Getting Started Last updated: 2024-12-01

Exchange On-Premises to Office 365 Migration Guide

Complete step-by-step guide to migrate Exchange on-premises mailboxes to Office 365. Learn about connector configuration, authentication options, and migration best practices.

Overview

Cloudiway provides a comprehensive platform for migrating Exchange on-premises mailboxes to Office 365 (Microsoft 365). The migration process involves five key steps: creating source and target connectors, configuring global settings, building your user list, and executing the migration.

What Gets Migrated

  • Email messages & attachments
  • Calendar events
  • Contacts
  • Tasks
  • Notes
  • Folder structure

Step 1: Create Exchange On-Premises Source Connector

Navigate to Connectors → New and select "Exchange On Premises" as the connector type.

Configuration Requirements

Connector Name A user-defined identifier for this connector (e.g., "Exchange 2016 On-Prem")
Domain Names Enter the SMTP domain names of the mailboxes you will migrate (e.g., contoso.com)
Exchange Server URL Enter the URL of your Exchange server (e.g., https://mail.contoso.com/EWS/Exchange.asmx)
Exchange Type Select your Exchange server version (2010, 2013, 2016, or 2019)
Authentication Type Choose between Impersonation, Delegation, or Self Service (see below)

Server URL Format

The Exchange server URL should point to the Exchange Web Services (EWS) endpoint. Typically this is: https://your-exchange-server/EWS/Exchange.asmx

Step 2: Create Office 365 Target Connector

Create a corresponding Office 365 connector to define your migration destination. Navigate to Connectors → New and select "Office 365" as the connector type.

You'll need to configure Azure AD application credentials with the appropriate permissions. See our Azure App Registration Guide for detailed setup instructions.

Required Permissions

  • Exchange.ManageAsApp (Application)
  • full_access_as_app (Application)

Step 3: Configure Global Settings

Access Mails → Global Settings to define migration parameters and specify what content to migrate.

Content Options

  • Mailbox items (emails)
  • Calendar events
  • Contacts
  • Tasks

Filter Options

  • Date range filter
  • Folder exclusions
  • Size limitations

Step 4: Build User Migration List

Navigate to Mails → User List to create or import your migration users.

Create Manually

Add users one by one with source and target email addresses. Best for small migrations.

Mails → User List → Create

Import from CSV

Bulk import users from a CSV file. Include source email, target email, and optional metadata.

Mails → User List → Import

Step 5: Execute Migration

Select users from your migration list, optionally organize them into batches, and initiate the migration.

1

Run Audit Task (Recommended)

Assess mailbox sizes and identify potential issues before starting the actual migration.

2

Select Users

Choose individual users or select entire batches for migration.

3

Start Migration

Click the migrate button to begin the migration process. Monitor progress in real-time.

Delta Migration

After the initial migration, you can run delta migrations to sync any new items created since the last migration. This is useful for minimizing cutover downtime.

Authentication Options

Impersonation

A single migration account impersonates each user to access their mailbox. Requires ApplicationImpersonation role in Exchange.

Recommended for enterprise

Delegation

The migration account has Full Access permission to each target mailbox. Suitable when impersonation isn't available.

Alternative option

Self Service

Users provide their own credentials to migrate their mailbox. Ideal for hosted environments where admin access isn't available.

Best for hosted Exchange

Screenshots

Exchange On Premises To Office 365 Configuration
Exchange On Premises To Office 365 Configuration
Mail Migration Global Settings
Mail Migration Global Settings
User List Import Create
User List Import Create

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