Applies to: Exchange Server 2010 SP3, Exchange Server 2010 SP2

Topic Last Modified: 2011-03-19

A move request is the process of moving a mailbox from one mailbox database to another. After starting the move request process, you must wait until the Microsoft Exchange Mailbox Replication service replicates the mailbox from the source database to the target database, and the move request status is Completed or Completed with warning.

During this waiting period, you can view the move request status by using the EMC or the Get-MoveRequest cmdlet in the Shell. (For a more detailed report, you can run the Get-MoveRequestStatistics cmdlet with the IncludeReport parameter.)

After the move request is complete, you can view the move history of the completed move request by running the Get-MailboxStatistics cmdlet with the IncludeMoveHistory parameter. You can also get the complete move request report by running the Get-MailboxStatistics cmdlet with the IncludeMoveReport parameter. Use this information to troubleshoot any errors or failures that may have occurred during the move.

Note:
Move requests won't display in the result pane of the Move Request node until they're in the Queued status.

Looking for other management tasks related to move requests? Check out Managing Move Requests.

What Do You Want to Do?

Use the EMC to view the status of an in-progress or completed move request

You need to be assigned permissions before you can perform this procedure. To see what permissions you need, see the "Mailbox moves" entry in the Mailbox Permissions topic.

  1. In the console tree, navigate to Recipient Configuration > Move Request.

    Note:
    If you have multiple forests in the EMC, you need to navigate to the target forest's Move Request node.
  2. In the result pane, select a move request.

  3. In the action pane, click Properties.

  4. Use the General tab to view the following information about the move request:

    • Move request status   This read-only field displays one of the following move request statuses:

      Automatically Suspended   This status specifies that the move is ready to complete, but that the move request was suspended when it was created. This can be done either by selecting the Suspend this move when it is ready to complete check box in the EMC or by specifying the SuspendWhenReadyToComplete switch in the Shell. You can resume the move request by using the Resume-MoveRequest cmdlet or by using the Complete Move Request action in the action pane. For more information, see Complete or Resume a Move Request.

      Completed   This status specifies that the move request was completed successfully without any warnings.

      Completed with warning   This status specifies that the move request completed, but that there were warnings. For more information, see Troubleshooting Mailbox Moves.

      Completion in progress   This status specifies that the mailbox is in its final stages of being moved. If the move was an online move, at this point, the user's mailbox may become unavailable.

      Failed   This status specifies that the move request has failed. To view the message that describes why the move failed, click View located next to the Failed Message field.

      In progress   This status specifies that the move is still in progress. If this is an online mailbox move, the user can still access the mailbox. If this is an offline mailbox move, the user's mailbox is unavailable.

      Queued   This status specifies that the move has been queued and is waiting to be picked up by the Microsoft Exchange Mailbox Replication service.

      Ready to complete   This status specifies that the move is ready to complete. You need to manually complete the move. For more information, see Complete or Resume a Move Request.

      Suspended   This status specifies that the move was suspended by using the Suspend-MoveRequest cmdlet. You can resume the move request by using the Resume-MoveRequest cmdlet or by using the Complete Move Request action in the action pane. For more information, see Complete or Resume a Move Request.

    • Percent complete   This field displays the completion percentage for the move request.

    • Duration   This field displays how long it took the move to complete.

    • Mailbox size   This field displays the size of the mailbox being moved.

    • Number of corrupted items   This field displays the number of corrupted items detected during the move.

    • Source database   This field displays the database from which the mailbox is being moved.

    • Target database   This field displays the database to which the mailbox is being moved.

    • Last updated time   This field displays the date and time at which the last change was made to the request. The change could've been made by an administrator or by the Microsoft Exchange Mailbox Replication service (MRS).

    • Suspend this move when it is ready to complete   If the move has the move request status of In Progress or Queued, you can select this check box, and then click Apply to suspend the move when it's ready to complete. You can then manually complete the move request at a later time. For more information, see Complete or Resume a Move Request. If you select this check box, a Suspended Comment appears on the Details tab.

  5. Use the Details tab to view the following information about the move request:

    • Remote host name   If you're moving the mailbox across Exchange forests, this field displays the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) of the remote host. If this is a local move, this field is blank.

    • Move request server name   This field displays the FQDN of the Client Access server that processed the move request.

    • Source version   This field displays the version of Exchange on which the source database resides.

    • Target version   This field displays the version of Exchange on which the target database resides.

    • Move request queued time   This field displays the time the move request was queued. The time may not be the same as the time the move request was created.

    • Queued duration   This field displays the amount of time the move request remained in the Queued status.

    • Move request start time   This field displays the time at which the move request began.

    • Move request completion time   This field displays the time at which the move request completed. If the move request isn't completed, this field is blank.

    • Suspended time   This field displays the time at which the request was suspended. If the request wasn't suspended, this field is blank.

    • Suspended comment   This field displays the comment added by the administrator who suspended the move request. By default, if the move request was set to be suspended before completion, the comment includes the following text:

      Informational: The move request for mailbox <mailbox GUID> is ready to complete and has been automatically suspended because the SuspendWhenReadyToComplete parameter is set to $true

  6. Use the Log tab to view the move request log. Click View to display the log. The move request log can be used for debugging purposes if a move request fails or is having transient issues. You can press Ctrl+C to copy the contents of the log file.

Use the Shell to view the status of an in-progress move request

You need to be assigned permissions before you can perform this procedure. To see what permissions you need, see the "Mailbox moves" entry in the Mailbox Permissions topic.

This example retrieves the status of the ongoing move for Tony Smith's mailbox (tony@contoso.com).

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Get-MoveRequest -Identity 'tony@contoso.com'

This example retrieves the status of ongoing moves for user mailboxes in the Marketing department.

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Get-User -Filter {Department -like 'Marketing'} | Get-MoveRequest

This example retrieves the status of ongoing mailbox moves to the target database DB05.

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Get-MoveRequest -MoveStatus InProgress -TargetDatabase DB05

This example retrieves the status for completed move requests in the FromDB01toDB02 batch that had warnings.

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Get-MoveRequest -BatchName "FromDB01ToDB02" -MoveStatus CompletedWithWarning

For detailed syntax and parameter information, see Get-MoveRequest or Get-User.

Use the Shell to view a completed move request report

You need to be assigned permissions before you can perform this procedure. To see what permissions you need, see the "Mailbox moves" entry in the Mailbox Permissions topic.

This example uses the IncludeMoveHistory parameter to retrieve the move history of a completed move request for Tony Smith's mailbox.

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Get-MailboxStatistics -Identity tony@contoso.com -IncludeMoveHistory

This example uses the IncludeMoveReport parameter to retrieve a detailed move report for a failed move request of Ayla Kol's mailbox.

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Get-MailboxStatistics -Identity ayla@contoso.com -IncludeMoveReport

For detailed syntax and parameter information, see Get-MailboxStatistics.

Other Tasks

After the move is complete, you may also want to clear the move requests from the result pane of the EMC. For detailed instructions, see Clear or Remove Move Requests.

If the move failed, you may also want to troubleshoot the move to determine the cause of the failure. For more information, see Troubleshooting Mailbox Moves.