Step-by-Step Guide to Settinging Up CodeTwo Public Folders for Office 365CodeTwo Public Folders is a third-party tool that bridges on-premises Exchange public folders and Office 365 (Microsoft 365) mailboxes, enabling organizations to share mail, calendars, contacts and tasks across hybrid environments or migrate public folders to the cloud while preserving folder structure, permissions and item metadata. This guide walks you through planning, prerequisites, installation, configuration, common scenarios and verification steps so you can deploy CodeTwo Public Folders for Office 365 with confidence.
Before you begin: overview and planning
Why use CodeTwo Public Folders?
- It synchronizes public folders between on-premises Exchange and Microsoft 365, or directly from Exchange to Office 365 mailboxes.
- Keeps folder hierarchies, permissions and item metadata.
- Supports emails, calendar items, contacts, tasks and public folder permissions.
- Offers flexible filtering, scheduling and logging for migrations and ongoing synchronization.
Planning checklist:
- Identify the public folders (size, count, item types) to sync or migrate.
- Decide whether you need one-way migration or two-way synchronization.
- Map source folders to target mailboxes or public folders in Office 365.
- Inventory user accounts and permissions: make sure target mailboxes/users exist in Azure AD.
- Ensure network connectivity between your environment and Office 365.
- Prepare service account(s) with required permissions in Exchange and Office 365.
Prerequisites
System requirements (high level)
- A Windows server (2016, 2019, 2022 or supported Windows Server version) for installing the CodeTwo service and management console.
- .NET Framework and Windows components as specified in CodeTwo documentation.
- Sufficient disk space for logs and temporary data.
- Firewall and proxy rules allowing communication with Office 365 endpoints.
Accounts and permissions
- On-premises account with full access to public folders (or Exchange Organization Management rights) for source access.
- Azure AD account (service account) with Global Admin rights during initial setup for granting application permissions, or delegated permissions per CodeTwo instructions.
- Exchange Online mailbox(es) to act as targets for public folders (if migrating to mailbox-based public folders).
Certificates and authentication
- Ensure Exchange Web Services (EWS) is available and accessible.
- If using modern authentication, follow CodeTwo’s guidance for registering an app in Azure AD and granting the necessary Graph/EWS permissions.
Step 1 — Download and install CodeTwo Public Folders
- Download the latest CodeTwo Public Folders installer from the CodeTwo website.
- Log onto the Windows server designated for the product with an account that has local admin rights.
- Run the installer and follow the prompts:
- Install the Management Console and the Synchronization Service.
- Choose the installation directory.
- When prompted, start the Management Console.
Step 2 — Configure service accounts and authentication
- In the Management Console, go to the Credentials (or Accounts) section.
- Add your source (on-premises Exchange) account:
- Provide the username and password of the account with access to public folders.
- Test the connection to confirm connectivity.
- Add your target (Office 365) account:
- For basic auth: provide credentials for a mailbox account in Exchange Online.
- For modern auth (recommended): follow the wizard to register an Azure AD app and grant required permissions, then authenticate via OAuth.
- Confirm both accounts show a successful connection.
Step 3 — Create synchronization jobs
- Open the Management Console and click to create a new synchronization job.
- Choose the synchronization direction:
- Source -> Target (one-way migration)
- Two-way (continuous sync) if you need ongoing replication.
- Select source folders:
- Navigate the public folder tree on your Exchange server and pick the folders to migrate/sync.
- Optionally include subfolders.
- Select the target:
- Map to an Office 365 public folder (if using mailbox-based public folders in Exchange Online) or to a specific mailbox folder depending on your deployment choice.
- Set synchronization options:
- Item types to include (mail, calendar, contacts, tasks).
- Preserve item metadata (author, created/modified dates).
- Conflict resolution rules (e.g., keep newest).
- Save the job.
Step 4 — Configure filters, scheduling and conflict handling
Filters
- Use filters to include/exclude items by date range, sender, subject keywords or item type. This is useful for staged migrations (e.g., migrate only items from last 2 years).
Scheduling
- Choose when the synchronization runs:
- Manual (run on demand).
- Scheduled (every X minutes/hours).
- Continuous (near real-time) for two-way sync scenarios.
Conflict handling
- Configure what happens when the same item exists on both sides:
- Prefer source
- Prefer target
- Keep newest
- Keep both (renaming or versioning)
Step 5 — Run an initial test/simulation
- Run the synchronization job in simulation/test mode if available. This shows what will be copied without making changes.
- Review the simulation report for:
- Number of items to be migrated.
- Any permission or mapping warnings.
- Potential conflicts.
- Adjust filters, mappings or permissions as needed.
Step 6 — Execute migration/synchronization
- Start the synchronization job.
- Monitor progress in the Management Console:
- Job progress, item counts, throughput.
- Recent actions and any errors/warnings.
- For large public folders, migrate in batches using filters or folder-by-folder jobs to reduce impact.
- Keep an eye on Exchange Online mailbox quotas if migrating to mailbox folders.
Step 7 — Verify results and validate permissions
Verification checklist:
- Confirm item counts in target match (or reasonably align with) source.
- Open sample items (emails, calendar events, contacts) to ensure content, attachments and metadata are preserved.
- Check folder hierarchy and folder-level permissions have been replicated.
- Confirm calendar items display correctly for shared users.
- If two-way sync: create test items on both sides to ensure replication works in both directions.
Troubleshooting common issues
- Authentication failures: re-check credentials, OAuth app permissions and time/date skew on the server.
- Missing items: verify filters, check item-type settings and run the job in simulation to see excluded items.
- Performance problems: break the job into smaller batches, increase scheduling intervals, or run outside business hours.
- Permission mismatches: ensure service accounts have required rights on source folders and target mailboxes.
Post-migration tasks
- Update user documentation and inform stakeholders about new access methods or mailbox locations.
- If migrating permanently to Office 365, plan decommissioning of on-premises public folders (after confirmation).
- Schedule regular health checks and backups for targets in Office 365.
- Review and tune synchronization schedules and filters for ongoing syncs.
Example: migrate a single calendar public folder to an Exchange Online mailbox folder
- In Management Console, create a one-way job.
- Select the calendar public folder as source.
- Map target to a specific calendar folder in an Exchange Online mailbox.
- Filter to include last 3 years only.
- Run simulation, review, then execute the job.
- Verify events appear in the target mailbox calendar and attendees/responses are intact.
Logging and support
- Review detailed logs in the Management Console for errors and item-level issues.
- Export reports for auditing or compliance purposes.
- If you encounter unresolved problems, contact CodeTwo support with logs and job configuration.
Summary
CodeTwo Public Folders provides a practical, controlled path for migrating or synchronizing public folders between Exchange and Office 365 while maintaining structure, permissions and metadata. Follow planning, test with simulations, migrate in stages, verify results and monitor logs to ensure a smooth deployment.
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