Exhcange 2016 RTM update

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Hello All,

I have been assigned to the task to update our company's exhcnage 2016 server.
I found out that is running the RTM version without a single CU update.

I am brainstorming how will the best way to to the update, to be safe and limit downtime.

So i am thinking couple scenarios which im not sure if are viable

1. Build a new exchange 2016 server with CU 12 and migrate over.
   Does the old server needs to be at the same CU to do this scenario?
   Running adprep - forestprep will it break up the old exchange server?

2. In place upgrade old server directly to CU12? i know its risky and requires lots of downtime

3. Build a new exchange 2019 server migrate over.
   Does the old server needs to be updated to a certain CU level in order for this scenario to work?

Any help would be appreciated

Regards,
Neo

@Neophytos-Georgiou , I hope all is well. The easiest thing for you to do would be to run through the Deployment Assistant Wizard and try out some different scenarios there to get a plan together based on the specifics of your environment.

The URL for the wizard is: https://assistants.microsoft.com/

Start there, and ten let me know if you have questions as you decide on a path and have a plan. My direct e-mail is: adam@itpro.tv

Good Luck !!!

Cheers,

Adam