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Windows PowerShell Basics
Windows PowerShell Basics
For those who have made the plunge into Windows PowerShell by using it in Exchange Server
2007, thankfully little has changed in how it functions on the surface even with all of the
changes underneath. If you have not had any experience with Windows PowerShell prior to
Exchange 2010, a basic overview will help you navigate the remainder of this book.
Windows PowerShell is an object-based operating environment built to provide a simple
yet powerful administrative interface. Each Windows PowerShell action is known as a cmdlet.
These cmdlet names always start with a verb, then have a hyphen followed by a noun. For
example, to retrieve information about a mailbox you may run the Get-Mailbox cmdlet.
Some of the common verbs used in Exchange cmdlets are
n Add This verb places an object in an already created object. For example, Add-
DistributionGroupMember adds a mail-enabled object into a distribution group.
n Get This verb retrieves information—it will not change any settings. For example, the
Get-Mailbox cmdlet retrieves information about one or more mailboxes.
n New This verb creates a new instance of an object or task. For example, New-Mailbox
creates a new mailbox.
n Remove This verb deletes an object or removes it from another object. For example,
Remove-DistributionGroup removes the specified distribution group.
n Set This verb makes a configuration change. For example, Set-Mailbox will change the
configuration of a specific mailbox.
The noun portion of the cmdlet (the part to the right of the hyphen) has a number of options
and is the target of the verb. For example, you can New-, Get-, Remove-, and Set- the Mailbox noun.
This verb-noun pairing makes it easy to discover cmdlets that match the action you want
to take. If you need to create a new database, you know you need to find a cmdlet that starts
with New- and that contains MailboxDatabase. Thus to create a new mailbox database you
need to use New-MailboxDatabase.
Each cmdlet also has a variety of parameters that are used to control the actions the
cmdlet performs. For example, the Set-Mailbox cmdlet has a number of parameters, including
Identity, DisplayName, HiddenFromAddressListEnabled, IssueWarningQuota, LitigationHoldEnabled, and so forth.
You can use more than 100 parameters with the Set-Mailbox cmdlet. For example, to set Joel’s
mailbox warning quota to 2 GB you run the Set-Mailbox -Identity Joel
-IssueWarningQuota 2GB cmdlet. The Identity parameter in each cmdlet is the object that
you want to perform the object against. In the previous example Identity was the alias for the
mailbox we wanted to adjust. A positional parameter means that PowerShell expects a value
for the parameter at a specific place in the cmdlet syntax.
For most cmdlets the Identity parameter is expected in the first position and does not need
to be identified. To illustrate we could modify the previous example to omit the reference to
the Identity parameter to the Set-Mailbox Joel -IssueWarningQuota 2GB cmdlet and get the
same result.
Using Get-Help
Using Get-Help
Each Exchange cmdlet also has help information available. The cmdlet that retrieves help
for other cmdlets is Get-Help. To obtain help about Get-MailboxDatabase run Get-Help
As shown, some common parameters are available when getting information about
Exchange cmdlets -examples, -detailed, and -full.
The -examples parameter only displays examples for using the cmdlet. The -detailed
parameter shows a more detailed version of the default help, and -full provides the full help content.
Note If your administrative workstation has Internet access you can also specify the
-online parameter to view the latest version of help online.
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Overview of Exchange Server 2010
Overview of Exchange Server 2010
Exchange Server 2010 is one of the most functional messaging systems on the market,
and the most popular messaging system used in organizations. To maintain competitiveness
and to continue the development of technology began in Exchange 2007, Exchange 2010
brought several new features and functionality to the market.
Management Consoles
Exchange 2010 includes a couple of management consoles that help you to perform
administrative
tasks or manage Exchange’s configuration.
Exchange Management Console
The EMC is the main administrative console for configuring and managing Exchange,
It shows the most important settings of the Exchange configuration
and allows you to modify them if you have permissions.
The EMC includes the following main areas that help you to manage Exchange
n Exchange Configuration Includes organization-wide configuration that applies
not only to a single Exchange server but can also affect all servers. For example you
configure
Database Availability Groups (DAGs) and mailbox databases are configured
on this level.
n Server Configuration Allows you to view and modify server-based settings that
apply only to an individual server—such as server-specific OWA or POP3 settings—or
assign a Dial-Plan to a Unified Messaging server.
n Recipient Configuration Here you do all recipient-related tasks such as enabling
a mailbox or creating a distribution list or a contact.
n Toolbox Includes various tools that help you to configure, monitor, and troubleshoot
your Exchange organization, such as Queue Viewer and Best Practices Analyzer.
Show Exc hange Management Shell Comm and
The Show Exchange Management Shell command button is a very useful but not widely
known improvement to the EMC in Exchange 2010. It is located in the bottom-left corner
of the dialog boxes used to reveal and set properties on Exchange objects,
When you click this button a window opens, showing the Windows PowerShell
command that Exchange will execute when you click OK or Apply.
Note A s a best practice it is recommended that you take a look at the cmdlets that are
executed in EMC quite frequently at the beginning to familiarize yourself with the syntax
and to remember the cmdlet when you need it in EMS.
Exc hange Management Shell Comm and Log
Another tool new to the EMC in Exchange 2010 is the Exchange Management Shell Command
Log, which records all shell commands that you run in EMC. you can
start command logging, which provides you with detailed information about the commands
that you’ve run. You also have the option of exporting the commands to a CSV file.
You can access the View Exchange Management Command Log by right-clicking an object
such as Mailbox in the left pane of EMC and then clicking View and selecting View Exchange
Management Log.
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Exchange Server Roles
Exchange Server Roles
Exchange 2010 is quite a massive product that includes many facets of messaging included
in a single product. It includes a sophisticated messaging routing engine that is capable of
processing very large volumes of e-mail while applying anti-spam, antivirus, and compliance
checks; it supports a very wide range of client protocols from the simple, such as POP3, to
the highly functional, such as MAPI; and it accommodates varying hardware designs from
a simple multi-role server to designs based on the new Database Availability Group (DAG)
feature to deliver high availability.
Including all the functionality in a single product would just blow the requirements on
hardware, so Microsoft implemented server roles, allowing you to choose to install only the
roles you require.
The Client Access Server role is responsible for serving client connections: Outlook, OWA,
Outlook Anywhere, Exchange ActiveSync, Exchange Web Services (EWS), and POP3 and
IMAP4 protocols. It pipelines end user–based communication to mailbox server role and is responsible
for additional services such as Autodiscover, availability, and Exchange Web Services
(EWS). provides an in-depth overview of the Client Access Server role.
Mailbox databases—and thus the mailbox data—are stored on the Mailbox server role.
The public folder database is also on the Mailbox server role. The mailbox role includes DAGs
to make the server role fault-tolerant. You’ll find more information about the Mailbox role in
Chapter 6, “Mailbox Services.”
All message routing is done by the Hub Transport server role, which is responsible for
delivering messages to the correct destination mailbox server and routing messages to the
perimeter outside such as the Internet, “Routing and Transport,” provides you with
the necessary information about the Hub Transport role.
Similar to the Hub Transport, the Edge Transport server role is also responsible for messaging
routing purposes, but is a special server role that can be placed in a perimeter
zone to send and receive messages from the Internet. Because of this situation, it also includes
anti-spam and antivirus functionality to protect your internal environment. You
can get more information about the Edge Transport role ,
“Edge Transport and Messaging Security.”
The Unified Messaging (UM) server role combines voice and e-mail messaging in the Exchange
Server store, and it integrates telephony networks into Exchange. This role allows
you to use Exchange as your voice mail system for your OCS 2007 R2 implementation.
“Unified Messaging,” includes all information about the UM role.
Note One of the best Exchange 2010 resources available for understanding all Exchange
roles including the features is the Exchange 2010 Architecture Poster, which
is scheduled for public availability in August 2010 at http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=9729251.
You should definitely have a copy of it pinned to the wall in your working
environment where you can review the details daily.
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Exchange On-Premise versus Exchange Online
Exchange On-Premise versus Exchange Online
A traditional Exchange installation requires hardware that is placed in your datacenters,
the purchase of software licenses so that the product is allowed to run, and administrators
that manage the servers. For some time there has been a push for on-demand service provisioning,
where users only pay for the service they use, not for the complete cost basis
to establish and deliver the service.
In early 2006, Microsoft introduced the idea of Software as a Service (SaaS) to provide
application services on-demand and called their in-the-cloud messaging service Exchange
Online. To distinguish between Exchange Online and the installation you run in your own
company, Exchange 2010 uses the term Exchange On-Premise (or on-prem) because the servers
run on your premises. Today’s version of Exchange Online is based on Exchange 2010.
The two service options available for Exchange differ in the following ways
n Exchange On-Premises This version is generally dedicated to the customer, Exchange
servers are placed in a datacenter for the customer (on the customer’s premises),
and licensing is a fixed price including both hardware and software licensing.
n Exchange Online This service is provided as multi-tenant or hosting service, generalized
and highly standardized for many customers. Licensing is on-demand,
meaning that you pay only for the mailboxes you use. The Exchange servers are placed in
a common datacenter and you connect to it over the Internet using a secure connection.
Microsoft provides Exchange Online service as part of the Business Productivity Online
Services (BPOS) line.
Exchange Server 2010 is the first version of Exchange that provides a real hybrid approach
to Exchange Online services. It was fully designed to allow you to host your sensitive users
on-premises and move the rest to the cloud, or in this case, to Exchange Online. Coexistence
between the users is achieved by Exchange 2010’s new feature, Federation Service, which allows
sharing mailbox information such as freebusy times with another company,
All Exchange 2010 Management Consoles such as EMC are capable of managing both
an on-premises and an online setup. Thus, running an Exchange organization that operates
as a hybrid service can be a real option for your company to reduce the costs of mailboxes.
Features include moving mailboxes from on-premises to Exchange Online while the user of the
mailbox is logged in and on a scheduled basis, as well as the ECP, which supports self-service
control for users. Of course, Microsoft is not the only company that delivers hosted Exchange
2010. Some companies have hosted Exchange for 10 years or more and have much experience
in this space. The difference to Exchange Online is that the Microsoft develops a product to
operate as smoothly in a hosted environment as it does in an on-premises deployment.
This book focuses on Exchange On-Premises, but Chapter 10, “Federated Sharing,”
provides information on how to connect another Exchange organization to your Exchange
environment, including information on how to connect Exchange to Exchange Online.
For more information about Exchange Online, see httpwww.microsoft.comonline
exchange-online.mspx.
Notes from the Field
Europe’s Issues with Exchange Online Manfred Kornagel
Principal Consultant, Siemens AG, Germany
Exchange Online offers you full integration in an existing Exchange System and
greatly reduces the operating costs for your messaging system, especially in the
areas of administration, maintenance, and upgrade. On the other hand, you have to
make sure that the link between your offices and Exchange Online is redundant so
that network problems will not interfere with your messaging system.
One of the most critical areas I see currently in Europe is security.
Because Exchange Online hosts the mailboxes in centralized datacenters throughout
Europe, one in Dublin and one in Amsterdam, the county’s laws might not allow storing company-
related data in a foreign country. This is the situation as of 2010; remember
that Microsoft may have other datacenters in place in Europe in the coming
years. It can also be company policy not to store any sensitive data outside
the company, which would prevent migrating fully to Exchange Online.
However, the big opportunity I see here is with regard to hybrid implementations,
in which you mix Exchange 2010 and Exchange Online. You move your non-critical
mailboxes to the cloud and keep your important or business-critical mailboxes on-
premises.
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