Fixed: Slow Mailbox Migration Issue in Exchange 2013

Moving one mailbox on Exchange 2013 is an easy task for an administrator but when an admin migrate lots of mailboxes, slow mailbox moving issue occurs on Exchange Server. However, with simple steps, you can fix the slow migration issue and increase the speed of user’s mailbox in your Exchange Server environment. 

So today I am sharing few steps to increase the speed of mailbox migration on Exchange 2013; especially when you have to quickly migrate lot of mailboxes. Follow the steps accordingly-

1. Initially, validate the protocol connectivity

Run the command to verify the protocol connectivity, but also check firewall is not blocking your Exchange Server network if your server is distributed through the WAN (Wide Area Network).

Command: Test-MapiConnectivity -Identity John.p@mail.com | fl

If you find any error after executing the command, check that arbitration mailbox are placed appropriately on the relevant Exchange server.

Execute the below PowerShell to check the details-

Get-Mailbox -arbitration|fl Name, recipienttypedetails

2. You have noticed migration speed of single mailbox is always multiple times faster than migrating 50 of hundred plus mailboxes. To fix the delay, change the value in the MSExchangeMailboxReplication.exe.config. You can locate this file at the following path:

c:\Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\V15\Bin\MSExchangeMailboxReplication.exe.config

Now change the value in file-

MaxActiveMovesPerSourceMDB = "75"   

MaxActiveMovesPerTargetMDB = "75"   

MaxActiveMovesPerSourceServer = "120"   

MaxActiveMovesPerTargetServer = "120"   

MaxTotalMovesPerMRS = "120"

Once you’re done, don’t forget to restart the MSExchangeMailboxReplication service.

3. If you’re using Exchange 2013 SP1, check that if there is content index error on mailbox database copies. Disable the index and execute the command to see the difference-

Get-MailboxDatabaseCopyStatus  | ft name, status, contentindexstate,contentindexerrormessage

Set-MailboxDatabase DB -IndexEnabled:$False

4. Check that TCP Chimney is Disabled or not.

Netsh int tcp show chimneystats

If "Supp" value is NO, it means TCP Chimney is either not enabled or not supported. Else, it will show "YES" with some values on "TMax" and "PMax"

For disabling TCP Chimney:

netsh int tcp set global chimney=disabled

However, there are few shell commands too for evaluating the mailbox movement. Clickhere to check it.

Otherwise, try an automated way to migrate Exchange mailbox using an Exchange mailbox migration tool. It will fix the slow migration issue and increase the speed of migration between servers without altering any settings on your Exchange environment. You can download Stellar mailbox migration tool by visiting here: http://www.stellarservertools.com/exchange-mailbox-migration.php. And, migrate the mailboxes without any failure or slow moving rate. Thanks!!