Managing Distribution Groups

  • Article

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

Distribution groups are mail-enabled Active Directory directory service group objects that are created to expedite the mass sending of e-mail messages and other information within an Exchange organization.

Exchange 2007 supports the following types of distribution groups:

  • Mail-enabled universal distribution groups   These are Active Directory distribution group objects that are mail-enabled. They can be used only to distribute messages to a group of recipients.

  • Mail-enabled universal security groups   These are Active Directory security group objects that are mail-enabled. They can be used to grant access permissions to resources in Active Directory and can also be used to distribute messages.

  • Mail-enabled non-universal groups   These are Active Directory global or local group objects that are mail-enabled. In Exchange 2007, you can create or mail-enable only universal distribution groups. You may have mail-enabled groups that were migrated from previous versions of Exchange that are not universal groups. These groups can still be managed by using the Exchange Management Console or the Exchange Management Shell.

  • Dynamic distribution groups   These are distribution groups for which membership is based on specific recipient filters rather than a defined set of recipients. Dynamic distribution groups were called query-based distribution groups in Exchange 2003.

To learn more about distribution groups, see Understanding Recipients.

This topic lists the management tasks that you can perform for distribution groups and includes links to topics that will help you complete the tasks. Unless otherwise noted, these tasks can be performed by using the Exchange Management Console or the Exchange Management Shell.

  • How to Create a New Distribution Group

    This task creates a new group object in Active Directory, and then mail enables the group.

    If you use the Exchange Management Console for this task, the New Distribution Group wizard will guide you through the process of creating a new distribution group. If you use the Exchange Management Shell, you will use the New-DistributionGroup cmdlet.

  • How to Create a New Security Group

    This task creates a new security group object in Active Directory, and then mail enables the security group.

    If you use the Exchange Management Console for this task, the New Distribution Group wizard will guide you through the process of creating a new security group. If you use the Exchange Management Shell, you will use the New-DistributionGroup cmdlet.

  • How to Mail-Enable a Distribution Group

    This task mail enables an existing group in Active Directory.

    If you use the Exchange Management Console for this task, the New Distribution Group wizard will guide you through the process of mail enabling a new distribution group. If you use the Exchange Management Shell, you will use the Enable-DistributionGroup cmdlet.

  • How to Mail-Enable a Security Group

    This task mail-enables an existing security group in Active Directory.

    If you use the Exchange Management Console for this task, the New Distribution Group wizard will guide you through the process of mail-enabling a new security group. If you use the Exchange Management Shell, you will use the Enable-DistributionGroup cmdlet.

  • How to Remove a Distribution Group

    This task removes an existing mail-enabled distribution or security group from Active Directory.

    If you use the Exchange Management Console for this task, you will need to select the distribution group from the Recipient Configuration node, and then click Remove in the action pane. If you use the Exchange Management Shell, you will use the Remove-DistributionGroup cmdlet.

    Important

    When you remove a distribution group, not only is the Exchange-related configuration deleted, but the associated group object in Active Directory is deleted as well.

  • How to Add a Distribution Group Member

    This task adds a recipient to the distribution group.

    If you use the Exchange Management Console for this task, you will use the Members tab of the distribution group properties. If you use the Exchange Management Shell, you will use the Add-DistributionGroupMember cmdlet.

  • How to Remove a Distribution Group Member

    This task removes an existing recipient from the distribution group.

    If you use the Exchange Management Console for this task, you will use the Members tab of the distribution group properties. If you use the Exchange Management Shell, you will use the Remove-DistributionGroupMember cmdlet.

  • How to Create a New Dynamic Distribution Group

    This task creates a new dynamic distribution group.

    If you use the Exchange Management Console for this task, the New Dynamic Distribution Group wizard will guide you through the process of creating a new dynamic distribution group. If you use the Exchange Management Shell, you will use the New-DynamicDistributionGroup cmdlet.

  • How to View Members of a Dynamic Distribution Group

    This task shows you how to preview the list of recipients that would receive a message that is sent to a dynamic distribution group.

    If you use the Exchange Management Console for this task, you will use the Conditions tab of the dynamic distribution properties. If you use the Exchange Management Shell, you will use the Get-DynamicDistributionGroup and Get-Recipient cmdlets.

    Note

    Filter and condition settings for dynamic distribution groups that have custom recipient filters can be managed only by using the Exchange Management Shell. For the same reason, you can use only the Exchange Management Shell to preview the list of recipients for these dynamic distribution groups.

  • How to Delegate Management of Distribution Group Membership to a User

    This task shows you how to delegate the management of distribution group membership to a user.

    You cannot use the Exchange Management Console to complete this task. You must use the Add-ADPermission cmdlet in the Exchange Management Shell.

For More Information