Exchange Server testing - Things to test

This a copy from the article Steve Goodman wrote for Techtarget.com in case it gets lost, deleted or whatever. Which would be a shame because of the relevant info it contains.

Set up Exchange for basic tests

You should test the Exchange 2016 infrastructure at a high level to verify its status. At this point, it's unlikely you have migrated the client access role across, so you might need to reconfigure the local host files on your test clients to run these trials.

Area	Test activity
User accounts	Create test mailboxes in each data center on Exchange 2016.
User accounts	Create test mailboxes in each DAG on Exchange 2010.
Client	Configure host file records to simulate connectivity to Exchange 2016 load balancers.
OWA 2016	Test Outlook on the web/Outlook Web App (OWA) login functionality for an Exchange 2016 user in each data center.
OWA 2016	Test reading, opening and replying to emails for an Exchange 2016 user in each data center.
OWA 2016	Test creating, updating and modifying a calendar item for an Exchange 2016 user in each data center.
OWA 2016	Test creating, updating and modifying a contact item for an Exchange 2016 user in each data center.
OWA 2016	Test disabling user access to OWA for security purposes.
Email	Test mail flow between Exchange 2016 users in each data center.
Email	Test mail flow to an Exchange 2016 user in each data center from Exchange 2010 in each data center.
Email	Test mail flow to an Exchange 2016 user in each data center from an external source.
Email	Test mail flow from an Exchange 2016 user to an Exchange 2010 user.
Email	Test external out-of-office settings of an Exchange 2016 user from an external source.
Federation	Test availability of an Exchange 2016 mailbox from an external partner.
Federation	Test availability of an external partner's mailbox from Exchange 2016.
Exchange general	Test mailbox move functionality from Exchange 2010 to Exchange 2016 in each DAG.
Exchange general	Test mailbox move functionality from Exchange 2016 to Exchange 2010 in each DAG.

Testing each database availability group

After you complete these basic checks, you should run tests with the following PowerShell cmdlets against each DAG to check mailbox services.

Area	Test activity
Service health	Use Test-ServiceHealth to verify services are running.
Service health	Use Get-HealthReport to check if each server is healthy.
Mail flow	Use Test-Mailflow to test the mail flow against each server.
Mail flow	Use Test-SmtpConnectivity to test connectivity to each receive connector.
Mailbox	Use Test-ReplicationHealth to validate the DAG continuous replication status.
Mailbox	Use Get-MailboxDatabaseCopyStatus to view the health of the database copies within the DAG.
Mailbox	Use Test-MapiConnectivity to verify MAPI and LDAP work with a user's login.
Mailbox	Use Test-AssistantHealth to check that the Mailbox Assistants service is running and healthy against each server.
Client access	Use the Microsoft Connectivity Analyzer to execute the Outlook connectivity tests.
Client access	Use Test-WebServicesConnectivity to test client connectivity to Exchange Web Services virtual directories against each server.
Client access	Use Test-ActiveSyncConnectivity to simulate a full synchronization with a mobile device.
Client access	Use a browser to log on to the Exchange Admin Center to verify functionality of all Exchange 2016 servers.
Client access	Use Test-MRSHealth to verify that the Mailbox Replication service is running and that it responds to a remote procedure call ping check.
High availability	Validate that the passive copy of databases in the same data center comes online automatically after a failure of a database.
High availability	Validate that the services that are running in the secondary data center continue to operate without any interruption after failing all the servers within the DAG in the primary data center.
High availability	Manually remove a disk from a passive database to test if auto reseed works as expected. Reverse the process to return the disks to the original state.
High availability	Perform a cold start of the DAG to validate that the DAG will start correctly if a major outage occurs.
Load balancer	Disable all load balanced servers for each server in turn within the same data center. Validate client access and mail flow for mailboxes hosted on failed servers.
Load balancer	Disable all load balanced services within the first data center. Validate client access and mail flow for mailboxes hosted on the failed data center.
Load balancer	Disable all load balanced services within the secondary data center. Validate client access and mail flow for mailboxes hosted on the failed data center.
Backups	Use Get-MailboxDatabase to validate the right setting for circular logging: disabled if using backup software or enabled if there is no backup software installed.
Backups	Perform a full backup of each mailbox database.
Backups	Perform an incremental backup of each mailbox database.
Backups	Restore a full database to a temporary location and recover a mailbox.
Backups	Restore a full database to the original location and mount it.
Unified messaging	Test leaving a voicemail to an Exchange 2016 mailbox.
Unified messaging	Test receiving a voicemail in an Exchange 2016 mailbox via the Outlook client.
Unified messaging	Test receiving a voicemail in an Exchange 2016 mailbox via Play on Phone.
Unified messaging	Test access to Outlook Voice Access in Exchange 2016.
Unified messaging	Test instant messaging sign-in to Exchange 2016.
Unified messaging	Test Skype for Business meeting scheduling in OWA.

Check client connectivity

In the final stage of Exchange Server testing, you should examine client connectivity. If the Exchange system passes all the previous tests, then basic connectivity is most likely fine. It's important to run a full set of tests using the builds of the clients the end users will use.
Your checklist might vary from the one below to include the different Outlook versions and mobile devices to test.

Area	Test Activity
Outlook 2016	Test before/after migration experience.
Outlook 2016	Test Autodiscover in Exchange 2016.
Outlook 2016	Test cached mode access via Exchange 2016 in each data center.
Outlook 2016	Test offline address book download functionality via Exchange 2016 in each data center.
Outlook 2016	Test Exchange Web Services -- free, busy, out of office -- functionality via Exchange 2016 in each data center.
Outlook 2016	Test Outlook Anywhere functionality via Exchange 2016 in each data center.
Outlook 2016	Test mail send/receive/synchronization via Exchange 2016 in each data center.
Outlook 2016	Test open additional mailbox functionality via Exchange 2016 in each data center.
Outlook 2016	Test open additional on-premises mailbox functionality via Exchange 2016 in each data center.
Mobile device	Test Autodiscover functionality in Exchange 2016 in each DAG.
Mobile device	Test ActiveSync synchronization in Exchange 2016 in each DAG.
Skype for Business client	Test Exchange access after migration to Exchange 2016.

As you test, record the results for reference purposes. For example, you may wish to:

• collect screenshots or screen recordings as you test;
• work with a colleague to help oversee the testing process and sign off on the checklist; and
• there may be other areas to resolve, so add a column to add notes for any remediation actions before retesting the environment.