How to Fix “Active Directory Property ’homeMDB’ isn’t Writable on Recipient” Error?
Summary: During migration of data, you may get an error with regards to a property from the Active Directory Schema (ADS), saying the homeMDB is not writeable on the recipient. In this post, we will look closely at this error and discuss the possible solutions to fix it. We will also mention an EDB converter tool that can migrate EDB data to a live Exchange Server without any issue.
During migration of data from an Exchange Server to another server, you may experience a situation where the move request fails, with the message saying that the property homeMDB is not writeable. The complete message will be similar to the below:
From the error message, it looks the issue is related to permissions. So, first check the Event Viewer to see for any warning or error event that could help in identifying the issue. This will probably point to the right direction in finding the right solution.
In most cases, the issue is related to the Exchange Trusted Subsystem group, which could be missing in the ACL of the user object. The user, organizational unit, or root could have the inheritance disabled and some of the permissions for the Exchange Trusted Subsystem can be missing. Although this is a common issue, you need to resolve it if you want to continue the mailbox moves.
Possible Solutions to Fix the Active Directory Property ’homeMDB’ isn’t Writable Error
First, check if the problem is only with a single or set of mailboxes, or all mailboxes. This will help in the investigation.
Then, check that both Exchange Servers are updated to the latest Cumulative Updates. Also, ensure that the Active Directory is in working order and the replication with other domain controllers is successful. You can use the repladmin and dcdiag commands (as given below) to identify problems in the Active Directory.
Repadmin /replsummary
If there are no issues, you can open the Active Directory Users & Computers to see the permissions. To continue, you must make sure that the Advanced Features option is enabled. Once you open the Active Directory Users & Computers, click on View and Advanced Features.
When this is complete, you need to find the affected user which you are unable to migrate. When found, open the user properties and click on the Security tab.
In the Security tab, click on the Advanced button. Here, you will see all the permissions of the user. You need to make sure that the Disable inheritance option is selected. This means that the inheritance is enabled and any permissions from the parent organizational unit (OU) are also applied on the object.The above command will give information about replication between the Active Directory servers.
You can run the below command to know the status and check for any issues in the Active Directory configuration and operational status.
Now, you can try the move request. It should work as the Exchange Trusted Subsystem group has enough permissions to update the schema and the object.
The inheritance permissions may have been changed by a previous administrator or disabled for testing purposes but never re-enabled. There could be cases that the permission is imposed on the user, when the user is part of one of the below administrative groups:
- Enterprise Admins
- Schema Admins
- Domain Admins
- Administrators
- Account Operators
- Server Operators
- Print Operators
- Backup Operators
- Cert Publishers
In this case, you can enable the object’s inheritance but it will be automatically changed after 1 hour. So, you can change the AdminCount property of the user in the Attribute Editor from 1 to 0.
Now, you can enable the inheritance and then disable it, with the option to convert the inherited permissions to explicit ones.
Alternative Solution for Migration
For migration of data from an Exchange Server to another server or Office 365 with ease, you can take the help of an EDB to PST converter tool, like Raminfotech Converter for EDB. This tool facilitates the data migration process and requires minimal installation and configuration. With this tool, you can open online and offline Exchange Server databases of any version of Exchange Server. You can easily and granularly export the EDB data directly to another Exchange Server or Office 365 tenant, with automatic mailbox matching, parallel exports, and priority exports. Raminfotech Converter for EDB can process user mailboxes, user archives, shared mailboxes, disabled mailboxes, and public folders. You can also export the EDB data to other file formats, such as PST, EML, MSG, and PDF.
Conclusion
Sometimes, issues with Exchange and system configuration can hinder the migration process, resulting in errors such as Active Directory property ’homeMDB’ isn’t writeable on recipient. This can happen because of AdminSDHolder and change in permissions. You can check and assign the permissions to resolve the issue.
However, for hassle-free migration of data, you can use EDB to PST converter tool, like Stellar Converter for EDB. This will help to shorten and simplify the Exchange migration process, with minimal impact and effort. It can process all types of resources in the Exchange Server database, including public folders.
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