Messaging Records Management (MRM) in Exchange Server 2013

Messaging Records Management is records management technology to manage email lifecycle and reduce the legal risks associated with the emails. Message Records Management in Exchange 2013 will be implemented using Retentions Policies.

Retention tags with the settings to how long to keep\delete\archive emails will be used to apply retention settings on the mailbox or the default folder on a mailbox like Inbox and these retention tags can also be used apply retention settings on mailbox folders of outlook 2010 or later and OWA. Once the Retention Policy with the Retention Settings applied on folder or a mailbox, the Managed Folder Assistant running on Exchange 2013 Mailbox Server will process all mailboxes and apply the retention settings to the mailbox.

Retention Tags

Retention Tags are the one which will define the settings on how long the emails can be kept\deleted\archived and on where to apply the settings like entire mailbox or individual folders. Retention Tags are used to apply retention settings on messages and mailbox folders. There are 3 types of Retention Tag

Default Policy Tag: Default Policy tag will be applied to all items that do not have a retention tag applied. A Retention Policy can have one Default Policy Tag to move items to Archive Folders, one Default Policy Tags to Delete Items and One Default Policy Tags to delete voice mails

Retention Policy Tag: Created for default folders like Inbox and Sent Items folders. A Retention Policy can have one Retention Tag for each and every default folders

Personal Tag: Personal Tags are used by Outlook later and Outlook Web App users to apply retention settings on custom folders and individual messages. A Retention Policy can have n number of Personal Tags

Retention Policy can have any of these Retention tags

Retention Policy

Retention Policy is a group of Retention Tags applied that can be applied to a mailbox.. Also only one Retention Policy can be applied on a mailbox.

Managed Default Folders option introduced in Exchange Server 2007 are not available in Exchange Server 2013.

Default Messaging Records Management Policy

Installation of Exchange 2013 will have a default Messaging Records Management Policy which can be used when creating a new mailbox. The default MRM policy will have these default Retention Tags

Implementing Message Records Management in Exchange Server 2013

Below are the steps that are to be followed to implementing Message Records Management in Exchange Server 2013

1. Create the Retention Tags
   
2. Create Retention Policy
   
3. Link Retention Tags to Retention Policy to have one default policy tag and one or more Retention Tags and Personal Tags
   
4. Apply Retention Policy to Mailbox
   

Step 1: Create a Retention Tags

This shows how to create a Retention Tags on Exchange Server 2013 using Exchange Control Panel

To create a Retention Tags -> Login to Exchange Control Panel -> Compliance Management -> Retention Tags and Click on New (+) to create a New Retention Tags

To create a Default Policy Tag click on applied automatically to entire mailbox (default) and to create a Retention Policy Tags click on applied automatically to a specified folder and to create a Personal Tag click on applied by users to items and folders (Personal)

On the background, I create 3 Retention Tags, One Default Policy tag to move 60 days old emails to Archive Mailbox

One Retention Policy Tags to permanently delete 30 days old emails from Deleted Items folder

and One Personal Tag with settings not to archive

Step 2: Create a Retention Policy

To create a Retention Policy -> Login to Exchange Control Panel -> Compliance Management -> Retention Policy and Click New (+) -> Type a Name and Click Save

Step 3: Linking Retention Tags to Retention Policy

To Link Retention Tags to Retention Policy-> Login to Exchange Control Panel -> Compliance Management -> Retention Policy -> Select the Policy to which you want link addition Retention Tags and Click edit -> add the Retention Tags as shown below and click save

Step 4: Assign the Retention Policy to a Mailbox

To apply a Retention Policy on a Mailbox -> Login to Exchange Control Panel -> Recipients -> Mailbox -> Select the Mailbox and Click edit ->

Click on Mailbox Features -> Select the Retention Policy and click Save

I believe the above procedure gives a good idea on how to implement Messaging Records Management in Exchange Server 2013. If you need any help on the above please inform us. Please don't forget to have a look on the Second Part of this article to have more idea on MRM in Exchange Server 2013

Exchange Trusted Subsystem is not member of the local administrator group

When designating a non Exchange 2010 or Exchange 2013 servers as a file share witness, you have to assign the Exchange Trusted Subsystem as a member of local administrator group on the file share witness server.

Even if you assign the Exchange Trusted Subsystem as a member of local administrator group on the file share witness server, you may get the below warning



There is no need to find a fix for the above warning, because Microsoft informed this warning is normal and we can silently ignore it. for more info

How to delete the First Mailbox Database in Exchange 2013

Once Exchange Server 2013 installation gets completed, it will create the default mailboxes (Administrator and Discovery Mailbox) and the Arbitration Mailboxes on the default Mailbox Database. If you try to delete the first mailbox database you will get the below error message. The reason is, to delete a mailbox database there should not be any mailbox available on that database, and either those mailboxes to be deleted or moved to other database.



Full Error Message:


This mailbox database contains one or more mailboxes, mailbox plans, archive mailboxes, public folder mailboxes or arbitration mailboxes. To get a list of all mailboxes in this database, run the command Get-Mailbox -Database <Database ID>. To get a list of all mailbox plans in this database, run the command Get-MailboxPlan. To get a list of archive mailboxes in this database, run the command Get-Mailbox -Database <Database ID> -Archive. To get a list of all public folder mailboxes in this database, run the command Get-Mailbox -Database <Database ID> -PublicFolder. To get a list of all arbitration mailboxes in this database, run the command Get-Mailbox -Database <Database ID> -Arbitration. To disable a non-arbitration mailbox so that you can delete the mailbox database, run the command Disable-Mailbox <Mailbox ID>. To disable an archive mailbox so you can delete the mailbox database, run the command Disable-Mailbox <Mailbox ID> -Archive. To disable a public folder mailbox so that you can delete the mailbox database, run the command Disable-Mailbox <Mailbox ID> -PublicFolder. Arbitration mailboxes should be moved to another server; to do this, run the command New-MoveRequest <parameters>. If this is the last server in the organization, run the command Disable-Mailbox <Mailbox ID> -Arbitration -DisableLastArbitrationMailboxAllowed to disable the arbitration mailbox. Mailbox plans should be moved to another server; to do this, run the command Set-MailboxPlan <MailboxPlan ID> -Database <Database ID>.

To Delete the First Mailbox Database

1. Find the Mailboxes available on the Default first mailbox database
   


2. Move all the Mailboxes including the Arbitration Mailbox from the first database to other database
   


3. Delete the First Mailbox Database
   


4. Remove the files associated with the first mailbox Database
   

Step 1: To find all Mailboxes in the first default database




To find all the arbitration mailboxes




Step 2: Move all the Mailboxes including the Arbitration Mailbox from the first database to other database


Create a new mailbox database to which the existing mailboxes from default mailbox database are to be moved. Normal user mailbox and Search Mailbox can be moved as shown below




And below shows the details on how to move the arbitration mailbox to other mailbox database in Exchange Server 2013.



Once all the mailboxes from first database has been moved to different database, then you can delete the first mailbox database

Step 3: Delete the first Mailbox Database


Right click the default mailbox database and click the delete option -> on the warning prompt click Yes to delete the default Mailbox Database



Step 4: Delete the database files related to first mailbox database


As shown below, once a database is deleted it will not delete the .edb and log files associated with that database, we have to manually delete those log file to free up disk space.

How to Pre stage a Cluster Network Object for Database Availability Group

Pre staging a cluster network object is a pre requisites task when you are configuring Exchange Server 2013 Database Availability Group on Windows Server 2012. If Pre Staging a CNO is not created before the creation of DAG, you may get a error message similar to the below screen shot

Pre Staging a Cluster Network Object is two step processes


Step 1: Create a Computer Name Object in Active Directory User and Computers

Open Active Directory User and Computers console -> select the OU in which you want to create new computer name object -> right click and select New -> Computer -> Enter the DAG name as the computer name and click ok



Step 2: Assign Full control Permission on the DAG Object create above either to first node of DAG or the Exchange Trusted Sub System account

Right click the computer name (DAG-101) -> Select Security (make sure advanced features option is enabled on Active Directory Users and Computers console) -> Click Add -> add either first node of DAG member or the Exchange Trusted Sub System universal security Group and assign full permission



Please inform if any issue…

Mailbox Moves in Exchange 2013

Exchange 2013 includes lot of improvement on the mailbox moves. Moving a mailbox in Exchange Server 2013 has different options as mentioned below.

Local Move: Moving a mailbox from one database to other in between the existing On-Premise exchange organization

Cutover Exchange Migration: Migrating all the mailbox in On-Premise exchange to Exchange online in Office 365

Cross Forest Move: Moving mailbox from Different on-premise exchange forest

Remote Move: Moving a mailbox from on premise exchange environment to Office 365. It has two options on boarding migration (Moving mailbox from On-premise to Office 365) and off boarding migration (moving a mailbox from Office 365 to On-Premise Exchange)

Staged Exchange Migration: Moving a subset of mailbox from On-Premise Exchange to Office 365

Mailbox Moves in Exchange Server 2013 introduced two new concepts as Batch Moves and Migration End Points

Batch Moves:
A Batch move is the option to move multiple mailboxes as large batches. This option includes the following features

• Email notification during move with reporting
  
• Automatic retry and automatic prioritization of moves
  
• Primary and personal archive mailboxes can be moved together or separately
  
• Option for manual move request finalization, which allows you to review your move before you complete it
  
• Periodic incremental syncs to update migration changes
  

Migration End Points:
If we are performing local mailbox moves there is no need of Migration End Points and if it is a Cross-Forest or Remote mailbox moves then the Migration End Points are required, So what is Migration End Points?

Migration endpoints capture the remote server information and persists the required credentials for migrating the data and the source throttling settings from local to the remote exchange organization.

Migration Endpoints like Remote Move endpoints used in Cross Forest and Remote Moves and the Exchange End Point in used in Cutover Exchange Migration and IMAP endpoints are used when using IMAP migration

On the below demo, we will see the option for Local Move for Single Mailbox, Local Move for Multiple Mailbox.

Note: Options available for Cross Forest mailbox move will be discussed on other post.

Local Move for Single Mailbox

To move a single mailbox from one database to other database with in the on premise exchange organization

From Exchange Admin center, we can select the respective mailbox and select the move the mailbox option or click on the migration option and select that particular mailbox

 

Below details are to be filled to move the mailbox to different database and click Next to continue

Below screen shows the option to select the batch operations… when to move the mailbox and leaving an option to complete the migration automatically\manually. Also, we can set the option to notify a user about the migration complete status.

To view the status of the Migration, we can use the below command lets as shown

Once the status shows the Migration Batch is completed, we can remove the Migration Batch, using Remove-MigrationBatch –Identity "Identity Name"

How to uninstall Exchange Server 2013

I had a problem in my Exchange 2013 server and thought of reinstalling to have a fresh start. Below gives the details on how to uninstall an Exchange 2013 Server.

Before uninstalling a Exchange 2013 Server,

• Make sure all the console related to Exchange server are closed


• Mailbox databases on that server has to be removed


• There is no option to remove only a single role on Exchange Server 2013


• If OAB configured, then it has to be reconfigured in other server

To uninstall Exchange 2013 Server

Go to Programs and Features -> Select Microsoft Exchange Server 2013 -> Click Uninstall



On the below screen click Next to continue



Next screen check the server to verify that Exchange is ready to be uninstalled, If no issue with the server then you will have an option to click next to continue



Below screen shows the uninstallation of Exchange Server 2013



Uninstallation is completed and you have to restart the server



If you are having any issue in uninstalling Exchange Server 2013, let us know… we will assist you on that.

How to Create\Configure DAG in Exchange 2013

I have a test lab which is good enough to test the Database Availability Group configuration in Exchange Server 2013 and I tried it on last weekend. After lot of errors, I successfully created Database Availability Group in Exchange 2013. Below are the steps that I followed to successfully create/configure Database Availability Group in Exchange Server 2013

Steps that I followed

• Prepare the Exchange 2013 environment to create DAG


• Creating the Database Availability Group


• Adding the Mailbox Servers as member of the DAG


• Adding the Mailbox Database Copies to the passive node

Prepare the Exchange 2013 environment to create DAG


Preparing the Exchange 2013 to configure DAG includes the following Steps

• Exchange Servers: You should have two Mailbox Servers installed with Exchange Server 2013. If it is an exchange 2013 standard edition, both the member server has to be standard edition servers.


• FSW: File Share Witness server has to be different server and it should not be a member of DAG.


• DC & GC: Windows Server 2003 Sp2 or later


• Domain and Forest Functional Level: Windows Server 2003 or later

My Test Lab: I have the below servers in my test environment

• EXCH2013-DC – Domain Controller running on Windows Server 2012


• CHENNAI-01 – Mailbox & Client Access Server Role installed together running on Windows Server 2012 datacentre edition


• CHENNAI-02 – Mailbox & Client Access Server Role installed together running on Windows Server 2012 datacentre edition


• CHENNAI-FS1 – File server running on Windows Server 2012


• Domain Functional Level: Windows Server 2008

Below figure shows the Exchange 2013 servers that are installed in my test lab



Placing the File Share Witness in Exchange 2013 DAG


The Witness server is a required property for all DAGs, but it is used only when the DAG contains an even number of members. FSW can be configured on Exchange 2013 Client Access Server or any other file server running on Windows Server 2003 Sp2 or later

If we are configuring the file server as a File Share Witness, then the Exchange Trusted Subsystem has to be member of the local administrators group on the File server. If it not configured the error message "The Exchange Trusted Subsystem is not a member of the local Administrators groups on specified witness server" will appear as shown below



Note: You may get the same error after making the Exchange Trusted Subsystem as a member of the local administrators group on the File server. To fix it, restart the File Server once.

To add the Exchange Trusted Subsystem, open Computer Management Console -> Local Users and Groups -> Groups -> Administrators -> Members



Creating the Database Availability Group


To Create New Database Availability Group, Exchange Admin center -> Servers -> Database Availability Groups -> Click on the + symbol to create new DAG



Below screen appears… enter the DAG name, Witness Server FQDN name, Witness Directory and the IP address of the DAG



Below shows the confirmation of DAG creation



Note: You may get error while creating Database Availability Group on Windows Server 2012, to resolve the issue... you have to Pre-stage the Cluster Network Object by following the link here

Adding Mailbox Servers as member of the DAG


To add the Mailbox Servers as member of DAG, open Exchange Admin Center -> Servers -> Database Availability Groups -> select the Database Availability Group -> Click on the Manage DAG membership option



On the new opened window, click on the + symbol to add the member servers



Add the servers that are going to be member of the DAG and click on the Save option





Below shows the adding DAG members task



Below shows the completion of adding member servers to Database Availability Groups





Adding the Mailbox Database Copies to the passive node


To add the Database copy to the passive node, Click on Exchange Admin Center -> Server -> Databases -> Select the Database -> Click on … and select Add Mailbox database Copy



On the Opened Window, enter the details and click save



You can test the Mailbox Database copy status using "Get-MailboxDatabaseCopyStatus" commandlet.

Let us know if you are facing any issue in creating\configuring database availability group in exchange server 2013.

Microsoft Outlook 2013 and Exchange 2013

I installed the Click to Run version of Microsoft Office 2013 in my test environment and configured it with Exchange Server 2013 to explore the new features of Outlook 2013. Below are some of the new features in outlook 2013

• Attachment Reminder to remind users when composing new email
  
• Add-in Resiliency which disables the unwanted (which affects performance) add-ins
  
• Cached mode Improvement, which will by default sync the last 12 months emails
  
• Compressed version of OST on new profile
  
• People Hub to view the outlook contacts and Social Network contacts on default view
  
• Calendar displays weather information for next 3 days
  

Below screen shows the new look of Outlook 2013. This is a default view of Outlook 2013 when opens for the first time.

Below screen shows the All Folders view of Outlook 2013

 

Composing a new email in Outlook 2013...

 

Calendar in Outlook 2013, which shows a weather information by default

 

Below screen shows the contacts view in outlook 2013

Below screen shows the tasks view on outlook 2013

By default Outlook 2013 connect to exchange server 2013 mailbox using RPC over HTTPS and the previous option of connecting the mailbox using MAPI over TCP option is discontinued in Exchange Server 2013. Below screen shows the details on the same.

Outlook 2013 with Exchange Server 2013 uses Outlook Anywhere formerly called as RPC over HTTPS to access the emails from server.