Email migration becomes the first and foremost necessity for any organization if it’s switching to a new email platform. Since most of the email clients support different file formats, email conversion becomes an essential task prior to email migration. In this article, we’ll be discussing how to migrate mailbox data from Exchange to Notes client manually. Also, we’ll learn how to convert EDB to NSF file format if the manual trick fails or doesn’t work.

Microsoft Exchange Server

Since a great deal of business is conducted by email, it has now become a critical function in the business environment. Generally, a smart email solution is the prime necessity for organizations of all sizes. And Microsoft Exchange Server is highly popular among organizations.

Exchange Server is a dedicated email-based collaborative communication server for businesses that includes email, contact, calendar, and task.

Many companies are now finding that using Exchange Server has increased the reliability of their email functions. It’s a complete email server solution provided by Microsoft that runs on a Windows Server operating system and manages all your email messages and other data with ease. The primary reason for using Microsoft Exchange Server is to make emailing faster and more efficient. Unlike other POP3 email accounts, Exchange accounts have a few integrated collaborative messaging features which include scheduling, contact management, folder sharing, and task management functionality.

Email Migration from Exchange to Notes

There are various benefits of using Microsoft Exchange Server. However, companies are now switching to popular messaging and collaboration platform these days. IBM Lotus Notes is one such platform that has its own advantages. Unlike Microsoft Exchange Server, IBM Lotus Notes is available for Windows, Mac, Linux, etc. If your organization is planning to switch from Exchange to Notes, just keep in mind that both these clients support different file formats.

Exchange Server stores all the email messages and other mailbox data in an Exchange database file called EDB. On the other hand, Lotus Notes creates a database file to store emails, contacts, calendar data, etc. The database file is called NSF (Notes Storage Facility) that stores the data in document units called “notes”.

Now you’ve understood that email migration ain’t easy from Exchange to Notes. Since Lotus Notes doesn’t support the Exchange database format, you can’t import or export the EDB file directly to this client. Before that, you must convert EDB to NSF, the native file format of IBM Lotus Notes. Once you convert EDB file to NSF format, then email migration becomes easy and effortless. But now the question is

How to convert EDB to NSF format?

Generally, email conversion ain’t possible manually. You have to use a professional email converter tool to convert email files. To migrate from Exchange to Notes, you must convert EDB file to NSF format which is only possible through a 3rd party EDB to NSF Converter tool. There are many vendors in the online marketplace which provide email converter tool for EDB to NSF conversion. But if you’re looking for a free solution, you should use the Nupgrade Utility, a part of Notes migration tools.

The nUpgrade utility is located by default in the directory of Lotus Notes program. There’s an option to install Notes migration tools during Lotus Notes installation. Remember, you can’t use the nUpgrade utility if you haven’t installed the Notes migration tools. In such a situation, you should run the Lotus Notes installation again. And make sure you select the option for installing the Notes Migration tools this time.

Interested users may find this helpful – PST to NSF Conversion – Import Outlook to Lotus Notes

How to Use nUpgrade Utility?

It’s very easy to run the nUpgrade utility. You just need to follow these easy steps here:

Step 1: First, locate the nUpgrade utility on your system. The default location of nUpgrade utility is
C:\Program Files (x86)\IBM\Lotus\Notes 

Now double-click the nUpgrade.exe.

Step 2: On the Notes Upgrade Services dialog box, you’ll see the welcome screen of IBM Notes Upgrade Services.

Click Next to begin the upgrade process.

Step 3: Now select your MS Exchange profile name from the list.

Then click Next to continue the process.

Step 4: Here select the upgrade method, i.e. how you want Notes Upgrade to convert your personal information.

There are two options you can choose from:

• Express to convert all the personal information to Notes (recommended)
• Custom to convert all the selected items to Notes

Now click Next to start the Exchange to Notes migration process. It may take a few minutes to complete the migration process.

Note: The nUpgrade utility will save all the emails into the PersonalFolder.nsf file and the contacts into a Names.nsf (personal address book) file.

Although the nUpgrade utility is effective, there are a few limitations of using it:

• You can’t run nupgrade.exe on a 62-bit Windows operating system. This is the major limitation.
• Also, it may take enough time if you have a large number of mailbox data to be imported.
• There’s no guarantee that the nUpgrade utility will surely work for you. However, there’s no harm in using it.

EDB to NSF Converter – Professional Solution

If you’re looking for an instant and effortless way to migrate from Exchange to Notes, you should consider using the EDB to NSF Converter tool provided by SysInfoTools Software. It can successfully extract email messages from EDB file and export them to Lotus Notes database. Unlike the nUpgrade utility, it’s available for both 32 & 64-bit Windows operating systems. Below are the key features of EDB to NSF Converter tool:

• Export complete mailbox content like emails, contacts, calendars, tasks, etc.
• Support normal as well as corrupt EDB files for conversion
• Three modes for scanning the EDB file: Standard, Advance, and Deep
• Create single NSF file all users or separate NSF file for each user
• Available with the CLI (command-line interface) version for administrators, technicians, and advanced users
• Convert EDB file into NSF format without requiring Microsoft Exchange Server

Before purchasing EDB to NSF Converter software, you must download the demo version for free evaluation. By using the demo version, you can save the first 25 emails from each mailbox folder of selected EDB file. If you’re satisfied with the results, then only you should purchase the software.

Lotus Notes users might also be interested in Most Common Lotus Notes Error Messages Faced by Users

Conclusion 

Since Exchange and Notes are two different mailing systems, they both support different file formats. And whenever you’re migrating from Exchange to Notes client, you need to convert EDB file to NSF file format. In this article, we’ve learned how to migrate the mailbox data from Exchange to Notes by using the nUpgrade utility. Also, we can use a professional EDB to NSF Converter tool to convert EDB to NSF file format.

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