Administering an Exchange Server 2010 Environment : Recipient Configuration

4/17/2011 5:05:01 PM

Administrators can utilize any of the three administrative tools to perform a wide variety of user-specific configurations on an individual mailbox. As has been stated before, the ECP enables access to some of the settings, the EMC enables access to more of the settings, and the EMS enables access to all the settings. When it comes to administering nondisplay type data, the ECP gets left behind by the EMC and EMS.

Each mail-enabled object in an Exchange Server environment has specific settings that can be configured, enabling users in the same database to have different settings, even if a default setting is already applied to the database.

Several mailbox configurable properties are available on individual user mailboxes, including mailbox settings, mail flow settings, and mailbox features.

Mailbox Settings

Mailbox settings address storage quotas and records management functionality. Some of the detailed functions covered in mailbox settings are as follows:

Messaging Records Management— Messaging Records Management (or MRM) policies assist organizations to comply with legal or regulatory requirements for their organization. Administrators can configure a Managed folder mailbox policy that varies from the database default. This setting can be turned on for all messages or particular start and end dates and times can be specified.
Federated Sharing— New in Exchange Server 2010, the Federated sharing setting enables users to collaborate with organizations and users external to the Exchange Server organization by sharing personal information management (PIM) information such as free/busy data or contacts.
Storage Quotas— By default, mailboxes are configured to adhere to the storage quota settings for the database on which they reside. By default, these quotas are set to
- Issue warning at— 1,991,680 KB (1,945 MB or approximately 1.9 GB). This is not a “hard” limit, but a warning threshold. When this limit has been exceeded, the user gets a message warning them.
- Prohibit send at— 2,097,152 KB (2,048 MB or 2 GB). This is a “hard” limit. When a mailbox exceeds this threshold, the user will be unable to send mail. This does not impact the user’s ability to receive mail, ensuring users do not miss any messages while scurrying to clean up their mailbox.
- Prohibit send and receive at— 2,411,520 KB (2,355 MB or approximately 2.3 GB). This is also a “hard” limit. When the mailbox exceeds this limit, the user can no longer send or receive messages. Incoming mail destined for this mailbox will be returned to the sender.

Tip

Many organizations choose to disable the Prohibit Send and Receive option, preferring to allow a mailbox to exceed the desired maximum size rather than return messages to the sender. This can enable some users, such as IMAP users, to bypass storage quotas completely if the IMAP user is configured to send mail through an alternate SMTP server. With this configuration, users can allow their mailboxes to grow as large as they want, without ever being impacted by the storage quotas.

Organizations should always configure a Prohibit Send and Receive quota, even if the quota is double (or triple) the desired maximum mailbox size.

To view existing quotas on a particular database in the EMC, navigate to the Organization Configuration \ Mailbox node and select the Database Management tab. Select the desired database and select Properties from the action pane. Select the Limits tab to review the settings.

To view existing quotas on a particular database in the EMS, use the following command:

Get-MailboxDatabase "database name here" | fl *quota*

As previously stated, individual mailboxes can be configured to override the default database quotas. This is accomplished using the Storage Quotas option in the Mailbox Settings tab of the mailbox properties. To do so, remove the checkmark from the Use Mailbox Database Defaults box and configure the customized limits.

Deleted item retention settings are also configured using the Storage Quotas tab.

Archive Quota— Also new to Exchange Server 2010, a mailbox archive is a secondary mailbox that is configured by the administrator that “archives” user data onto potentially cheaper storage than that used by the primary mailbox. Archive quotas can be set to a different level than the primary mailbox. This option is only available for configuration if the mailbox has an archive mailbox enabled.

Mail Flow Settings

Also configurable from the Properties of a mailbox object, mail flow settings can be modified to enable for changes in delivery options, message size restrictions, and message delivery restrictions. Some specifics on the mail flow settings are as follows:

Delivery Options— Utilizing this tab, administrators can enable other users to Send on Behalf of this user. Messages that are “sent on behalf” show the recipient both who the message was sent on behalf of AND who actually sent the message. Additional settings on the Delivery Options tab can allow the mailbox to forward messages to another mailbox in the organization, and the administrator can specify whether to Deliver Message to Both Forwarding Address and Mailbox. Finally, an option exists to specify the Maximum recipients the mailbox can send to at one time.
Message Size Restrictions— Administrators can mandate the maximum message size that a user can send or receive, overwriting the settings configured at the organizational level. The Maximum send and receive sizes should generally be the same, or users could have a situation in which they can receive a message but cannot forward it (or reply with the original message attached). Likewise, if the Receive limits are lower than the Send limits, the user might send a message to a fellow employee but not receive a reply that includes the original message.
The default quotas set at the organizational level are
- Maximum receive size (KB)—10,240KB (10MB).
- Maximum send size (KB)—10,240KB (10MB).
- Maximum number of recipients—5,000.
There are several places in an Exchange Server environment in which message size limits can be applied:
- Individual Mailbox Level— Viewed in EMC from the message size restrictions or can be viewed in EMS with the following command:
```
Get-Mailbox "username" | fl *size*
```
- Organizational Level— Viewed in EMC by navigating to the Organization Configuration \ Hub Transport node and select the Global Settings tab. Select Transport Settings object and select Properties from the action pane. Select the General tab to review the settings. Can be viewed in EMS with the following command:
```
Get-TransportConfig | fl *size*
```
- Send and Receive Connectors— Can be viewed in the EMC by navigating to the Organization Configuration \ Hub Transport node and selecting Send Connectors, or by the Server Configuration \ Hub Transport node and selecting Receive Connectors. Can be viewed in EMS with the following commands:
```
Get-ReceiveConnector –id "receive connector name" | fl *size*
Get-SendConnector –id "receive connector name" | fl *size*
```
  Note
  
  Setting a higher message size limit on an Exchange Recipient bypasses the maximum message size settings at the organizational level. However, this is for internal messages only—messages sent outside of the organization are still subject to the organizational limits.
- Message Delivery Restrictions— With this feature, you can dictate whether an individual mailbox can receive messages from all senders or only specified senders, and whether those senders are required to be authenticated. Additionally, you can configure the mailbox to reject messages from particular senders.

Mailbox Features

Several property options for mailbox features enable for changes in settings for Outlook Web App (OWA), Exchange ActiveSync, unified messaging, and the Messaging Application Programming Interface (MAPI) communications protocol. Specific details on these mailbox feature properties are as follows:

Outlook Web App— This tab is used to enable or disable access to the Exchange servers via Outlook Web App for the user. Additionally, there is a new property for the object that allows the administrator to specify that the account must use a particular Outlook Web App mailbox policy, if one has been created. By default, OWA access is enabled for all user mailboxes.
Exchange ActiveSync— This feature can be enabled or disabled for an individual mailbox. If enabled, you have the option in the properties to apply an Exchange ActiveSync mailbox policy for the mailbox. By default, Exchange ActiveSync is enabled for all user mailboxes.
Unified Messaging— You have the option to enable or disable unified messaging for the mailbox using this feature setting.
MAPI— With this setting, you can dictate whether the user can access his mailbox from a MAPI-enabled client. You have the option to enable or disable MAPI access. By default, MAPI access is enabled for all user mailboxes.
POP3— With this setting, you can dictate whether the user can access his mailbox with POP3, an application-layer Internet standard protocol used to retrieve email from a remote server. This option is enabled by default for all user mailboxes.
IMAP4— With this setting, you can dictate whether the user can access his mailbox with Internet Message Access Protocol Version 4 Rev1 (IMAP4). IMAP4 is an application-layer Internet protocol that enables a local client to access email on a remote server. By default, IMAP4 access is enabled for all user mailboxes.
Archive— By enabling the Archive option, administrators can require that items be automatically moved from the primary mailbox to the archive using the configured policy.

Calendar Settings

New to Exchange Server 2010, the Calendar Settings tab enables administrators to modify the way that automatic processing of calendar items by the Calendar Attendant is handled. The following options are available:

Enable the Calendar Attendant—Enabled by default— This option enables or disables the Calendar Attendant, which decides whether any of the remaining features on the tab are available. If the Calendar Attendant is disabled, none of the following features can be enabled.
Remove meeting forward notifications to the Deleted Items folder—Disabled by default— When selected, this option takes meeting forward notifications and deletes them when they have been processed by the Calendar Attendant.
Remove old meeting requests and responses—Enabled by default— When selected, this option allows the Calendar Attendant to remove old and redundant updates and responses.
Mark new meeting requests as Tentative—Enabled by default— If selected, new meeting requests are marked as tentative in the user’s calendar. If not selected, pending requests are marked as free.
Process meeting requests and responses originating outside the Exchange Organization—Disabled by default— If selected, the Calendar Attendant will process meeting requests that originate from outside of the Exchange Server organization.

Managing Email Addresses

When a new mail-enabled user is created in an Exchange Server 2010 environment, the creation of the primary SMTP address is controlled by a recipient policy. By default, the recipient policy creates a primary SMTP address that is formatted as Alias @ your default organization. For example, user John Doe in companyabc.com, with an alias of JDoe, would have the default SMTP address of [email protected].

However, the default behavior of this recipient policy can easily be modified to create primary SMTP addresses that conform to your organization’s standard. For example, if your organization uses [email protected] as its standard SMTP address, you can configure the recipient policy to generate this address for you when the user mailbox is created. To do so, perform the following procedure:

1.	Start the Exchange Management Console.
2.	In the Console Tree, select Organization Configuration; then select Hub Transport.
3.	In the results pane, select the E-Mail Address Policies tab, and then highlight the default policy.
4.	In the action pane, click Edit.
5.	On the Introduction page, when modifying the Default Policy, all the options are read-only and cannot be changed. If you create an additional policy, these settings can be modified. Click Next to continue.
6.	On the Conditions page, when editing the default policy, the options are read-only. When creating a new policy, the policy can be specified to apply to recipients based on a particular State or Province, a specific department, or several other criteria. Click Next to continue.
7.	On the E-Mail Addresses page, under SMTP, select the policy and click Edit.
8.	By default, the E-Mail Address Local Part is set to Use alias. To modify the policy, click the E-Mail Address Local Part check box, and select the desired SMTP naming standard for your organization. For available options, see Figure 1. In the example, we are changing the policy to create email addressed in the format of First name.last name, so John Doe would get the default email address of [email protected]. Select the desired entry, and then, either select the Select the Accepted Domain for the E-mail Address radio button and choose your domain by clicking the Browse button, or (simpler) ensure the radio button for Specify the Custom Fully Qualified Domain Name is selected and type the desired domain there. When ready, click OK to continue. Figure 1. SMTP E-mail Address options.
9.	You should now be back at the E-Mail Addresses page with the format for the desired custom address populated. In our example, this would be presented as %g.%[email protected] (%g is the variable for Given Name and %s is the variable for Surname). Click Next to continue.
10.	On the Schedule page, specify when the email address policy will be applied. Note that if you select a time and date in the future, the wizard remains open until the countdown has completed. Select the appropriate option, and click Next to continue.
11.	On the Edit E-Mail Address Policy page, the Configuration Summary is shown. Review the policy to ensure all is correct, and then click Edit to continue.
12.	On the Completion page, a summary is shown informing you how many items were modified, how many succeeded, and how many failed. Click Finish to continue.

After this policy has been applied, existing users will have a new SMTP e-mail address generated that conforms to the policy, and it will be set as their primary (reply-to) address. Previously assigned addresses remain in place as secondary addresses. Users created from this point on, however, have only the new address, and it is set as their primary SMTP address.

Note

If your existing email address policy was created in a legacy version of Exchange Server, it must be upgraded before you can edit it using the previous procedure. To upgrade your policy, you must use the Set-EmailAddressPolicy command from the Exchange Management Shell. The following example shows how this command can be used.

From the Exchange Management Shell—for a policy named “Default Policy” that should apply to all users in the environment, the command would read:

Set-EmailAddressPolicy "Default Policy" –IncludedRecipients allrecipients

After hitting Enter, the administrator will see the following:

To save changes on object "Default Policy", the object must be upgraded to the
current Exchange version. After the upgrade, this object cannot be managed by
an earlier version of Exchange Management Tools. Do you want to continue to
upgrade and save the object?

Select “Y” for “Yes” and hit Enter.

The policy can now be edited from within the Exchange 2010 Management Console.