The following topics provide instructions for the management tasks that you can perform for public folders.

• Managing Public Folder Databases
  
• Managing Public Folder Replication
  
• Managing Public Folder Referrals
  
• How to Create Public Folders
  
• How to Remove Public Folders
  
• How to View or Configure the Settings of Public Folders
  
• How to Update Public Folders
  
• How to Get Statistics for Public Folders
  
• How to Update a Public Folder Hierarchy
  

A mail-enabled public folder is a public folder that has an e-mail address. Mail-enabling a public folder provides an extra level of functionality to users. In addition to being able to post messages to the folder, users can send e-mail messages to, and sometimes receive e-mail messages from, the public folder. Each mail-enabled folder has an object in the Active Directory directory service that stores its e-mail address, address book name, and other mail-related attributes.

Important:

If you are creating a moderated public folder, that public folder must be mail-enabled. If it is not mail-enabled, the database cannot send e-mail because the folder does not have an e-mail address. You can use Microsoft Outlook to create a moderated public folder. For information about how to create a moderated public folder in Outlook 2003, see Create a public folder. For information about how to create a moderated public folder in Outlook 2007, see Create and share a public folder.

The following topics provide instructions for the management tasks that you can perform for mail-enabled public folders.

• How to Mail-Enable Public Folders
  
• How to Mail-Disable Public Folders
  
• How to View or Configure the Settings of Mail-Enabled Public Folders
  

When new public folders are created, the public folder inherits the parent folder's administrative and client access permissions. You can use Outlook and the Exchange Management Shell to manage permissions for client users who use and manage public folders. You use the Exchange Management Shell to manage permissions for public folder administrators. For more information about public folder permissions, see Configuring Public Folder Permissions.

The commands that you use to manage public folders in the Exchange Management Shell can be combined into a script. You can use scripts that are installed with Exchange 2007 (as well as other scripts), or you can write your own scripts. Running scripts in the Exchange Management Shell can make public folder administration faster and easier by automating complex or frequently performed tasks. To learn more about using scripts for public folder administration, see Scripts for Managing Public Folders in the Exchange Management Shell.

Access to public folders through Outlook Web Access for Exchange 2007 has the following requirements:

• The home public folder server for the mailbox database must be a server that is running Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 or Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server. You can set the home public server by using the Set-MailboxDatabase cmdlet and the publicfolderdatabase parameter.
  
• You must use a dedicated server for the Client Access server role. If the server that hosts the Client Access server role also hosts the Mailbox server role, public folder access may not be reliable through that server when users are accessing Outlook Web Access by using the Internet.
  

For more information about accessing public folders from Outlook Web Access, see How to Enable Users to Access Public Folders from Outlook Web Access.

To learn more about public folders, see the following topics:

• Understanding Public Folders
  
• Understanding Public Folder Replication
  
• Understanding Public Folder Referrals
  

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