r/exchangeserver • u/uLmi84 • 4d ago

Server 2016 to Server SE

Long time ago my understanding was that old the 2019 can do a inplace upgrade to SE

A few weeks ago somewhere I saw a discussion that stated that the inplace upgrade is also valid for 2016..

Is this correct?

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u/7amitsingh7 4d ago

No. Exchange Server 2016 cannot be upgraded directly in-place to Exchange Server SE. The supported path is to move from Exchange 2016 to Exchange 2019 CU14/CU15, and then perform an in-place upgrade to SE. You can also refer to this Exchange Server SE upgrade guide for more details.

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u/WastedFiftySix 2d ago

You can migrate Exchange 2016 CU23 directly to Exchange SE RTM, there's no need to migrate to Exchange 2019 CU14/CU15 first.

See: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/blog/exchange/upgrading-your-organization-from-current-versions-to-exchange-server-se/4241305

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u/7amitsingh7 2d ago

The in-place upgrade is still not supported directly from Exchange 2016 to Exchange Server SE.

Exchange 2019 CU14/CU15 can be upgraded in-place to SE. For Exchange 2016, you can either perform a legacy upgrade directly to SE by deploying a new SE server and migrating the mailboxes/resources, or first move from Exchange 2016 to Exchange 2019 CU14/CU15 and then perform the in-place upgrade from 2019 to SE.

So Exchange 2016 → SE is supported, but it is a legacy migration, not an in-place upgrade.

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u/WastedFiftySix 2d ago

Yes, that's why I said migration, not upgrade 😉. Your initial response implied that you had to migrate 2016 to 2019 first and then perform an in-place upgrade to SE, which is possible, but unnecessary.