How to use managed folders for Exchange 2010 message retention

Managed folders have several benefits but working with them can take some getting used to. This tip explains how to create and configure managed folders. You’ll also

    Requires Free Membership to View

    Login

learn some commands you can use to control message retention.

There are two important points admins should know about managed folders. Because managed folders are a premium feature, Microsoft requires that organizations purchase an Exchange Server Enterprise client access license (CAL) before implementing them. Additionally, there are two types of managed folders -- default and custom. Default folders are built into Exchange (Inbox, Sent Items, etc.); custom folders refer to any non-default managed folders.

How to create a custom managed folder
Managed folder administration is performed almost exclusively through the Exchange Management Shell. If you want to create a custom managed folder, you would use the New-ManagedFolder cmdlet. Using this command, you have to provide both an internal name and folder name, which will be displayed within Outlook. I recommend keeping the name and folder name uniform.

To create a managed folder, use a command similar to this:

New-ManagedFolder –Name “Important Stuff” –FolderName “Important Stuff”

Depending on the folder’s purpose, you might also want to set a quota on the folder or provide users with a description of the folder’s intended use. You can do both when you’re creating the folder by appending the –StorageQuota parameter or the –Comment parameter to the command. If you decide to include a comment, you should also use the MustDisplayComment parameter.

If, for example, you want to apply a 5 GB quota to a new custom folder and retain folder content for 30 days, use a command similar to this to create your folder:

New-ManagedFolder –Name “Important Stuff” –FolderName “Important Stuff” –StorageQuota ‘5Gb’ –Comment ‘Messages in this folder will be kept for 30 days’ –MustDisplayComment $True.

This command creates a folder named Important Stuff and applies a 5 GB quota to it. Although the comment says that messages in the folder will be retained for 30 days, we haven’t done anything to address message retention. You must apply managed content settings to control message retention.

Understanding managed content settings for managed folders

To apply managed content settings, you must use the New-ManagedContentSettings cmdlet. When you use this cmdlet, there are five pieces of information you must provide:

  1. You must use the FolderName switch to specify which folder to apply the managed content settings to.

  2. Specify the message class, which informs Exchange Sever of the type of messages the managed content settings will target. For example, you can apply the managed content settings to email or voicemail. If you want the managed content settings to apply to all content types, specify that with an asterisk. Otherwise, you will need to specify the desired content type.

    The names Microsoft uses for individual content types aren’t intuitive. For example, if you want to manage voicemail messages, use the IPM.Note.Microsoft.Voicemail* content type. Microsoft lists a complete list of all the content types on Technet.

  3. Provide a name for the managed content settings; you’ll use this name to address the managed content settings if you want to modify or delete them. You can also link multiple managed folders to a single managed content setting.

  4. To enable retention, you must provide a retention action. The retention action controls what happens to items of the specified content type once they reach their age limits.

  5. The age limit is the final piece of required information you need. It acts as an expiration date for folder items.

The Managed Folder Assistant is the mechanism that ages messages and enforces the retention action. Managed content won’t be enforced unless the Managed Folder Assistant is running. Use the Start-ManagedFolderAssistant cmdlet to turn on the Managed Folder Assistant.

Using the previous example of the Important Stuff managed folder, let’s set the retention limit to delete folder items after they exceed their 30 day age limit. The command to create this setting would look like this:

New-ManagedContentSettings –FolderName “Important Stuff” –MessageClass * -Name ContentSettingsForImportantStuff –RetentionEnabled $true –RetentionAction MoveToDeletedItems –AgeLimitForRetention “30”

This command creates a managed content setting named ContentSettingsForImportantStuff and binds it to the Important Stuff folder. It sets an age limit of 30 days on all folder content and moves expired items to the Deleted Items folder.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Brien M. Posey, MCSE, is a seven-time Microsoft MVP for his work with Windows 2000 Server, Exchange Server and IIS. He has served as CIO for a nationwide chain of hospitals and was once in charge of IT security for Fort Knox. For more information visit www.brienposey.com.

This was first published in February 2011

Join the conversationComment

Share
Comments

    Results

    Contribute to the conversation

    All fields are required. Comments will appear at the bottom of the article.

    Disclaimer: Our Tips Exchange is a forum for you to share technical advice and expertise with your peers and to learn from other enterprise IT professionals. TechTarget provides the infrastructure to facilitate this sharing of information. However, we cannot guarantee the accuracy or validity of the material submitted. You agree that your use of the Ask The Expert services and your reliance on any questions, answers, information or other materials received through this Web site is at your own risk.

    Back to top