Migrating Exchange / Microsoft 365 Public Folders

Public Folders (email only) can be migrated from all versions of Exchange and Microsoft 365 to user accounts, Google Groups or Public Folders in Office 365. When performing ‘Get Users’ and migrating from an Exchange system, the Public Folders will be listed on the ‘Users/Resources’ tab (except for Exchange 2007, see the section on creating users lists for Exchange 2007). The nested structure of Public Folders is shown here also.

CloudM Migrate supports the migration of Exchange and Microsoft 365 Public Folders. Here's what you need to know:

• CloudM Migrate only supports the migration of email from public folders
• Public Folders can be included in the user list when the Get Items function (page 3) is used, however, you must first enable 'Include Public Folders in User List' in the Source Platform Advanced Settings.
• A 'Public Folder User Name' is required (except with Exchange 2013). It should be the primary SMTP email address of the user that will be used when migrating Public Folders. This user must have an active mailbox and should ideally have "Owner" permission over all Public Folders (at the root).
• How public folders are migrated is up to you. If migrating to Exchange/365, you can migrate the email to Public Folders or users, groups or Teams. If migrating to Google, the best equivalent is Google Groups (just bear in mind that there are naming convention rules that need to be adhered to).
• Depending on the source/destination platform, you may need to ensure that all public folders are mail enabled and/or that they include actual email content.

Supported Features

• CloudM Migrate supports the migration of email only to/from public folders.
• It can only migrate public folders that contain email (that are not empty).

Public Folder Mailbox

Before you migrate to/from Exchange Public Folders, you need to ensure that a Public Folder Mailbox exists.

Public Folder Username

When migrating to / from Public Folders, a user account is used to access the folder structure. This username is specified in the configuration settings and is called ‘Public Folder User Name’. This must be the primary SMTP address of the user. The user should also have a mailbox account with owner permission over the Public Folders. 

To migrate only a sub-folder of the Public Folder, specify the full path to the sub-folder e.g. PublicFolder / ChildFolder / as a migration item. 

Depending on your target migration platform and target type (user, Google Group or Public Folder) different names will be created for ‘Import Name’

• Google Workspace – The Import Name will be created as an email compatible name
• Exchange / Office 365 – The Import Name will be created as a Public Folder name

When modifying the Import Name, for example if you would all Public Folders to go to a user account, you should ensure that the Import Name you choose is valid for the target system and target type. For user accounts and Google Groups the name must be an email compatible name and for Public Folders the name must be a valid Public Folder name.

When modifying either the Import or Export Name when migrating to or from Exchange Public Folders, the nested structure for the migration will be modified accordingly.

Migrating to Public Folders in Office 365

When migrating to Exchange or Office 365 Public Folders:

- If the public folder exists, specify the path in the Import Name field, or;

- If not, you must ensure that the admin user specified in the tool configuration has permission to create folders and messages in the target system. For Office 365, the steps to ensure this are:

• Open the Exchange Admin Center (https://outlook.office365.com/ecp/)
• Navigate to ‘Public Folders’ in the left menu
• Click the ellipsis (…) and select ‘Root Permissions’
• Click the plus button (+) to add rights for the admin users to create subfolders and items at a minimum (full control recommended)

Migrating to Google Groups

When migrating to Google Groups, you must ensure all the steps described in the setup for the Google domain and the steps in ‘Migrating Email to Google Groups’ have been carried out. The group name to migrate to is the ‘Import Name’. To switch between migrating to Google Groups, user accounts or Public Folders select the items you wish to modify, right click and choose the option you need.

Migrating to User Accounts

When migrating to user accounts the normal setup steps for a platform should be carried out.

Importing from a CSV File

If importing user lists from a CSV file, it is important that the ExportName is the path of the Public Folder (with folder levels separated with a forward slash, and no preceding forward slash). ImportName must be the path of the Public Folder if migrating to Public Folders.

An example of several ExportName entries could be as follows. Note the forward slash and no initial forward slash.