How to Manage AD Accounts After Removing the Last Exchange Server?

You've got two paths here: either install the Exchange Management Shell or manage everything in Entra. Check these links for details:

1. Entra (Preview): [Cloud-based management of Exchange attributes for Remote Mailboxes in Hybrid Environments](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/exchange/hybrid-deployment/enable-exchange-attributes-cloud-management)
2. PowerShell: [Manage Recipients in Exchange Hybrid Environments using Management Tools](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/exchange/manage-hybrid-exchange-recipients-with-management-tools?source=recommendations). Just remember - do NOT uninstall the last Exchange Server, or things could break!

It's crucial that you don't uninstall Exchange straight up. If you do, it could delete the Active Directory attributes, which is a huge mess! At my last job, we dealt with this by simply installing the Exchange management tools on a new server and shutting the old one down instead of uninstalling it.

If your identity stays hybrid with on-prem AD syncing to Entra, you’ll need to manage everything through PowerShell. You can find some good instructions here: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/exchange/manage-hybrid-exchange-recipients-with-management-tools. Alternatively, if you prefer using a GUI, you might keep a low-spec Exchange Server that doesn’t host any mailboxes just for management.

You should definitely remove the Exchange server but be careful not to lose the AD attributes. Once that's sorted, you can install Exchange Server 2019+ PowerShell for managing everything. There’s talk that Microsoft might eventually allow managing these attributes directly from Exchange Online, but it's still just hearsay.

Oh no! I recently removed my last Exchange Server, and trust me, there are specific PowerShell commands you need to run. The typical web methods won't cover everything, especially for groups created on-prem. Be ready for some tedious workarounds. If I had another shot, I definitely wouldn’t take off the on-prem server!