Time is up for Exchange Server 2013, and you should be finalizing your migrations. If your migration is still ahead of you or nearing completion, then this post is for you. We wanted to provide Microsoft’s best practices for preparing and planning your migration from Exchange 2013 to Exchange Server 2019. It’s important to note that because of the many different possible topologies and configurations for Exchange 2013, we can’t cover all migration scenarios, but the common steps are included here. That said, please plan your migration carefully and include all aspects of the environment, beari ..read more

Microsoft has released Security Updates (SUs) for vulnerabilities found in: Exchange Server 2013 Exchange Server 2016 Exchange Server 2019 SUs are available in a self-extracting auto-elevating .exe package, as well as the original update packages (.msp files), which can be downloaded from the Microsoft Update Catalog. SUs are available for the following specific versions of Exchange Server: Exchange Server 2013 CU23 (note that support and availability of SUs end on April 11, 2023) Exchange Server 2016 CU23 Exchange Server 2019 CU11 and CU12  The Marc ..read more

On April 11, 2023 (31 days from today), Exchange Server 2013 reaches End of Support! But you know that because we've already announced that here and here and here and here, and here (just kidding, that last one was actually for Exchange Server 2003! but all the other ones are real). So, we thought we would instead look back and take time to thank Exchange Server 2013 for its decade of service. Released to Manufacturing on January 9, 2013, Exchange Server 2013 took the messaging world by storm, as you can tell from our web site at the time. Microsoft Exchange web site, circa ..read more

We previously announced the general availability of REST-based Exchange Online PowerShell v3 module (September 2022) and the deprecation of Remote PowerShell (RPS) Protocol (December 2022). Today, we are announcing that starting April 1, 2023, we will start blocking RPS connections for all tenants created on or after April 1, 2023. After April 1, 2023, new tenants will not be able to use RPS when connecting to Exchange Online and will have to use the v3 module with REST cmdlets instead. The overall RPS deprecation plan we announced in December applies to all Exchange O ..read more

In Part 1, I provided steps to troubleshoot the Legacy Exchange Retention policies, and in this part, Part 2, I delve into Compliance Retention policies. I look at two different scenarios that may impact a mailbox, providing step-by-step guidance on how to navigate and resolve issues you may encounter. Scenario 1: Clearing the Recoverable Items Folder Picture this: a user is trying to schedule a meeting, but they get an error message: '554 5.2.0 STOREDRV.Deliver.Exception:QuotaExceededException.MapiExceptionShutoffQuotaExceeded; Failed to process message due to a permanent exception with messa ..read more

For years we have been saying how running antivirus (AV) software on your Exchange Servers can enhance the security and health of your Exchange organization. We’ve also said that if you are deploying file-level scanners on Exchange servers, make sure that the appropriate exclusions, such as directory exclusions, process exclusions, and file name extension exclusions, are in place for both scheduled and real-time scanning. But times have changed, and so has the cybersecurity landscape. We’ve found that some existing exclusions, namely the Temporary ASP.NET Files and Inetsrv folders, and the Pow ..read more

There are two types of retention policies: Exchange Online Retention policies and the Compliance Retention policies. In this two-part article series, I provide suggestions and tactics to help you troubleshoot both. In this post (Part 1), I delve into Exchange Online Retention Policies and identify issues that you may encounter. In Part 2, I discuss Compliance Retention policies and how to troubleshoot them. You may not need them all, but in this article, I cover several useful troubleshooting steps. Always start by using Start-ManagedFolderAssistant to begin processing mailboxes. While this ca ..read more

At Microsoft Ignite several years ago we announced that we were working on a new cloud-based message recall feature for Exchange Online. Today we’re thrilled to announce that the new Exchange Online Message Recall feature has finally arrived! It’s starting to roll out now and should be available to all Exchange Online tenants worldwide by mid-March. You may be familiar with the classic Outlook for Windows message recall feature that gives senders an opportunity to recall messages. The classic message recall feature enables senders to at least partially recall an email, but because it is client ..read more

On April 11, 2023, less than 60 days from today, Exchange Server 2013 reaches End of Support! After that date, Microsoft will no longer provide: Technical support for problems that may occur Bug fixes for issues that are discovered and that may impact the stability and usability of the server Security fixes for vulnerabilities that are discovered and that may make the server vulnerable to security breaches Time zone updates Exchange Server 2013 will continue to run after this date, of course; however, due to the risks listed above, we strongly recommend that you migrate from Exchange Se ..read more

We’ve said it before, we’re saying it now, and we’ll keeping saying it: it is critical to keep your Exchange servers updated. This means installing the latest available Cumulative Update (CU) and Security Update (SU) on all your Exchange servers (and in some cases, your Exchange Management Tools workstations), and occasionally performing manual tasks to harden the environment, such as enabling Extended Protection and enabling certificate signing of PowerShell serialization payloads. Attackers looking to exploit unpatched Exchange servers are not going to go away. There are too many aspects of ..read more