Maintaining Directories

Directory maintenance is an important part of multi-phase migration. If the existing system doesn't support the MS Mail directory synchronization feature, use the Directory Import and Directory Export commands to update the directories.

There are two steps to maintaining directories:

• Importing custom recipients into Microsoft Exchange Server.
• Exporting recipient information from Microsoft Exchange Server to the existing system.

Some source extractors support exporting directory information from the existing system and importing it with the Migration Wizard. If the source extractor for your existing system doesn't support this, you need to export the directory information and convert it to directory import format.

With the Directory Export command, you can export mailbox and custom recipient information. You can then convert this data into a format supported by your existing system's directory import tools.

Importing Custom Recipients

If you need to import custom recipients from your existing system without using migration or directory synchronization tools, consider the following:

• How much information can be exported from the existing system? For example, are phone numbers, department names, and office locations on the existing system?
• What is the format of the display name in the existing system?
• How will foreign system recipients be imported to Microsoft Exchange Server?

Properties

The Microsoft Exchange Server directory can store information about custom recipients. If you use the custom recipient conversion feature of the Migration Wizard, the schema properties are preserved.

If you are going to import the custom recipients and the mailboxes to the same site and Recipients container, you can use the custom recipient conversion feature. If you populate these custom recipient fields, the information will be automatically imported to the mailboxes.

• Address Admin-Description
• Admin-Display-Name Alt-Recipient
• Assistant-Name Auth-Orig
• AutoReply AutoReply-Message
• AutoReply-Subject Comment
• Common-Name Company
• Department Description
• DL-Mem-Reject-Perms DL-Mem-Submit-Perms
• Display-Name Display-Name-Printable
• Extension-Attribute-1 Extension-Attribute-2
• Extension-Attribute-3 Extension-Attribute-4
• Extension-Attribute-5 Extension-Attribute-6
• Extension-Attribute-7 Extension-Attribute-8
• Extension-Attribute-9 Extension-Attribute-10
• Given-Name Initials
• International-ISDN-Number Locality-Name
• Mail-nickname Manager
• Member Physical-Delivery-Office-Name
• Postal-Code Proxy-Addresses
• Secondary-Proxy-Addresses State-Or-Province-Name
• Surname Telephone-Assistant
• Telephone-Fax Telephone-Home
• Telephone-Home2 Telephone-Mobile
• Telephone-Number Telephone-Office1
• Telephone-Office2 Telephone-Pager
• Teletex-Terminal-Identifier Telex-Number
• Text-Country Title
• Unauth-Orig

Display Names

If the two systems have different naming conventions, there could be name-sorting problems in the Address Book. You need to decide if the imported custom recipients' display names will be modified to match your naming convention in Microsoft Exchange Server. For example, suppose that the existing system uses:

<Last name>, <first name>

But suppose that Microsoft Exchange Server is configured to display addresses as follows:

<First name> <Last name> (<Department>)

In this case, it would be difficult for users to find names in the Address Book. Directory import won't automatically create display names. The display name needs to be specified in the correct format in the import file.

Foreign Recipients

If the existing system has directory entries for recipients in a foreign system, you should determine if those addresses will be imported to Microsoft Exchange Server. You should also determine if these addresses are already in the Microsoft Exchange Server directory from another system, such as through directory synchronization with MS Mail.

For example, your existing Lotus cc:Mail system has remote addresses for recipients on the Internet. You can ignore those addresses and import them as Lotus cc:Mail addresses (with appropriate gateway configurations), or import them as SMTP addresses for routing to the Internet Mail Service.

Exporting Directory Information

The Directory Export command exports directory information from mailboxes, custom recipients, and public folders. You need to modify this information to fit your existing system's import feature. Consider the following:

• Change Control
After you import all the addresses the first time, you might want to import changes later. The when-created and when-changed attributes can be exported for all recipients. By sorting the exported data on one of these two columns, you can find the new and modified items. Just importing new and modified recipients can reduce the work of later imports.
• Addresses
One of the address types should correspond to your existing system, depending on the gateway or connector. You'll need to eliminate inappropriate addresses and export them. Your source system needs to understand the address format, so it may be necessary to modify the entry.
• Custom Recipients
Are there custom recipients in the Microsoft Exchange Server directory from other systems? If so, should they be exported to this system, or is there a directory exchange method? Also, what address should be used to export this recipient¾the native address, the address that routes the mail to Microsoft Exchange Server (gateway passthrough), or the format appropriate to the existing system? For example, if there are IBM PROFS custom recipients in the directory, they can be exported to Lotus cc:Mail with PROFS, MS Mail, SMTP, or X.400 addresses, depending on how the mail would be routed from Lotus cc:Mail postoffices to the IBM PROFS host.
• Display Names
Is the display naming convention for the Microsoft Exchange Server directory the same as for the existing system? If not, will display names be modified?