Using a connector with a transport rule

 

Applies to: Exchange Online, Exchange Online Protection

If you choose to only use this connector when there is a transport rule that redirects messages to it, then only those messages that pass all the conditions of the transport rule will follow the settings you have for this connector. In order for this to work, you'll also need to create a transport rule and associate it with this connector.

Get started creating a transport rule by going to the Exchange Admin Center > Mail flow > Rules. Learn more about transport rules at Create a transport rule.

Combining connectors and transport rules is very useful in certain scenarios. For example, if you want to put very specific conditions on which messages get routed through a connector or if you require a special type of connection for specific messages. The connector should be created before the rule.

Make the connector available for use with transport rules

When you link a connector with a transport rule, you can limit the messages that use a specific connector and then apply the conditions of your connector to those messages. A connector can only become available to be used with a transport rule if you choose this option within the connector setup process. The image here shows what to select during connector setup.

Screen shot of connector options that make it available to transport rules

What can you do with connectors and transport rules?

Here is an example of how you might use transport rules with connectors. If your organization has only one domain and there are two sites for your on-premises environment, you can:

  1. Create two distribution lists, each representing the users in a site. We could call these DA and DB.

  2. Create two connectors to route email to its corresponding site. We could call these CA and CB.

  3. Create a transport rule such that if an email recipient is in DA, use the connector CA to route those messages. If an email recipient is in DB, use connector CB to route those messages.

See Also

Configure mail flow using connectors in Office 365

Transport rules