XFOR: Event 283 May Occur When Running the Migration Wizard

• Microsoft Exchange Server, version 4.0

SUMMARY

When you use the Microsoft Exchange Migration Wizard to migrate accounts to a Microsoft Exchange Server computer, the following error may be generated in the Application event log

   Event ID: 283
   Source: MSExchangeMIGDS
   Description: Could not remove object <UserID> because the directory
   service reported the following error: Changes cannot be written to
   this directory object. Try connecting to a Microsoft Exchange
   Server computer in the same site as this object.

RESOLUTION

To migrate these users, it will be necessary to remove the existing recipients from their home server. To do this, perform the following steps:

1. Log on to the Windows NT domain using the Microsoft Exchange Service Account or an account that has administrative permissions for the Microsoft Exchange Server.

2. Use the Microsoft Exchange Server Administrator program to remove the custom recipient or mailbox object for the user that you are trying to migrate from the appropriate recipients container.

3. Allow time for directory replication to occur between the recipient's home server and the target server. This will remove the user from the Global Address List (GAL) of the target server. If you wish to force directory replication to occur, select the Update Now button located on the General tab of the target server's Directory Service Properties dialog.

4. Run the Microsoft Exchange Migration Wizard again.

MORE INFORMATION

This error may occur if you have insufficient rights or permissions to the Microsoft Exchange Directory. In this case, make sure that you are logged into the Windows NT domain as a user with sufficient access to the Microsoft Exchange Directory.

This error may also occur if an existing mailbox or custom recipient is homed on one server in a site and an attempt is made to migrate an account to a server in a different site. Microsoft Exchange will attempt to remove the existing recipient from the target server and replace it with a new mailbox for the migrated account. Since the recipient does not actually exist on the target server (it is homed on another server in another site), it cannot be removed.