Share via

Create a Public Folder Database

  • Article

Applies to: Exchange Server 2010

Public folders are designed for shared access and provide an easy and effective way to collect, organize, and share information with other people in your workgroup or organization. A public folder database is a database that stores public folders, indexes their contents, and assists in the replication of the folders with other servers. A public folder database is stored as an Exchange database (.edb) file.

Important

Before you perform this procedure, be aware that a server can contain only one public folder database.

Looking for other management tasks related to public folder databases? Check out Managing Public Folder Databases.

What Do You Want to Do?

  • Use the EMC to create a public folder database
  • Use the Shell to create a public folder database

Use the EMC to create a public folder database

You need to be assigned permissions before you can perform this procedure. To see what permissions you need, see the "Public folder databases" entry in the Mailbox Permissions topic.

  1. In the console tree, navigate to Organization Configuration > Mailbox.
  2. In the action pane, click New Public Folder Database.
  3. On the Introduction page, complete the following fields:
    • Public folder database name   Use this box to type the name of the new public folder database.
    • Server name   This box lets you specify where to create the public folder database. To specify a location click Browse to open the Select Mailbox Server dialog box. Use this dialog box to select the server where you want to create the public folder database, and then click OK.
  4. On the Set Paths page, complete the following fields:
    • Database file path   This box is automatically populated with the default path to the database file. To specify a different location or file name, type the location in the box.
    • Log folder path   This box is automatically populated with the default path to the database log files. To specify a different location, type the location in the box.
    • Mount this database   Select this check box to mount the database immediately after it is created.
  5. On the New Public Folder Database page, review your configuration settings. Click New to create the public folder database. Click Back to make changes. Click Cancel to close the wizard without creating the public folder database.
  6. 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.
  7. Click Finish to close the wizard.

Use the Shell to create a public folder database

You need to be assigned permissions before you can perform this procedure. To see what permissions you need, see the "Public folder databases" entry in the Mailbox Permissions topic.

Use the New-PublicFolderDatabase cmdlet to create a new public folder database. When you create a new public folder database, you must specify the server on which to create it. If you don't specify the public folder database file path, database file name, or the database log file path, the following default values are used:

  • Public folder database and filename   <installation location>\V14\Mailbox\<database name>\<database name>.edb
  • Public folder database log file path   <installation location>\V14\Mailbox\<database name>

By default, public folder databases are dismounted when created. You must mount the database manually after it's created by using the Mount-Database cmdlet.

This example creates the public folder database Public Folders on the server SERVER01 with the default database locations.

New-PublicFolderDatabase "Public Folders" -Server SERVER01

This example mounts the database Public Folders.

Mount-Database "Public Folders"

To specify database and database log locations you can use the EdbFilePath and LogFilePath parameters respectively. This example creates the public folder database Support on the server SERVER02 with alternate database and log locations.:

New-PublicFolderDatabase Support -Server SERVER02 -EdbFilePath E:\Databases\Support\Support.edb -LogFilePath D:\Logs\Support

This example mounts the database Support.

Mount-Database Support

For More Information

Understanding Public Folders

View or Configure Public Folder Database Properties