Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 : Accessing Public Folders Through the Information Store

A public folder server is a Mailbox server with a public folder database. When your Exchange 2010 organization has more than one public folder database, public folder servers replicate the public folder hierarchy automatically between and among these databases. If you want to replicate public folder data between Mailbox servers, you must create replicas. Replicas provide redundancy in case of server failure and help to distribute the user load. All replicas of a public folder are equal. There is no master replica. This means that you can directly modify replicas of public folders. The public folder server with which you are working replicates the folder changes automatically to other servers.

Public folder trees define the structure of an organization's public folders. The public folder tree has two subtrees:

• Default public folders, the IPM_Subtree, also referred to as the default public folder tree

• System public folders, the Non_IPM_Subtree, also referred to as the system public folder tree

The default public folder tree has its own hierarchy, which is separate from the system public folder tree. You can make the default public folder tree accessible to users based on criteria you set, and then users can create folders and manage their content. All clients, whether using HTTPS or MAPI, connect to the RPC Client Access service running on the Client Access server. This service handles incoming connections for all hosted features, including public folders.

To maintain security, each public folder in the default public folder tree can have specific access permissions. For example, you can create public folders called CompanyWide, Marketing, and Engineering. Whereas you would typically make the CompanyWide folder accessible to all users, you would make the Marketing folder accessible only to users in the marketing department and the Engineering folder accessible only to users in the engineering department.

In contrast, users cannot directly access or create folders in the system public folder tree. Exchange uses the folders in the system public folder tree to store and share specific types of system data stored in the public folder tree, including data for legacy clients, such as offline address books, Schedule+ free/busy information, and organizational forms. Thus, although legacy client applications can use system folders to store and retrieve certain types of data, such as an offline address book, client applications do not have a direct management interface, such as is available with the default public folder tree. Current clients use Web services for these features.

Accessing Public Folders in Mail Clients

You can access public folders from Microsoft Office Outlook clients, including Outlook Web App and Outlook 2003 or later. When you configure Outlook 2007 or later for Exchange Server, users have direct access to the default public folders tree. When you configure Outlook 2007 or later for Internet-only use, users can access public folders using only Internet Message Access Protocol version 4 (IMAP4) and you must have retained a computer running Exchange Server 2003 in your Exchange 2010 organization.

If Outlook is configured properly, users can access public folders by completing the following steps:

1. Start Outlook. If the Folder list isn't displayed and you are using Outlook 2007, click Go, and then select Folder List. If the Folder list isn't displayed and you are using Outlook 2010, click the Folder List button in the lower-right corner of the Navigation pane or press Ctrl+6.

2. In the Folder list, expand Public Folders, and then expand All Public Folders to get a complete view of the available top-level folders. A top-level folder is simply a folder at the next level below the tree root.

Accessing Public Folders Through the Information Store

As an administrator, you can access public folders through the Exchange information store using either the Public Folder Management Console or the Exchange Management Shell. The Public Folder Management Console provides access to both the default public folders and the system public folders. In the Exchange Management Console, you can start the Public Folder Management Console by selecting the Toolbox node in the left pane and then double-clicking the Public Folder Management Console entry in the main pane.

Tip

Like the Exchange Management Console, the Public Folder Management Console uses Windows PowerShell to view and work with Exchange. To access the PowerShell log, click View Exchange Management Shell Command Log on the View menu. To start tracking the PowerShell commands that are used, click Start Command Logging on the Action menu.

The Public Folder Management Console allows you to manage public folders on one server at a time. To connect to a specific server or set a default server, complete the following steps:

1. In the Public Folder Management Console, with the Public Folders node selected in the console tree, click Connect To Server on the Action menu or in the Actions pane.

2. In the Connect To Server dialog box, click Browse. In the Select Public Folder Servers dialog box, only Mailbox servers with public folder databases are available for selection. Select the server to use, and then click OK.

3. If you want the currently selected server to be the default server whenever you use the Public Folder Management Console, select the Set As Default Server check box.

4. Click Connect to connect to the server. If you set the server as the default, this setting is saved for the user account on the computer that is running the console. If you start the console on another computer or use a different account, the default server might be different.

After you've accessed the Public Folder Management Console and connected to a server, you can work with the default public folder tree and the system public folder tree. As shown in Figure 1, both trees are accessible in the left pane. By double-clicking expandable nodes, you can navigate through successive levels of the public folder hierarchy. The interface doesn't display individual items stored in folders; the interface displays only public folders and subfolders.

When you select a folder containing subfolders in the left pane, the console displays details regarding the subfolders in the main pane. By default, the console displays only the subfolder name and parent path. You can display additional details by clicking Add/Remove Columns on the View menu, selecting columns to display in the Available Columns list, and then clicking Add. Additional details you can display include the age limit in days, the hidden from address list flag, the local replica age limit in days, the mail-enabled flag, and a list of replicas.

Figure 1. View and work with the public folder tree in the Public Folder Management Console.

At the Exchange Management Shell prompt, you can get information about the public folder database by using the Get-PublicFolder cmdlet. When you are working with this cmdlet, you use the –Identity parameter to identify the folder with which you want to work:

• \ represents the root of the default public folder tree (also known as the IPM_Subtree).

• \FolderName represents a specific named folder.

• \NON_IPM_SUBTREE represents the root of the hidden system public folder tree.

Example 1 provides the syntax and usage for getting information about a folder. As the sample output shows, the Exchange Management Shell returns configuration details for the folder identity. If you want to examine subfolders of a folder, add the –Recurse parameter.

Example 1. Getting information about a public folder

Syntax

Get-PublicFolder -Identity FolderIdentity | fl


Usage

Get-PublicFolder -Identity "\" | fl


Output

RunspaceId                     :
AgeLimit                       :
EntryId                        :
HasSubFolders                  : True
HiddenFromAddressListsEnabled  : False
IssueWarningQuota              :
LocalReplicaAgeLimit           :
MailEnabled                    : False
MaxItemSize                    : 102040 KB
Name                           : IPM_SUBTREE
ParentPath                     :
PerUserReadStateEnabled        : True
ProhibitPostQuota              : True
Replicas                       : {}
ReplicationSchedule            : {}
RetainDeletedItemsFor          : 90 days
UseDatabaseAgeDefaults         : True
UseDatabaseQuotaDefaults       : True
UseDatabaseReplicationSchedule : False
UseDatabaseRetentionDefaults   : True
FolderType                     :
HasRules                       : False
HasModerator                   : False
Identity                       : MapiIdentity                   : OriginatingServer              : mailserver25.cpandl.com
IsValid                        : True

You can use the –Recurse parameter to examine recursively the folder and its subfolders. When you use this parameter, you should redirect the output through the Format-List command and name the folder details that you want to examine. You can examine any of the properties previously listed in Example 1 by specifying the property names to return in a comma-separated list. For example, if you want to return a list of all subfolders of the public folder root formatted by the Name and MailEnabled properties, you can use the following command:

Get-PublicFolder -Identity "\" -Recurse | Format-List Name,MailEnabled

The output looks similar to the following:

Name        : IPM_SUBTREE
MailEnabled : False

Name        : Projects
MailEnabled : False

Name        : SavedData
MailEnabled : False

Name        : Teams
MailEnabled : False

If you suspect a replication problem with public folders, you can compare the configuration details for public folders on your Mailbox servers using the Get-PublicFolder cmdlet. Just specify the –Server parameter and the identity of the server you want to work with, such as the following:

Get-PublicFolder -Server "CorpSvr272" -Recurse | fl

Get-PublicFolder -Server "CorpSvr185" -Recurse | fl

To get information about a specific public folder on a server, you can use the –Server parameter to identify the server with which you want to work and the –Identity parameter to identify the public folder to examine.

Get-PublicFolder -Identity "\Managers" -Server "CorpSvr272" | fl

Table 1 provides an overview of cmdlets available for working with public folders. On your Exchange servers, in the %ExchangeInstallPath%\Scripts directory, you'll find a number of handy scripts for performing common public folder administration tasks.

Table 1. Cmdlets for Public Folders

MANAGEMENT TASK	RELATED CMDLETS
Active Directory permissions	Add-ADPermission Get-ADPermission Remove-ADPermission
Administrative permissions	Add-PublicFolderAdministrativePermission Get-PublicFolderAdministrativePermission Remove-PublicFolderAdministrativePermission
Client permissions	Add-PublicFolderClientPermission Remove-PublicFolderClientPermission Get-PublicFolderClientPermission
General management	Get-PublicFolder New-PublicFolder Set-PublicFolder Remove-PublicFolder
Mail-enabling	Get-MailPublicFolder Enable-MailPublicFolder Disable-MailPublicFolder Set-MailPublicFolder
Replication	Resume-PublicFolderReplication Suspend-PublicFolderReplication Update-PublicFolder Update-PublicFolderHierarchy
Statistics	Get-PublicFolderItemStatistics Get-PublicFolderStatistics