Microsoft support policy for Exchange Server coexistence with and migration from Lotus Notes/Domino 6.x

This article describes the Microsoft support policy for the migration of a Lotus Notes Domino 6 server to Microsoft Exchange Server 5.5, to Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server, or to Microsoft Exchange Server 2003. Additionally, this article describes the support policy for the coexistence of a Lotus Notes Domino 6 server with Exchange 5.5, with Exchange 2000, or with Exchange 2003.

As of December 2005, Microsoft Product Support Services (PSS) provides support for migration from Lotus Notes Domino 4.6, 5.x, and 6.x to Exchange 2003. PSS does not provide support for the coexistence of Lotus Notes Domino 6 with Exchange 5.5 or with Exchange 2000.

Although there is no official support policy for these third-party products, because the underlying technologies that are used in migration and coexistence are similar between product groups, and because Microsoft has performed preliminary testing of these scenarios, PSS offers troubleshooting information on request. PSS does not guarantee that a resolution can be found for an issue that you may experience.

IBM has released information about Lotus Notes support for Windows Server 2003 as follows:

• Support for Windows Server 2003 will start with Domino versions 6.0.3 and 6.5.
• The Notes Release 6 client will not be supported on Windows Server 2003.
• There are currently no plans for support on the 64-bit version of Windows Server 2003.
• The Notes R5 client and Domino R5 server will not be supported on Windows Server 2003.
• Lotus will support any service packs that will be released for Windows Server 2003.

For more information, visit the following IBM Web site: Microsoft supports a Lotus Notes 6.x installation on Windows Server 2003 for the purpose of running the following tools:

• Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 Connector for Lotus Notes
• Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 Calendar Connector for Lotus Notes
• Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 Migration Wizard for Lotus Notes
• Application Analyzer 2006 for Lotus Domino
• Application Transporter 2006 for Lotus Domino

These updated tools for Lotus Domino replace the tools that are included with Exchange Server 2003, with Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 Service Pack 1, and with Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 Service Pack 2.

Note To use these tools, you must have Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 Service Pack 2 and the Lotus Notes 6.5.4 Client (preferred) installed. After you install these programs, you can install the following tools:

• Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 Connector for Lotus Notes
  http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=d9f3a35e-1046-47b5-b09b-bda9de60cd9d&DisplayLang=en (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=d9f3a35e-1046-47b5-b09b-bda9de60cd9d&DisplayLang=en)
• Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 Calendar Connector for Lotus Notes
  http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=c14932a1-55f4-4256-af7e-617639d46024&DisplayLang=en (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=c14932a1-55f4-4256-af7e-617639d46024&DisplayLang=en)
• Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 Migration Wizard for Lotus Notes
  http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=c105b3e4-3beb-4f1e-8f52-e345af6c3e50&DisplayLang=en (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=c105b3e4-3beb-4f1e-8f52-e345af6c3e50&DisplayLang=en)

To obtain guidance and additional resources, visit the following Microsoft Web site: These updated tools provide additional functionality and address several issues that customers reported with earlier versions of the tools. Additionally, these tools use the Domino 6.x API set to provide better coexistence between the two messaging systems.

Troubleshooting migration and coexistence issues

For support issues, the following steps will be performed:

1. After agreement that no solution is guaranteed, and that no incident refund will be provided, PSS will troubleshoot the issue. If it is not agreed that a solution to the issue is not guaranteed, PSS will not troubleshoot the issue and will refund the incident.
   
   Important Microsoft does not guarantee that a solution can be provided. If no resolution is found through troubleshooting the issue, the incident will not be refunded.
2. PSS will use standard troubleshooting procedures to try to isolate the migration or coexistence issue. Some typical troubleshooting methods that PSS uses include:
   • The use of the Microsoft Knowledge Base. The Microsoft Knowledge Base is available to customers through Microsoft TechNet, or you can visit the following Microsoft Web site:
     http://support.microsoft.com (http://support.microsoft.com/)
   • Determining if the problem can be reproduced in other installations.
3. Recommending that you upgrade to a later or earlier version of the third-party Lotus Notes client program. For more information about the Lotus Notes client versions that are tested with the Exchange Notes connector, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
   316035  (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/316035/ ) Lotus Notes Client versions that are tested with the Exchange Notes Connector

Quick Fix Engineering (QFE) updates

QFE updates or "hotfixes" are created to provide solutions to problems (bugs) in the Microsoft Exchange family of products and to provide additional features to these products. The decision to create QFE updates for issues that may occur in relation to the migration of Lotus Notes Domino 6, or the coexistence with a Lotus Notes Domino 6 installation is made on a case-by-case basis. However, the following general guidelines are used when determining how to direct resources into the creation and subsequent testing of a QFE update for these scenarios:

Important Although the following guidelines may be useful in determining if a hotfix will be created for a certain issue, the creation of a hotfix does not depend on the following guidelines. Microsoft considers each issue that is related to the migration of, or coexistence with, the Lotus Notes Domino 6 installation, on a case-by-case basis.

• A greater emphasis is placed on QFE updates that benefit a larger number of customers.
• A greater emphasis is placed on QFE updates for the newest versions of Exchange.

Third-party solutions

A number of third-party program vendors offer migration tools for migrating Lotus Domino mailboxes to Exchange Server 5.5 and Exchange 2000 Server.

The third-party products that this article discusses are manufactured by companies that are independent of Microsoft. Microsoft makes no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding the performance or reliability of these products.