Create a Remote Mailbox
Applies to: Exchange Server 2010 SP3, Exchange Server 2010 SP2
Use the New Remote Mailbox wizard to create a mail-enabled user in your Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 on-premises organization with an associated mailbox in the cloud-based service.
A remote mailbox consists of a mail-enabled user that exists in the on-premises Active Directory and an associated mailbox that exists in the cloud-based service. When you create a new remote mailbox, the mail-enabled user is created in your on-premises Active Directory. Then, directory synchronization, if it's configured, automatically synchronizes this new user object to the cloud-based service which then converts it to a user mailbox. You can create remote mailboxes as regular user mailboxes or as resource mailboxes for meeting rooms and equipment.
Directory synchronization and mail flow should be configured correctly for a mailbox to be created in the service. Creation of the mailbox in the service isn't immediate and depends on the directory synchronization schedule.
To learn more about remote mailboxes, see Understanding Recipients.
Looking for other management tasks related to remote mailboxes? See Managing User Mailboxes.
Use the EMC to create a remote mailbox
You need to be assigned permissions before you can perform this procedure. To see what permissions you need, see the "Remote mailboxes" entry in the Mailbox Permissions topic.
If you want to create remote mailboxes, you'll have to use this wizard for each remote mailbox. You can't use the wizard to create multiple remote mailboxes.
In the console tree, click Recipient Configuration.
In the action pane, click New Remote Mailbox.
On the Introduction page, select one of the following options:
User Mailbox Click this button to create a remote mailbox in the cloud-based service that is owned by a user to send and receive e-mail messages. User remote mailboxes can't be used for resource scheduling.
Room Mailbox Click this button to create a remote mailbox in the cloud-based service that will be used as a location resource for scheduling meetings. Room remote mailboxes can be included in meeting requests as resources and can be configured to automatically process incoming requests.
Equipment Mailbox Click this button to create a remote mailbox in the cloud-based service that will be used as a resource for scheduling meetings. Equipment remote mailboxes can be included in meeting requests as resources and can be configured to automatically process incoming requests.
As a best practice, create mailboxes for shared meeting equipment, such as projectors or audio equipment, which can be moved to different meeting rooms.
On the User Information page, complete the following fields:
Specify the on-premises organization unit rather than using a default one Select this check box to select an organizational unit (OU) other than the default (which is the recipient scope).
First name Use this box to type the first name of the user. This field is optional.
Initials Use this box to type the initials of the user. This field is optional.
Last name Use this box to type the last name of the user. This field is optional.
Name Use this box to type a name for the user. This is the name that's listed in Active Directory. By default, this box is populated with the names you enter in the First name, Initials, and Last name boxes. If you didn't use those boxes, you must type a name in this field. The name can't exceed 64 characters.
User logon name (User Principal Name) Use this box to type the name that the user will use to log on to the remote mailbox. The user logon name consists of a user name and a suffix. Typically, the suffix is the domain name in which the user account resides. This field is required.
Password Use this box to type the password that the user must use to log on to his or her remote mailbox.
Note
Make sure that the password you supply complies with the password length, complexity, and history requirements of the domain in which you are creating the user account.
Confirm password Use this box to confirm the password that you typed in the Password box.
User must change password at next logon Select this check box if you want the user to reset the password when they first log on to the remote mailbox.
If you select this check box, at first logon, the new user will be prompted with a dialog box in which to change the password. The user won't be allowed to perform any tasks until the password is successfully changed.
On the Archive Mailbox page, select the Add an archive mailbox check box if you want to link an archive mailbox to the remote mailbox in the cloud-based service. The archive mailbox is also created in the cloud-based service. If you create an archive mailbox for the remote mailbox, mailbox items will be moved automatically from the primary user mailbox to the archive, based on the default retention policy settings or those settings that you define. To learn more, see Understanding Personal Archives.
On the New Remote Mailbox page, review your configuration settings. To make any configuration changes, click Back. To create the new remote mailbox, click New.
On the Completion page, review the following, and then click Finish to close the wizard:
A status of Completed indicates that the wizard completed the task successfully.
A status of Failed indicates that the task wasn't completed. If the task fails, review the summary for an explanation, and then click Back to make any configuration changes.
Use the Shell to create a single remote mailbox
You need to be assigned permissions before you can perform this procedure. To see what permissions you need, see the "Remote mailboxes" entry in the Mailbox Permissions topic.
This example creates a mail-enabled user in the on-premises Active Directory and an associated remote mailbox in the cloud-based service for the user Chris Ashton with the following details:
The remote mailbox's alias is Chris.
The user's first name is Chris and the last name is Ashton.
The name and display name is Chris Ashton.
The user principal name (UPN) is ChrisAshton@contoso.com.
The mail-enabled user will be created in the Users container of the on-premises organizational unit.
New-RemoteMailbox -Alias chris -Name "Chris Ashton" -FirstName Chris -LastName Ashton -DisplayName "Chris Ashton" -UserPrincipalName ChrisAshton@contoso.com -OnPremisesOrganizationalUnit Users
Because the RemoteRoutingAddress parameter isn't specified, Exchange calculates the SMTP address of the remote mailbox in the cloud-based service automatically. This assumes mail flow has been configured between the on-premises organization and the cloud-based service. This example also assumes that directory synchronization has been configured.
This example creates a mailbox for the third floor conference room with the following details:
The room remote mailbox's alias is 3rdfloorconf.
The first name is 3rd Floor and the last name is Conference Room.
The name and display name is 3rdFloor Conference Room.
The UPN is 3rdfloorconf@contoso.com.
The mail-enabled user will be created in the Room container of the on-premises organizational unit.
New-RemoteMailbox -Alias 3rdfloorconf -Name "3rdFloor Conference Room" -FirstName "3rd Floor" -LastName "Conference Room" -DisplayName "3rdFloor Conference Room" -UserPrincipalName 3rdfloorconf@contoso.com -OnPremisesOrganizationalUnit Conference -Room
Because the RemoteRoutingAddress parameter isn't specified, Exchange calculates the SMTP address of the remote mailbox in the cloud-based service automatically. This assumes mail flow has been configured between the on-premises organization and the cloud-based service. This example also assumes that directory synchronization has been configured.
Use the Shell to mail-enable existing users
You need to be assigned permissions before you can perform this procedure. To see what permissions you need, see the "Remote mailboxes" entry in the Mailbox Permissions topic.
This example mail-enables the on-premises user john@contoso.com and creates an associated remote mailbox in the cloud-based service.
Enable-Mailbox john@contoso.com
You can also use the Enable-RemoteMailbox cmdlet to mail-enable multiple users and create their remote mailboxes in the cloud-based service. You can do this by piping the results of the Get-User cmdlet to the Enable-RemoteMailbox cmdlet. When you run the Get-User cmdlet, you must return only users that aren't already mail-enabled. To do this, specify the value User with the RecipientTypeDetails parameter. You can also limit the results returned by using the Filter parameter to request only users that meet the criteria you specify. You then pipe the results to the Enable-RemoteMailbox cmdlet.
For example, this command mail-enables users who aren't already mail-enabled and that contain the text "Contoso" in the Company user field.
Get-User -RecipientTypeDetails User -Filter { Company -Eq 'Contoso' } | Enable-RemoteMailbox
Because the RemoteRoutingAddress parameter isn't specified, Exchange calculates the SMTP address of the remote mailboxes in the cloud-based service automatically. This assumes mail flow has been configured between the on-premises organization and the cloud-based service. These examples also assume that directory synchronization has been configured.
For more information about pipelining, see Pipelining.
Other Tasks
View or Configure Remote Mailbox Properties
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