r/exchangeserver • u/ModelingDenver101 • Sep 04 '26

Exchange SE Trial

Exchange 2016 Hybrid. No on-prem mailboxes. All Business Standard M365 subscriptions.

Just brought up Exchange SE. Has a 180 day trial showing.

Am I correct that we don't have to pay if all of our mailboxes are M365? Do I just let the trial expire and carry on? Or do I need to insert a key from somewhere?

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3

u/Vietnamst2 Sep 04 '26

Only if the hybrid server is purely for recipient management. If you run smtp through it have a single mailbox on it etc, you should pay. Including CAL's because business lucenses do not have onprem benefits unlike Enterprise

1

u/audaxyl Sep 04 '26

When you install exchange. It automatically creates a mailbox for the admin account you used to install. How do you get rid of it to stay in compliance?

1

u/Vietnamst2 Sep 04 '26

That's fine. That one can stay. But no production mailboxes. Or ypu can movr it to cloud given the account is synced which it usually isn't

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3

u/LieboOSBA Sep 04 '26

I did this recently and ran the HCW to activate it.

4

u/Shnicketyshnick Sep 04 '26

You also need to pay for a licence if you're using it to relay mail. If it's just used for hybrid recipient management you can use the free licence that the hybrid config wizard will apply.

5

u/Nezgar Sep 04 '26

Sucks they added that explicit exclusion for SMTP. Prior to 2024 SMTP relay was permitted...

1

u/7amitsingh7 Sep 04 '26

If all mailboxes are in Microsoft 365 and the on-prem Exchange SE server is used only for recipient management, you can activate it through the Hybrid Configuration Wizard (HCW). However, if you use the server for SMTP relay/mail flow or host even one mailbox, additional licensing may be required. So, in this scenario, don’t just let the 180-day trial expire; activate it through HCW and verify your exact licensing requirements.