Exchange Server 2010: Deploying Exchange Databases (part 3) - Managing Public Folder Databases

3. Managing Public Folder Databases

A public folder database is an Exchange database that stores public folders and system folders and assists in the replication of the folders with other Exchange servers. Exchange Server 2010 supports public folder functionality. You need to configure public folders if your clients are using Microsoft Outlook 2003 or earlier. However, Outlook 2007 and Outlook 2010 do not require public folders to implement OAB distribution or calendar information except when they need to coexist with previous versions of Exchange Server.

When you install the first Exchange Server 2010 server in an Active Directory Domain Service (AD DS) forest, you can specify whether your Exchange organization supports Outlook 2003 or Microsoft Entourage. If you say yes, Exchange Server 2010 creates a public folder database. If you say no, you can create a public folder database later on using the New-PublicFolderDatabase cmdlet.

Note:

PUBLIC FOLDER DATABASE CREATION AND CONFIGURATION

For more information about how to use the New-PublicFolderDatabase cmdlet to create a public folder database, see http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb123673.aspx. For more information about how to use the Set-PublicFolderDatabase cmdlet to configure a public folder database, see http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa997225.aspx. For detailed information about public folder management, access http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb124411.aspx and follow the links.

Although not every Exchange organization hosts public folder databases, you, as a professional, need to know how to manage them. As with mailbox databases, you have the option of using the EMC or the EMS to carry out most tasks. In order to manage a public folder database, you need to be granted the Exchange Organization Administrator role and be a member of the Local Administrators group on the target server.

3.1. Creating a Public Folder Database

As mentioned earlier in this section, the New-PublicFolderDatabase cmdlet in the EMS is used to create a public folder database. For example, the following command creates a public folder database named My Public Folder database with a file path C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\Mailbox\PublicDatabase.edb and a log file path D:\ExchangeDatabases\Public\Logs\ PublicDatabase:

New-PublicFolderDatabase -Name "My Public Folder Database" -EdbFilePath "C:\Program
Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\Mailbox\PublicDatabase.edb" -LogFolderPath
"D:\ExchangeDatabases\Public\Logs\PublicDatabase"

					  

You can also use the following procedure in the EMC:

Note:

CREATING A PUBLIC FOLDER DATABASE

You cannot create a public folder database on a server on which one already exists because a Mailbox server can host a maximum of one public folder database.

3.2. Moving Public Folder Content

Two scenarios exist in which you want to move public folder content from one public folder database to another public folder database. You might want to move all public folder content in a database to the new database (for example, if you were replacing the Exchange Server 2010 server that stored the public folder database with a newer or more powerful server), or you might want to move a subtree in a tree of folders from one server to another (for example, if you wanted to share the workload involved in hosting public folders between the two servers).

You can use the MoveAllReplicas.ps1 script to move all public folders in a public folder database to a new public folder database. This script replaces a server with a new server in the replication list for all public folders, including system folders. You can use the ReplaceReplicaOnPFRecursive.ps1 script to move all the replicas of a public folder subtree from one server to another server. This script adds a new server to the replication list for a public folder and all the folders that are beneath it in the hierarchy. If the server is already listed in the replication list for a folder, nothing changes for that folder.

Note:

PUBLIC FOLDER SCRIPTS

For more information about using public folder scripts, see http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa997966.aspx.

To use the EMS to move all public folder content in a public folder database on Mailbox server MailServerA to a new public folder database on Mailbox server MailServerB, you enter the following command:

MoveAllReplicas.ps1 -Server MailServerA -NewServer MailServerB

To use the EMS to move content in a tree of folders from Mailbox server MailServerA to Mailbox server MailServerB where the top public folder in the hierarchy is called My Public Folder, you enter the following command:

ReplaceReplicaOnPFRecursive.ps1 -TopPublicFolder "\My Public Folder" -ServerToAdd
MailServerB -ServerToRemove MailServerA

					  

3.3. Removing Public Folders from a Database

Removing user or system public folders from a public folder database is a two-stage procedure. In the EMS, you first need to identify the public folder using the Get-PublicFolder cmdlet and pipe the result into the Remove-PublicFolder cmdlet. Note that because there can be only one public folder database on a server, you identify the server rather than the database. The following command removes all user public folders from the public folder database on the Mailbox server VAN-EX1:

Get-PublicFolder -Server VAN-EX1 "\" -Recurse -ResultSize:Unlimited | Remove-
PublicFolder -Server VAN-EX1 -Recurse -ErrorAction:SilentlyContinue

					  

The following command removes all system public folders from the public folder database on the Mailbox server VAN-EX1:

Get-PublicFolder -Server VAN-EX1 "\Non_Ipm_Subtree" -Recurse -ResultSize:Unlimited |
Remove-PublicFolder -Server VAN-EX1 -Recurse -ErrorAction:SilentlyContinue

					  

The Recurse parameter of the Get-PublicFolder cmdlet specifies that the command must return the specified public folder and all its children. You do not need to specify a value with this parameter. Non_Ipm_Subtree specifies the system folder root. If this is not specified after the \ symbol, then the root public folder object Ipm_Subtree is taken as the default. In the Remove-PublicFolder cmdlet, the Recurse parameter indicates that the root folder and all its subfolders are removed. The ErrorAction parameter of the Remove-PublicFolder cmdlet determines the action to be taken if an error is detected.

Note:

GET-PUBLICFOLDER AND REMOVE-PUBLICFOLDER

For more information about the Get-PublicFolder cmdlet, see http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa997615.aspx. For more information about the Remove-PublicFolder cmdlet, see http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb124894.aspx.

3.4. Removing a Public Folder Database

If you want to remove a public folder database, you must first move any public folder replicas in the database to another server and remove all public folders in the database. Otherwise, you will receive an error stating that the public folder database cannot be removed. You can remove a public folder database that contains no public folders or public folder replicas by using either the EMC or the EMS.

To use the EMC to remove a public folder database, carry out the following procedure:

You can use the Remove-PublicFolderDatabase cmdlet in the EMS to remove a public folder database from which all public folders have been removed and all public folder replicas moved. For example, to remove the public folder database MyPublicFolderDatabase on the server VAN-EX1, you would use the following command:

Remove-PublicFolderDatabase -Identity "VAN-EX1\MyPublicFolderDatabase"

If the public folder database you are removing is the only such database in your Exchange organization, then you need to include the RemoveLastAllowed parameter in the command.

Note:

REMOVE-PUBLICFOLDERDATABASE

For more information about the Remove-PublicFolderDatabase cmdlet, see http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa996312.aspx.

3.5. Configuring Public Folder Database Properties

You can access the Properties dialog box for a public folder database through the EMC by using a procedure similar to the way you accessed the Properties dialog box for a mailbox database earlier in this lesson. This lets you access four tabs: General, Replication, Limits, and Public Folder Referral.

On the General tab, you can obtain details of the database, such as its file path, whether it is mounted, the server on which it is mounted, and its backup status. You can configure the database replication schedule and specify whether the database is mounted at startup, whether it can be overwritten by a restore, and whether circular logging is enabled.

On the Replication tab, shown in Figure 6, you can configure the replication interval and message size limit. You can specify that replication always runs, never runs, runs every hour, runs every two hours, or runs every four hours. You can click Customize to configure a custom schedule.

Note:

PUBLIC FOLDER DATABASE PROPERTIES DIALOG BOX TABS

You configure a replication schedule on the Replication tab and a maintenance schedule on the General tab. There is no Maintenance tab.

The Limits tab is similar to the Limits tab in the Mailbox Database Properties dialog box shown earlier in Figure 4. You can configure Warning and Prohibit Post size limits and Maximum Item Size. You can specify the Warning Message Interval, Deletion Settings, and Age Limits. You should not set size or age limits for system folders.

On the Public Folder Referral tab, you can control how Exchange Server 2010 redirects users among the public folder servers in an organization. By default, Exchange attempts to redirect the user to a server within the AD DS site by obtaining intersite connection costs from Active Directory. You can, however, create a custom public folder server list with an individual cost for each server.

Note:

PUBLIC FOLDER REFERRALS

For more information about public folder referrals and connection costs, see http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb691235.aspx.

You can also use the EMS to obtain and modify public folder database settings. The Get-PublicFolderDatabase cmdlet can obtain the settings for all public folder databases in an Exchange 2010 organization or for a specified public folder database. For example, the following command lists the settings for all public folder databases in an Exchange organization:

Get-PublicFolderDatabase | fl

Part of the output from this command is shown in Figure 7.

The following command lists the properties of the public folder database MyPublicFolderDatabase on the server ServerA:

Get-PublicFolderDatabase -Identity "ServerA\MyPublicFolderDatabase"

The Set-PublicFolderDatabase cmdlet in the EMS lets you configure public server database settings. For example, the following command sets the deleted items retention period to 14 days and the event history retention period to 28 days, never removes undeleted items, and retains deleted items until the next backup on the public folder database MyPublicFolderDatabase on the Mailbox server MyMailboxServer:

Set-PublicFolderDatabase -Identity "MyMailboxServer\MyPublicFolderDatabase"
-DeletedItemRetention 14.00:00:00 -RetainDeletedItemsUntilBackup $true
-EventHistoryRetentionPeriod 14.00:00:00 -ItemRetentionPeriod unlimited

The following command sets the issue warning quota to 2,000 MB and configures the quota notification schedule for all public folders in the public folder database named MyPublicFolderDatabase:

Set-PublicFolderDatabase -Identity MyPublicFolderDatabase -IssueWarningQuota 2000MB
-QuotaNotificationSchedule "Mon.3:00 AM-Mon.3:20 AM,Wed.3:00 AM-Wed.3:20 AM,Fri.3:00
AM-Fri.3:20 AM"

					  

Note:

GET-PUBLICFOLDERDATABASE AND SET-PUBLICFOLDERDATABASE

For more information about the Get-PublicFolderDatabase cmdlet, see http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa998827.aspx. For more information about the Set-PublicFolderDatabase cmdlet, see http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa997225.aspx.