How to View or Configure the Settings of Public Folders

Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 will reach end of support on April 11, 2017. To stay supported, you will need to upgrade. For more information, see Resources to help you upgrade your Office 2007 servers and clients.

 

Applies to: Exchange Server 2007, Exchange Server 2007 SP1, Exchange Server 2007 SP2, Exchange Server 2007 SP3

This topic explains how to use the Exchange Management Console or the Exchange Management Shell to view or configure the settings of public folders.

Note

Mail-enabled public folders have additional configuration settings. For more information about how to configure the settings of mail-enabled public folders, see How to View or Configure the Settings of Mail-Enabled Public Folders.

Before You Begin

Before you perform the following procedure, you must perform the actions in one of the following sections based on whether you are working with the release to manufacturing (RTM) version of Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 or Exchange 2007 Service Pack 1 (SP1).

For more information about permissions, delegating roles, and the rights that are required to administer Exchange 2007, see Permission Considerations.

Permissions and Prerequisites for Exchange 2007 SP1

To configure public folder settings in Exchange 2007 SP1, the account you use must be delegated the following:

  • Exchange Public Folder Administrator role and local Administrators group for the target server

To view public folder settings, the account you use must be delegated the following:

  • Exchange View-Only Administrator role and local Administrators group for the target server

Also, before you perform this procedure, be aware of the following:

  • You cannot use the Set-PublicFolder cmdlet to mail-enable or mail-disable a public folder. To mail-enable a public folder, use the Enable-MailPublicFolder cmdlet. To mail-disable a public folder, use the Disable-MailPublicFolder cmdlet.

  • You can use the Set-PublicFolder cmdlet to configure only the mail-enabled public folder settings that are not mail related. If you want to configure mail-related settings of mail-enabled public folders, use the Set-MailPublicFolder cmdlet.

  • Not all the Set-PublicFolder cmdlet parameters are discussed in this topic. For detailed syntax and parameter information, see the Set-PublicFolder reference topic.

Permissions and Prerequisites for the RTM Version of Exchange 2007

To configure public folder settings in the RTM version of Exchange 2007, the account you use must be delegated the following:

  • Exchange Server Administrator role and local Administrators group for the target server

To view public folder settings in the RTM version of Exchange 2007, the account you use must be delegated the following:

  • Exchange View-Only Administrator role and local Administrators group for the target server

Also, before you perform this procedure, be aware of the following:

  • In Exchange 2007 RTM, you can manage public folders only in the Exchange Management Shell. You cannot use the Exchange Management Console.

  • You cannot use the Set-PublicFolder cmdlet to mail-enable or mail-disable a public folder. To mail-enable a public folder, use the Enable-MailPublicFolder cmdlet. To mail-disable a public folder, use the Disable-MailPublicFolder cmdlet.

  • You can use the Set-PublicFolder cmdlet to configure only the mail-enabled public folder settings that are not mail related. If you want to configure mail-related settings of mail-enabled public folders, use the Set-MailPublicFolder cmdlet.

  • Not all the Set-PublicFolder cmdlet parameters are discussed in this topic. For detailed syntax and parameter information, see the Set-PublicFolder reference topic.

Procedure

Exchange 2007 SP1

To use the Exchange Management Console to configure the settings of a public folder

  1. Start the Exchange Management Console.

  2. In the console tree, click Toolbox.

  3. In the result pane, click Public Folder Management Console, and then in the action pane, click Open Tool. The Public Folder Management Console appears.

  4. In the public folder tree, click or expand Default Public Folders, and then click the parent folder of the public folder that you want to configure.

  5. In the result pane, click the public folder that you want to configure.

  6. In the action pane, click Properties.

  7. Use the General tab to configure the following fields:

    • Name   Use this text box to view or modify the display name for the public folder.

    • Maintain per-user read and unread information for this folder   Select this check box to enable the user to see if a public folder message has been read in Microsoft Outlook.

  8. Use the Replication tab to view and set the content replication schedule and to specify the databases on which the public folder content will be replicated. The following fields are available:

    • Add   Click this button to open the Select Public Folder Database dialog box. Use this dialog box to add a public folder database to the replica list.

    • Remove icon   To remove a public folder database from the replication list, select a database from the list, and then click this button.

    • Use public folder database replication schedule   Select this check box to use the replication schedule that is set on the public folder database. This check box is selected by default. To manually set the replication schedule, clear this check box and use the settings in the corresponding list.

      If you select Use Custom Schedule from the list, click Customize to open the Schedule dialog box, and then specify the times that you want replication to occur.

    • Local replica age limit (days)   Use this text box to specify the age limit for items in this public folder. Items that have reached the age limit are deleted.

  9. Use the Limits tab to view or configure storage quotas, deleted item retention, and age limits for the public folder. The following fields are available:

    • Use database quota defaults   Select this check box to use the public folder database quota limits on which the public folder resides. If you do not select this check box, the Issue warning at (KB), Prohibit post at (KB), and Maximum item size (KB) check boxes are made available.

    • Issue warning at (KB)   Select this check box to automatically warn public folder owners that the public folder is approaching its storage limit. To specify this limit, select the check box, and then specify the size of the public folder in kilobytes (KB) at which you want to provide the warning message. You can enter a value between 0 and 2,147,483,647 KB (2.1 terabytes).

    • Prohibit post at (KB)   Select this check box to prevent posting to the public folder after the size of the folder reaches the specified limit. To specify this limit, select the check box, and then specify the size of the public folder in KB at which you want to prohibit posting. You can enter a value between 0 and 2,147,483,647 KB (2.1 terabytes).

    • Maximum item size (KB)   Select this check box to limit the maximum size of items that users can post to the public folder. To specify the size, select the check box, and then specify the maximum size of items in KB that users can post to the public folders. You can enter a value between 0 and 2,097,151 KB.

    • Use database retention defaults   Select this check box to use the public folder database item retention limits on which this public folder resides. If you do not select this check box, the Retain deleted items for (days) check box is made available.

    • Retain deleted items for (days)   Select this check box to set the number of days that deleted items are retained in a public folder. You can enter a value between 0 and 24,855 days.

    • Use database age defaults   Select this check box to use the public folder database age limits on which this public folder resides. If you do not select this check box, the Age limit for replicas (days) check box is made available.

    • Age limit for replicas (days)   Select this check box to limit the age of the public folder. Use the corresponding text box to specify the age limit in days. Replicas of this public folder are automatically deleted when the age limit is exceeded. You can enter a value between 0 and 24,855 days.

To use the Exchange Management Shell to get information about public folders

  • To get information about the root public folder, run one of the following commands.

    Get-PublicFolder
    

    -or-

    Get-PublicFolder -Identity "\"
    
  • To get the names of the root public folder and all the public folders below it in the hierarchy, run the following command.

    Get-PublicFolder -Recurse | Format-List Name
    

    By default, system folders are not displayed. (For example, system folders are not displayed when you run the command Get-PublicFolder -Recurse | Format-List Name.) To view system folders, you must specify the system folder root. For details, see the following example:

    • To get the names of all the system folders (which are not displayed by default), run the following command (starting at the system folder root, \Non_IPM_SUBTREE).

      Get-PublicFolder -Identity \NON_IPM_SUBTREE -Recurse | Format-List Name 
      
  • To get information about the public folder named Legal in the root public folder of the server named My Server, run the following command.

    Get-PublicFolder -Identity "\Legal" -Server "My Server"
    
  • To get information about the public folder named Pending Cases that is contained in the public folder named Legal, run the following command.

    Get-PublicFolder -Identity "\Legal\Pending Cases"
    
  • To get information about the public folder named Legal and all the public folders contained within it, run the following command.

    Get-PublicFolder -Identity "\Legal" -Recurse
    
  • To get information about only the public folders that are contained within the public folder named Legal (but not the parent Legal folder or children of the children), run the following command.

    Get-PublicFolder -Identity "\Legal" -GetChildren
    
  • To get only the names of all public folders, run the following command.

    Get-PublicFolder -Recurse | Format-List Name
    

    This command pipes the output of the Get-PublicFolder cmdlet to the Format-List command.

  • To get the names of all public folders in the folder named Legal, but limit the number of results that are returned to 100, run the following command.

    Get-PublicFolder -Identity "Legal" -Recurse -ResultSize 100 | Format-List Name
    

    Note

    You can only use the ResultSize parameter in combination with the Recurse or GetChildren parameters.

  • To get the names of all public folders in the folder named Legal, with no limit on the number of results that are returned, run the following command.

    Get-PublicFolder -Identity "Legal" -Recurse -ResultSize Unlimited | Format-List Name
    

    Note

    You can only use the ResultSize parameter in combination with the Recurse or GetChildren parameters.

For detailed syntax and parameter information, see the Get-PublicFolder reference topic.

To use the Exchange Management Shell to configure the settings of a public folder

  • To specify that a public folder can use storage size limits other than the values that are set on the public folder database, run the following command.

    Set-PublicFolder -Identity "\My Public Folder" -UseDatabaseQuotaDefaults: $False
    
  • To specify that over-storage-quota warnings should be sent when the size of the public folder exceeds 10 megabytes (MB), run the following command.

    Set-PublicFolder -Identity "\My Public Folder" -StorageQuota 10MB
    

    Note

    The -StorageQuota parameter cannot be used when the -UseDatabaseQuotaDefaults parameter is set to $True.

  • To set a public folder so that it does not use the default replication schedule of the public folder database, run the following command.

    Set-PublicFolder "\My Public Folder" -UseDatabaseReplicationSchedule: $False
    
  • To set a public folder so that it always uses the default replication schedule of the public folder database, run the following command.

    Set-PublicFolder "\My Public Folder" -ReplicationSchedule Always
    
  • To set a public folder so that it replicates only during the weekend, run the following command.

    Set-PublicFolder \MyPublicFolder -ReplicationSchedule "Saturday.12:00 AM-Monday.12:00 AM"
    

    Note

    The public folder replication schedule uses the "Weekday.Hour:Minute [AM/PM]-Weekday.Hour:Minute [AM/PM]" format.

For detailed syntax and parameter information, see the Set-PublicFolder reference topic.

Exchange 2007 RTM

To use the Exchange Management Shell to get information about public folders

  • To get information about the root public folder, run one of the following commands.

    Get-PublicFolder
    

    -or-

    Get-PublicFolder -Identity "\"
    
  • To get the names of the root public folder and all the public folders below it in the hierarchy, run the following command.

    Get-PublicFolder -Recurse | Format-List Name
    

    By default, system folders are not displayed. (For example, system folders are not displayed when you run the command Get-PublicFolder -Recurse | Format-List Name.) To view system folders, you must specify the system folder root. For details, see the following example:

    • To get the names of all the system folders (which are not displayed by default), run the following command (starting at the system folder root, \Non_IPM_SUBTREE).

      Get-PublicFolder -Identity \NON_IPM_SUBTREE -Recurse | Format-List Name 
      
  • To get information about the public folder named Legal in the root public folder of the server named My Server, run the following command.

    Get-PublicFolder -Identity "\Legal" -Server "My Server"
    
  • To get information about the public folder named Pending Cases that is contained in the public folder named Legal, run the following command.

    Get-PublicFolder -Identity "\Legal\Pending Cases"
    
  • To get information about the public folder named Legal and all the public folders contained within it, run the following command.

    Get-PublicFolder -Identity "\Legal" -Recurse
    
  • To get information about only the public folders that are contained within the public folder named Legal (but not the parent Legal folder or children of the children), run the following command.

    Get-PublicFolder -Identity "\Legal" -GetChildren
    
  • To get only the names of all public folders, run the following command.

    Get-PublicFolder -Recurse | Format-List Name
    

    This command pipes the output of the Get-PublicFolder cmdlet to the Format-List cmdlet.

  • To get the names of all public folders in the folder named Legal, but limit the number of results that are returned to 100, run the following command.

    Get-PublicFolder -Identity "Legal" -Recurse -ResultSize 100 | Format-List Name
    

    Note

    You can only use the ResultSize parameter in combination with the Recurse or GetChildren parameters.

  • To get the names of all public folders in the folder named Legal, with no limit on the number of results that are returned, run the following command.

    Get-PublicFolder -Identity "Legal" -Recurse -ResultSize Unlimited | Format-List Name
    

    Note

    You can only use the ResultSize parameter in combination with the Recurse or GetChildren parameters.

For detailed syntax and parameter information, see Get-PublicFolder (RTM) reference topic.

To use the Exchange Management Shell to configure the settings of a public folder

  • To specify that a public folder can use storage size limits other than the values that are set on the public folder database, run the following command.

    Set-PublicFolder -Identity "\My Public Folder" -UseDatabaseQuotaDefaults: $False
    
  • To specify that over-storage-quota warnings should be sent when the size of the public folder exceeds 10 MB, run the following command.

    Set-PublicFolder -Identity "\My Public Folder" -StorageQuota 10MB
    

    Note

    The -StorageQuota parameter cannot be used when the -UseDatabaseQuotaDefaults parameter is set to $True.

  • To set a public folder so that it does not use the default replication schedule of the public folder database, run the following command.

    Set-PublicFolder "\My Public Folder" -UseDatabaseReplicationSchedule: $False
    
  • To set a public folder so that it always uses the default replication schedule of the public folder database, run the following command.

    Set-PublicFolder "\My Public Folder" -ReplicationSchedule Always
    
  • To set a public folder so that it replicates only during the weekend, run the following command.

    Set-PublicFolder \MyPublicFolder -ReplicationSchedule "Saturday.12:00 AM-Monday.12:00 AM"
    

    Note

    The public folder replication schedule uses the "Weekday.Hour:Minute [AM/PM]-Weekday.Hour:Minute [AM/PM]" format.

For detailed syntax and parameter information, see the Set-PublicFolder (RTM) reference topic.

For More Information

To learn more about public folders, see Understanding Public Folders.

For more information about managing public folders, see Managing Public Folders.

For more information about using the Public Folder Management Console, see Using the Public Folder Management Console.

For more information about using the Exchange Management Shell, see Using the Exchange Management Shell.