How to Use Managed Folders in Exchange Server 2007

Two types of managed folders are available in Exchange Server 2007:

1. Managed custom folders: 

These are created by the administrator and push to users mailboxes. These folders cannot be renamed, moved or deleted by the user.

1. Managed default folders:

Exchange created these folders by default. The administrator or users cannot create new, or rename default folders.

After creating a custom folder, run Managed Folder Assistant (MFA). MFA creates managed folder in mailboxes and apply content settings. It processes all the mailboxes and so is resource intensive. MFA is not enabled for scheduling by default.

In this exercise, we will create a Custom Folder, Outdated Inbox Items. Users will place their items in this folder, which will be deleted after 60 days and size of this folder is 1 MB for each user.

Step-1

How to Create a New Managed Custom Folder

1. Click on Start > Programs and then Microsoft Exchange Server 2007.
2. Click on the Exchange Management Console (EMC).
3. Expand Organization Configuration, and then click on Mailbox. 
4. On the right side, click on Managed Custom Folders tab.
5. On the white space right click and click on New Managed Custom Folder option. 

 

6. Enter any name of new custom folder, set the Storage limit of the folder, and enter any comment that will be displayed to Outlook users.

 

7. Once above details are entered, click on New to create this Custom Folder. You will get confirmation window after the folder is created.

  

 

Step-2

How to create New Managed Content Settings

1.  Click the Managed Default Folders tab.

2.  Right click on any folder, like Inbox and click on New Managed Content Settings.

 

3. Enter any name or Description that will be displayed in the EMC. Enter retention period of the items. Select Action and Custom folder as displayed below. 

 

4.  In Journaling window, you can enter the forward address where copy of that item will be automatically forwarded optionally.

 

5.  Review the configuration settings and click on New to configure the settings.

 

6.  Once settings are configured, you will get the confirmation window.

  

 

7.  You can double check the same under Inbox folder in the Managed Default Folders tab.

 

Step-3

How to create a New Managed Folder Mailbox Policy

1.  Click on the Managed Folder Mailbox Policy tab.

2.  Right click on white space and click on the New Managed Folder Mailbox Policy.

 

3.  Enter any policy name and click on Add to select the Managed folder created in step-1.

 

4.  Click on New to create this folder and same can seen under Managed Folder Mailbox policies tab after it is created.

 

Step-4

How to configure Messaging Records Management

1.  Expand Server Configuration and then Mailbox.

2.  Right click on Server name of the right side and open its Properties.

 

3.  Click on the Messaging Records Management tab and set the customized Schedule as per the requirements.

Step-5

How to configure Messaging Records Management on individual Mailboxes

1. Expand Recipient Configuration and then click on Mailbox.

2. Right click on any mailbox and open its Properties.

 

3.  Click on Mailbox Settings tab and select the Messaging Records Management and then click Properties.

 

4.  Select the Managed folder mailbox policy checkbox. Click on the Browse tab and select the mailbox policy created in step-2.

 

Step-6

How to confirm if Managed Folders are configured or not

1. Open OWA and check if Managed folder is appearing or not. You can also see the size of the Custom folder as shown below.