SBS 2003 to SBS 2011 Migration Exchange 2003 Uninstall Fail – Manual Removal Required

We were in the final stages of the SBS 2003 to SBS 2011 migration when the Exchange 2003 setup routine failed to complete.

The very last line in the “Exchange Server Setup Progress.log” file found in C:\ was:

[17:08:51]  Deleting the public store

When we looked in the Exchange System Manager we saw the following on the source server:

Nothing. No routing connectors, no Public Folders, no databases, nothing at all.

We were not able to run the uninstall process again.

So, to see if we were even remotely close to having our source server’s Exchange 2003 uninstalled we ran the Exchange 2010 BPA on the destination server leaving out the source server and admin group in the scan:

The only flag that came up was the following:

Write DACL inherit (group)

The Write DACL inherit (group) right for the Exchange Enterprise Servers group should be removed from the root of the domain.

The Tell Me More link takes us to:

• Microsoft TechNet: The Write DACL for the Exchange Enterprise Servers group should be removed from the root of the domain

It is indicated that we need to run a PowerShell script:

• Remove-ADPermission "dc=<Domain>" -user "<RootDomain>\Exchange Enterprise Servers" -AccessRights WriteDACL -InheritedObjectType Group

Now, deciphering how the above command was actually supposed to be entered was another story.

After a number of different searches we came up with the right combination of keywords that brought us here:

• Microsoft Exchange Server Forums: Error when trying to remove last legacy Exchange server

Thanks to LuccianoDuckman we have:

The proper syntax for the command:

• Remove-ADPermission "dc=DOMAIN,dc=Local" -user "DOMAIN.Local\Exchange Enterprise Servers" -AccessRights WriteDACL -InheritedObjectType Group

When we punched the above into the Exchange Admin PowerShell console we saw the following:

[PS] C:\Windows\system32>Remove-ADPermission "dc=DOMAIN,dc=Local" -user "DOMAIN.Local\Exchange Enterprise Servers" -AccessRights WriteDACL -InheritedObjectType Group

Confirm
Are you sure you want to perform this action?
Removing Active Directory permission "DOMAIN.Local" for user "DOMAIN.Local\Exchange Enterprise Servers" with access rights "'WriteDacl'".
[Y] Yes  [A] Yes to All  [N] No  [L] No to All  [?] Help (default is "Y"): A
[PS] C:\Windows\system32>

We then re-ran the Exchange 2010 BPA to make sure that there were no other lingering issues and it came up clean.

We were good to remove the last remnants of Exchange 2003 from the source server. Note that the ESM on the source no longer functioned so we were not able to delete the source object there.

• Microsoft KB 833396: How to remove Exchange Server 2003 from your computer
• Specifically: The How to Manually Remove.
1. Services stop and Disable.
2. Registry entry removal.
• Many keys were missing already.
3. Rename the Microsoft Exchange folder under C:\Program Files \Microsoft Integration\Microsoft Exchange
• This folder was gone.
4. Left the IIS component alone.
5. Remove the Exchange Server object from AD using ADSIEdit.msc.
• 
6. Reboot.
7. Re-run the Exchange 2010 BPA on the destination to confirm that there are no problems.
8. Proceed to DCPromo the source out of the domain.

In the end, the choke may have been caused by two e-mails destined for the Public Folder store on the source server caught in the destination server’s queue! So, prior to uninstalling Exchange 2003 on the source server we will verify the queue on the destination server _first_.

We deleted those to e-mails.

With a little help from Susan:

• SBS Diva Blog: SBS 2011 Migration Keys to Success

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer