Summary: In this post, we’ll discuss the WaitingForJobPickup error that might occur during migration from one Exchange Server to another. We’ll also discuss the ways on how to fix this error. Also, you’ll find about an EDB converter tool that can help migrate mailboxes without any issue.
When migrating to a new Exchange Server, you use the New-MoveRequest PowerShell command via the Exchange Management Shell to migrate the mailboxes. You always hope that all works well and mailboxes will get moved successfully. But you notice that the mailboxes have not moved to the new server. What would you do in such a case?
In this case, since there is no graphical user interface for the move requests, you need to use the PowerShell command Get-MoveRequest, along with the Get-MoveRequestStatistics (see the example below).
Get-MoveRequest | Get-MoveRequestStatisticsHere you get an error on the Status Detail column saying Waiting for Job Pickup.
Ways to Fix the Waiting for Job Pickup Error
The first thing to do is try to check with another mailbox. If the problem persists, you should also test from another mailbox database in the source Exchange Server environment. This will provide some information about the issue if it is concentrated on a particular mailbox or mailbox database. Another way to identify the possible problem is to make a local transfer of the mailbox from one database to another on the same Exchange Server.
The next thing to do is to ensure that both Exchange Servers and the hosting operating system are fully updated. In the case of the Exchange Server, it?s important to have the latest Cumulative Updates (CU) installed. Before going ahead with such updates, it?s important to have a backup as during such updates anything can go wrong.
To check the version of the Exchange Server, you must use the PowerShell command Get-ExchangeServer with the pipe and ft -auto to list all the Exchange Servers in the organization.
Get-ExchangeServer | ft ?auto
Next, you can try to suspend the move request and resume the transfer of the move. Sometimes, this restarts the move and it will start transferring. To do this, you need to use the commands – Suspend-MoveRequest and Resume-MoveRequest.
Suspend-MoveRequest -Identity "<identity of move request>"
Resume-MoveRequest -Identity "<identity of move request>"If the problem still persists, since nothing has been transferred, there is the option to remove the move request and restart it. For this, you need to follow the below instructions which include the Remove-MoveRequest and New-MoveRequest.
Remove-MoveRequest -Identity "<identity of move request>"
New-MoveRequest -Identity "<identity name>" -TargetDatabase "<target database>" -BadItemLimit "20" -AcceptLargeDataLossIf this doesn?t work, it would be best to check the two servers. The Exchange Server is highly dependent on DNS and Active Directory since all the configuration is stored in the Active Directory Schema. You need to make sure that there isn?t anything affecting you. A firewall might be a culprit. If the problem still persists, it would be best to check with the network team. There is something on the network which is affecting the transfer of the mailboxes.
Another thing you can try to do is remove the index of the source mailbox database. To do this, follow this article from Microsoft.
It is also suggested that at this stage, you take backup of the server just in case. After this is complete, restart the Replication services on both servers. If possible, restart the servers for assurance. This way you will have a failback if something goes wrong during the operation.
You can use the PowerShell command
Get-Service *repl* | Restart-ServiceIf all fails and the issue is only with a particular mailbox, it would be suggested to export the mailbox to PST.
To Wrap Up
The other feasible and guaranteed way to move mailboxes is to use a third-party tool, such as Stellar Converter for EDB that can reduce issues and administrative effort. The software has a very easy graphical user interface similar to Outlook. With Stellar Converter for EDB, you can open multiple EDB files from any version of the Exchange Server. With the application, you can browse the mailboxes in the EDB databases. You can see the emails, calendar, tasks, contacts, and journal. You can granularly export to PST and other file formats. In this case, you can also export directly to a live Exchange Server mailbox database. You can even export to an Office 365 tenant in case you are migrating to the cloud.
