Special Edition Microsoft Exchange Server 5.5

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Directory and System Attendant Configuration



This chapter begins covering the details for configuring your Exchange server components. The steps to set up each Exchange site down to the server level are covered. This will teach you to set site configuration properties as well as general settings for the core components of each Microsoft Exchange server. Subsequent chapters cover configuring additional components and using elements together to develop a complete Exchange organization.

Configuring Directory Services

Directory site configuration allows you to set preferences on Exchange site directory functions. Settings made to this object's properties affect an entire Microsoft Exchange site.

In this section you learn to make the following changes:

The rest of this section defines some concepts essential to proper configuration of the Directory Service agent.

Setting a Tombstone Lifetime

A "tombstone" in Exchange directory terms is a marker representing a deleted directory object. At the moment when you delete a directory object, it is removed instantly from the local server only. All the other Exchange servers that participate in directory replication with this server do not become immediately aware of that object's deletion. Therefore, a "tombstone" marker is created that when replicated to other servers informs them of the original object's deletion. The tombstone lifetime dictates the number of days a tombstone marker exists before it expires and can be deleted from the system.

Here are some considerations for setting tombstone lifetimes:

Situation 1--Frequency of directory object deletion. If you set the tombstone lifetime for an excessively long period of time and you frequently delete objects, there will be a large number of tombstone markers clogging your entire directory replication system.

Situation 2--Length of time a server could be down. For example, you set the tombstone lifetime for a site at seven days. Suppose that one server in your site is down for over a week. The server that was down will not be notified of an object's deletion before the tombstone of some directory object is deleted. There will be some directory inconsistencies to correct as a result.


NOTE: Tombstones cannot be used to undelete a previously deleted directory object.

Setting a Garbage Collection Interval

The garbage collection interval determines the number of hours between deletion of expired tombstone markers (referred to as garbage). Much like a traditional garbage collection service, this operation is a scheduled removal of expired directory "garbage." Once directory object tombstone markers have expired, they are ready (placed on the curb) for deletion at the garbage collection interval.

Creating an Offline Address Book

Remote users can take advantage of Exchange address lists by downloading a current version of the offline address book. This address list is generated from the main address list, and the process is managed through these property pages. A remote user uses the offline address book like a standard recipient directory when disconnected from the network. The offline address book contains only the recipients or recipient groups specified by the Exchange administrator. The offline address book object itself is a hidden public folder held in the public information store of a designated Exchange server. There can be only one offline address book per site.

Defining Custom Attributes

Custom attributes pertain specifically to recipients. They are added to represent any extra information you want to have entered when creating recipients. Sample standard attributes are city, state, zip, and phone number; a custom attribute can be anything from birthday, age, or hair color to favorite music or bowling average.

Restricting Access to Site Directory Attributes

The administrator can select which site directory objects are accessible to certain classes of LDAP users and which objects are to be replicated to other Exchange sites.

Configuring DS Site Property Pages

In this section, you begin to configure the DS Site property pages. You will find that a wide variety of settings affect how directory functions are carried out in your Exchange site.

The pages that will be covered are as follows:

The General Page

Figure 13.1 shows the General property page and the various directory settings associated with it.

You can assign a new Display name, view the Directory name, and change the Tombstone lifetime and Garbage collection intervals by going through the following steps:

1. Select the General tab of the DS Site configuration property pages. The General property page appears.

FIG. 13.1 General directory settings for a site.

2. Enter a Display name for this object as you want it to be displayed in the Exchange Administrator program. By default, this name is DS Site Configuration. The Alias name is set to Site-DSA-Config and cannot be modified.

3. Next to Tombstone lifetime (days), enter the length of time (in days) until a directory object's tombstone marker expires. By default, this value is set to 30 days.

4. Next to Garbage collection interval (hours), enter the interval (in hours) between deletion of expired tombstone markers. See the preceding page for a more detailed description of the garbage collection interval. By default, this value is set to 12 hours.

5. Click the Anony_mous account button to set up an account for use by anonymous users. You will be given the choice of using an existing Windows NT account or creating a new Windows NT account for anonymous access. This account will be used by the directory to access containers when anonymous users connect to Microsoft Exchange Server. The account is an internal account (such as the Guest account) and is used only by the directory.


NOTE: The Anonymous account is different from the accounts you specify for individual containers for anonymous users. This is a single account that will be used by anonymous users (usually Web-based users) to access directories in Microsoft Exchange.
6. Click Apply to set these properties and continue with other properties. If you are done with all settings, click OK to return to the Administrator program.

The Permissions Page

The Permissions property page allows you to define certain Windows NT user accounts that have rights to modify this directory object.

The Offline Address Book Schedule Page

The Offline Address Book Schedule property page allows you to determine at what intervals a new offline address book will be generated. By downloading the offline address book to their computers, remote users can verify e-mail addresses as though they were online. This also makes it easier to compose mail while offline, rather than having to connect to the Exchange server to verify e-mail addresses.

To schedule a new time interval to generate the offline address book, you take the following steps:

1. Select the Offline Address Book Schedule tab of the DS Site Configuration Properties pages. The property page in Figure 13.2 appears.

FIG. 13.2 Setting the schedule for creating an offline address book.

2. Click Always to continually regenerate updated versions of an offline address book. Once a cycle completes, a new one begins at the next system registry, defined as an "Always" interval, which by default is 15 minutes.

3. Click Selected times and use the time grid to set specific times when offline address book generation will begin.

For example: If you know that your remote users connect first thing in the morning to update their offline address books, then set the schedule to begin several hours before you expect most of them to connect. That way the whole generation cycle will be complete, and the address book they download will be as complete as possible.

4. Click Apply to set these properties and continue with other properties. If you are done with all settings, click OK to return to the Administrator program.


NOTE: Generating an offline address book can often take several hours. If one cycle of offline address book generation carries into the next scheduled generation time, the generation will finish normally, then begin again at the next scheduled time after its completion.[dagger]

The Offline Address Book Page

The Offline Address Book property page defines parameters on how the offline address book will be created. You choose what elements of the directory will be included. If you desire a highly customized list of recipients to be included in the offline address book, then consider creating a recipient container dedicated to offline address book generation.

You can take the following steps to change the offline address book server, generate the offline address book before its regular schedule, and change which recipient container is used to create the offline address book:

1. Select the Offline Address Book tab of the DS Site Configuration Properties pages. The property page in Figure 13.3 appears.

FIG. 13.3 Setting offline address book creation and location options.

2. Select the Offline Address Book server by using the drop-down menu. This is the server that will actually generate the offline address book and from which a remote user will download the information. By default, this is the Microsoft Exchange server to which you are currently connected with the Administrator program.


TIP: Because the generation of a large offline address book can be a lengthy process, select a lower-traffic, lesser-used server (if available) to perform this task.
3. Click Add to open the Offline Address Book dialog box. You can then select which recipient container you want to use to generate the offline Address Book.

4. Click the Remove button to remove selected online Address Books from the Address Books box if you no longer want them available for downloading. You may remove all offline Address Books except for the default Global Address List.

5. Click the Generate All button to manually generate an Offline Address Book. For example, if you just made numerous changes to your Organization, but the Offline Address Book generation schedule is set for once a week, you can use this button to generate the Offline Address Book immediately.

6. Check the Microsoft Exchange 4.0 and 5.0 compatibility box if any of the users in your site are running 4.0 and/or 5.0 clients. By default, Microsoft Exchange Server 5.5 generates offline address books that are incompatible with these clients. Checking this box will generate offline address books in a format that your clients support.


NOTE: Before an offline address book is available to remote users, it must first be generated. Check your generation schedule to see if the next scheduled cycle falls within an acceptable time frame. If necessary, click the Generate All button to create it immediately.
7. Click Apply to set these properties and continue with other properties. If you are done with all settings, click OK to return to the Administrator program.


CAUTION: There must be only one offline address book per Microsoft Exchange site. Replicating the offline address book as a hidden public folder will create directory errors.

The Custom Attributes Page

The Custom Attributes property page allows you to define characteristics that will appear on the Custom Attributes property page of each recipient only in the local site. The field can be defined to display any additional information for which you want to create a space.

To create custom attribute fields, complete the following steps:

1. Select the Custom Attributes tab of the DS Site Configuration Properties page. The properties page in Figure 13.4 appears.

2. Type in the names of Custom Attributes 1-10 in the spaces provided. By default these entries are literally named "Custom Attribute 1" through "Custom Attribute 10."

3. Click Apply to set these properties and continue with other properties. If you are done with all settings, click OK to return to the Administrator program.

FIG. 13.4 Setting the custom attribute whose values you will set in the recipient's properties pages.

The Attributes Page

The Attributes property page assists administrators in managing access for LDAP users and in directory replication of objects in the site directory. An example would be enabling authenticated users access to most mailbox attributes, such as "direct reports" or phone numbers but denying anonymous users access to these objects.

To reduce possible network traffic and system overhead associated with directory replication, additional options are provided to control inclusion of directory objects in intersite replication. Caution should be exercised when deselecting objects under the System attributes heading because it could affect directory operation.

Modifying attribute access options requires the following steps:

1. Select the Attributes tab of the DS Site Configuration Properties page. The property page shown in Figure 13.5 appears.

2. In the left side of the Configure window, select the requestor access type you want to modify by clicking once.

3. In the right drop-down field, select the appropriate object you want to show access for in the display window immediately below.

4. As the check boxes associated with the various objects are checked or unchecked, the data values for these objects become accessible to LDAP users or are included in directory replication to other sites.

It is important to note that in the case of custom attributes, only the data associated with the custom attribute is replicated, not the new label replacing the phrase "Custom Attribute 1." This could result in one Exchange site relabeling the site's "Custom Attribute 1" to become "Cube Number" and then entering appropriate numeric values. Meanwhile, a different Exchange site might relabel its "Custom Attribute 1" to "Favorite Color" with alpha values subsequently entered. When the two sites replicate data and the values of their respective Custom Attributes 1 are exchanged, the sites will see a mix of data types that makes no sense with the labels in their local sites!

FIG. 13.5 The Attributes tab of the DS Site Configuration Properties page.


CAUTION: After initial installation of your Exchange site, double-check the default settings associated with anonymous requests to make sure that your site is presenting for anonymous access only the LDAP information you want to make public.

Configuring Site Addressing

These sets of property pages allow you to configure site properties that have to do with automatic creation of e-mail addresses, setting default site e-mail address values, and routing messages to their intended destination within an Exchange system. These options determine which servers will be used to calculate routing tables, and when to calculate those tables. Also, you can use these pages to get an overview of how messaging links are established in your organization.

The pages described in this section are as follows:

The General Page

In the General property page, you can edit this object's Display name and also do the following:

1. Choose Routing calculation server. This server will be responsible for processing routing data for this server. The updated routing table will then be replicated to this server.

2. Choose Share address space with other X.400 systems (see Figure 13.6). With this option selected, if an incoming X.400 message cannot find its intended Exchange recipient, it will be routed to the system sharing this address space. This option is helpful when running Exchange side by side with a foreign X.400 system (for example, during a migration to Exchange). By default, the X.400 address space is not shared.

FIG. 13.6 Setting general site routing parameters.

The Site Addressing Page

E-mail addresses are used by the various Exchange gateways and connectors to identify specific directory objects to other messaging systems (see Figure 13.7). In this case, these addresses affect all messages routed to this site. There are four default addresses created each for Microsoft Mail Post Office, SMTP, X.400, and cc:Mail. If other connectors or gateways are installed, those addresses can be created by default as well.

Another feature in Exchange is the capability to select which address types will be automatically created when a new mailbox or public folder is created. This is controlled by simply checking or unchecking the box adjacent to the address type. Additionally, when a box is unchecked, the administrator is presented with the option to remove this address from all currently installed mailboxes, if desired.

Just as in Exchange version 4.0 and 5.0, the default address values are editable. A common example for editing address values might be if your corporation elected to change the root DNS value for your SMTP addresses, such as swspectrum.com being changed to softwarespectrum.com.

FIG. 13.7 Setting e-mail address entries for the entire site.

The Routing Calculation Schedule Page

When changes in site configuration are made, routing tables need to be rebuilt in order to maintain accurate message delivery information. By default, routing is calculated once per day at 4:00 a.m. local time (see Figure 13.8). Generally, the default settings will be more than adequate to maintain up-to-date routing tables in your site; use the manual override when immediate recalculation is necessary. If your site undergoes frequent changes in components (more servers, new connector types, and so on), you may want to increase the routing calculation frequency.

The Routing Page

The Routing page indicates the type of address space used by the Exchange routing table, shows the value for that address space, and shows the cost of sending messages to a selected site. Click on a type of message destination and click Details to view the route of such a message. The dialog boxes in Figure 13.9 and Figure 13.10 appear.

FIG. 13.8 Defining a schedule when routing table calculations occur.

FIG. 13.9 Viewing the message routes available from this Exchange site.

FIG. 13.10 You can view routing details for connectors available from this site. Note the file extensions for this file type.

Configuring Server Property Pages

Each Microsoft Exchange server has its own set of property pages. Here, you can configure general functions that apply specifically to a single Exchange server.

The following are the property pages for server configuration:

To open the Server property page, complete the following steps:

1. Navigate to your desired site with the Exchange Administrator program.

2. Click the Configuration container of the selected site. All the site configuration objects appear in the Administrator program's right window.

3. Open the Servers container. A list of Exchange servers in your site will be listed.

4. Click the server name on which is the Private Information Store you want to configure (see Figure 13.11). The list of server objects is visible on the right display window of the Microsoft Exchange Administrator program.

5. Open its property pages by selecting Properties from the Administrator program file menu or by pressing Alt+Enter.

The following sections cover configuring Exchange Server properties.

FIG. 13.11 You can select the Exchange server to edit, then open its properties.

The General Page

The General property page displays the server's Directory name and has a space for an additional administrative note (see Figure 13.12).

The server's directory name cannot be changed without reinstalling Microsoft Exchange.

FIG. 13.12 The server name cannot be changed after Exchange has been installed.

The Permissions Page

The Permissions property page allows you to define certain Windows NT user accounts that have rights to modify this directory object. See Chapter 12, "Using the Administrator Program," for a detailed description of working with the standard Permissions property page.

The Services Page

The Services property page allows you to define what services will be checked by a Microsoft Exchange Server monitor. The top display window shows all services currently installed on this Windows NT server. The bottom display window shows all the services by default currently monitored by Exchange.

To select the service to be monitored by an Exchange Server monitor, complete the following steps:

1. Select a service from the top window and click Add to add it to the list of Monitored Services (see Figure 13.13).

2. Select a service from the bottom window and click Remove to take it off the list of Monitored Services.

3. Click Default to return to the basic services selected by Exchange Server.

FIG. 13.13 Selecting the services to be monitored by an Exchange Server monitor.

The Locales Page

Locales determine how values (such as date or currency) are displayed in the Exchange Client. International settings are determined by the Exchange Client settings (see Chapter 30, "Using Outlook") and also affect default sorting order for lists. This property page allows you to activate certain locales from the list of installed locales.

The Installed Locales window displays all the formats currently installed on this Exchange server.

To add or remove support for various foreign-language Exchange clients, refer to the following steps:

1. Click Add or Remove to edit the list of Selected Locales.

2. The selected Locales window displays what formats are in use (see Figure 13.14).

FIG. 13.14 You can use this dialog box to add or remove support for various foreign language Exchange clients.

The Database Paths Page

The Database Paths are pointers to the hard disk directories where Exchange actually stores information. This property page allows you to set the paths to the directory for placement of the public and private information store files on this server. The paths are set up when you initially install Exchange Server.


CAUTION: It is recommended that instead of manually editing the paths to the critical databases of the Exchange server, the administrator use the Exchange Optimizer wizard to move these files and adjust the necessary directory and registry values automatically.

The three main Exchange Server databases are:

1. Directory

2. Private

3. Public Information Store

Additional information files (see Figure 13.15) store additional Exchange data such as transaction logs.


TIP: One basic way to improve Exchange performance is to spread the database files across several hard drives. The Microsoft Exchange Optimizer can assist with this process.

FIG. 13.15 You can use this dialog box to view the physical location.

Click the Modify button (in Figure 13.15) to bring up the dialog box that enables you to browse through your system's file structure and select a location for the database information. You can view the physical location, that is, hard disks, for the various types of Exchange data such as Directory Database, Transaction Logs, Information Store data, and so on.

The IS Maintenance Page

Information Store Maintenance optimizes an Exchange server's operating speed. Basic maintenance includes disk defragmentation for improved hard disk performance and compression of the various database files by removing excessive "white space" left by deleted data (see Figure 13.16). Use this page to schedule maintenance for each Exchange server.


TIP: Maintenance tasks are taxing on hard drive and overall server performance. Always schedule them at the server's least busy period of the day.

FIG. 13.16 Selecting the least busy time of the day for information store data upkeep.

The Advanced Page

This property page allows you to configure two advanced options:


CAUTION: If the circular logging options are enabled, you will no longer be able to perform differential and incremental backups (see Chapter 25, "Maintaining Exchange").

This property page allows you to control at what point these inconsistencies are to be corrected.

Select All inconsistencies to correct them immediately or select Inconsistencies more than X number of days and enter the time an inconsistency can exist before it is automatically corrected (see Figure 13.17).

FIG. 13.17 Setting general logging and inconsistency adjustment preferences.

The Diagnostics Logging Page

This property page works in conjunction with the Windows NT Event Log to record various "events" that occur within the many Exchange services. Various levels of logging determine what constitutes an event and, therefore, what types of information are actually recorded in the event log. For troubleshooting purposes, you would want a very detailed record of occurrences and, hence, set a high logging level. However, normally you would want to log only events that are critical, so set a lower logging level for everyday operation (see Figure 13.18). Individual components (for example, Directory, MTA, and Information Store) also have diagnostic logging pages for their individual service, but all services are available through this server property page.

FIG. 13.18 Controlling log settings for all Exchange services running on this server.

Configuring Directory Service

The Directory Service Properties pages are mainly used for configuring diagnostics information. However, two additional functions provided by this object will be used more frequently during normal operation. These functions are as follows:

An example is as follows: Exchange Server SEATTLE01 is brought down for two hours for a memory upgrade. During the time of the upgrade, a new server, DUBLIN08, is added to the site. When SEATTLE01 is restored to proper functioning, it will not be aware of the existence of the new server until the Knowledge Consistency cycle is run at the end of the day. Knowing this, the administrator for SEATTLE01 runs the Knowledge Consistency cycle manually from the Directory Service Properties pages. SEATTLE01 is now aware of the new server's existence.

If an inconsistency is detected when checking manually, it is a good idea to manually execute all processes related to correcting inconsistencies. Use this sequence:

1. Check knowledge consistency from the Directory Service Properties pages and detect the error.

2. Manually update directory replication within the site by running Update Now also from the Directory Service Properties pages.

3. Open the Message Transfer Agent properties for this server and click Recalculate Routing from the General property page.

Although the preceding sequence is optional and will be automatically executed with a 24-hour period, performing the tasks immediately will reduce the possibility of other conflicts or errors.

To open the Directory Service Properties pages, complete the following steps:

1. Use the Microsoft Exchange Administrator program to navigate to the list of servers within the site to which you are connected.

2. Click on an Exchange server within the site, and a list of configuration objects appear in the Administrator program's right display window.

3. Select the Directory Service object and open its property pages.

The General Page

The General property page allows you to synchronize directory information manually if you have made changes to directory information on the server and don't want to wait for automatic synchronization. To update or check directory information manually, complete the following steps:

1. Select the General tab of the Directory Service Properties page (see Figure 13.19). The property page appears.

2. Click Update Now to request directory updates from all servers in the site. This process runs automatically every five minutes within an Exchange site.

3. Click Check Now to run a knowledge consistency check and detect any changes in servers in a site or sites in your organization. This process runs automatically once a day.

FIG. 13.19 These two controls manually update the local site directory and check knowledge consistency.

4. Enter any additional Administrative note.

5. Click Apply to set these properties and continue with other properties. If you are done with all settings, click OK to return to the Administrator program.

The E-Mail Addresses Page

E-mail addresses are used by the various Exchange gateways and connectors to identify specific directory objects to other messaging systems. There are four default addresses created each for Microsoft Mail Post Office, SMTP, X.400, and now cc:Mail.

To set public directory service e-mail addresses, complete the following steps:

1. Click the E-mail Addresses of the Directory Service Properties pages (see Figure 13.20). The dialog box appears.

The four default addresses (cc:Mail, Microsoft Mail Post Office, SMTP, and X.400) are displayed.

2. Click New to add a specific e-mail address for this directory service. Select an existing address and click Edit to modify it, or click Remove to delete it.

3. Click Apply to set these properties and continue with other properties. If you are done with all settings, click OK to return to the Administrator program.

FIG. 13.20 Defining any additional e-mail addresses for this directory object.

The Diagnostics Logging Page

This property page works in conjunction with the Windows NT Event Log to record various "events" that occur within the Directory Service (MSExchangeDS). Various levels of logging determine what constitutes an event and, therefore, what types of information are actually recorded. For troubleshooting purposes, you would want a very detailed record of occurrences within the Directory Service, and hence set a high logging level. However, normally you would want to log only events that are critical, so set a lower logging level for everyday operation (see Figure 13.21).

FIG. 13.21 This page controls logging for the directory synchronization saervice only.

Configuring Directory Synchronization Service

These property pages allow for directory synchronization between Exchange, Microsoft Mail Post Office, and other compatible foreign systems, including direct support for cc:Mail. For further directory synchronization information, see Chapter 18, "Using Directory Replication and Synchronization."

The following are the property pages available for configuration on the directory synchronization service:

To open the Directory Synchronization Service Properties pages, complete the following steps:

1. Navigate to your desired site with the Exchange Administrator program.

2. Click the Configuration container of the selected site. All the site configuration objects appear in the Administrator program's right window.

3. Open the Servers container. A list of Exchange servers in your site will be listed.

4. Click the server name for which you want to configure the directory synchronization service.

5. Click the Directory Synchronization object. Open its property pages.

The General Page

The General property page allows you to view only the current server's name and enter an administrative note (see Figure 13.22). An Exchange server's name is set when the software is installed and cannot be changed after the fact.

FIG. 13.22 The name of this server cannot be altered.

The E-Mail Addresses Page

E-mail addresses are used by the various Exchange gateways and connectors to identify specific directory objects to other messaging systems. The directory synchronization service receives regular update messages sent to these addresses. There are four default addresses created each for cc:Mail, Microsoft Mail Post Office, SMTP, and X.400.

The Delivery Restrictions Page

The directory synchronization service executes its functions by the transfer of messages between itself and other systems. The Delivery Restrictions property page assures that only specific users can send messages to the directory synchronization service.

To configure delivery restrictions, complete the following steps:

1. Select the Delivery Restrictions tab from the Directory Synchronization Properties pages (see Figure 13.23). The Delivery Restrictions property page appears.

2. Use the dialog box to either restrict certain senders or to permit only certain senders.

3. Click Apply to set these properties and continue with other properties. If you are done with all settings, click OK to return to the Administrator program.

FIG. 13.23 Preventing unnecessary messages from being sent to this service.

The Incoming Templates Page

In the Incoming Templates property page you can define a template that will apply to all incoming directory synchronization messages (see Figure 13.24). See Chapter 18, "Using Directory Replication and Synchronization," for more details on this template and its use in directory synchronization.

FIG. 13.24 Mapping standard Microsoft Mail Post Office attributes to Exchange Server recipients.

The Outgoing Templates Page

In the Outgoing Templates property page you can define a template that will apply to all outgoing directory synchronization messages (see Figure 13.25). See Chapter 18 for more details on this template and its use in directory synchronization.

FIG. 13.25 Mapping Exchange Server recipient attributes to the standard Microsoft Mail Post Office directory template attributes.

The Diagnostics Logging Page

The Diagnostics Logging property page works in conjunction with the Windows NT Event Log to record various "events" that occur within the Directory Synchronization Service. Various levels of logging determine what constitutes an event and, therefore, what types of information are actually recorded. For troubleshooting purposes, you would want a very detailed record of occurrences within the Directory Synchronization Service, and hence set a high logging level. However, normally you would want to log only events that are critical, so set a lower logging level for everyday operation.

Configuring System Attendant

The System Attendant service must be running in order for most other Exchange system services to run. Stopping the System Attendant service, for example, will prompt the halting of several other Exchange services, simultaneously.

Each Microsoft Exchange server within your organization can be configured with different properties.

Accessing the System Attendant Property Pages

To configure the System Attendant properties, complete the following steps:

1. Use the Microsoft Exchange Administrator program to navigate to the list of servers within the site to which you are connected.

2. Click the server name whose System Attendant object you want to configure.

3. In the right display window, you will see a list of objects pertaining to that Exchange server (see Figure 13.26).

FIG. 13.26 The System Attendant is found in the individual Exchange Server container.

Click the System Attendant object and open its property pages. The property page shown in Figure 13.27 appears.

4. The General page is the first visible property page. The Display name is set as "System Attendant" by default and cannot be changed. Likewise, the Alias name for this object is set to "<server name>-SA" (for example, SEATTLE01-SA) and also cannot be changed.

Under the Message tracking log files maintenance window: Click Do not remove old log files if you want the system attendant to keep such log files for an indefinite time.

5. Click Remove log files older than X number of days to have the System Attendant on this server delete message tracking files after a specified number of days has elapsed. Enter the number of days in the box provided. By default, this option is selected, and the log files are deleted every seven days.


FIG. 13.27 The System Attendant General property page.


CAUTION: Opting to keep old log files on a server with a high volume of message traffic could easily take up many megabytes of storage space. If you do select Do not remove old log files, make sure to keep track of log file sizes!
6. Enter any additional information (such as reasons for keeping all old log files) in the Administrative note box provided.

7. Click Apply to set these properties and continue with other properties. If you are done with all settings, click OK to return to the Administrator program.

Setting E-Mail Addresses for the System Attendant

E-mail addresses are used by the various Exchange gateways and connectors to identify specific directory objects to other messaging systems. The System Attendant, though not capable of receiving messages, is a directory object just the same and has a set of e-mail addresses associated with it. There are four default addresses created each for cc:Mail, Microsoft Mail Post Office, SMTP, and X.400.

Complete the following steps to add, modify, or remove e-mail addresses from the System Attendant:

1. Click the E-mail Addresses of the System Attendant Properties page (see Figure 13.28).

The four default addresses (cc:Mail, Microsoft Mail Post Office, SMTP, and X.400) are displayed.

FIG. 13.28 The E-mail addresses page displays the four default addresses for this System Attendant.

2. Click New to add a specific e-mail address for this system attendant. Select an existing address and click Edit to modify it, or click Remove to delete it.

3. Click Apply to set these properties and continue with other properties. If you are done with all settings, click OK to return to the Administrator program.

All other functions of the System Attendant (such as checking directory replication inconsistencies and gathering information about other running Exchange services) are carried out without additional configuration by the administrator.

Configuring Address Book Views

The Address Book Views pages enable you to restrict what entries users are able to see in the Global Address List (GAL). This feature also allows users to create and see address book views sorted by various mailbox characteristics. You can create new Address Book Views in Exchange 5.5 by selecting File, New Other, Address Book View from the toolbar in the Exchange Administrator program.

The pages that will be covered are as follows:

The General Page

Use the General page to specify a Display name and Directory name for your Address Book View.

Go through the following steps to change the Display name and/or the Directory name of your address book view:

1. Select the General tab of your new Address Book View property pages. You will then see a screen similar to Figure 13.29.

FIG. 13.29 Setting the Display Name and the Directory Name from the General page.

2. Enter a Display name for this object as you want it to be displayed in the Exchange Administrator program.

3. Enter a Directory name for this object. Once you apply your changes, you will be unable to change this directory name.

4. Enter an administrative note that pertains to this object if desired.

5. Click Apply to set these properties and continue with other properties. If you are finished setting options, click OK to return to the Administrator program.

The Group By Page

This page defines how the recipient objects in the Address Book view are grouped (see Figure 13.30).

To group recipient objects with specific attributes that appear in the Group items by box on the Group By page, complete the following steps:

1. Click on the Group By page of the Address Book View property pages.

2. Use the drop-down menu for Group items by to select an attribute you want to use to group items.

3. Use the pull-down menu for Then by to select additional attributes you want to group items.

4. Click Apply to set these properties and continue with other properties. If you are finished setting options, click OK to return to the Administrator program.

FIG. 13.30 You can have up to four grouping attributes with your Address Book View.

The Permissions Page

The Permissions property page allows you to specify the rights users will have to view the Address Book (see Figure 13.31).

To delegate permissions to a user or group, complete the following steps:

1. Click on the Permissions page of the Address Book View property pages.

2. The Windows NT accounts with inherited permissions is a read-only list box that displays all Windows NT accounts with inherited rights for this object.

3. Click the Add button to add Windows NT accounts and groups to the list of accounts and groups with permissions for this object.

4. The Remove button removes the currently selected Windows NT account or group from the list of accounts and groups with permissions for this object.

5. Use the Roles drop-down menu to assign a role to the currently selected Windows NT account or group. Roles are sets of rights that define how much or what type of access a user or group has to an object. You can define custom roles or use the default roles that come with Microsoft Exchange. For example, you can assign an account or group to the search role from this tab. The search role will restrict users or groups from viewing any other Address Book view other than the one in which they have this search role.

6. Click Apply to set these properties and continue with other properties. If you are finished setting options, click OK to return to the Administrator program.

FIG. 13.31 Using the Permissions page to specify the rights users or groups have to Address Book views.

The Advanced Property Page

Use the Advanced property page to determine whether recipient objects should appear in one or more parent containers and which Address Book view containers you want to show in Microsoft Outlook. You can also delete empty containers within an Address Book view through this page (see Figure 13.32).

To configure advanced container properties, follow the steps below:

1. Select the Advanced page of the Address Book view property pages.

2. Select the Promote entries to parent containers if you want to have recipient objects included in the parent Address View Containers. For example, if you have Address Book views that group recipients by country (USA), state (Texas), and city (Dallas), you need to determine whether to include the mailbox under only the city container (Dallas), or under all of the containers (USA, Texas, Dallas).

3. If you select Show this view in the client address book, the Address Book and all of its containers appear in the Address Book.

4. If you want to remove empty containers from the Address Book view, you must do it manually. Empty containers are not removed automatically. Use the Remove Empty Containers button to remove all empty containers from the Address Book view.

FIG. 13.32 You can configure recipient objects for parent containers, Address Book view containers for Microsoft Outlook, and delete empty containers.


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