Managing Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server Organizations

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Updated : September 4, 2001

from Chapter 11, Microsoft Exchange 2000 Administrator's Pocket Consultant by William R. Stanek.

This chapter discusses techniques you'll use to manage Microsoft Exchange 2000 organizations. Exchange organizations are the root of your Exchange environment, and it's at the organization level that you specify global settings and define the administrative and routing group structures you want to use. Global settings define default message conversion rules and message delivery options for all Exchange servers in your organization. Administrative groups define the logical structure of your organization; you use them primarily in large Exchange installations to simplify the management of permissions. Routing groups define the connectivity and communication channels for the organization's Exchange servers; you normally use them only when you need to connect branch offices or other geographically separated locations.

Configuring Global Settings for the Organization

You use global settings to set basic messaging rules throughout the organization. They are ideally suited to environments where you require consistent message formatting and delivery options. While global settings are important, you can specify many of the same configuration options at other levels in the organization. For example, instead of setting the rules on a global basis, you can set messaging rules for servers, data stores, or individual mailboxes.

It's important to make sure that global settings don't conflict with settings made elsewhere in the organization. This is why local settings always override global settings. This means you can set global values at the organization level and then override those values as necessary.

Setting Internet Message Formats

Internet message format options allow you to set rules that Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) servers use to format outgoing messages. By default, when Messaging Application Programming Interface (MAPI) clients in the organization send messages, the message body is converted from Exchange Rich Text Format (RTF) to Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) and message attachments are identified with a MIME content type that's based on the attachment's file extension. You can change this behavior by applying new rules.

Using SMTP Policies to Apply Formatting

You enforce message formatting rules through SMTP policies. The default policy applies to all outbound mail that isn't subject to another SMTP policy. Other policies apply to a specific domain that you designate.

Assigning Default Message Formats for the Organization You can access and modify the default SMTP policy by completing the following steps:

  1. Start System Manager, and then double-click Global Settings.

  2. Select Internet Message Formats. In the right pane, you should see a list of the currently defined SMTP policies. The domain column specifies the domains to which the policies apply.

  3. Right-click the policy labeled Default, and then select Properties. You can now view or modify the default message formats for the organization.

    Note: If the default policy has been renamed, you can use the value in the domain field to determine the global default. An asterisk in the domain column indicates that the policy applies to all domains.

Assigning Message Formats on a Per Domain Basis Occasionally, you'll need to format mail that is bound for another organization in a specific way. To do this, you'll need to create an SMTP policy for the domain. You create an SMTP policy for a specific domain by completing the following steps:

  1. Start System Manager, and then double-click Global Settings.

  2. Right-click Internet Message Formats, point to New, and then choose Domain. This displays the Properties dialog box shown in Figure 11-1.

  3. In the Name field, type a descriptive name for the SMTP policy. Then type the Domain Name System (DNS) name of the domain to which the policy will apply, such as domain.com.

  4. Click the Message Format tab and then set the message encoding and character sets you want to use as described in the section of this chapter entitled "Setting Message Encoding and Character Set Usage."

  5. Click the Advanced tab and then set advanced formatting options as described in the section of this chapter entitled "Managing Rich-Text Formatting, Word Wrap, Autoresponses, and Display Names."

  6. Click OK to create the policy. The policy is then applied to all mail being delivered to the designated domain.

    Cc722507.exch1101(en-us,TechNet.10).gif

    Figure 11-1: . Use the Domain Properties dialog box to create SMTP policies for individual domains.

Changing and Deleting Message Formatting Rules You can change or delete message formatting rules at any time. To do this, follow these steps:

  1. Start System Manager, and then double-click Global Settings.

  2. Select Internet Message Formats. In the right pane, you should see a list of the currently defined SMTP policies. The domain column specifies the domains to which the policies apply.

  3. To edit the formatting rules for a domain, right-click the related policy, and then select Properties. You can now modify the message formatting rules for this domain.

  4. To delete the formatting rules for a domain, right-click the related policy, and then select Delete. When prompted to confirm the deletion, click Yes.

Setting Message Encoding and Character Set Usage

Two key aspects of message formatting have to do with encoding and character set usage. Message encoding rules determine the formatting for elements in the body of outbound messages. Character set usage determines which character sets are used for reading and writing messages. If users send messages with text in more than one language, the character set that's used determines how the various languages are displayed.

To set message encoding and character set usage, follow these steps:

  1. Start System Manager, and then double-click Global Settings.

  2. Select Internet Message Formats. In the right pane, you should see a list of the currently defined SMTP policies.

  3. Right-click the policy you want to edit, and then select Properties.

  4. Choose the Message Format tab, as shown in Figure 11-2. Exchange Server can format messages using either UUEncode or MIME. To use UUEncode, select UUEncode, and then, if you wish, select Use BinHex For Macintosh to deliver messages to Macintosh clients using the native binary encoding format. To use MIME, select MIME in the Message Encoding panel, and then choose one of the following options:

    • Provide Message as graphics, are Body As Plain Text Exchange Server converts the message body to text format and any other elements, such replaced with textual representations.

    • Provide Message Body As HTML Exchange Server converts the message body to HTML (HyperText Markup Language). This allows compliant client applications to display the message body with graphics, hypertext links, and other elements. Clients that don't support HTML, however, display the actual markup tags mixed in with the text, which can make the message difficult to read.

    • Both Exchange Server delivers messages with their original formatting, which can be either plain text or HTML. Use this option to allow the sender to choose the message format.

    Note: Exchange Server also supports a third message encoding format. This format is called Exchange Rich Text Format, and you enable it through an advanced configuration setting. Exchange Rich Text Format is displayed only when clients elect to use this format and you've set the Rich-text format as Always Use or Determined By Individual User Settings.

  5. Select the character sets to use for MIME and non-MIME messages. The default character set is Western European (ISO-8859-1). All text in the affected outbound messages will use the character set you specify.

  6. By default, only MAPI clients, such as Microsoft Outlook 2000, use the encoding and character sets you specify. If you want non-MAPI clients to use these settings as well, select Apply Content Settings To Non-MAPI Clients.

  7. Click OK to apply the changes. Keep in mind that local settings override global settings.

    Cc722507.exch1102(en-us,TechNet.10).gif

    Figure 11-2: . Use the Message Format tab to change global defaults for message encoding and character set usage.

Managing Rich-Text Formatting, Word Wrap, Autoresponses, and Display Names

Many advanced options are available for message formatting as well. These options control the use of Exchange Rich Text Format, word wrap, autoresponses, and display names.

To set these advanced formatting options, follow these steps:

  1. Start System Manager, and then double-click Global Settings.

  2. Select Internet Message Formats. In the right pane you should see a list of the currently defined SMTP policies.

  3. Right-click the policy you want to edit, and then select Properties. Click the Advanced tab, as shown in Figure 11-3.

  4. Exchange Rich-Text format is a preferred text format for older Exchange clients. By default, individual user settings are used to determine availability of Exchange Rich-Text format. If you want to override this setting, on the Exchange Rich-Text Format panel, select Always Use or Never Use. With Always Use, all outbound messages to which this policy applies are formatted in Rich Text Format (RTF), provided that you haven't set MIME encoding to HTML in the Message Format tab. With Never Use, RTF support is disabled, and Exchange Server uses the format you set in the Message Format tab.

    Cc722507.exch1103(en-us,TechNet.10).gif

    Figure 11-3: . You control rich-text formatting, word wrap, autoresponses, and display names in the Advanced tab.

  5. Text word wrap controls whether long lines of text are reformatted with line breaks. By default, individual user settings determine when text word wrapping occurs and the Never Use option is selected. If you want to enforce text word wrapping at a specific character position, select Use At Column, and then enter a column number.

  6. Use the options on the Allowed Types panel to enable or disable autoresponses. Autoresponses are automatic messages sent in response to an inbound message. By default, all autoresponse messages are enabled. These messages are:

    • Out Of Office Responses Notifies the sender that the recipient is out of the office.

    • Automatic Replies Notifies the sender that the message was received.

    • Automatic Forward Allows Exchange Server to forward or deliver a duplicate message to a new recipient.

    • Allow Delivery Reports Allows Exchange Server to return delivery confirmation reports to the sender.

    • Allow Delivery Reports Allows Exchange Server to return nondelivery confirmation reports to the sender.

    • Preserve Sender's Display Name On Message Allows both the sender's name and e-mail address to appear on outbound e-mail messages.

  7. The final option in the Advanced tab controls the use of display names. If you want Exchange Server to deliver messages with the display name shown in the Address Book, select Preserve Sender's Display Name On Message. Otherwise, clear this check box, and Exchange Server will deliver messages using the Exchange alias.

  8. Click OK to apply the changes. Keep in mind that local settings override global settings.

Associating MIME Types with Extensions

When Exchange Server sends messages to clients outside the organization, message attachments are assigned a content type based on the attachment's file extension. This content type tells the client about the contents of the attachment, such as whether it's an HTML document, a Graphics Interchange Format (GIF) image, or a Portable Document Format (PDF) file.

You can associate multiple file extensions with a single content type. For example, the MIME type text/html has two file extension mappings by default. These mappings are for the file extensions .htm and .html.

To view current MIME type-to-file extension mappings, follow these steps:

  1. Start System Manager, and then double-click Global Settings.

  2. Right-click Internet Message Formats, and then choose Properties. This displays the Properties dialog box shown in Figure 11-4.

    Cc722507.exch1104(en-us,TechNet.10).gif

    Figure 11-4: . Use the Internet Message Formats Properties dialog box to change, add, or delete MIME type-to-file extension mappings.

To add a new MIME type-to-file extension mapping, follow these steps:

  1. Start System Manager, and then double-click Global Settings.

  2. Right-click Internet Message Formats, and then choose Properties.

  3. In the General tab, click Add.

  4. In the Type field, type the MIME content type, such as text/html.

  5. In Associated Extension, type the file extension to associate with the content type, such as htm.

  6. Click OK in the Add MIME Content Type dialog box. Repeat this procedure to add other MIME content type mappings.

To edit an existing MIME type-to-file extension mapping, follow these steps:

  1. Start System Manager, and then double-click Global Settings.

  2. Right-click Internet Message Formats, and then choose Properties.

  3. Double-click the MIME content type mapping you want to change.

  4. Make changes in the MIME Type Properties dialog box, and then click OK.

To remove a MIME type-to-file extension mapping, follow these steps:

  1. Start System Manager, and then double-click Global Settings.

  2. Right-click Internet Message Formats, and then choose Properties.

  3. Select the MIME content type mapping you want to delete, and then click Remove. When prompted to confirm the deletion, click Yes.

Setting Message Delivery Options

Message delivery options allow you to set restrictions and to filter messages sent within, and received by, the organization's Exchange servers. You can also use message delivery options to set the default SMTP postmaster account. These global delivery options apply throughout the organization unless local settings override them.

Setting Default Delivery Restrictions for the Organization

Delivery restrictions control the maximum size of messages that can be sent and the maximum number of recipients to which a message can be addressed. These delivery restrictions are useful whenever you need to closely control the use of Exchange Server resources. By restricting message size, you prevent users from sending messages that may require excessive processing time when routing within the organization. By restricting the number of recipients, you prevent users from sending messages that may require hundreds or thousands of individual directory lookups and delivery connections.

To set delivery restrictions, follow these steps:

  1. Start System Manager, and then double-click Global Settings.

  2. Right-click Message Delivery, and then choose Properties.

  3. As shown in Figure 11-5, choose the Defaults tab, and then use these options to set delivery restrictions:

    • Outgoing Message Size Controls the size of the messages that users can send. By default, no limit is set. To set a limit, select Maximum (KB) and then type a maximum outgoing message size.

    • Incoming Message Size Controls the size of the messages that users can receive. By default, no limit is set. To set a limit, select Maximum (KB), and then type a maximum incoming message size.

    • Recipient Limits Controls the number of recipients to which a message can be addressed. By default, the limit is set to 5000. To remove the limit, select No Limit. To change the limit, select Maximum (Recipients), and then type a new recipient limit.

  4. Click OK to apply the restrictions.

    Cc722507.exch1105(en-us,TechNet.10).gif

    Figure 11-5: . Use the Defaults tab of the Message Delivery Properties dialog box to control the size of messages and the total number of recipients.

    Real World A reasonable limit for incoming and outgoing messages is 7500 KB. A 7500 KB limit allows users to attach fairly large files to messages if necessary but doesn't allow them to abuse the e-mail system. Most Microsoft PowerPoint presentations and even application executables could be sent with this restriction. Keep in mind, though, that the 7500 KB limit applies to the total message size, which includes all the overhead needed by Exchange Server to format the message into sections for delivery.

Setting the Default SMTP Postmaster Account

When a message can't be delivered in the organization, the sender receives a nondelivery report. Nondelivery reports are always sent by the organization's postmaster account. This means that the postmaster is listed in the From field of all nondelivery messages, and when users reply to a nondelivery message, the message is addressed to the postmaster by default.

The default postmaster is the Exchange Administrator account. To allow users to reach an actual person in case of problems, you should set up a separate mailbox or designate a postmaster for the organization.

To set up the postmaster account, follow these steps:

  1. Start Active Directory Users And Computers.

  2. Right-click the mail-enabled user account that you would like to be the postmaster and then select Properties.

  3. Click New on the E-mail Addresses tab. Afterward, in the New E-mail Address dialog box, click SMTP Address and then click OK.

  4. In the E-mail Address field, type postmaster@domain.com where domain.com is the organization's default domain name.

  5. Click OK.

Setting Message Filters

globally but enabled Message filters block users from sending messages to your organization. Message filtering is defined individually for SMTP virtual servers. This means that you define the filters using global settings and then apply the settings to specific SMTP virtual servers in your organization.

To create or modify a message filter list, follow these steps:

  1. Start System Manager, and then double-click Global Settings.

  2. Right-click Message Delivery, and then choose Properties. This displays the Message Delivery Properties dialog box shown in Figure 11-6.

  3. The Senders list box in is a useful tool to deter spammers and others that users don't want to receive messages from. the Filtering tab shows the current filters (if any).

    Tip Filtering

  4. You can add a filter by clicking Add, typing the address you'd like to filter, and then clicking OK. Addresses can refer to

    • A specific e-mail address, such as walter@domain.com

    • A display name, such as "Walter"

    • A group of e-mail addresses designated with the wild card character (*), such as *@domain.com to filter all e-mail addresses from domain.com or *@*.domain.com to filter all e-mail addresses from child domains of domain.com

    Cc722507.exch1106(en-us,TechNet.10).gif

    Figure 11-6: Use the Filtering tab of the Message Delivery Properties dialog box to set restrictions on addresses and domains that can send mail to your organization.

  5. You can remove a filter by selecting it, and then clicking Remove.

  6. To edit a filter, double-click the filter entry, enter a new value, and then click OK.

  7. You can also filter messages that don't have an e-mail address in the From field. To do this, select Filter Messages With Blank Sender.

  8. Filtered messages are automatically deleted unless you archive them by selecting Archive Filtered Messages. The filtered message archive is created in the Exchange Mailroot directory for the SMTP virtual server (which is normally located at C:\Exchsrvr\Mailroot\vsiN where N is the number of the SMTP virtual server).

  9. A nondelivery report is automatically generated for filtered messages and sent to the sender. To prevent filter notification, select Accept Messages Without Notifying Sender Of Filtering.

  10. Click OK.

To apply or clear message filters for a virtual server, follow these steps:

  1. Start System Manager. Double-click Servers or, if administrative groups are enabled, double-click the administrative group that contains the server you want to work with. You should now see a list of available servers.

  2. Expand the entry for the server you want to work with, and then expand Protocols, SMTP, and SMTP Virtual Servers.

  3. Right-click the SMTP virtual server on which you want to filter messages, and then choose Properties.

  4. In the General tab, click Advanced.

  5. In the Advanced dialog box, select the IP address you want to filter, and then click Edit.

  6. To enable filters, select Apply Filter, and then click OK.

  7. To disable filters, clear the Apply Filter check box, and then click OK.

from Microsoft Exchange 2000 Administrator's Pocket Consultant by William R. Stanek. Copyright © 1999 Microsoft Corporation.

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