
> email addresses)
> 9. Use ExMerge to import everyones mailboxes.
>
> Is there anyway I can remove exchange from the system without removing the
> configuration from AD so that when I install exchange after merging the
> disks all I need to do is add the exchange databases back and it picks up
> where it left off?
>
> Kind Regards
> Chris @ TechCon
>
> P.s Apologies for the long post.

Jim <jim@nospam.com> wrote:
> On Wed, 30 Sep 2009 23:17:18 +0800, "Chris @ TechCon"
> <chris@techconit.net.au> wrote:
>
>> Thanks Jim,
>>
>>> Is it Excahnge itself that's the problem, or the mailstore?
>>>
>>> if it's the latter (e.g. the huge data files) then you can probably
>>> move the store onto new discs (get some extra RAID disks in the
>>> box). That would future-proof you.
>>
>> Its more exchange itself. The stores are already on a larger DATA
>> RAID array, so im already future proof in regards to the mailstores.
>
>
> The binaries on my SBS 2003 SP2 are only 271 MB. Peanuts in the grand
> scheme of things, and fairly static in size. I'm sure you could free
> up more space by looking elsewhere - temp files, pagefile etc.
>
> The idea of removing an reinstalling Exchange, especially on a
> tightly-integrated setup like SBS, would fill me with absolute horror.
>
>
>
> Jim

I agree with you on this.

SteveB wrote:
> While the other input you have received is all valid I question what is
> taking up the space on your 26 GB OS partition? I have several older
> installs with 12-15 GB OS partitions that I have moved various non-critical
> folders and logs to other partitions (following guidelines in the MS
> whitepaper) and still have 2-3 GB of free space. That is a bit tight but
> manageable. Other newer installs are 20-25 GB OS partitions and there is
> plenty of free space available on them. I suggest you take a close look at
> what is on that 26 GB OS partition that could be moved.

I agree here. I have a 25GB OS partition running SBS 2003 R2 and it
currently has 12.5GB free. I have moved as much data off the OS drive as
possible following the widely published guidelines for doing this -
including the Exchange stores.

Have a look at the TreeSize utility to see what's eating the space up...

>
> just for ref, swing back to the same hardware is perfectly feasible.
> I've done it 3 or 4 times now. In all cases the disc were grossly
> under-specced (and business acquisition didn't help!). Swing to a VM
> under VMWare running on my laptop, backup, backup (again), format live
> server (with totally new RAID array) and then swing back and restore
> the data and data store. About a day's work - and not a fun day, but
> farly painless.
>

Have you got any doco references in regards to performing the swing
migration, this might very well be a possibility for me.

Cheers
Chris

All swing migration documentation etc. is available from
www.sbsmigration.com. There is a very reasonable price for it which includes
excellent support from Jeff Middleton who is an SBS MVP.

"Chris @ TechCon" <chris@techconit.net.au> wrote in message
news:OzKuFniQKHA.4244@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
>>
>> just for ref, swing back to the same hardware is perfectly feasible.
>> I've done it 3 or 4 times now. In all cases the disc were grossly
>> under-specced (and business acquisition didn't help!). Swing to a VM
>> under VMWare running on my laptop, backup, backup (again), format live
>> server (with totally new RAID array) and then swing back and restore
>> the data and data store. About a day's work - and not a fun day, but
>> farly painless.
>>
>
> Have you got any doco references in regards to performing the swing
> migration, this might very well be a possibility for me.
>
> Cheers
> Chris