Forum Discussion
Migrating On-Prem Distribution Groups to Exchange Online in Hybrid Mode
I have come across a number of articles on migrating distribution groups to Office 365 when you're not in hybrid mode. My situation is having hundreds of DLs on my on-prem Exchange environment that I...
If you have a bunch of DLs on-premises, you will need to:
1. Recreate them in the cloud.
2. Delete them on-premises.
If you don't do this, you'll end up having to keep an on-premises server to manage the objects that remain there. It is easy enough to script the recreation and deletion with PowerShell. You'll need to have a session connected to both on-premises and the cloud when you run it.
So in order to completely migrate to 365 there is no way to move the on prem distro's 365 exchange with out creating new distro's in cloud. In other words the distro sync'd by AD will go away once you decomission the on prem exchange?
As of now if i create a distro in the cloud external users cannot reach that email group. ( my MX records still point on Prem ) I have a second domain in my 365 exchange which does have the mx records point to the 365 exchange and they are working fine so i am assuming that when i change my mx records to point to 365 those " in cloud" distro's will work just fine.
Just want to ensure that i'm understanding the reading in this article correct before proceeding. I've got just about every mailbox created and will be left with room mail boxes and distro's to finish this migration. My goal is to decomission the on prem exchange server and just leave a mail relay .
You should recreate the DLs in the cloud and then remove the on-premises equivalent. People often script this removal so that the new cloud DL receives the old email address used for the on-prem DL. You could do it like this:
Create the new DL in the cloud. Set the new DL to be hidden from address lists so no one can see it. Give it a temporary email address.
Add the members to the cloud DL.
On-premises, update the old DL to give it a new email address and hide it from address lists.
After the on-premises change synchronizes to the cloud, update the new DL to give it the original email address and unhide it from address lists. Clients will now see the new DL and begin using it.
After a week or so, when you are sure that everything works as expected, you can delete the old DL from on-premises AD.
Email addresses always need to be resolvable before delivery can occur. Once you switch the MX records, the cloud DLs can be used.
- Can we create Dynamic Group base on the rule?
Thanks Tony. Would we need to add an X500 address to the online group so DLs cached that are deleted in Outlook will be recognized as the newly created ones?
Ah the old tricks are the best... so, yes.
