13 - Implementing Exchange Server

• How to install Exchange Server and configure common options - Learn how to run the Setup program to install Exchange Server.

• How to use the Performance Optimizer to fine tune your server - Look here to find out how to use the Performance Optimizer to tune your Exchange Server installation to take maximum advantage of your server's hardware.

• How to use the Exchange Administrator to customize your site and your server - Look here to find out how the Exchange Administrator program can be used to customize your site, and the servers in your site, to best meet your needs.

• How to create recipients - mailboxes, distribution lists, and custom recipients - The procedures for creating recipients are described, along with useful tips to make them more effective.

• How to set up an Administrator's mailbox - The steps to create a shared mailbox for use by a group of e-mail administrators are described, with several optional features. This mailbox can be used to receive support requests via e-mail and as a dead letter recipient for undeliverable mail.

In this chapter, you learn how to install Exchange Server and configure the most common options you may need to customize your installation. You learn procedures for running the Setup program and the accompanying Performance Optimizer, a companion utility that is run after setup is complete and anytime changes are made to the server. The Performance Optimizer fines tune the operating parameters of Exchange Server to take maximum advantage of the server's resources such as memory and processing power. It also helps you to relocate various disk-based files to new locations if needed.

You also learn how to use the Exchange Administrator program to customize your site and the servers in the site. Procedures for configuring the dead letter recipient, the Offline Address Book, and the aging options for tombstones (objects that represent elements deleted from the directory) are all explained. You learn how to create recipients and their e-mail addresses. Procedures for setting up mailboxes for Exchange Server users are described, as well as the process for creating custom recipients so that Exchange Server users can send mail to users on other mail systems. You also learn how to create distribution lists.

Before actually setting up your first server, a little more planning is important to ensure that the machine you have selected is an appropriate candidate for an Exchange Server. This product places fairly heavy demands on the equipment if you have a large number of users that actively use the features of the product. The decisions you make, and any limits you set, can have a profound impact on the performance and usability of Exchange Server.

Sizing Your Server

• How many users will have mailboxes on this server?

• How active will they be in their use of Exchange Server?

• Will the average user send three messages a day or 50?

• How many messages will be addressed to multiple users on the same server?

• Will messages frequently include the use of special formatting or attachments?

• Does your organization use multimedia data types including audio and video files?

• Will your organization use electronic forms to build groupware applications?

• Will your organization use public folders for bulletin boards or other shared information applications?

As mentioned earlier, Exchange Server can place significant demands on the server equipment. If you are setting up a single server for a small group of users (less than 20) and their use of the system will be light, the guidelines provided here are less important. It is a fact, however, that in most organizations the use of electronic messaging and related technologies experiences dramatic growth as users discover the features and capabilities of the system.

Exchange Server offers features that are particularly attractive in environments where it is difficult to meet with colleagues due to hectic schedules, travel demands, or other factors that make face-to-face meetings an infrequent alternative. In addition, if collaboration on documents, presentations, or other items that can be included as message attachments is common, your plans should allow for larger messages with attachments, even if this feature is not widely used in your current environment. This will impact both the size of all information stores, server-based and client-based, and the network bandwidth utilization.

In large organizations with many servers, the decision on what hardware to buy is somewhat complicated by the fact that you may address the needs of your organization with a small number of servers with many users, or a large number of servers with fewer users. If you want to put 500 or more users on a single server, a computer with four Pentium processors, 256M of RAM, and 8G of disk space would not be an unreasonable choice. With less than 100 users, a single processor, 32M of RAM, and 2G of disk space may be adequate. Even a relatively small organization may weigh the alternatives between one large server with all services including connectors, or reducing the size of the main server and moving one or more connectors to other computers.

By increasing the number of computers used, you increase the amount of work you must perform to install and configure equipment and software, but you reduce the number of users that are impacted by a single machine failure. You also allow more flexibility in locating servers on the same physical LAN segment with the users whose mailboxes are on that server. This is an excellent way to reduce bandwidth utilization on large networks with routers or hubs that limit the scope of packet transmissions.

If you opt for fewer large servers, you will benefit from an overall reduction in network traffic because many messages will be addressed to users on the same server, and there will be less replication of directory and public folder information. This also leverages Exchange Server's single instance storage feature, which stores only a single instance of a message addressed to multiple users on the same server. It is generally easier to upgrade in this environment, and replication of directory information and public folders is simplified. It does place increased demands on the network adapters used in the servers, as these become potential bottlenecks with a large number of users simultaneously accessing the same machine. The increased size of the information stores also impacts the time required to perform backup and recovery operations. In addition, a large number of users will be affected by a server outage. You should strongly consider using fault tolerant devices and an uninterruptible power supply (UPS).

Of course, there is no single correct answer to these questions because they depend to some degree on the qualities and culture of the organization in question. However, some general guidelines can narrow the possibilities and streamline your selection process. Specific minimum requirements are provided on the product box, and may change slightly as new versions are released in the future. The information provided here applies to the initial release of Exchange Server, version 4.0, a component of BackOffice 2.0. If you are using a later version, you should double-check the product package to be sure that there have not been any significant changes.

Microsoft recommends the following server hardware:

• Use at least a 90 MHz Pentium processor, or a RISC processor with equivalent processing power.

• To improve throughput, use multiple disk drives configured as a striped drive set.

• In addition to the disk space used by Windows NT Server, you will need room for the information stores (both public and private) and the directory.

• You will also need to provide for a large Windows NT Server pagefile, especially if the server has a large amount of RAM. The recommended allowance for a pagefile is 100M plus an amount equal to the quantity of physical RAM.

A striped drive set can be created using the Disk Administrator utility provided with Windows NT Server. This allows Windows NT to spread information across multiple hard disks thereby improving the speed of information storage and retrieval.

With regard to disk space, you should generally be deciding how many gigabytes rather than how many megabytes, and remember that it is difficult to buy too much. The maximum space that Exchange Server can use is 16 GB per server, which is significantly less than Windows NT Server's theoretical limit.

A good strategy to adopt when choosing a server is to select a machine that can be upgraded later if additional power is needed. Most manufacturers offer models that have slots for additional adapters and support multiple disk controller cards and drives. Some models even allow you to add additional processors or connect a separate disk subsystem to add a large amount of disk storage capacity. Selecting a machine with a high degree of expandability can make it easier to respond to growth by avoiding the need to build a new server and move user mailboxes.

See "Configuring Hard Disk Space," (Chapter 5)

Running Exchange Setup

The Setup Program

To create a service account for use by Exchange Server, you must be an administrator for the domain containing the account. To create the account, follow these steps:

1. Start the User Manager for Domains utility. Choose File, Select Domain. Choose the domain that will contain the new account.

2. Choose User, New User. The New User dialog box appears. Enter the information required, including name, password, and so on.

3. Select the following options: User Cannot Change Password and Password Never Expires.

4. Deselect (or clear) the following options if they are selected: User Must Change Password at Next Logon and Account Disabled.

5. Click Add, and then Close.

For the installation to be successful, you will need information from the planning process outlined in Chapter 12. Specifically, you will need:

• Information about the naming conventions you have established for your organization, sites, and servers. You will also need the actual name for this site and this server.

• The name and password for a Windows NT account that is a member of the local Administrators group on this server. By default the global Domain Admins group is added to the local Administrators group when a server is added to a domain.

• The name and password for the service account that you intend to use. The steps for creating a service account are described in the preceding procedure.

You should also be sure that no "messaging-aware" applications are running. These applications can open Dynamic Link Libraries (DLLs) that need to be upgraded or replaced and prevent the Setup program from successfully completing. An example of such an application is the Schedule+ Reminder utility, which runs in the background and pops up to remind you of appointments. Although these applications are more commonly run on clients than servers, it is best to make sure that you won't have a problem of this type. The simplest way to ensure that this won't happen is to check the Startup group for any such applications and temporarily remove any that you find. Then log off and back on to the server.

To install Microsoft Exchange Server, follow this procedure:

1. Make sure that you are logged on with an account that is a member of the local Administrator's group on this computer. You can do this by running User Manager for Domains and double-clicking the Administrator's group. (If you can't open the group, you aren't logged on as an administrator.) Verify that the account you are using appears in the list of administrators.

   
   The Domain Admins global group is a member of the Administrators local group by default. If you are logged on with a Domain Admin account, you should have the appropriate rights unless this default has been changed.
   

2. Insert the Exchange Server CD into the CD-ROM drive of your computer. Some Exchange Server packages, the Enterprise Edition for example, contain multiple CDs. Be sure that you are using the server CD.

3. Using File Manager, or a similar utility, find the directory that corresponds to the type of CPU architecture your computer has (Intel X86, Alpha, MIPS, PowerPC). Launch the SETUP.EXE program. The Welcome dialog box appears. Click OK. The Microsoft Exchange Server Setup dialog box appears (see fig. 13.1).

   Fig. 13.1 - The Microsoft Exchange Server Setup dialog box displaying the choices for different installation types that are possible.

4. If you want to use a different disk drive or directory from the one selected by default, click Change Directory. Enter the location you prefer.

5. Click the button corresponding to the type of installation you want to perform - Typical, Complete/Custom, or Minimum. Step 6 is for the Complete/Custom selection. If you choose another selection, skip to step 7.

6. If you chose Complete/Custom, the Microsoft Exchange Server Setup - Complete/Custom dialog box appears (see fig. 13.2). Using this dialog box, you can select exactly those elements you want to install. You can also change the disk drive or directory if you find that there is not enough disk space on the previously selected drive. Select Microsoft Exchange Server and Microsoft Exchange Administrator and review the Space Required and Space Available displays. When you are satisfied that you have made the appropriate selections, click Continue.

   Fig. 13.2 - The Microsoft Exchange Server Setup-Complete/Custom dialog appears when you click the Complete/Custom button. Used this dialog box to select the elements you want to install.

7. You should now be viewing the Choose Licensing Mode dialog box. Select the type of licensing you want to use - Per Server or Per Seat. Check the I Agree option button. Then click Continue. If you selected Per Server, be sure to enter the number of client access licenses you have purchased in the Per Server dialog box. The Organization and Site dialog box appears (see fig. 13.3).

   Fig. 13.3 - The Organization and Site dialog box is used to either join an existing site or create a new site.

8. Click the appropriate option button. If you are joining an existing site, enter the site name in the text box provided. If you are creating a new site, enter your Organization Name and Site Name in the bottom half of the dialog box. Click OK. When the verification dialog box appears, double-check the entries you made and then click OK if no corrections are needed. The Site Service Account dialog box appears (see fig. 13.4). If you are joining an existing site, the same service account that is in use on other servers will be used for this one as well.

   Fig. 13.4 - Use the Site Services Account dialog box to indicate the account that should be used by all server-based services for Exchange Server.

9. Click Browse to select the service account. The Add User or Group dialog box appears (see fig. 13.5).

   Fig. 13.5 - Select the service account to use from the list of accounts in your domain.

10. Select the account to use from the list of accounts in your domain. If you are using a master domain model, click the List Names From drop-down list box to select the master domain. Then choose the account. Click OK. You return to the Site Services Account dialog box.

11. Enter the Account Password in the appropriate text box and click OK.

12. A message box may appear indicating that additional rights have been granted to the service account (for example, the Log On as a Service right). Click OK. If you already granted the service account, the Log On as a Service right, this message will not appear.

13. Click OK to complete the installation. The Setup program copies the files required for the options you specified and installs the services. When this process is complete, a dialog box appears asking if you want to run the Optimizer, as shown in figure 13.6.

    Fig. 13.6 - This dialog box indicates that Exchange Server setup has successfully completed and asks if you want to run the Optimizer.

14. The Optimizer can be run now or at a later time. If you plan to add additional elements to your server before using it, you may want to wait and run the Optimizer after all elements have been installed (for example, connectors). Always run the Optimizer before placing an Exchange Server into production use. It performs important performance tuning and optimizations that can have a big impact on the performance of your server. If you want to run the Optimizer now, click Run Optimizer and proceed to the next section, "The Performance Optimizer," for instructions on completing this process. Otherwise, skip to the section titled "Using the Exchange Administrator Program to Configure Your Site" to continue.

Setup installs approximately 45M of files that may not be needed on all servers. The online documentation takes up about 30M of space and is located in the file \EXCHSRVR\BIN\EXCHDOC.HLP by default. The sample applications, including the Getting Started public folder, require approximately 16M, and are located in the file \EXCHSRVR\SAMPAPPS\CLIENTS\SAMPAPPS.PST. You may want to delete these files from some servers in a multiserver site to conserve space.

See "Understanding BackOffice Structures for Organizing Servers," (Chapter 4)

See "Using Service Accounts," (Chapter 4)

See "License Microsoft BackOffice," (Chapter 3)

The Performance Optimizer

The Performance Optimizer is different from the very useful, general purpose Performance Monitor provided with Windows NT. The Optimizer measures a few specific server elements, such as the speed of disk drives, and changes the configuration of Exchange Server. It is only used for Exchange Server, and it measures only the most important server elements. The Performance Monitor provides a vast amount of performance measurement information on virtually every aspect of server (and Windows NT Workstation) operation. It does not, however, directly make changes to the server's configuration.

You should run the Performance Optimizer at the following times:

• Immediately following the successful completion of the Setup program.

• Anytime you change the hardware configuration of your server, especially if you add memory, or additional disk storage components, because these are the elements that the Optimizer analyzes most carefully.

• Anytime you change the software configuration of a server. If you add a connector, for example, or make significant changes to the size of the information store by adding large public folders or importing lots of mailboxes during a migration, you should rerun the Optimizer.

• If you want to move files to a different physical disk, even if you haven't added new components, the Optimizer offers an easy way to perform this task.

• During performance-tuning operations. You can use the Optimizer, in conjunction with other Exchange Server components like Server Monitors, Link Monitors, and the Windows NT Performance Monitor, to do comprehensive performance analysis and tuning.

To run the Performance Optimizer, follow these steps:

1. If you are continuing with the Optimizer immediately after running Setup, skip to step 2. Otherwise, launch the Performance Optimizer from the Exchange Server program group. The Welcome dialog box appears, as shown in figure 13.7.

   Fig. 13.7 - The Welcome dialog box for the Performance Optimizer warns you that all services must be stopped before it can continue.

2. The Welcome dialog box notifies you that all Exchange Server services must be stopped to use the Optimizer. If this is a production server with active users, you should wait until off-peak hours when the smallest number of users will be impacted by a temporary outage. If it is acceptable to stop all services now and continue with the optimization process, click Next. A dialog box appears with a number of questions for you to answer (see fig. 13.8).

   Fig. 13.8 - This dialog box is used by the Performance Optimizer to gather information from you that cannot be automatically detected.

3. Answer the questions regarding the number of users on this server, in your entire organization, and the type of server you are optimizing. Click Next. After some tests are run, a dialog box suggesting the most desirable locations for various files appears (see fig. 13.9).

   Fig. 13.9 - This dialog box shows the recommended file locations based on the results of disk speed tests.

4. Based on the results of the Optimizer's tests, the best locations for various files will be suggested. You can override the choices made by the Optimizer by manually entering a path for any elements you want. Click Next.

5. A final dialog box appears indicating that you have successfully optimized your server (see fig. 13.10). When you click the Finish button, the Exchange Server services will be started with the new operating parameters in effect.

Fig. 13.10 - This dialog box indicates the Performance Optimizer has successfully completed.

Using the Exchange Administrator Program to Configure Your Site

The first task you must complete, before any other work can be done, is to start the Exchange Administrator program. This administrative utility can be run on computers running Windows NT Workstation or on the actual Exchange servers themselves. It cannot be run on computers running Windows 3.1, Windows for Workgroups, or Windows 95. Install the Administrator program on at least two different computers to make sure that it is available in the event of an emergency, or in case one of the machines is down.

To use the Exchange Administrator, you must be logged on with an account that has appropriate access rights. By default, the account that was logged on during setup and the service account used by Exchange Server services, are both granted administrative privileges. You can grant privileges to other accounts using the Administrator program. Make sure that you are logged on with an appropriate account before you proceed.

To run the Exchange Administrator program, follow these steps:

1. Double-click the Exchange Administrator icon. By default, it is located in the Microsoft Exchange (Common) program group. The default path to the program is \EXCHSRVR\BIN\ADMIN.EXE. The Connect to Server dialog box appears (see fig. 13.11).

   Fig. 13.11 - The Connect to Server dialog box allows you to choose the server you want to administer.

2. Enter the name of the server. If you want, click Browse to browse your organization or a particular site. The Server Browser dialog box appears, as shown in figure 13.12.

   Fig. 13.12 - The Server Browser dialog box displays your organization, sites, and servers.

3. Select the server you want to administer. Click OK to return to the Connect to Server dialog box. Select the Set as Default check box if this is the server you will use most frequently. Click OK. The Microsoft Exchange Administrator display appears (see fig. 13.13).

Fig. 13.13 - The Exchange Administrator program's dual-pane display showing the directory hierarchy in the left pane and the contents of the selected element (the Configuration container) in the right pane.

If appropriate access permissions have been granted to the account you are using, you can administer servers on the local site or servers on remote sites that are connected with LAN/WAN connections that support remote procedure call (RPC) communications. Some connection types are suitable for transferring e-mail messages, but do not support RPCs. The Administrator program must be installed on a computer in such a site for administrative operations to be performed.

Some general notes about the Administrator program's display are in order. The program uses a dual-pane display. In the left pane, the directory for your entire organization is displayed in a hierarchical fashion, starting with the topmost organization elements, then sites and their elements, and then servers. Most of the individual objects in the left pane can contain other objects, and they are therefore called containers. The left pane is referred to as the container area. The right pane displays the contents of the currently selected container and is referred to as the contents area.

The administrator program lets you modify servers and objects in a site only after you have connected to a server in that site. When you connect to a particular server, the Administrator program lets you modify other servers and objects in the same site as the server to which you connected. Other sites will appear dimmed, and the information about these sites and objects is read-only. If you have appropriate rights and want to administer another site (which is connected over a network link with RPC support), you can connect to any server in that site. After connecting to one server at startup, you can connect to additional servers by choosing File, Connect to Server from the menu.

Most of the objects in the directory can be configured by setting properties on the property page for that object. The next few sections describe important options and properties that you should set before using Exchange Server.

Granting Administrative Permissions to Other Windows NT Accounts

Various roles are available (for example, Permissions Admin., View Only Admin., and User), depending on the object selected. In addition, you can create a custom role by selecting various rights on an ad hoc basis. As with other BackOffice components, it is a good practice to avoid giving a large group of people extensive administrative permissions. You should certainly have at least two administrators to back each other up in case of emergency, and in a large site or organization, it may be appropriate to delegate the administration of individual sites and servers to various individuals, with two "master" administrators. In general, however, people should be granted only the permissions they actually need.

Remember that permissions are inherited "downstream." That is, if an account is granted permissions on a container, the account has the same permissions on every object in that container. Therefore, objects that are lower in the hierarchy will sometimes display a set of inherited permissions that are read-only and a set of permissions for the currently selected object. To change the inherited permissions, you must select the container object. For example, to grant permissions for an entire site, highlight the site container. If you want to grant permissions for some, but not all, of the servers in a site, set permissions on the server objects individually.

To grant administrative permissions to additional accounts, make sure that you have logged on with the account you used to install Exchange Server (or an account that has subsequently been granted Permissions Admin capabilities), and then follow these steps:

1. Start the Exchange Administrator if you have not already done so. Connect to a server in the site you want to administer.

2. To make the Permissions tab visible on all objects, choose Tools, Options from the menu. Click the Permissions tab, and then select the check box Show Permissions page for all objects. Also select the check box Display rights for roles on Permissions page. This shows you exactly what rights correspond to a given role. Click OK.

3. Highlight the object for which you want to grant permissions. Choose File, Properties to display the property pages for the object (see fig. 13.14). Click the Permissions tab.

   Fig. 13.14 - The property pages for the EXTERNAL site object allow you to set permissions for the entire site named EXTERNAL.

4. Depending on the level of the object, you may see a read-only box labeled Windows NT Accounts with Inherited Permissions. You cannot change this information except by opening the property pages for the appropriate container object from which these permissions are inherited. Look for the section labeled Windows NT Accounts with Permissions. You can highlight existing accounts and either change their role with the drop-down list box, or delete them with the Remove button.

5. Click Add to grant permissions to a new account. The Windows NT Add Users and Groups dialog box appears. Select the users and groups that you want to grant a specific role and click OK.

6. Highlight the users one at a time and select the role they should have from the drop-down list box. You can scroll the Roles list box to see exactly what permissions correspond to a particular role. The Help button supplies an explanation of the various rights if you want more detailed information. Click OK when you are finished.

Configuring Directory Service (DS) Site Options

To view the property pages for the DS Site Configuration, follow these steps:

1. Start the Exchange Administrator if you have not already done so. Connect to a server that is in the site you want to administer.

2. In the container area (the left pane) of the display, find the site you want to administer. Click the plus sign to the left of the site name to expand the display if it is not already open. Select the Configuration container. In the contents area (the right pane), you should see the DS Site Configuration object.

3. Double-click the DS Site Configuration object to open the property pages (see fig. 13.15).

Fig. 13.15 - The DS Site Configuration property page is used to configure options for the directory service.

Setting Options for Tombstones

In addition to adding new users and other new elements to the system, you occasionally need to remove various objects. Because the directory is distributed, potentially among many servers around the globe, there is no single place to delete the object. The information regarding its deletion must be propagated to all other repositories of directory information. This is done for you automatically.

When an item is deleted, a marker called a tombstone, indicating the operation has occurred, is placed in the directory. This marker is replicated to other servers in the organization so that they know to remove the deleted object from their copy of the directory. After a specified interval of time, the tombstone itself is removed during a process called garbage collection.

Two options are on the General property page for the DS Site Configuration that affect this behavior - Tombstone Lifetime (Days) and Garbage Collection Interval (Hours). It is important to set the tombstone lifetime to an interval long enough to be sure that it has propagated to all servers. On the other hand, allowing many deleted objects to reside in your directory is inefficient. You should, therefore, attempt to strike a balance. Take the longest time possible to reach your most distant servers and add an additional time period to allow for unexpected events such as a server down for repair. Do not set the tombstone lifetime too high, or you will waste space carrying them in your directory long after all servers have received the information.

By reviewing the settings controlling the replication of directory objects and doing some experimentation, you should be able to calculate a reasonable value for the tombstone lifetime.

A similar balanced approach is appropriate for the Garbage Collection interval. When the lifetime has elapsed for a tombstone object, you would like to get rid of it as quickly as possible. On the other hand, you don't want the garbage collection process running so frequently that it is impacting server performance and generally finding no new work that needs to be done.

To set options for tombstones and garbage collection, follow this procedure:

1. Open the DS Site Configuration property page (see the preceding procedure).

2. Select the General tab.

3. Enter values for the Tombstone Lifetime (Days) and the Garbage Collection Interval (Hours).

4. Click OK.

See "Replicating Directory Information," (Chapter 15)

Offline Address Book

If you have remote users, for example people who connect to the network from home computers or traveling users with notebook computers, you will want to create an Offline Address Book. This address book can be downloaded to the local hard disk of a remote computer to avoid lengthy delays in accessing addressing information over slower remote links. You can create one Offline Address Book per site. The Offline Address Book is built from the contents of any recipients container in your site. You should usually use the Global Address List container because it contains all recipients from all sites in your organization.

You can select the server you want to use for generating and storing the Offline Address Book. A potentially good server might be an Exchange server that also supports the Remote Access Service (RAS). Because remote users would connect directly to that server for network access, downloading the Offline Address Book from its disk storage might be marginally faster than another server on the network. The Offline Address Book is regenerated at regular intervals (every night by default) so that it includes new recipients and stays up to date.

To configure Offline Address Book properties, follow these steps:

1. Open the DS Site Configuration property page (see preceding procedure).

2. Select the Offline Address Book tab (see fig. 13.16).

   Fig. 13.16 - The Offline Address Book tab of the DS Site Configuration property sheet is used to specify the Offline Address Book server and the recipients container that will be used to generate the Offline Address Book. There is also a button to manually generate a new Offline Address Book immediately.

3. Select the server you want to use to generate and store the Offline Address Book.

4. If you want to change the container used as the basis for the Offline Address Book, click Modify in the box labeled: Generate Data Files From the Address Book Container. By default, the entire recipients container is used. The Offline Address Book Container dialog box appears (see fig. 13.17).

   Fig. 13.17 - The Offline Address Book Container dialog box allows you to browse the contents of the directory and select the recipients container you want to use to generate the Offline Address Book.

5. Use the plus control to expand the Recipients container. Select the container you would like to use. Click OK to return to the Offline Address Book tab.

6. Click the Offline Address Book Schedule tab to modify the schedule for generating new versions of the Offline Address Book (see fig. 13.18).

   Fig. 13.18 - The Offline Address Book Schedule tab is used to specify a schedule for regular regeneration of the Offline Address Book.

7. Select the times on the grid that correspond to the times you would like to regenerate a new copy of the Offline Address Book. If you want the process to begin again immediately each time it finishes, to regenerate constantly in other words, you can select the Always option button. This places an added burden on the server you selected for this task and is not usually necessary unless you have a great deal of turnover in your recipients list and need almost immediate access to new names. Click OK.

Remember, remote users will need to download a new copy of the Offline Address Book, which may take some time on a slow link, before they will benefit from a newly generated address book.

Configuring Information Store Options

To view the property pages for the Information Store Site Configuration, follow these steps:

1. Start the Exchange Administrator if you have not already done so. Connect to a server that is in the site you want to administer.

2. In the container area (the left pane) of the display, find the site you want to administer. Click the plus sign to the left of the site name to expand the display if it is not already open. Select the Configuration container. In the contents area (the right pane) you should see the Information Store Site Configuration object.

3. Double-click the Information Store Site Configuration object to open the property pages (see fig. 13.19).

Fig. 13.19 - The Information Store Site Configuration property page is used to configure options for the information stores on all servers in the site.

The steps required to change the options for the Information Store Site Configuration object are described in the next two sections, "Setting Top-Level Folder Permissions" and "Setting Properties for Storage Warnings."

Setting Top-Level Folder Permissions

An important option to configure is the container that will contain public folders and the list of recipients who can create top-level folders. It is generally a good idea to limit the number of people who can create top-level folders. These folders appear at the highest level of the public folder hierarchy. When someone creates a new top-level folder, he or she can specify who has the capability to create other folders within that top-level folder. Having too many folders at the top level can make it difficult to find a folder you are looking for and limit the effective use of public folders. A small group of people is more likely to maintain a sensible structure that lends itself to appropriate usage.

By default, all users can create top-level folders. As soon as you make an entry in the Top Level Folder Creation tab of the Information Store Site Configuration property page, this default is cleared. Only those users listed in the Allowed box will be allowed to create top-level folders. Users not listed, or those listed in the Not Allowed box will be denied. You need not explicitly list everyone who should be denied this capability in the Not Allowed box. This list is provided so that if you enter one or more distribution lists in the Allowed box, you can explicitly override individual members of the distribution list.

Unless you make an entry in the Top Level Folder Creation dialog box, all users in the Global Address List will be able to create top-level folders.

To set permissions for creating top-level folders, follow this procedure:

1. Open the Information Store Site Configuration property page (see preceding procedure).

2. Select the Top Level Folder Creation tab (see fig. 13.20).

   Fig. 13.20 - The Top Level Folder Creation tab contains a list of those recipients allowed to create top-level folders and those who are explicitly denied the ability to do so.

3. First, specify those recipients who will be allowed this right in the Allowed to Create Top Level Folders box. Select the All option button if you want everyone, except those explicitly listed in the Not Allowed box (see step 4) to be able to create top-level folders. Alternatively, you can select the List option button and specify those users who can create top-level folders. You can specify a distribution list if you want. Click Modify button and select recipients from the Global Address List or any other recipients container.

4. Next, you can specify any recipients who should not be allowed to create top-level folders, even if they are a member of a distribution list that is allowed. You can also explicitly deny some recipients if you selected that All users should be Allowed in step 3.

5. Click OK to register your changes.

Setting Properties for Storage Warnings

In the Information Store Site Configuration tabbed dialog box, you can also set options for storage warnings. In most sites, it is appropriate to set some limits on the amount of information that can be kept in mailboxes and public folders. These limits can be set using the Advanced property page for mailboxes and public folders. It is inevitable that, sooner or later, some of these limits will be exceeded. Exchange Server can automatically send warnings to mailbox owners or public folder contacts apprising them of the condition. You can specify the schedule for sending these warnings.

To set properties for storage warnings, follow these steps:

1. Open the Information Store Site Configuration property page.

2. Select the Storage Warnings tab (see fig. 13.21).

   Fig. 13.21 - The Storage Warnings tab is used to specify the time period and frequency that warnings will be sent for those recipients who have exceeded storage limits in the information store.

3. Select an option button to specify the frequency for sending storage warnings. Select Never if you don't want to send any warnings. Always sends warnings every 15 minutes. Selected Times causes storage warnings to be sent based on the schedule you indicate in the grid (see next step).

4. You can select specific times for each day of the week that storage warnings should be sent. By default, the grid shows one-hour intervals. Select the 15 Minute option button to cause the grid display to show 15-minute intervals if you want to have somewhat finer control over when warnings are sent. Click OK to register your changes.

Configuring Site Options for MTAs

To view the property pages for the Information Store Site Configuration dialog box, follow these steps:

1. Start the Exchange Administrator if you have not already done so. Connect to a server that is in the site you want to administer.

2. In the container area (the left pane) of the display, find the site you want to administer. Click the plus sign to the left of the site name to expand the display if it is not already open. Select the Configuration container. In the contents area (the right pane), you should see the MTA Site Configuration object.

3. Double-click the MTA Site Configuration object to open the property pages (see fig. 13.22).

Fig. 13.22 - The MTA Site Configuration property pages are used to control the operation of the MTAs on all servers in the site.

The steps required to change the options for the MTA Site Configuration object are described in the next two sections, "The Dead Letter Recipient" and "Messaging Defaults."

The Dead Letter Recipient

If an MTA finds that a message is undeliverable, you can either have it delivered to a mailbox designated as the dead letter recipient, or simply delete the message. When establishing new servers or when significant changes are made that affect addressing or message routing (for example, the addition of a new connector), it is a good idea to use a dead letter recipient to monitor possible delivery problems.

To designate a mailbox as the dead letter recipient, follow these steps:

1. Open the MTA Site Configuration property page (see earlier procedure).

2. Select the General tab.

3. Click Modify in the Dead letter recipient box. Select a recipient from the Global Address List or any other recipient container.

4. Click OK to register your changes.

Messaging Defaults

You can control the behavior of the MTAs on your site by changing the messaging defaults. These properties specify how MTAs should respond to errors in transmission and how they should operate under normal circumstances. You can specify a checkpoint size, for example, that indicates how large a block of information should be transferred before a checkpoint is inserted. A checkpoint in this context, much like a checkpoint in SQL Server database terminology, causes the information transferred so far to be committed. If an error occurs after the checkpoint process completes, the transfer can resume from that point, rather than having to start over at the beginning. Setting a smaller checkpoint value may improve performance if you are using an unreliable or noisy connection. On a clean, high-speed link, a small checkpoint size is an impediment.

The values on this property page should not be changed under normal circumstances. If you detect problems in message delivery that are not related to addressing issues (for example, the message was addressed to a recipient that doesn't exist), you can carefully experiment with changing these values. The Reset Default Values button restores all values to their original defaults. If you decide to attempt a tuning process on these values, select a particular element to change and then use logging, the Performance Monitor, and other diagnostic tools to see the results. Use a slow and deliberate approach rather than changing many values at once. Some values are closely related, such as the checkpoint size and the window size, and may need to be adjusted simultaneously. The Help button will display information on the meaning of all these parameters.

To change the messaging defaults for MTAs in your site, follow this procedure:

1. Open the MTA Site Configuration property page (see earlier procedure).

2. Select the Messaging Defaults tab (see fig. 13.23).

   Fig. 13.23 - The Messaging Default tab of the MTA Site Configuration dialog box is used to control the behavior of MTAs in the site. This property page can also control how MTAs respond to error conditions.

3. Change values as necessary. Click the Help button for additional information on the meaning and significance of the various parameters. Click OK when you are finished to register your changes.

Setting Up Site Addressing

To review and modify site addressing properties, follow these steps:

1. Start the Exchange Administrator if you have not already done so. Connect to a server that is in the site you want to administer.

2. In the container area (the left pane) of the display, find the site you want to administer. Click the plus sign to the left of the site name to expand the display if it is not already open. Select the Configuration container. In the contents area (the right pane) you should see the Site Addressing object.

3. Double-click the Site Addressing object to open the property pages.

4. Select the General tab (see fig. 13.24).

   Fig. 13.24 - The General tab of the Site Addressing property page is used primarily to specify a server that is responsible for calculating the routing table for the site.

5. On this property page, you can specify the server that will calculate the routing table for the site. This routing table will then be replicated to all other servers in the site. Select the server you want to use in the Routing Calculation Server drop-down list box.

6. You can also select a check box to indicate that this Exchange Server site should Share Address Space with Other X.400 Systems. This is especially useful when there is a migration period or when coexistence with another non-Microsoft X.400 based system is needed.

7. Select the Site Addressing tab (see fig. 13.25).

   Fig. 13.25 - The Site Addressing tab shows the partial e-mail addresses that will be used to generate actual addresses as new recipients are created.

8. The Site Addressing tab shows the partial e-mail addresses that were generated from the organization and site names you specified during installation. If these names contain special characters that are not permitted in an address, or if there are other changes you need to make, highlight an address type and click Edit. Change the partial address and click OK.

9. Now select the Routing Calculation Schedule tab (see fig. 13.26).

   Fig. 13.26 - The Routing Calculation Schedule tab is the place to specify when new routing tables should be built on a regular basis.

10. This property page works in much the same way as the storage warnings page does. Simply select an option button for Never, Always, or Selected Times. If you choose Selected Times, you should indicate on the schedule grid when this calculation should occur. The Always selection causes routing information to begin recalculation again as soon as it completes, adding a significant load to the routing calculation server you set on the General tab. This level of recalculation is overkill for most sites. The Never selection allows you to manually start the routing recalculation whenever you make changes that necessitate the task. This is done on the Routing tab. Complete any changes you want to make on the Routing Calculation Schedule tab, and then click the Routing tab (see fig. 13.27).

    Fig. 13.27 - The Routing property page of the Site Addressing dialog box shows the routing table for a site.

11. The Routing tab shows the routing table for the site. It is built using information from the Address Space property pages of any connectors or gateways installed in your site and those from connected sites. By selecting an entry and clicking Details, you can see the route, including various hops, that a message would take to reach a destination with a particular address type. You can also manually force a rebuild of the routing table by clicking the Recalculate Routing button.

12. Click OK when you have finished making changes to the Site Addressing property pages.

Using The Exchange Administrator Program to Configure Your Servers

First, you learn how to set the properties of the server object itself, and then to change the properties of the various services running on that server - the directory, the information stores (public and private), the system attendant, and the MTA. Most of the time, you will not need to change the properties on the server object. You can use the Database Paths tab to specify where the various files used by Exchange Server should be located, but this activity is best performed using the Performance Optimizer, which does actual speed testing to determine the best location for each element and then moves it to the appropriate place. The most likely change you might make to a server object's properties would be to change logging levels or add a service to the list of monitored services. Both of these items can play a role in diagnosing problems with a particular server.

To view or modify the properties for the server object for a particular server, follow this procedure:

1. Start the Exchange Administrator if you have not already done so. Connect to a server that is in the site you want to administer.

2. In the container area (the left pane) of the display, find the site you want to administer. Click the plus sign to the left of the site name to expand the display if it is not already open. Click the plus sign to the left of the Configuration object to expand its display. You should see the Servers object. Click the plus sign to the left of the Servers object to expand its display.

3. Highlight the server object you want to view or modify. Choose File, Properties to open the property pages (see fig. 13.28).

   
   Double-clicking the server object will not open the property pages for the server. You must Choose File, Properties from the menu.
   

   Fig. 13.28 - The property pages for the server named INFOSRV. These pages are used to set server-specific properties. Some properties of services like the information store, which have their own property pages, are set elsewhere.

4. If you want to change the location of the various databases used by Exchange Server, click the Database Paths tab. As mentioned earlier, it is usually better to use the Performance Optimizer to change these items, but there may be a need that requires you to manually move one or more of these items. Highlight the item you want to move and click Modify. A dialog box appears that you can use to select the location for the object in question. Click OK when you are satisfied with your selection.

   
   You can only change the database paths for a server by logging on to that server directly. You cannot change the paths for a server you have connected to over the network.
   

5. A more common change that is made using these pages is a change in the logging levels. If you are troubleshooting some difficulty with this server, you can select elements of the server you want to watch closely and increase the logging level for that element. To change the logging levels for a server component, click the Diagnostics Logging tab (see fig. 13.29).

   Fig. 13.29 - The Diagnostics Logging tab is used to select an appropriate logging level for various components on the server.

6. Highlight the service for which you want to change logging levels. In the box on the right of the dialog box, you see various categories of events that are associated with this service and the current levels that are set. Highlight one or more of the categories you want to change and then select the appropriate option button at the bottom of the dialog box to set the new logging level. Click Apply to register your changes.

7. Next, select the Services tab (see fig. 13.30).

   Fig. 13.30 - The Services tab of the server object property page dialog shows the services installed on this server, and those that will be monitored by a Server Monitor configured for this server.

8. By default, the Directory, Information Store, and MTA are monitored. If you want to add any other services, highlight them in the list of Installed Services and click Add. You may also highlight services in the Monitored Services box and click Remove to remove them.

9. Next, click the Advanced tab (see fig. 13.31).

   Fig. 13.31 - The Advanced tab can be used to resolve inconsistencies between the directory and the information store.

10. Under normal circumstances, the directory will contain an entry for every mailbox and public folder contained in the private and public information stores, and there will not be an entry for any recipient objects that do not have a corresponding place in the information stores. In other words, they are consistent; they agree with one another. If you ever need to restore the directory or an information store from a backup, the two may disagree with one another. Click the Adjust button to correct any inconsistencies.

11. Click OK to save your changes.

You have seen how to make changes to the properties on the server object. You have also learned the "trick" to displaying the property pages for the server object - because double-clicking doesn't work, remember to choose File, Properties. Now you learn how to set properties for the individual services on a server. The entire set of services will not be described because you don't generally need to make changes to all these elements. Rather, the general procedure for finding and opening the property pages for specific services is given, and some examples of properties that bear special attention are listed.

One service, the information store, has two sets of property pages - one for each of its two components. The first is the Private Information Store and the second is, of course, the Public Information Store. The property pages for the Public Information Store are used regularly if you actively deploy public folders, one of the most useful features of Exchange Server. The process of creating public folders, setting their properties, and configuring replication is discussed in Chapter 15, "Managing Information with Exchange Server."

In addition to setting the diagnostic logging level for all services using the property pages for the server object as you learned earlier, you can also set diagnostic logging levels for a particular service by accessing its property pages using the following procedure. You can use either method, for example, to set logging levels for the MTA on the server INFOSRV. If you want to change logging levels for several services, the property pages for the server object would be more efficient.

To set properties for a specific service on a server, the Directory for example, follow these steps:

1. Start the Exchange Administrator if you have not already done so. Connect to a server that is in the site you want to administer.

2. In the container area (the left pane) of the display, find the site you want to administer. Click the plus sign to the left of the site name to expand the display if it is not already open. Click the plus sign to the left of the Configuration object to expand its display. You should see the Servers object. Click the plus sign to the left of the Servers object to expand its display.

3. Highlight the server object whose service properties you want to view or modify. In the contents pane, you should see the services on that server listed. Double-click the service you want to view or modify. A dialog box similar to the one depicted in figure 13.32 appears, depending on the service you selected.

   Fig. 13.32 - The property pages for a service on a particular server can be used to control the behavior of that service. This figure shows the property pages for the MTA on the server named INFOSRV.

4. You have already learned how to use tabbed property pages to change the properties for different elements. Using those same techniques, you can change the properties for any of the server-based services on a server. The following list highlights some of the most useful tabs and properties that you may want to explore. Remember to take advantage of the Help button to find more information on particular settings.

5. After viewing and modifying the properties you want, click OK to close the tabbed dialog box and register your changes.

Some of the items you may want to consider viewing or changing are as follows:

• The General tab of the MTA property pages allows you to set a name and password for the MTA on that server. This is unnecessary for communications with other Microsoft Exchange Servers in the same site, which already use secure RPC communications links. It may be useful for communications with foreign X.400 systems or to provide additional security when communicating with Microsoft Exchange Servers at other sites.

• The General tab of the MTA property pages allows you to set limits on the size of messages that will be processed by the MTA. This limit applies to all messages that the MTA processes. Messages that exceed this limit will be returned to the sender as nondeliverable.

  
  You can set limits on the size of messages allowed for a single recipient on the Advanced tab of the mailbox property pages for that recipient. If you have set size limits for the MTA, the more restrictive of the two values will be used.
  

• The Queues tab of the MTA property pages allows you to view messages waiting to be delivered by the MTA on this server. There are separate queues for each connector and gateway, as well as each server in a site. You can view details on any message by clicking the Details button. With some queues, you can change the priority of a message (high-priority messages are delivered first).

• The General tab of the Private Information Store property pages allows you to set two limits on the amount of storage for individual mailboxes. If the Issue Warning limit is exceeded, a warning is sent at the interval specified in the Storage Warnings property page of the Information Store Site Configuration object as described earlier. If the Prohibit Send limit is exceeded, users of this mailbox cannot send messages until they delete some of the information in their mailbox.

• The General tab of the Private Information Store property pages also allows you to specify another server in this site that will contain all public folders created by users with mailboxes in this private information store. This can be useful to separate the administration of these different types of information. Also, in a multiserver site, you can build one large server and make it a dedicated public folder server by deleting its private information store. All remaining servers can then designate this server as the location for their public folders and delete their own public information stores, which improves their efficiency.

As you have already seen, some of the property pages for the Directory Service and the MTA contain buttons that initiate a process (rather than opening a new dialog box, which allows you to change additional properties as most of the buttons do). The information stores and the system attendant have no buttons of this type. Although some of these buttons have already been discussed, they are presented in the following list as a convenient reference:

• The Advanced tab of the server object property pages contains a button to Adjust Inconsistencies Between the Directory and the Information Store.

• The General tab of the Directory Service property pages contains an Update Now button to initiate directory synchronization between servers in the site. This is done automatically every five minutes. If you have made changes to the directory on a server and do not want to wait, you can use this button.

• The General tab of the Directory Service property pages also contains a Check Now button to initiate a knowledge consistency check. This updates the directory replication tables for the site by checking that all active servers in the site are represented with an entry in the directory. This happens automatically every three hours by default. If you make changes that impact directory replication and want to update the tables immediately, you can use this button.

• The General tab of the MTA property pages contains a Recalculate Routing button that causes the routing table for the server to be rebuilt. This is automatically done once a day, but can be forced with this button whenever a connector or gateway is added, changed, or removed.

See "Replicating Directory Information," (Chapter 15)

Setting Up Recipients

Before you actually create new recipients, you should review two items to be sure that they are set properly. These settings will simplify the process, and ensuring they are correct now helps to avoid having to individually correct every newly created recipient later. You have already learned how to check the partial e-mail addresses used to generate e-mail addresses for new recipients. The Site Addressing property page for this task is located in the Configuration container for the site. Although you can change this later and regenerate new e-mail addresses for all your recipients, it is best to get it right before defining new recipients. See "Setting Up Site Addressing" earlier in this chapter.

You should also check the Auto-Naming options. These options allow you to define the manner in which default display names and aliases are created for new recipients. These options are not properties of a site or a server, but rather are defined for use by an administrator using the Exchange Administrator program on a particular computer. Any new recipients created using the Administrator program on that computer will reflect the options that have been set. The options can be changed at any time to reflect new defaults if you want.

To define Auto-Naming options, follow this procedure:

1. Start the Exchange Administrator if you have not already done so. Connect to a server that is in the site you want to administer.

2. Choose Tools, Options from the menu. The Options dialog box appears (see fig. 13.33).

   Fig. 13.33 - The Options dialog box allows you to set Auto-Naming defaults and Permissions options for the Exchange Administrator running on the local computer.

3. You can set options for Display Name Generation and Alias Name Generation. There are option buttons representing a variety of alternatives with examples of each one. Select the option button corresponding to the method you desire. You can, if you want, create a custom entry using the special character strings described in the bottom panel of the dialog box. Click OK to register your changes.

You are now ready to create new recipients. This can be accomplished in a variety of ways, all of which will lead to the same result. You can create a new recipient using the following tools:

• The Exchange Server Administrator program

• The Windows NT User Manager, which creates a new mailbox for a user at the same time you create a new Windows NT user ID

• Various extraction, importing, and migration tools that are available to facilitate the creation of large numbers of users in a single operation

In this section, you learn how to use the Administrator program to create a mailbox for use by e-mail administrators and how to create a mailbox at the same time a user account is created with User Manager for Domains. You also learn how to extract a list of Windows NT users from a domain controller to create accounts for multiple users at once and how to create a template mailbox with address and phone information that can be copied as new recipients are created. Other extraction and migration tools are available, and Microsoft continues to work on new migration tools for additional foreign messaging systems. They are not covered in this book. You can find more information on these tools in the Microsoft Exchange Server Migration Guide, part of the documentation available for Exchange Server.

See "Using Public Folders," (Chapter 15)

Creating an Administrator's Mailbox

Although this is obvious perhaps, it may be worth noting that the property that allows a user to act as an administrator for Exchange Server is not the mailbox he or she is assigned, but the Windows NT account used to log on. For many administrative tasks, a user will not even need the use of a mailbox. Permissions to objects in the directory hierarchy are assigned to Windows NT accounts rather than mailboxes.

To create an administrator's mailbox and grant permissions for several Windows NT accounts to share it, follow these steps:

1. Start the Exchange Administrator if you have not already done so. Connect to a server that is in the site you want to administer.

2. Highlight the recipients container in which you want to create the mailbox. You might use the site's default recipients container, for example, or the recipients container for a particular server.

3. Choose File, New Mailbox from the menu. The Properties tabbed dialog for a new mailbox appears (see fig. 13.34).

   Fig. 13.34 - The Properties tabbed dialog is used to set up a new mailbox for one or more users. Normally, a single user will be assigned to a mailbox, but it can be shared.

4. Enter appropriate information in the Name box. If this is a shared mailbox, you may want to skip the First, Initials, and Last boxes and simply enter a title such as Administrator in the Display and Alias boxes. The display name will be used for the Exchange Administrator program's directory listing, and the address book seen by users. The alias name will be used to create e-mail addresses for this mailbox.

5. Click Primary Windows NT Account and select an account that will use this mailbox. For an Administrator's mailbox, you may want to have the Administrator account from the Windows NT domain, or the master domain, be the primary account for this mailbox. You can still give permissions to other accounts to use it on a regular basis, but you will have the Administrator account as a backup.

6. All other fields on the General tab are optional. Fill them in as appropriate and click the Organization tab (see fig. 13.35).

   Fig. 13.35 - The Organization tab is used to indicate the manager and direct reports of the user of this mailbox.

7. The Organization tab is less useful for generic mailboxes that are shared. You may want to indicate the manager responsible for e-mail administrators as a group. Click the Phone/Notes tab (see fig. 13.36).

   Fig. 13.36 - The Phone/Notes tab displays phone number information for this mailbox.

8. For a shared mailbox, you can indicate a shared hotline number, or pager that is passed to the person currently on call. This tab, along with the General, Organization, Distribution List Membership, and E-mail Addresses tabs, are visible in the address book on every client workstation. This is, therefore, a convenient way to distribute any phone numbers associated with e-mail administrators. Click the Permissions tab.

9. As you learned earlier, in the section entitled "Granting Administrative Permissions to Other Windows NT Accounts," you can grant permissions to any object in the directory. This property page functions in the same manner as other permissions pages. Click the Add button and add the Windows NT accounts of administrators who will share this account.

10. One additional option you may want to set is on the Delivery Options tab. Rather than using the Inbox Assistant to forward messages to the on-call administrator, you can set another mailbox as an alternate recipient. Select the Deliver Messages to Both Recipient and Alternate Recipient check box to keep a record of all messages received in this mailbox. If someone is the primary person on call for long periods of time, this may be a more efficient means of forwarding mail than the Inbox Assistant.

11. You may add this recipient to any appropriate distribution lists, but you should avoid using this as a personal mailbox. Each administrator should still have his or her own private mailbox and use this only for e-mail administration tasks.

12. The mailbox is now ready. Click OK to create the mailbox.

See "Creating a User Profile," (Chapter 14)

See "Using the Inbox Assistant to Manage Information," (Chapter 14)

Creating Mailboxes with the Exchange Administrator

1. Start the Exchange Administrator if you have not already done so. Connect to a server that is in the site you want to administer.

2. Highlight the recipients container in which you want to create the mailbox. You might use the site's default recipients container, for example, or the recipients container for a particular server.

3. File, New Mailbox. The Properties tabbed dialog for a new mailbox appears.

4. Enter appropriate information in the Name box. Fill in the First, Initials, and Last text boxes and the Display and Alias boxes will be generated according to the rules you specified in the Auto-Naming option dialog box (see "Setting Up Recipients" earlier in this chapter). You can override either the display name or the alias name if you want. The display name will be used for the Exchange Administrator program's directory listing and the address book seen by users. The alias name will be used to create e-mail addresses for this mailbox.

5. Click the Primary Windows NT Account and select an account that will use this mailbox.

6. All other fields on the General tab are optional. Fill them in as appropriate and click the Organization tab.

7. You can indicate the manager, and any people who report directly to the owner of this mailbox. Click the Phone/Notes tab.

8. Enter phone numbers and any notes that you want for the user of this mailbox. This tab, along with the General, Organization, Distribution List Membership, and E-mail Addresses tabs, are visible in the address book on every client workstation. This is, therefore, a convenient way to distribute any phone numbers associated with users. Click the Distribution Lists tab (see fig. 13.37).

   Fig. 13.37 - The Distribution Lists tab allows you to add a mailbox to one or more distribution lists and displays any lists of which you are currently a member.

9. Add this recipient to any appropriate distribution lists. Click Modify to open a dialog box for this purpose. You can select predefined distribution lists from any recipients container. Click the Advanced tab (see fig. 13.38).

   Fig. 13.38 - The Advanced tab allows you to set message size limits and storage limits for this mailbox.

   
   You can suppress a mailbox from being displayed in the address book by making it a "hidden" mailbox using the Hide from Address Book check box on the Advanced tab of the recipient's dialog box.
   

10. In the Message Sizes box, you can specify the maximum size of incoming or outgoing messages allowed by users of this mailbox. You can also set storage limits for this mailbox. If you don't want this mailbox to appear in the address book, you can select the Hide from Address Book check box.

    
    You can set message size limits and storage limits for all mailboxes on a server using the MTA's General property page and the Private Information Store's General property page, as described earlier in this chapter under "Using The Exchange Administrator Program to Configure Your Servers."
    

11. The mailbox is now ready. Click OK to create the mailbox.

Creating Mailboxes with User Manager for Domains

To create a mailbox as you create a new user, follow these steps:

1. Start the User Manager for Domains program. Notice that the Exchange menu option has been added to the program's menu bar. If this is not visible, you will either need to log on to an Exchange Server machine, or install the Exchange Administrator on the computer you are using.

2. Choose User, New User from the menu. Enter appropriate account information in the New User dialog box. Click Add. The Connect to Server dialog box appears.

3. Enter the name of the Exchange Server that should contain this new mailbox. You can easily move mailboxes using the Advanced property page for a recipient in the Exchange Administrator program (or choose Tools, Move Mailbox) if you later need to move it.

4. A tabbed Properties dialog box appears. Fill in this dialog box exactly as you would when using the Exchange Administrator as described earlier in the section "Creating Mailboxes with the Exchange Administrator."

See "User Manager for Domains," (Chapter 6)

Creating a Recipient Template for Use With Directory Import

Create the mailbox following the standard procedures outlined earlier in the section "Creating Mailboxes with the Exchange Administrator." You will need to complete the mandatory fields (Display and Alias) required by Exchange Server, but they will not be applied to new mailboxes when this mailbox is used as a template. Then complete those fields that are shared by many users such as the street address, city, state, and so on. Then proceed with the next section.

Using Directory Import to Create Mailboxes

To extract a list of users from a Windows NT domain, follow these steps:

1. Start the Exchange Administrator if you have not already done so. Connect to a server that is in the site you want to administer.

2. Choose Tools, Extract Windows NT Account List. The Windows NT User Extraction dialog box appears (see fig. 13.39).

   Fig. 13.39 - The Windows NT User Extraction dialog box is used to extract accounts from a Windows NT domain for subsequent use in the automated creation of mailboxes.

3. Select the name of the domain you want to extract user accounts from with the Windows NT Domain drop-down list box. Select the primary domain controller, or a backup domain controller, in the Windows NT Domain Controller drop-down list box.

4. Enter a fully qualified path name for the file you want to create, or click Browse and use the resulting dialog box to select a directory and create a file name. Click OK.

5. A dialog box appears that reports progress during the extraction. If you have a relatively small domain, this may appear only momentarily. Then the NT User Extractor Complete dialog box appears.

6. This dialog box provides an error status report, if any, on the extraction process. Click OK.

The file that results, which will have a CSV extension by default, is a text file that can be read and modified with any text editor. The function and syntax of the various components are relatively obvious. The identifier ~Server will be replaced on import with the name of the server where the import operation is being performed and will become the default home server for the newly created mailboxes. If you want to use a different home server, you can replace ~Server with the name of an Exchange Server in your site before importing the list.

To do a directory import operation for automatically creating new mailboxes, follow these steps:

1. Start the Exchange Administrator if you have not already done so. Connect to a server that is in the site you want to administer.

2. Choose Tools, Directory Import. The Directory Import dialog box appears (see fig. 13.40).

   Fig. 13.40 - The Directory Import dialog box is used to specify the extraction file you want to import, a recipients template, and the recipients container for the new mailboxes.

3. Click Import File and browse for the file you just created or any other appropriate import file you want to use. Click OK to return to the Directory Import dialog box.

4. Select the recipients container in which you want to create the new mailboxes. If you are using a recipients template as described in the earlier section "Creating a Recipient Template for Use with Directory Import," click Recipient Template and select the mailbox you want to use as a template from the Global Address List or other recipients container.

5. The Account Creation box should not be used in the context described here. It is possible, however, to create a CSV file from another database, or even manually, and use it to create mailboxes and corresponding Windows NT accounts at the same time. In such a situation, you would select the Create Windows NT Account check box.

6. Click Import. A dialog box appears that reports progress during the import operation. If you have a relatively small list of users, this may appear only momentarily. Then the Directory Import Complete dialog box appears.

7. This dialog box provides an error status report, if any, on the extraction process. Click OK.

The new mailboxes now appear in the Exchange Administrator display, in the contents area for the container in which they were created. They will also be added to the Global Address List and can now be added to any distribution lists in which they should be included.

Setting Up Custom Recipients

To add a custom recipient to the directory, follow these steps:

1. Start the Exchange Administrator if you have not already done so. Connect to a server that is in the site you want to administer.

2. Highlight the recipients container in which you want to create the custom recipient. You might use the site's default recipients container, for example, or the recipients container for a particular server.

3. Choose File, New Custom Recipient from the menu. The New E-Mail Address dialog box appears (see fig. 13.41).

   Fig. 13.41 - The New E-Mail Address dialog box is used to specify the type of e-mail address you want to create.

4. Select the type of e-mail address to use for the new custom recipient and click OK. An address template for the type of address you selected appears (see fig. 13.42).

   Fig. 13.42 - An address template for an Internet address is used to enter an Internet address, which is most commonly of the form user@organization.com.

5. Enter the address for the custom recipient and click OK. A tabbed Properties dialog box appears with similar options as a normal mailbox. There are some differences in the Advanced tab, and it is not associated with any particular Windows NT account. Complete any additional information you want. Click OK.

A custom recipient will have a different icon than a standard mailbox, and there are a few differences in the property pages as noted in the preceding step 5. Other than these differences, they can be used very much like any other recipient. They can be included in distribution lists and will appear in the Global Address List.

Creating Distribution Lists

To create a distribution list, follow these steps:

1. Start the Exchange Administrator if you have not already done so. Connect to a server that is in the site you want to administer.

2. Highlight the recipients container in which you want to create the distribution list. You might use the site's default recipients container, for example, or the recipients container for a particular server.

3. Choose File, New Distribution List from the menu. A tabbed Properties dialog box for the new distribution list appears (see fig. 13.43).

   Fig. 13.43 - The tabbed Properties dialog box for a distribution list is different from those used for new mailboxes or custom recipients. You use the properties in this dialog box to define the members and characteristics of the distribution list.

4. Enter a Display Name and Alias Name for the distribution list. These names serve the same function for distribution lists as they do for mailboxes, and they are required.

5. In the Owner box, you can click Modify to select a recipient that will act as the owner of this address list.

   
   The owner of a distribution list will be able to modify the members of the address list using the Exchange Client program. Exchange administrators can modify the member list using the Exchange Administrator program as you are doing now.
   

6. In the Members box, click Modify to select the members of this distribution list. The Distribution List dialog box appears (see fig. 13.44).

   Fig. 13.44 - The Distribution List dialog box allows you to select recipients from any recipients container or the Global Address List to be included in this distribution list.

7. Highlight names in the list box on the left and click Add to move them into the Distribution List Members box on the right. You can highlight any recipient and click Properties if you want to check a recipient for further identification, and you can use the Find button to search for recipients matching certain criteria in the specified address book.

8. The other tabs are similar to normal mailboxes with a few differences. In particular, The Advanced tab is different and allows you to specify Distribution List options you may want to consider. The Help button provides more information on what each of the options means.

9. The Distribution Lists tab allows you to make this distribution list a member of another distribution list, thereby nesting the lists. At times, this is appropriate. For example, you might have a distribution list for each department and include all of them in a distribution list for the entire organization. You should avoid nesting too deeply, however, or you may cause some recipients to receive multiple copies of messages.

10. When you have finished entering information into the property pages, click OK to create the distribution list.

From Here...

• For information on using the Exchange Client and Schedule+, see Chapter 14, "Using Exchange Client Applications."

• For information on creating public folders, replicating public folders, and managing directory information, see Chapter 15, "Managing Information with Exchange Server."

• For information on setting up connectors to foreign message systems and procedures for using Exchange Server's advanced security options, see Chapter 16, "Exchange Server Advanced Topics."

Table of Contents

12 - Understanding Exchange Server

14 - Using Exchange Client Applications