Create Managed Content Settings

Article
06/29/2011

Applies to: Exchange Server 2010

Managed content settings are used to define message retention settings and retention action for managed folders. Message lifespan is controlled in two ways:

By controlling content retention and removing content that is no longer needed.
By automatically journaling (copying) important content to a separate storage location outside the mailbox. This can be any location that has a SMTP e-mail address, including another Exchange mailbox. When the item is journaled, a label is applied to it that indicates how the user classified the item.

Important

The managed folder assistant generates journal reports based on managed content settings for a managed folder. This approach is different than that of the Journaling agent, which generates journal reports as a part of either standard or premium journaling. For more details about Journaling, see Understanding Journaling.

For example, the managed content settings that you apply to a user's Inbox folder could specify that its contents should be automatically deleted or moved to another folder after 60 days.

Note

In addition to the well-known message types (such as All Mailbox Content and Calendar Items) to which you can apply managed content settings in the Exchange Management Console (EMC), you can use the MessageClass parameter of the New-ManagedContentSettings cmdlet in the Exchange Management Shell to specify a custom message class or a specific message class such as IPM.NOTE.SMIME. For more information, see New-ManagedContentSettings

Looking for other management tasks related to managed folders? Check out Deploying Managed Folders.

Caution

Be cautious when using the managed default folder named Entire Mailbox. Managed content settings that are applied to the Entire Mailbox folder control every folder in the mailbox except:

Managed custom folders (and their subfolders)
Managed default folders (and their subfolders)

A managed default folder is a default folder in the mailbox (such as Inbox, Calendar, or Contacts) that is linked to a managed folder mailbox policy. If a default folder in the mailbox is not linked to a managed folder mailbox policy, then the “entire mailbox” policy will apply to that default folder.

Prerequisite

You must have at least one managed default folder or one managed custom folder for which to create managed content settings. For detailed instructions, see the following topics:

What Do You Want to Do?

Use the EMC to create managed content settings for a managed folder
Use the Shell to create managed content settings for a managed folder

Use the EMC to create managed content settings

You need to be assigned permissions before you can perform this procedure. To see what permissions you need, see the "Messaging records management" entry in the Messaging Policy and Compliance Permissions topic.

In the console tree, navigate to Organization Configuration > Mailbox.
In the result pane, click the Managed Default Folders tab or the Managed Custom Folders tab, and then select the managed folder for which you want to create managed content settings.
In the action pane, under the managed folder name, click New Managed Content settings.
On the Introduction page, complete the following fields:
- Name of the managed content settings to be displayed in the Exchange Management Console Use this box to type a name for the new settings (for example, Voice Mail Content Settings).
- **Message type **Select the type of message for which you want to create managed content settings. If you select All Items, the managed content settings will apply to all the items in the managed folder (except message types for which you have created separate content settings).
  
  Note
  
  If you wan to specify additional message types for the same managed folder, you can use the New Managed Content Settings wizard repeatedly to create additional content settings. When there are multiple content settings, specific settings always supersede general settings. For example, if there is a setting for All Mailbox Content and one for Voice Mail, the Voice Mail setting is applied to voice mail, but the All Mailbox Content policy applies to all other items.
- Length of retention period (days) Select this check box to specify that items have a retention period. In the corresponding text box, type the number of days in the retention period. (The range of values is from 1 through 24,855 days.)
- Retention period starts   After selecting the Length of retention period (days) check box, you can use this list to select when the retention period starts. The choices are:
  When delivered, end date for calendar and recurring tasks   This is the default selection. The retention period for mail starts when it is delivered. The retention period for calendar items and recurring tasks starts at their end date.
  When item is moved to the folder   The expiration countdown doesn't start until the items are transferred to another folder, for example when items are moved from the Inbox to a "review before final deletion" folder.
- Action to take at end of retention period   After selecting the Length of retention period (days) check box, you can use this list to select what should happen to an item when the retention period is exceeded. The choices are:
  Move to the Deleted Items folder   If you select this option, messages are automatically moved to the Deleted Items folder.
  Move to a Managed Custom Folder   If you select this option, messages are automatically moved to the managed custom folder that you specify in the Move to the following managed custom folder box.
  Delete and Allow Recovery   If you select this option, messages are deleted but may be recovered by using Recover Deleted Items in Outlook. Note that messages can be recovered only for as long as messages are configured to remain in a recoverable state.
  Permanently Delete   If you select this option, messages are permanently deleted and are not recoverable by the user.
  Mark as Past Retention Limit    If you select this option, messages are displayed as gray, strikethrough text in Outlook. No other action is taken. This expiration action is used to prompt the user to take some kind of action.
- Move to the following managed custom folder If you select Move to a managed custom folder in the Action to take at the end of the retention period list, click Browse to select the managed custom folder to which items that are past their retention settings will be moved.
  
  Note
  
  You can only select managed custom folders that already exist. You can't create a new managed folder in this step. You can create managed custom folders by using the New Managed Custom Folder wizard or by using the New-ManagedCustomFolder cmdlet in the Exchange Management Shell. For detailed instructions, see Create a Managed Custom Folder.
On the Journaling page, complete the following fields:
- Forward copies to Select this check box to enable journaling of messages in the managed folder. If you select this check box, the Select Recipient dialog box appears. Use the dialog box to select or change the journaling mailbox.
  
  Note
  
  Only messages of the message type that you selected on the Introduction page are copied to the specified journaling mailbox.
- Assign the following label to the copy of the message Use this box to type the label text that will identify the journal reports created for the selected managed content settings. This label is added as a field in the journal report.
- Format of copied message attached to journal report    Select one of the following formats:
  Outlook Message Format (*.msg)   Messages are attached in the .msg file format that is commonly used by Outlook.
  Exchange MAPI Message Format (TNEF)   Messages are attached in the TNEF (Transport Neutral Encapsulation Format) format used by Exchange 2010.
On the New Managed Content Settings page, review your configuration settings. If you are satisfied, click New to create the managed content settings. Click Back to make changes.
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 managed content settings

This example creates managed content settings for the managed default folder Calendar with the following parameters:

Name MyCalendarSettings
MessageClass CalItems
AgeLimitForRetention 30 days
RetentionAction MoveToDeletedItems

New-ManagedContentSettings -FolderName Calendar -MessageClass CalItems -Name MyCalendarContentSettings -RetentionEnabled $true -RetentionAction MoveToDeletedItems -AgeLimitForRetention "30"

For detailed syntax and parameter information, see New-ManagedContentSettings.