Get-DistributionGroupMember

This cmdlet is available in on-premises Exchange and in the cloud-based service. Some parameters and settings may be exclusive to one environment or the other.

Use the Get-DistributionGroupMember cmdlet to view the members of distribution groups and mail-enabled security groups.

For information about the parameter sets in the Syntax section below, see Exchange cmdlet syntax.

Syntax

Get-DistributionGroupMember
   [-Identity] <DistributionGroupMemberIdParameter>
   [-Credential <PSCredential>]
   [-DomainController <Fqdn>]
   [-IgnoreDefaultScope]
   [-IncludeSoftDeletedObjects]
   [-ReadFromDomainController]
   [-ResultSize <Unlimited>]
   [<CommonParameters>]

Description

If your organization has multiple Active Directory domains, you may need to run the Set-ADServerSettings cmdlet with the ViewEntireForest parameter set to $true before running the Get-DistributionGroupMember cmdlet to view the entire forest. For more information, see Example 2.

You need to be assigned permissions before you can run this cmdlet. Although this topic lists all parameters for the cmdlet, you may not have access to some parameters if they're not included in the permissions assigned to you. To find the permissions required to run any cmdlet or parameter in your organization, see Find the permissions required to run any Exchange cmdlet.

Examples

Example 1

Get-DistributionGroupMember -Identity "Marketing USA"

This example returns the existing distribution group members for the distribution group named Marketing USA.

Example 2

Set-ADServerSettings -ViewEntireForest $true

Get-DistributionGroupMember -Identity "Marketing Worldwide"

This example sets the scope of the search to the entire forest by running the Set-ADServerSettings cmdlet, then the Get-DistributionGroupMember cmdlet searches the entire forest for the distribution group members in the Marketing Worldwide distribution group.

Example 3

$Groups = Get-UnifiedGroup -ResultSize Unlimited

$Groups | ForEach-Object {
$group = $_
Get-UnifiedGroupLinks -Identity $group.Name -LinkType Members -ResultSize Unlimited | ForEach-Object {
      New-Object -TypeName PSObject -Property @{
       Group = $group.DisplayName
       Member = $_.Name
       EmailAddress = $_.PrimarySMTPAddress
       RecipientType= $_.RecipientType
}}} | Export-CSV "$env:USERPROFILE\Desktop\Office365GroupMembers.csv" -NoTypeInformation -Encoding UTF8

In the cloud-based service, this example downloads a comma-separated value (CSV) file named Office365GroupMembers.csv that contains all Microsoft 365 Groups and members to the current user's Desktop.

Parameters

-Credential

The Credential parameter specifies the username and password that's used to run this command. Typically, you use this parameter in scripts or when you need to provide different credentials that have the required permissions.

A value for this parameter requires the Get-Credential cmdlet. To pause this command and receive a prompt for credentials, use the value (Get-Credential). Or, before you run this command, store the credentials in a variable (for example, $cred = Get-Credential) and then use the variable name ($cred) for this parameter. For more information, see Get-Credential.

Type:PSCredential
Position:Named
Default value:None
Required:False
Accept pipeline input:False
Accept wildcard characters:False
Applies to:Exchange Server 2010, Exchange Server 2013, Exchange Server 2016, Exchange Server 2019, Exchange Online, Exchange Online Protection

-DomainController

This parameter is available only in on-premises Exchange.

The DomainController parameter specifies the domain controller that's used by this cmdlet to read data from or write data to Active Directory. You identify the domain controller by its fully qualified domain name (FQDN). For example, dc01.contoso.com.

Type:Fqdn
Position:Named
Default value:None
Required:False
Accept pipeline input:False
Accept wildcard characters:False
Applies to:Exchange Server 2010, Exchange Server 2013, Exchange Server 2016, Exchange Server 2019

-Identity

The Identity parameter specifies the distribution group or mail-enabled security group. You can use any value that uniquely identifies the group. For example:

  • Name
  • Alias
  • Distinguished name (DN)
  • Canonical DN
  • Email address
  • GUID
Type:DistributionGroupMemberIdParameter
Position:1
Default value:None
Required:True
Accept pipeline input:True
Accept wildcard characters:False
Applies to:Exchange Server 2010, Exchange Server 2013, Exchange Server 2016, Exchange Server 2019, Exchange Online, Exchange Online Protection

-IgnoreDefaultScope

This parameter is available only in on-premises Exchange.

The IgnoreDefaultScope switch tells the command to ignore the default recipient scope setting for the Exchange PowerShell session, and to use the entire forest as the scope. You don't need to specify a value with this switch.

This switch enables the command to access Active Directory objects that aren't currently available in the default scope, but also introduces the following restrictions:

  • You can't use the DomainController parameter. The command uses an appropriate global catalog server automatically.
  • You can only use the DN for the Identity parameter. Other forms of identification, such as alias or GUID, aren't accepted.
Type:SwitchParameter
Position:Named
Default value:None
Required:False
Accept pipeline input:False
Accept wildcard characters:False
Applies to:Exchange Server 2010, Exchange Server 2013, Exchange Server 2016, Exchange Server 2019

-IncludeSoftDeletedObjects

This parameter is available only in the cloud-based service.

The IncludeSoftDeletedGroups switch specifies whether to include soft-deleted group members in the results. You don't need to specify a value with this switch.

Soft-deleted group members are deleted Microsoft 365 Groups or mailboxes that are still recoverable.

Type:SwitchParameter
Position:Named
Default value:None
Required:False
Accept pipeline input:False
Accept wildcard characters:False
Applies to:Exchange Online, Exchange Online Protection

-ReadFromDomainController

This parameter is available only in on-premises Exchange.

The ReadFromDomainController switch specifies that information should be read from a domain controller in the user's domain. You don't need to specify a value with this switch.

The command: Set-AdServerSettings -ViewEntireForest $true to include all objects in the forest requires the ReadFromDomainController switch. Otherwise, the command might use a global catalog that contains outdated information. Also, you might need to run multiple iterations of the command with the ReadFromDomainController switch to get the information.

By default, the recipient scope is set to the domain that hosts your Exchange servers.

Type:SwitchParameter
Position:Named
Default value:None
Required:False
Accept pipeline input:False
Accept wildcard characters:False
Applies to:Exchange Server 2010, Exchange Server 2013, Exchange Server 2016, Exchange Server 2019

-ResultSize

The ResultSize parameter specifies the maximum number of results to return. If you want to return all requests that match the query, use unlimited for the value of this parameter. The default value is 1000.

Type:Unlimited
Position:Named
Default value:None
Required:False
Accept pipeline input:False
Accept wildcard characters:False
Applies to:Exchange Server 2010, Exchange Server 2013, Exchange Server 2016, Exchange Server 2019, Exchange Online, Exchange Online Protection

Inputs

Input types

To see the input types that this cmdlet accepts, see Cmdlet Input and Output Types. If the Input Type field for a cmdlet is blank, the cmdlet doesn't accept input data.

Outputs

Output types

To see the return types, which are also known as output types, that this cmdlet accepts, see Cmdlet Input and Output Types. If the Output Type field is blank, the cmdlet doesn't return data.