Hybrid Configuration Wizard and licensing of your on-premises server used for hybrid

The_Exchange_Team Greg Taylor - EXCHANGE 

I specifically registered to comment on this ongoing discussion because I feel that the previous posts from the community haven't put you to task as directly as I would like.

I'm at a point where I actively want to move customers to the cloud and give Microsoft more money on a monthly basis, but Microsoft has made this the most convoluted process with dependencies that are hard to meet and track and follow and so I've been reluctant, almost afraid to migrate people.

I have a number of customers on various platforms, but the common thread is that they need AD, a local file server and a local SQL server, as well as Exchange Online. A variety of workflows require that AD Sync is in place.

The fact that I have to keep an on-prem server to manage a cloud service is a harsh enough pill to swallow (and a number of comments prior to mine echo this sentiment) - but now I also have to make sure that on-prem management server is Windows Server 2016 or older because you don't support Exchange 2016 on Windows Server 2019? 

So, Microsoft tells us IT folks that we need to deploy an on-prem server to cover your team's implementation shortfalls and you have the audacity to fire off glib comments to people who want to USE and PAY for your subscription product (or at the very least have been pushed into it as there are no other good on-prem options for small businesses anymore)

You've introduced a lot of inconsistent constraints and it's garbage that you're leaving this to your customers to figure out on their own because you refuse to meet us halfway. It's not like Exchange Online is free, you're pissing off people who are a regular revenue stream.

TL;DR: I (and almost all of the other people who have posted here) don't want to keep an older version of Exchange and Windows Server running in a brand new environment to support a management console that Microsoft is forcing me to install and it's completely unacceptable that the people who are asking for help and options are being met with hostility from the Exchange team. You should offer an Exchange 2019 hybrid license, or at the very least, make it possible to install Exchange 2016 on a Windows Server 2019 platform. 

Greg Taylor - EXCHANGE 

I agree that the goal of removing the last server is the best step forward, but since you've not quite cracked that nut, it's unrealistic to meet us halfway. You might think that 2016 is the meeting halfway point, but again, it means there's no supported options in an Server 2019 environment.

bdelamotte83 

- I would stop calling the Hybrid Exchange Server, an Exchange Server. It's effectively a small footprint Server used to edit synchronized email attributes. There should be no data on it. If you have customers who can't afford to run one extra small footprint VM, I'd seriously consider steering the dialogue away from cost and towards value.

There's resource sizing and licensing requirements to consider as well. This requirement applies equally to companies who have used their hyper-v 1 physical + 2 virtual licenses for business requirements. Sure, I can fit the VM anywhere, but it's an inconvenience. I'm not going to spin this cost vs value, as it literally adds no value. "Well, we have to install another server and a program because Microsoft can't figure this out yet, but it's good, because it means you'll need to login to an on-prem server instead of the portal to manage something!"

- Running Exchange 2016 on WS2019 vs WS2016 - WS2016 has an extended support end date of 1st of Dec 2027, WS2019 has an extended support end date of 1st of September 2029. It seems hopeful that Microsoft will have provided a solution that allows us to remove the last Exchange Server and continue to synchronize directories with Azure AD Connect between now and 2027, see comments from Greg Taylor above. I don't think those extra two years are going to be a killer. If you look at the Hybrid Exchange box as purely an Email attribute management server, there should be no functional difference between WS2016 and 2019

And here's a link from 2012 (8 years ago) where this was already being worked on: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/exchange-team-blog/decommissioning-your-exchange-2010-servers-in-a-hybrid/ba-p/597185 - so, excuse me if I'm not completely sold that 2027 is far enough away. There's also some value in having consistency across your servers, I'd prefer to have all servers as WS2019. Curiously it's only in forums like these where the value of upgrading is downplayed, my MS sales reps make a big show of telling me just how much better every new version is every Microsoft product is.

- If you didn't know that you needed to keep the last Exchange Server if you intended to main synchronized identities, you really should have done a bit more research. This has been fairly clear from the start.

I have a specific example here where I've just gotten a customer who's previous IT company upgraded everything to Server 2019 and up and removed their last Exchange server (who knows, maybe they intended to re-install after the upgrade but gave up because of these restrictions). The point is, I'm well aware of the requirements, but sometimes we find ourselves in these situations. Though I'm comfortable with my skills as a consultant, when the customer asks why we have to pay for licensing to install a server with an older OS on it to manage a cloud product, I have to admit I don't have an answer that doesn't sound terrible. 

- Another approach may be to quote on-prem Hardware, Exchange 2019, and them demonstrate how expensive it is to even get that up and running and how many features you simply do not get vs Exchange Online/365. Where is the MFA for Exchange On-prem? Duo can be used.....but just for OWA/ECP. Do you have Tier 2 storage for Archives? Are you even licensed to run Archives? Discussion around past concerns with Exchange on-prem can help. Have you ever had to perform any of the painful fixes that have cropped up over the years with On-prem Exchange, especially single instance Exchange Servers with Exchange Online? Is that a better scenario for both you and your customers/users? Have you ever had that one customer with 5TB of email who insist that they will accept nothing but 100% uptime for their Exchange 2007/2010 Server supporting 20 sites and 400 users, yet they will never let you run updates and discussions around migration go nowhere? Do you ever worry at night how tough it would be if some minor corruption occurred in the database? Is running the small Hybrid Exchange Management VM, with a free Exchange license such a big deal in comparison?

This is exactly the kind of sales tactic I find reprehensible. I have no intention of building a fake scenario and sizing a product my customer doesn't need to bully them into spending extra on an Exchange Server and/or server license for management. 

As for your other comments, I'm not going to sit here and detail every scenario for every customer I have. Feel free to run on the assumption that I'm a competent consultant who has specifications, nuances and requirements that you're not going to be able to reason away. Again, if the situation occurs where I can avail myself of a 2016 server and install Exchange Server 2016, that's optimal, and that's going to be the case for any end-to-end migrations I'm planning and executing. But for every one of those, there's exceptions and situations where you inherit a mess and in these situations I'd love to know that Microsoft has my back. Getting me to go to my customers, hat in hand asking for money to install a server that is only required because

Microsoft hasn't been able to fix this in a timely manner isn't the type of partner support I've come to expect from them, so I'm voicing my disappointment.

This is a miscue on the Exchange team's part where they're making it harder for me to come up with supported scenarios in these edge cases. Like it would bankrupt Microsoft to continue to offer the Hybrid Management licenses on current server editions or something. I'm going to say it again. If they make on-prem management a requirement, they need to support it on the most current windows server platform, at the VERY least.

StevenProvo - customers can keep 2016 on-prem for that reason, with a free key - and there's no difference in functionality from 2019. 

We are working on that whole last server thing still. Hoping we have more news at Ignite. 

Greg Taylor - EXCHANGE The_Exchange_Team Is a walk-through available for installing the Exchange 2016 on-premise server meant ONLY to manage mail properties for users being synced to Azure AD in a greenfield (never had exchange) Windows Server AD environment?  Some of the questions that come up while I'm putting together my plan:

• Autodiscover SCP - should this be configured to https://autodiscover.outlook.com/Autodiscover/Autodiscover.xml ?
• Client Access Namespace - should these be changed to anything outside of what the default install configures since Autodiscover will be pointing clients outlook.com?  If so, should they just be using https://www.outlook.com/<virtual service> ?
• If you use the HCW only to license the server, exiting after receiving the license, can mail properties still be managed?
• Should AADC have the optional feature checked for "Exchange Hybrid Deployment" during configuration?
• Do I need an external MPKI SSL cert for deployment of this management server?  Will a self-signed, or internal PKI cert be sufficient?

I'd imagine most of these won't apply to an environment that had Exchange previously as that would have been handled by a hybrid configuration.

In my particular deployment, I already have several Exchange Online users that will be matched and synced from Windows Server AD (using UPNs) after I've extended the schema to include the mail properties and users assigned the corresponding SMTP address from exchange online.  I'll be deploying AADC before Exchange 2016, and I don't want users connecting to internal DNS to suddenly try connecting to the 2016 Management server.

Greg Taylor - EXCHANGE 

You might think that 2016 is the meeting halfway point, but again, it means there's no supported options in an Server 2019 environment.

Not correct. Exchange Server 2019 is an option. 

 

If they make on-prem management a requirement, they need to support it on the most current windows server platform, at the VERY least.

We do (see above). Just not for free as has been discussed. 

That's kind of the point though. At some point the customer-minded decision was made that "Hey, this isn't an ideal scenario. You need to install this, but we'll cover the cost as a show of good faith while we're working on it" and it's changed to a tone-deaf customer unfriendly tone of "Well, we couldn't get our homework done in time, it's your problem now."

I get it, the writing has been on the wall for a long time that this is what it would be and that it wouldn't be free for 2019, but I think most partners/techs/msps assumed that you'd have gotten this solved well before we'd be sizing and deploying Server 2019 environments. The partners have given you guys a ton of flexibility and you're showing no quarter. That's extremely disappointing to me.

Don't get me wrong, I'm a Microsoft fanboy. If we can build a solution of Microsoft-only products for our customers, we do, so it's not like I'll threaten to take my business elsewhere, as that's insincere on my part. I just wish that I had less of these interactions that show a lack of understanding for the partners. It's getting a lot harder to set aside my resentment for the customer's benefit.

Any update as to when Exchange 2019 will get the free License?  Standing up new server and Management wants Latest Exchange to so we do not have to go through tis for a while again.

2019 will not get a free license. Use 2016 if you want a free license for Hybrid. 

Greg Taylor - EXCHANGE - So if you migrated all of your mailboxes to Exchange Online and have Active Directory on Premise, you MUST run Exchange 2016 on premise to allow management of mail users?  No option to run Exchange 2019 unless you pay for a license?

This is somewhat frustrating.  Can't get rid of on Prem Exchange, can't upgrade to the latest version of on Prem Exchange, according to a blog post, no any real effort is going into allowing Exchange Online mail users to be managed without Exchange On Prem. 

redamaleki - if all you are doing is using that server for management of users (as you stated), 2016 will do the same job as 2019. There is no advantage or benefit to using 2019 for that scenario. 

redamaleki fair point, that is an advantage, good catch. But that's really it. Just don't turn the monitor on and it'll be almost same as running on Core. 

I'm kidding. 

We have updated some docs to try and make this wrinkle clearer - if there are still ref out there we need to fix let me know. 

redamaleki none I am aware of.