Every data center has many projects running that are in various stages of completion. Sometimes the project is hardware rollout and the server has already gone through the final testing and evaluation stages. Other times it is a software project, specifically an email software project, which involves either the Outlook client or the Exchange server.

It might be that the decision has been made to upgrade the Exchange server software to a newer version. If this is the case then much planning will be needed. A good rule of thumb is to allocate eighty percent of the project’s time to planning and twenty percent of the project’s time for implementation.

During the implementation phase one of the activities where problems can occur is in the area of moving mailboxes from one server to another.

Here are two scenarios where the problem can be resolved using the same solution.

SCENARIO 1:
——————-
If a data center has recently installed a new server and also installed Exchange 2007 onto it then they will most likely also be upgrading their older server, for instance running Exchange 2003, to the new server. Moving mailboxes from Exchange 2003 Server to Exchange 2007 Server – same domain – can sometimes result in a problem that has the following error message displayed:

C:>Move-Mailbox -Identity EXCHUSER -TargetDatabase “E2K7SRVMailbox Database”
Confirm
Are you sure you want to perform this action?
Moving mailbox: E2K7 Test user (ExchUser@xxx.xx) to database: E2K7SRVFirst Storage GroupMailbox Database. The operation can take a long time and the mailbox will be inaccessible until the move is completed.
[Y] Yes  [A] Yes to All  [N] No  [L] No to All  [S] Suspend  [?] Help (default is “Y”): Y
Move-Mailbox : Error was found for E2K7 Test user (ExchUser@xxx.xx) because: Error occurred in the step: Opening source mailbox. Failed to open mailbox with error: The operation failed., error code: -1056749262
At line:1 char:13
+ Move-Mailbox  <<<< -Identity EXCHUSER -TargetDatabase “E2K7SRVMailbox Database”

Identity                         : xxx.xx/Users/E2K7 Test user
DistinguishedName                : CN=E2K7 Test user,CN=Users,DC=xxx,DC=xx
DisplayName                      : E2K7 Test user
Alias                            : ExchUser
LegacyExchangeDN                 : /O=XXX/OU=CON/cn=Recipients/cn=ExchUser
PrimarySmtpAddress               : ExchUser@xxx.xx
SourceServer                     : E2K3.xxx.xx
.
.
.
(long list of database variables follows here)
.
.
.
MoveType                         : IntraOrg
MoveStage                        : Move
StartTime                        : 30-06-2008 18:01:01
EndTime                          : 30-06-2008 18:01:01
StatusCode                       : -1056749262
StatusMessage                    : Error occurred in the step: Opening source mailbox. Failed to open mailbox with error: The operation failed.

SCENARIO 2:
———–
Another variation of this error situation – when moving mailboxes from one server to another – will also have a related error message displayed as:

Summary: 1 item(s). 0 succeeded, 1 failed.
Elapsed time: 00:00:00
Server1
Failed
Error:
Error was found for Server1 because: Error occurred in the step: Opening source mailbox. Failed to open mailbox with error: The operation failed, error code: -1056749262

Exchange Management Shell command attempted:
’049bf666-de7d-4a8a-b5d8-d474d542dac8′ | move-mailbox -TargetDatabase
‘CN=Mailbox Database,CN=First Storage
Group,CN=InformationStore,CN=MAILSRV,CN=Servers,CN=Exchange Administrative
Group (FYDIBOHF23SPDLT),CN=Administrative Groups,CN=BCPExchange,CN=Microsoft
Exchange,CN=Services,CN=Configuration,DC=samplco,DC=com’

Elapsed Time: 00:00:00

A review of the event log reveals the following:
Event Type: Error
Event Source: Exchange Migration
Event Category: Move Mailbox
Event ID: 1008
Date:  6/30/2008
Time:  06:01:01 PM
User:  N/A
Computer: MAILSRV
Description:
Unable to move mailbox ‘Server1′.
Error: Failed to open mailbox with error: The operation failed.
In both scenarios, one and two, the error can be resolved on the Exchange server and is because of the following key being set with values such as following:

“Disable MAPI Clients=-6.0.0;7.0.0-10.0.6514”

The “Default MAPI Clients” key can be used by administrators to block specific versions of Outlook from connecting to email servers that are running Exchange 2000 Server, Exchange Server 2003, or Exchange Server 2007. By default, the “Disable MAPI Clients” key is not enabled.

Administrators can go into the registry or use registry edit tools to determine whether the “Disable MAPI Clients” key has been set to block specific clients.

The full “Disable MAPI Clients” key path is as follows:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESystemCurrentControlSetServicesMSExchangeISParametersSystemDisable MAPI Clients

An Administrator should review the “Disable MAPI Clients” key and determine if it has been set with a value that blocks all MAPI clients such as in the range of six (“6”) through nine (“9”).

If an administrator wishes to avoid errors mentioned above, in both scenarios one and two, then they can reset the server’s “Disable MAPI Clients” key back to its default state by deleting it which effectively disables that key.