Email Migration

Fix Exchange 2016 to 2019 Arbitration Mailbox Migration Failure

Bushra Parveen Oct 12, 2026 869 views

Question details

Users are unable to successfully migrate arbitration mailboxes from Exchange 2016 to Exchange 2019 due to specific service and indexing errors.

Fix Exchange 2016 to 2019 Arbitration Mailbox Migration Failure

Product: Exchange Server
Device & OS: not provided
Scenario: Migrating on-premises Exchange 2016 arbitration mailboxes to a new Exchange 2019 server environment.
Observed behavior: The migration fails, returning errors related to the Content Transformation Service or triggering BigFunnel indexing exceptions.

Before you start

Ensure you have administrative privileges on both the source Exchange 2016 and target Exchange 2019 servers, and that you have backed up your current mailbox databases.

Solution 1Recommended

Troubleshoot Exchange Services and BigFunnel Indexing

Resolve the underlying local services and indexing failures on the Exchange 2019 server before retrying the migration batch.

Arbitration mailbox migrations often fail if the target database is experiencing search indexing issues (BigFunnel) or if the Content Transformation Service is stopped or malfunctioning. Correcting these on the target server is necessary for a successful move.

Check Content Transformation Service

Open 'services.msc' on your Exchange 2019 server. Locate the 'Microsoft Exchange Content Transformation' service, ensure it is set to start automatically, and restart the service.

Verify Database Health

Launch the Exchange Management Shell (EMS) as an administrator. Run the command 'Get-MailboxDatabaseCopyStatus' to confirm that all databases are mounted and report a healthy status.

Address BigFunnel Exceptions

If you are encountering BigFunnel indexing exceptions, rebuild or update the search indices on the target database by executing 'Update-MailboxDatabaseCopy -Identity "DatabaseName\ServerName" -CatalogOnly' in the EMS.

Resume the Migration Batch

Once the services are running and the database indices are healthy, navigate to the Exchange Admin Center (EAC) or use the EMS to resume or recreate the arbitration mailbox migration batch.

Troubleshoot Exchange Services and BigFunnel Indexing

On-Premises Specific: These troubleshooting steps apply specifically to on-premises Exchange Server deployments. Exchange Online migrations utilize different backend services.

Solution 2

Seek Assistance in the Exchange Hybrid Management Forum

If local troubleshooting does not resolve the Content Transformation or indexing errors, escalate the issue to Microsoft's specialized on-premises support community.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is an Exchange arbitration mailbox?

An arbitration mailbox is a specialized system mailbox in Microsoft Exchange used to store and manage organizational data, such as workflow processes, approval routing, message tracking, and eDiscovery search data.

What causes a BigFunnel indexing exception during migration?

BigFunnel exceptions typically occur when the target Exchange server's search indexing engine encounters corrupt catalogs, insufficient permissions, or degraded database health, preventing it from properly indexing the incoming mailbox data.

Can I use the Microsoft 365 Exchange Online forum for this error?

No. Because this issue involves Exchange 2016 and 2019 migrations, it is considered an on-premises issue. The Microsoft 365 Exchange Online forums focus on cloud environments. You should direct on-premises queries to the Exchange Hybrid Management Q&A forum.

Migration & Recovery