Configure and use the Exchange connector for SharePoint Server

APPLIES TO: yes-img-132013 yes-img-162016 yes-img-192019 yes-img-seSubscription Edition no-img-sopSharePoint in Microsoft 365

Before you begin

Before you begin this operation, review the following information about prerequisites:

  • Create a Search service application

  • Ensure that the crawler has at least Read permission to the Exchange Server public folder.

Create a crawl rule

This following procedure describes how to create a crawl rule. You must create a crawl rule if the default content access account does not have Read permission to the Exchange Server public folders that you want to crawl.

To create a crawl rule

  1. Verify that the user account that is performing this procedure is an administrator for the Search service application.

  2. In Central Administration, in the Application Management section, click Manage Service Applications.

  3. On the Manage Service Applications page, in the list of service applications, click the Search service application.

  4. On the Search Administration page, in the Crawling section, click Crawl Rules.

  5. On the Manage Crawl Rules page, click New Crawl Rule.

  6. On the Add Crawl Rule page, in the Path section, in the Path box, type the path to which the crawl rule will apply. You can use standard wildcard characters in the path.

    Note

    When creating a crawl rule, the URL that you type inside the Path box should be in the following form: _<protocol>://hostname/*_where <protocol> is the protocol that you want to use (typically http or https), and hostname is the NetBIOS or fully qualified domain name of the server that is running Exchange Server.

  7. In the Crawl Configuration section, select Include all items in this path.

  8. In the Specify Authentication section, select the type of crawl authentication to use. This section is available only if Include all items in this path is selected.

  9. Click OK.

Add a content source for Exchange Server public folders

Use one of the following procedures to create a content source for Exchange Server public folders. Which procedure you should follow depends on the Exchange Server version. You can choose to add a content source to crawl public folders in:

  • Exchange Server 2007 and Exchange Server 2007 with Service Pack 1 (SP1)

  • Exchange Server 2007 with Service Pack 2 (SP2) and Exchange 2010

To add a content source for Exchange Server 2007 and Exchange Server 2007 SP1 public folders

  1. Verify that the user account that is performing this procedure is an administrator for the Search service application.

  2. On the SharePoint Central Administration home page, in the Application Management section, click Manage service applications.

  3. On the Manage Service Applications page, click the Search service application.

  4. On the Search Administration page, in the Crawling section, click Content Sources.

  5. On the Manage Content Sources page, click New Content Source.

  6. On the Add Content Source page, in the Name box, type a name for the new content source.

  7. In the Content Source Type section, select Exchange Public Folders.

  8. In the Start Addresses section, in the Type start addresses below (one per line) box, type the URLs for the Exchange Server public folders that you want to crawl. These URLs are typically in one of the following forms:

  • <protocol>:// host name/public

    • Where <protocol> can be http or https, and host name is the NetBIOS or fully qualified domain name (FQDN) of the server that is running Exchange Server.
  • <protocol>:// host name/public/ subfolder

    • Where <protocol> can be http or https, host name is the NetBIOS or FQDN of the server that is running Exchange Server, and subfolder is the name of the specific subfolder that you want to crawl.

For example, if you want to crawl all subfolders in the public folder on a server that is named exch-01 and that is in the Contoso domain, and that server does not use SSL, you could type either https://exch-01/public or https://exch-01.contoso.com. To crawl only a specific subfolder named Bob in the same public folder, type https://exch-01/public/bob or https://exch-01.contoso.com/bob.

Note

For performance reasons, you cannot add the same start addresses to multiple content sources.

  1. In the Crawl Settings section, select the crawling behavior that you want.

  2. In the Crawl Schedules section, you can choose to specify when to start full and incremental crawls:

  • To create a full crawl schedule, click the Create Schedule link below the Full Crawl list.

  • To create an incremental crawl schedule, click the Create schedule link below the Incremental Crawl list.

  1. Click OK.

To add content sources for Exchange Server 2007 SP2 and Exchange 2010 public folders

  1. Verify that the user account that is performing this procedure is an administrator for the Search service application.

  2. Open a web browser and go to the Outlook Web Access webpage for the Exchange Server that contains the public folders that you want to crawl.

  3. Log on to Outlook Web Access using any user account that has Read permissions on the public folders that you want to crawl.

  4. Go to the public folder that you want to crawl, right-click the folder, and then select Open in New Window.

  5. When the new window opens, go to the address bar and copy the complete URL. This is the Outlook Web Access public folder address.

  6. On the SharePoint Central Administration home page, in the Application Management section, click Manage service applications.

  7. On the Manage Service Applications page, click the Search service application.

  8. On the Search Administration page, in the Crawling section, click Content Sources.

  9. Click New Content Source.

  10. On the Add Content Source page, in the Name box, type a name for the new content source.

  11. In the Content Source Type section, select Exchange Public Folders.

  12. In the Start Addresses section, paste the Outlook Web Access public folder address that you copied in step 5.

  13. In the Crawl Settings section, select the crawling behavior that you want.

  14. In the Crawl Schedules section, you can choose to specify when to start full and incremental crawls:

  • To create a full crawl schedule, click the Create Schedule link below the Full Crawl list.

  • To create an incremental crawl schedule, click the Create schedule link below the Incremental Crawl list.

  1. Click OK.