Exchange Hybrid Mailbox Migration Endpoint Creation (HCW Missed Scenario)


📘 Exchange Hybrid Mailbox Migration Endpoint Creation (HCW Missed Scenario)


🔍 Observation

During the Hybrid Configuration Wizard (HCW) setup, the mailbox migration endpoint is normally created automatically between Exchange On‑Premises and Exchange Online.

In this case, after completing HCW, the migration endpoint was not available.

To confirm, the following command was executed:

Get-MigrationEndpoint | fl Name,RemoteServer,Status

Result:
(no output returned)

Meaning:
No migration endpoint exists in Exchange Online.


🎯 Requirement

To perform mailbox migration from Exchange On‑Premises to Exchange Online, a valid Exchange Remote Move Migration Endpoint is required.

Without this endpoint, mailbox migration cannot be initiated.


✅ Solution Approach

Since the Hybrid Configuration Wizard did not create the migration endpoint, the endpoint was created manually using Exchange Online PowerShell.


⚙️ Step 1 — Validate Connectivity

Before creating the endpoint, connectivity between Exchange Online and the on‑premises server was validated using the following command:

Test-MigrationServerAvailability -ExchangeRemoteMove -Autodiscover -EmailAddress raghu@cloudmonkeys.xyz -Credentials (Get-Credential)

Result:
Result : Success
TestedEndpoint : cmhybd01.cloudmonkeys.xyz
IsValid : True

Conclusion:
Autodiscover, MRS Proxy, and authentication are working correctly.


⚙️ Step 2 — Create Migration Endpoint

The migration endpoint was then created using the following command:

New-MigrationEndpoint -ExchangeRemoteMove -Name CMHybridEndpoint -RemoteServer cmhybd01.cloudmonkeys.xyz -Credentials (Get-Credential)

Result:
Identity EndpointType RemoteServer


CMHybridEndpoint ExchangeRemoteMove cmhybd01.cloudmonkeys.xyz

Migration endpoint created successfully.


⚙️ Step 3 — Verify Endpoint

After creation, the endpoint was verified using:

Get-MigrationEndpoint | fl Name,EndpointType,RemoteServer

Result:
EndpointType : ExchangeRemoteMove
RemoteServer : cmhybd01.cloudmonkeys.xyz

Endpoint is available and ready.


⚙️ Step 4 — Validate Endpoint

To ensure the endpoint was fully functional, it was tested using:

Test-MigrationServerAvailability -Endpoint CMHybridEndpoint

Result:
Result : Success
TestedEndpoint : CMHybridEndpoint
IsValid : True

Endpoint connectivity confirmed.


🚀 Migration Validation

To validate the setup, a mailbox move request was initiated:

New-MoveRequest -Identity sankari@cloudmonkeys.xyz -Remote -RemoteHostName cmhybd01.cloudmonkeys.xyz -TargetDeliveryDomain cloudfield.mail.onmicrosoft.com -RemoteCredential (Get-Credential)

Result:
DisplayName Status TargetDatabase


sankari Queued INDP287DG373-db116


📊 Migration Progress

The migration progress was monitored using:

Get-MoveRequestStatistics sankari@cloudmonkeys.xyz | fl Status,PercentComplete

Progress:
Status : InProgress
PercentComplete : 99

Final:
Status : Completed
PercentComplete : 100


🎉 Final Result

The migration endpoint was successfully created manually.
Connectivity between Exchange Online and the on‑premises environment was validated.
Mailbox migration completed successfully without any issues.


💡 Key Takeaway

The Hybrid Configuration Wizard may not always create the migration endpoint automatically.

In such situations:

  • Manual creation using PowerShell is simple
  • Connectivity can be validated easily
  • Mailbox migration works once the endpoint is created

✅ Conclusion

Manual migration endpoint creation is an effective fallback when HCW does not create it. After creating and validating the endpoint, mailbox migration works as expected.

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