European Office 365 Connect Session

2. PowerShell for Exchange
Administrators
Dejan Foro CEO,
Exchangemaster GmbH
European Office 365 Connect Conference,
Haarlem, Netherlands 2.4.2014

3. Speaker introduction
• 21 years in IT of which last 16 as an Exchange specialist
• 6 Exchange generations (5.5, 2000, 2003, 2007, 2010, 2013)
• 3,2 million mailboxes
• Exchange User Group Europe - Founder
• 9x Microsoft MVP for Exchange
• Founder and CEO, Exchangemaster GmbH, Zurich, Switzerland

4. Agenda
• Introduction
• Setting you up for working with PowerShell
• PowerShell basics
• Using PowerShell examples in daily Exchange administration

5. Presentation download
• This presentation will be available for download from
www.exchangemaster.net

6. Setting you up for work with PowerShell
Tools, etc.

7. Get the properTools
http://www.idera.com/productssolutions/freetools/powershellplus

8. PowerShell Plus
• Advantages over built in PowerShell editor
• Advanced Editor
• Code you use everday at hand
• Script sharing with your colleauges
• Profiles
• Modules loading
• Different layouts
• Code signing

19. If you use other scripting languages in addition
to Powershell -

20. PowerGUI

21. PowerGUI

22. PowerGUI

23. PowerGUI

24. Introduction to PowerShell
ABC of ExchangeAdministration with PowerShell

25. Introduction
• How it used to be ....
• Problems of Scripting inWindows enviroment
• Many things could be done through command line
• VBScript – programming knowledge required, knowledge ofVB, WMI,WBEM,ADSI, object
models
• security voulnearable

26. Introduction
• How it is today ...
• Scripting with PowerShell in Exchange
• Command line interface developed first, than GUI
• EVERYTHING can be done via command line
• Exchange managment GUI actually executes PowerShell commands and shows you the
syntax
• Single line commands replace pages ofVB code
• Symple syntax
• Better security – exectution of powershell scripts completely disabled by default, require
scripts to be signed, etc.

28. Introduction
• Exchange Powershell – 500+ commands
Get-Excommand
• Don’t worry, you will be cool with approx. 20 

29. Why are you going to love PowerShell
•Task example :
• Get a list of mailboxes and export into .csv file

30. Why you are going to love PowerShell
• VBScript 
Dim SWBemlocator
Dim objWMIService
Dim colItems
Dim objFSO
Dim objFile
strTitle="Mailbox Report"
strComputer = “MyServer"
UserName = ""
Password = ""
strLog="Report.csv"
Set objFSO=CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
Set objFile=objFSO.CreateTextFile(strLog,True)
strQuery="Select * from Exchange_Mailbox"
Set SWBemlocator = CreateObject("WbemScripting.SWbemLocator")
Set objWMIService = SWBemlocator.ConnectServer(strComputer,"rootMicrosoftExchangeV2",UserName,Password)
Set colItems = objWMIService.ExecQuery(strQuery,,48)
For Each objItem In colItems
objFile.writeline objItem.ServerName & "," &objItem.StorageGroupName &_
"," & objItem.StoreName & "," & Chr(34) & objItem.MailboxDisplayName
Next
objFile.close

31. Why you are going to love PowerShell
•PowerShell 
Get-mailbox | export-csv c:report.csv

32. .... And Action !!!

33. Command Syntax
• New-Mailbox
• Get-Mailbox
• Set-Mailbox
• Move-Mailbox
• Remove-Mailbox ...

34. Getting help
• List of all available PowerShell commands
Get-Command
• List of only Exchange commands
Get-Excommand
• Getting help about specific command
Get-Help Get-Mailbox
Get-Help Get-Mailbox – detailed
Get-Help Get-Mailbox – full

35. Getting info about users/mailboxes
• List of all mailboxes in organisation
Get-Mailbox
Get-Mailbox -ResultSize unlimited

36. Getting all available properties
Get-Mailbox | Format-List
Get-Mailbox –ResultSize 1 | Format-List

37. Getting just a list of properties names
Get-Mailbox | Get-Member -MemberType *Property |
Select-Object Name

38. Selecting & Sorting
Get-Mailbox | Select-Object -Property DisplayName, PrimarySMTPAddress
Get-Mailbox | Select-Object -Property DisplayName,
PrimarySMTPAddress | Sort-Object -Property DisplayName

39. Examples
• List all mailboxes, sort by name, and export
into a CSV file
Get-Mailbox | Sort-Object -Property Name |
Export-csv c:mailboxes.csv
• Get a list of mailboxes from Active Directory
OU named Users
Get-Mailbox -OrganizationalUnit Users

40. Examples
• Count mailboxes in organisation
(Get-mailbox).count
• Getting all properties for a specific user
Get-Mailbox | where {$_.DisplayName -eq "Dejan Foro"} |
format-list
• Who is the postmaster ?
Get-Mailbox | where {$_.EmailAddresses -contains
"postmaster@exchangemaster.net"}

41. Examples
• Who is the user with GUID e65a6ff3-d193-4563-9a8e-26a22315a686 ?
Get-Mailbox | where {$_.guid -eq "e65a6ff3-d193-
4563-9a8e-26a22315a686"}
• Who has UM extention 200 ?
Get-Mailbox | where {$_.extensions -contains "200"}

42. Getting info about servers
• Give me a list of Exchange servers
Get-Exchangeserver
Get-ExchangeServer | Select-Object -Property Name, Edition,
AdminDisplayVersion, ServerRole | format-list

43. Examples
• Give me a list of mailbox servers
Get-ExchangeServer | where {$_.ServerRole -ilike "*Mailbox*"}
• Do we have servers running on trial version of Exchange and if yes when do
they expire ?
Get-ExchangeServer | where {$_.IsExchange2007TrialEdition -eq "True"} | Select-
Object -Property FQDN, RemainingTrialPeriod

44. Getting membership of a group
Get-DistributionGroupMember -identity "Swiss IT Pro User Group Moderators"

45. Managing the user lifecycle
• Creating users - Importing from a .csv file
• Modifing users – move to another database
• Removing mailboxes and users

46. Importing users from a .CSV file
• Task
• Import users from a file c:users.csv
• For every user
• Create user account in AD of form First.Last@exchangemaster.net
• Put them in Organizational UnitVIP
• Create a mailbox in database “Standard users”
• Enter his first and last name
• Set all users with password Password123 and require the users to change the password at
first logon

47. Importing users from a .CSV file
Import-CSV c:users.csv

48. Procesing values from a csv file
• Processing each row of data from .CSV file
Import-CSV c:users.csv | ForEach-Object { SOME ACTION}
• Command for creating Users
New-Mailbox
Get-Help New-Mailbox –full

49. Processing values from .CSV file
• Referencing column names from the .CSV file
$_.columnname
• Converting Password text into secure string
$Password = ConvertTo-SecureString -String "Password123" -
asplaintext -force

50. Importing users from a .CSV file
• Putted all together
$Password = ConvertTo-SecureString -String "Password123" -asplaintext -force
Import-Csv c:users.csv | ForEach-Object {
$Name = $_.First + " " + $_.Last
$UPN = $_.First + "." + $_.Last + "@exchangemaster.net"
New-Mailbox -Name $Name -UserPrincipalName $UPN -Password $Password -
OrganizationalUnit VIP -Database 'standard users' -FirstName $_.First -LastName
$_Last -ResetPasswordOnNextLogon $True}

51. Making changes to users
• Apply policies
• Assing to groups
• Enable or disable features
• Changing attributes
• Moving mailboxes ....

52. Moving mailboxes
• Moving mailoboxes of users in OUVIP to a new database forVIPs
Get-Mailbox -OrganizationalUnit "VIP" | Move-Mailbox -
TargetDatabase "VIP users"

53. Moving mailboxes
• Checking for mailbox location after move
Get-Mailbox | Select-Object Name,Database

54. Removing mailboxes
• Check before deleting !
Get-Mailbox -OrganizationalUnit VIP | Remove-Mailbox -WhatIf
• Remove them
Get-Mailbox -OrganizationalUnit VIP | Remove-Mailbox

55. Recommendation
• 3rd party snap-in for better manipulation ofADobjects
• Quest Software
• ActiveRoles Management Shell for Active Directoy

56. Managing queues
• Removing spam messages from the queue
Remove-Message -Filter {FromAddress -like "*spammer.com*“ } -
withNDR $false

57. Testing
• Get a list of test commands
• Get-Command test*

58. Testing

59. Communicating with user from the script
• Prompting user
Write-Host -ForegroundColor red -BackgroundColor yellow
"Formating your drive c: ..."
Write-Host -ForegroundColor blue -BackgroundColor green "Be
cool I am just kidding"
• Getting user input
Read-Host

60. Script samples
Using PowerShell in your daily Exchange admin routine

61. Install Exchange 2013 pre-requisites
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb691354(v=exchg.150).aspx#WS2008R2SP1MBX
Import-Module ServerManager
Add-WindowsFeature Desktop-Experience, NET-Framework, NET-HTTP-Activation,
RPC-over-HTTP-proxy, RSAT-Clustering, RSAT-Web-Server, WAS-Process-Model,
Web-Asp-Net, Web-Basic-Auth, Web-Client-Auth, Web-Digest-Auth, Web-Dir-Browsing,
Web-Dyn-Compression, Web-Http-Errors, Web-Http-Logging, Web-Http-Redirect,
Web-Http-Tracing, Web-ISAPI-Ext, Web-ISAPI-Filter, Web-Lgcy-Mgmt-Console,
Web-Metabase, Web-Mgmt-Console, Web-Mgmt-Service, Web-Net-Ext, Web-Request-Monitor,
Web-Server, Web-Stat-Compression, Web-Static-Content, Web-Windows-Auth, Web-WMI

62. Good Morning Exchange
FAQ 000116 - Good Morning Exchange - doing a quick check on Exchange using
PowerShellhttp://www.exchangemaster.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=247
&Itemid=1&lang=en
It checks the following 3 things on all your Exchange machines:
- Are Exchange services running?
- Are all databases mounted and healty?
- Are E-mails piling up in the queues?

63. Good Morning Exchnage
Checking services...
All Exchange services OK
Checking databases..
All Databases OK
Checking Queues...
All Queues OK
All systems OK, you can have your morning coffee :)
|---|
| |)
|___|

64. Checking services...
All Exchange services OK
Checking databases..
All Databases OK
Checking Queues...
SERVER01
SERVER011448 500
SERVER011478 300
SERVER011485 50
Sorry mate, no coffee for you. There is work to do.
|---|
| |)
|___|
Good Morning Exchnage

65. Did the backup run last night?
• Exchange 2010 backup report
http://www.exchangemaster.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=vie
w&id=251&Itemid=57&lang=en
• Exchange 2007 backup report
http://www.exchangemaster.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=251&Ite
mid=57&lang=en

66. Did the backup run last night ?
Backup Status Report for All Databases in Exchange Organization MAIL
Created on 23.09.2013 15:40:57
Backup Status of Mailbox Databases
Server Name BackupInProgress LastFullBackup LastIncrementalBackup LastDifferentialBackup LastCopyBackup RetainDeletedItemsUntilBackup
-------- ---- ---------------- -------------- --------------------- ---------------------- -------------- -----------------------------
SERVER01 DB01 False 20.09.2013 17:01:35 False
SERVER01 DB02 False 20.09.2013 17:01:35 23.07.2013 18:37:31 False
SERVER02 DB03 False 20.09.2013 17:01:35 23.07.2013 20:19:37 False
SERVER02 DB04 False 20.09.2013 17:01:35 23.07.2013 21:49:31 False
SERVER03 DB05 False 22.09.2013 17:20:02 23.09.2013 12:05:12 False
SERVER03 DB06 False 22.09.2013 17:20:03 23.09.2013 12:05:12 False
SERVER03 DB09 False 22.09.2013 17:20:02 23.09.2013 12:05:12 False
SERVER04 DB07 False 22.09.2013 17:20:03 23.09.2013 12:05:12 False
SERVER04 DB08 False 22.09.2013 17:20:02 23.09.2013 12:05:12 False
Backup Status of Public Folder Databases
Server Name BackupInProgess LastFullBackup LastIncrementalBackup LastDifferentialBackup LastCopyBackup RetainDeletedItemsUntilBackup
-------- ---- --------------- -------------- --------------------- ---------------------- -------------- -----------------------------
SERVER01 Public Folder DB06 22.09.2013 17:20:03 False
SERVER03 Public Folder DB08 20.09.2013 17:01:35 False

67. DAG Maintenance
• Scripts that come with Exchange server
C:Program FilesMicrosoftExchangeServerV14scripts
StartDagServerMaintenance.ps1
StopDagServerMaintenance.ps1
RedistributeActiveDatabases.ps1

68. DAG Maintenance
Exchange01 Exchange02
DAG01
DB01
DB02
DB03
DB04
DB01
DB02
DB03
DB04

69. DAG Maintenance
On the first node
1) execute
.StartDagServerMaintenance.ps1 -ServerName Exchange01
2) Do your maintenance (patching, whatever) on the first node
Exchange01 Exchange02
DAG01
DB01
DB02
DB03
DB04
DB01
DB02
DB03
DB04

70. DAG Maintenance
3) After maintenance is completed
.StopDagServerMaintenance.ps1 -ServerName Exchange01
Exchange01 Exchange02
DAG01
DB01
DB02
DB03
DB04
DB01
DB02
DB03
DB04

71. DAG Maintenance
4) On the second node
.StartDagServerMaintenance.ps1 -ServerName Exchange02
5)Do the patching
Exchange01 Exchange02
DAG01
DB01
DB02
DB03
DB04
DB01
DB02
DB03
DB04

72. DAG Maintenance
6) On the second node
.StopDagServerMaintenance.ps1 -ServerName Exchange02

73. DAG Maintenance
7) execute
.RedistributeActiveDatabases.ps1 -DagName DAG01 -BalanceDbsByActivationPreference
-ShowFinalDatabaseDistribution -Confirm:$false

74. Compare Services
• Computer1: SERVER01
• Computer2: SERVER02
• SystemName DisplayName StartMode State Status
• ---------- ----------- --------- ----- ------
• SERVER01 Application Management Manual Running OK
• SERVER02 Application Management Manual Stopped OK
• SERVER01 PsKill Manual Stopped OK
• SERVER01 WinHTTP Web Proxy Auto-Discovery Service Manual Running OK
• SERVER02 WinHTTP Web Proxy Auto-Discovery Service Manual Stopped OK

75. PowerShell books – Lite
• Frank Koch, Microsoft Switzerland
• German version
• English version

76. PowerShell books – medium
• PowerShell documentation Pack
• Manuals that comes with Powershell
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=b4720b00-9a66-430f-bd56-
ec48bfca154f&DisplayLang=en

77. PowerShell books – medium
• PowerShell documentation Pack
• Manuals that comes with Powershell
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=b4720b00-9a66-430f-bd56-
ec48bfca154f&DisplayLang=en

78. Powershell Books – Advanced

79. Q&A
• Q&A session 17:30 – 18:30
• You can send your questions in advance to
• dejan.foro@exchangemaster.net

80. Contact
Dejan Foro, CEO
dejan.foro@exchangemaster.net
Exchangemaster GmbH
www.exchangemaster.net

81. Show your scripts to the world
• Technet Gallery
• Powershell.com