Migrating Exchange Server mailboxes to Office 365 can be a headache. Moreover, migrating public folders can be a nightmare since there is no off-the-shelf, easy export and import process available. Migration is a nightmare if not prepared or any issues arise, but with Public Folders, it’s always a hassle to migrate. During the migration of public folders from on-premises Exchange Server to Office 365, the below error could come up:
11/12/2021 12:49:37 AM [DM5PR13MB1530] ‘MigrationService (on behalf of ‘{email redacted}’)’ created request.
11/12/2021 12:56:20 AM [BL0PR13MB4243] Job is quarantined.
11/12/2021 1:03:33 PM [BL0PR13MB4243] Job is quarantined.
11/12/2021 5:32:47 PM [DM5PR13MB1530] ‘MigrationService (on behalf of ‘{email redacted}’)’ suspended request.
11/12/2021 5:48:07 PM [DM5PR13MB1530] ‘MigrationService (on behalf of ‘{email redacted}’)’ resumed request.
11/12/2021 5:49:26 PM [BL0PR13MB4243] Job is quarantined.
Although most of the public folders are offloaded to Office 365 as well as mail, most of these will end up being migrated to Office 365 Groups, which include Teams, Planner, and other features in the Office 365 Groups. After a whole process of scripting and preparation to migrate the public folders to Office 365, the migration batch is started. After that, the job will be stuck without any data being migrated to the Office 365 public folders.
How to Fix the Error?
Follow the below instructions to try to resolve the error:
- The first thing to do, after waiting a bit and the progress is still stuck, is to get a report of the migration process. This can be done by running the PowerShell command Get-PublicFolderMailboxMigrationRequestStatistics (see below) in the Exchange Management Shell (EMS).
Get-PublicFolderMailboxMigrationRequestStatistics -includereport | fl
RunspaceId : 7fe7e40f-80c4-42f3-8472-d9743c3ecc93
Name : PublicFolderMailboxMigration965bd6cf-701d-4107-a1ed-c1869f1e1d63
Status : InProgress
StatusDetail : WaitingForJobPickup
SyncStage : None
Flags : CrossOrg, Pull
RequestStyle : CrossOrg
Direction : Pull
Protect : False
Priority : Normal
WorkloadType : PublicFolderMigration
Suspend : False
FailureCode : -2147467259
FailureType : NullReferenceException
FailureSide :
Message : Request was quarantined because of following error: Cannot access a disposed object.
FailureTimestamp : 11/11/2020 9:49:26 AM
IsValid : True
- You can also try to remove the job and restart it, and even restart the Transport Exchange service to see if the problem re-occurs. If this fails and the Exchange Server public folder is not so huge, there are some things you can try to manually export and import the public folder.
The first option is to install a computer or virtual machine with Office installed. Add the machine to the domain server and set up an Outlook profile connected with the Exchange Server with full rights to the public folder. However, this option is not recommended as it will take a long time to execute.
The next step is split into two options:
- Export the public folder to PST using the Import/Export process. After this is complete, you can import the public folder PST contents into another Outlook which has the Office 365 public folder configured and has full rights.
- It includes the same thing but you can drag and drop contents from one public folder to another.
This method will take a considerable amount of time. Unfortunately, public folders aren’t friendly to work with, especially when it comes to migrating them to another Exchange Server or Office 365. Exporting a public folder from Exchange is not easy because you cannot use the New-MailboxExportRequest PowerShell command as you do to export a mailbox. You need to either use a set of scripting to migrate the public folder or use Outlook to export to PST. With large public folders, it would be an impossible mission.
To Wrap Up
To overcome such hassles, you can use a tool that would be reliable and do the job right. Applications, such as Stellar Converter for EDB will surely come in handy in this situation.
With Stellar Converter for EDB, you will be able to open a single or multiple Exchange Server databases of any version. You don’t need to have an Exchange Server installed. All you need is a computer or server with Stellar Converter for EDB installed. By using the software, you can open and browse through the file with a very comfortable and easy interface. You can browse all the emails, contacts, calendar entries, notes, and other items in the mailboxes. This of course would include public folders.
You just need to add the database file and will be able to granularly export to PST and other formats. You can also use the software to export public folders and mailboxes directly to a live Exchange Server database or databases. You can also export directly to an Office 365 tenant. This makes Stellar Converter for EDB the ideal application for any Exchange Server Administrator.
