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How to Remove an Exchange Server

Overview​

This article describes how to completely remove an Exchange Server from the Atria configuration so that provisioning still functions as intended after the server has been removed.

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Failure to remove an Exchange Server from all configuration will result in errors when attempting to change the Exchange configuration, as well as when performing Exchange-related provisioning tasks.

Purpose​

Atria will query the Exchange environment for determining the Exchange servers and other related objects when needed; it has no real need to actually store this information when provisioning Customers or Users with the Exchange Service.

The only pieces of information that are stored are the objects that can be considered as provisioning targets. For example, the Mailbox Databases that can be a target for a User Mailbox, or the Server that can be the target for a Public Folder.

Therefore, to safely remove an Exchange Server from the configuration of Atria, you must ensure that the Server is not selected as a target for any provisioned object.

The following list shows the sections of the configuration where Exchange Servers or Mailbox Databases may be configured.

Service Deployment Configuration​

  • Service Settings
    • Preferred Mail Stores
    • Resource MB Mail Databases
    • Offline Address Book (OAB)
      • Public Folder Servers
      • Server
      • Virtual Directory
    • Public Folders
      • Public Folder Server
  • User Plans (on each user plan)
    • Mail Databases
    • Mail Archiving Exchange 2010 / 2013
      • Mailbox Database

Process​

  1. Navigate to Configuration \ System Manager \ Service Deployment
  2. Select the Active Directory Location Services from the Location filter.
  3. For each section listed above, deselect all nodes that refer to the server that is being removed.
  4. Click Apply changes, and then Save.
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It is possible that these properties have been set specifically on either the Reseller Service, Customer Service, or User Service objects. If this is the case then they will need to be removed from there as well.

If this server is being used to host the Exchange Web Service connection, then this will need to be assigned to another server before it can be removed.

If you have not already done so:

  1. Navigate to the Server Roles screen within Configuration \ System Manager
  2. Select the server that will replace this one for the Exchange Web Service connection.
    If the server is not listed, then refresh the Servers list from the Servers screen.
  3. Select the checkbox for the Hosted Exchange component under Server Connection Components
  4. Click Save
  5. Navigate to the Server Connections screen
  6. Change the server for the Hosted Exchange connection to the new server
  7. Return to the Server Roles screen
  8. Find the server to be removed and select this server
  9. Clear the checkbox for the Hosted Exchange component

Make sure that any Mailboxes or other Exchange objects that are stored on this server have been moved to another available server before removing the server from the Exchange environment.