How to Solve Source Mailbox Already BeingMovedPermanentException Error?
Summary: When trying to move mailboxes from on-premises Exchange Server to Exchange Online in a hybrid environment, you might receive an error message, like “SourceMailboxAlreadyBeingMovedPermanentException.” In this post, we are going to discuss this error message and the ways to fix it. You’ll also find about a professional EDB converter software that can help migrate mailboxes from Exchange database to Office 365 in a few simple steps, without any issue.
There are various ways to migrate mailboxes from on-premises Exchange Server to an Office 365 tenant. These include Cutover, Staged, Minimal Hybrid, and Full Hybrid. In a Hybrid environment, you connect both Exchange on-premises and Exchange Online so that you can lift and shift mailboxes. This method is ideal if you don’t want any interruption during the migration of data. A hybrid makes minimal impact to the users, but it is also a lengthy process. In this post, we will be talking about an error that you may receive while moving a mailbox from on-premises to Exchange Online.
When you try to move mailbox or mailboxes from on-premises to Exchange online, you might receive the following error message (or similar), when executing the command.
Error: UserAlreadyBeingMigratedException: The user ’mailbox’ already has a pending request. Please remove the existing request and resume the current batch or start a new batch for this user. –> Mailbox ’Name’ is already being moved to ’office 365 database’.
Error: MigrationPermanentException: The onboarding move could not be created because user ’mailbox’ is already being moved. –> The onboarding move could not be created because user ’mailbox’ is already being moved.
This would be strange if you have never moved the mailbox. But if there is a move which is already in process, you will get a similar error.
The error “SourceMailboxAlreadyBeingMovedPermanentException” would be different, depending on the following scenarios:
- If you receive the error message,“Mailbox ‘Name’ is already being moved to ‘<office 365 database>.”, it means that you had a move request done on a user. This will not allow you to move it. This happens when the user has an active or an orphaned move request in Exchange Online.
- If you receive the error message, “The onboarding move could not be created because user ‘Name’ is already being moved”, it means that there is already an active or orphaned move request in your Exchange Server for the specific user. This could be a move to another database or Exchange Server.
Steps to Fix the Error “SourceMailboxAlreadyBeingMovedPermanentException Error”
Step 1: The first step is to identify if there are actual move requests for the user specified in the error. You need to run the command on both Exchange Server and Exchange Online PowerShell.
For the local Exchange Server, you need to open the Exchange Management Shell (EMS) and run the following command.
Get-MoveRequest -Identity 'user@contoso.com'
For Office 365, you need to run the same command by using the Exchange Online PowerShell.
In case you don’t know the identity of the user, you can run the command alone. It will get you all the move requests in Exchange Server or Exchange Online.
Step 2: The next step is to verify and delete the move requests so that you can re-run the move requests. You can verify the move request by checking the status. It would be either completed or failed. You will need to remove the request manually to run a move again. This can be done by using the Remove-MoveRequest command.
If the move of that user is part of a migration batch, you need to remove the whole batch or the user from the batch. Once done, this will remove the move request of the user.
There might be a case that the command to show the move requests on your Exchange Server or Exchange Online, would show no moves. If the error persists, then you need to remove the request manually for the user from the on-premises Active Directory Schema. You need to use the ADSI Edit or Active Directory attributes to perform such operation. Here are the steps to do so:
Note: You need to keep in mind that when using ADSI Edit or Active Directory Attributes, you are editing the Active Directory Schema. Any changes or mistakes can have catastrophic repercussions on your Active Directory, Exchange Server, and other applications which are dependent on your Active Directory.
- Open the Active Directory Users and Computers from your Domain Controller and locate the affected user.
- Right-click on the user and click on Properties.
- Click on the Attribute Editor.
- Locate the attributes which start with msExchMailboxMove (see the screenshot above).
- If any of the attributes is populated, you need to clear them off. This usually happens when there was a move request and for a reason it hasn’t cleared the attributes.
Unfortunately, there isn’t a way to clear all the users at once or automatically through a GUI. So, this must be done manually.
Conclusion
If after this you run the command again to move the mailbox and the issue persists, the only option to resolve the matter is by using a professional application, such as Stellar Converter for EDB. This application can open any Exchange mailbox database version of any size, explore through it, export granularly to PST and other formats, and export directly to another Exchange Server or Office 365 tenant. Stellar Converter for EDB has a lot of features to facilitate a migration. It can be used as the ideal migration tool.
Awesome post.