HoldForMigration issues Exchange 2016

Question

Good morning, 

I'm having some issues adding public folders to an on-premise exchange 2016 installation. The server is fully up and running and working properly. The setup was initially migrated from exchange 2010 but that migration is completed and all migration tasks have been marked as completed and then removed from the list. 

When I go to create a new public folder mailbox (there are none currently) I get the error "An existing Public Folder deployment has been detected. To migrate existing Public Folder data, create new Public Folder mailbox using -HoldForMigration switch."

If I create the public folder mailbox using the -HoldForMigration switch I'm unable to then create a public folder because hold for migration is set to active. 

I've tried marking it as false but it does not seem to update no matter what I've done. 

Set-OrganizationConfig -PublicFoldersLockedForMigration:$False

(Get-OrganizationConfig).RootPublicFolderMailbox |fl

IsValid              : True

CanUpdate            : True

HierarchyMailboxGuid : b7362dbe-6b9e-4a13-9526-9fc9cbce822a

LockedForMigration   : True

Get-OrganizationConfig |fl *public*

DefaultPublicFolderAgeLimit                  :

DefaultPublicFolderIssueWarningQuota         : Unlimited

DefaultPublicFolderProhibitPostQuota         : Unlimited

DefaultPublicFolderMaxItemSize               : Unlimited

DefaultPublicFolderDeletedItemRetention      : 30.00:00:00

DefaultPublicFolderMovedItemRetention        : 7.00:00:00

PublicFoldersLockedForMigration              : False

PublicFolderMigrationComplete                : True

PublicFolderMailboxesLockedForNewConnections : False

PublicFolderMailboxesMigrationComplete       : False

PublicFoldersEnabled                         : Local

PublicComputersDetectionEnabled              : False

RootPublicFolderMailbox                      : b7362dbe-6b9e-4a13-9526-9fc9cbce822a

RemotePublicFolderMailboxes                  : {}

So one command shows it locked, one command shows it not locked... nothing I do seems to update it and I've deleted/re-added the database multiple times (and it will never let me add without the migration flag enabled).  

I then looked for any stuck/pending migrations but it's returning... literally nothing for Get-PublicFolderMigrationRequest or Get-PublicFolderMailboxMigrationRequest

I'm pretty stuck at this point to find any other suggestions as everything online just says "delete the mailbox and start over" which I've done with no results. For the record I've also rebooted all the domain controllers after the last set to make sure there was nothing stuck.

Answer 1

Hello CookC,

Thanks for your post in Microsoft Community. Regarding your description, seems issue is related with on-premise exchange server 2016 and for that we have dedicated support expert team. As we are from Exchange Online team, so for this issue we recommend you to post your query on Exchange server Team site via https://social.technet.microsoft.com/forums/office/en-us/home?category=exchangeserver . Our on-premise team will better assist you for such kind of requirement.

Thanks and regards,

Ankita Vaidya