Exchange Server

So you have done your research and you have decided to move towards using the BlackBerry Enterprise Server Express edition. Can you run a BlackBerry Enterprise Server along side a BlackBerry Enterprise Server Express edition on the same domain?  This is not supported by RIM… but it does work.  For my scenario I just had 100 users. The transporter tool does not work either, so this is a manual process- I am told this is because the database schemas are different between the two versions.  So I am not going to be saving the users personal settings, at the end of the day I just want their contacts and emails to sync again.  The resetting of the filters, time zone, and other personal preferences is not a big deal at the end of the day.  After-all, we are going to save money both on licensing and monthly phone bills, since we don’t really need to have the BES data plan.

To begin we needed to add our users from one BES to a BES Express (BESX we’ll say). I ended up making the switch before switching their phones over from a BES plan to a BIS just to make my life a lot easier. OTA activations are handy, no arguing that fact.

I will now ask that you have followed RIM’s documentation on installing BESX, so I can keep this post brief. The following steps need to be performed to add users to the new database. You cannot share db’s.

To start with I need to export my users on my BES and import their info on the BESX. On the current BES perform the following:

• User -> Manage Users -> Search
• Scroll to the bottom click Manage multiple users
• Click Select all results on all pages
• Click Export user then click Download file and save UsersData.csv to your Desktop (all we need from this file is the list of email addresses)

At this point we need to format the file so that we can import the users into our new BESX server:

• Format the UsersData.csv by adding these column headings and populating it to your liking: ( Email Address | SRP ID | Activation Password Operation | Activation Password | Activation Password Expiry )
• The Activation Password Operation field can either be: generate or specify
• Activation Expiry is in hours. I used 48
• Remove the BESAdmin user from your .csv or whatever ID you use to manage your server
• Also the SRP ID is also known as the Serial Number. You received this info when signing up for the BESX

Assuming your BESX is installed we will head over to that server and import the users:

• User -> Create a user
• Import new users -> Browse… to the Data source file UsersData.csv that you modified
• Click Continue

If all goes well then your users are now being emailed their activation info for them to activate over the air.  It is also at this point your users might see an error message pop up about an IT policy issue.  That is because they need to wipe their phones and activate on the new server to grab it’s IT policies. If they have BIS accounts they will have to authenticate with their Active Directory credentials to https://besxhostname.yourdomain:3443/webdesktop/login and activate their phones via a USB cable. Note: They will need administrative privileges to install the ActiveX module or you can use a GPO and push it out for them…see the install guide.

Overall this is not a difficult process. Just be prepared to hear grief from your users about their settings. I was under the gun and didn’t have much time as we wanted to get our plan changes done by our next billing date. You might have more time and could mention to your users to backup their BlackBerry Messenger contacts to their Media Cards as a handy hint. In the end it is very much like installing a BES for the first time with the exception that you don’t have to figure out which users you need to create one at a time.  You have an existing server’s user list, as a cheat sheet to import into the BESX. Our 100 users were able to complete this process over a weekend.

Here is a template of how I instructed my users to redo their Enterprise Activation