Exchange Hybrid 2013 to 2019

Question

Hi, I have a Hybrid Exchange 2013 (version 15.0 Build 1497.2) running on server 2012 r2 and planning on migrating to Hybrid Exchange 2019 on Windows server 2019. There are no user mailboxes on 2013 Exchange server, all mailboxes were migrated to EXO years ago. The hybrid exchange 2013 is used for management purposes only, such as modify current user accounts and create new accounts. I am new to Exchange server and have never installed/configured one.

Here are some of my questions.

Can Exchange 2013 & 2019 coexist?

Do I need to update current Exchange 2013 to the latest CU23 before installing Exchange 2019?

Can I deploy multiple Hybrid Exchange 2019 for redundancy, on-prem & Azure?

Does Exchange 2019 requires AD schema update?

What Exchange 2019 roles are required, Mailbox, CAS, Edge etc..

What is recommended for certificates? Self-signed, Internal CA or 3rd party?

Thanks,

Answer 1

Hi @Faisal Hanif

Can Exchange 2013 & 2019 coexist?

Yes

Do I need to update current Exchange 2013 to the latest CU23 before installing Exchange 2019? Yes. Fore more information please read the following article: How Do I Migrate from Exchange 2013 to 2019? Can I deploy multiple Hybrid Exchange 2019 for redundancy, on-prem & Azure?

If Exchange server will be installed in virtual machine able to contact a domain controllers to update attributes of synced objects, yes you can in this case

Does Exchange 2019 requires AD schema update?

Yes of course,each new Exchange version a schema update is required before. Please refer to the following link : How Do I Migrate from Exchange 2013 to 2019?

What Exchange 2019 roles are required, Mailbox, CAS, Edge etc.. Mailbox and CAS should be enough but it depend of your existing Exchange 2013 design if you are using or not a EDGE server.

What is recommended for certificates? Self-signed, Internal CA or 3rd party?

Self-signed is not recommended , because it's complicated to configured it. Internal CA, can be used if users connect only from a computer joined to on-premise domain. 3rd party , from my point of view this is the best approach ,because user will be able to validate certificate when he try access on his mailbox from any device not only joined computer

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