How can I view Exchange Server versions in Exchange System Manager (ESM)? From the Exchange tips section at MSD2D.com
If you have multiple Exchange Server 2003 Standard Edition and Exchange 2003 Enterprise Edition servers in your organization, at times you’ll probably need to determine which Exchange version each server is running. You can do so by following these steps:
- In ESM, open Administrative Groups.
- 2. Expand First Administrative Group (or another existing group).
- 3. Click Servers.
- 4. In the right panel, under Server, you should see all servers in the selected administrative group and their versions.
—Anderson Patricio
When I use the Tools, Mail Merge command from my Contacts folder in Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 to create file folder labels, the labels print out as “Smith, John.” I’d like to capitalize just the surname, as in “SMITH, John.” How can I do this?
The formatting needs to be part of the merge field code. Insert the fields from your contacts into the merge document as you typically would. Then, to see the field codes in Microsoft Word, click Tools, Options, and click the Field Codes box on the View tab. Edit the Last_Name field so that it looks like the following:
\{MERGEFIELD “Last_Name”
\* Upper \* MERGEFORMAT \}
For more information about merging
data from Outlook to Word, see “Performing a Mail Merge from the Contacts Folder,” November 2005,
InstantDoc ID 47697.
—Sue Mosher
How can I replicate public folders between different Exchange organizations?
Microsoft provides the Inter-Organization Replication tool to synchronize public folders and free/busy information between Exchange organizations running Exchange 2000 Server Service Pack 3 (SP3) or later. The tool consists of two components:
- the Replication Configuration pro- gram (exscfg.exe)
- the Replication service (exssrv.exe)
You can download the tool and Help documents at http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?family id=e7a951d7-1559-4f8f-b400-488b0c52430e&displaylang=en.
All communication between Exchange servers in the replication process occurs via remote procedure call
(RPC, port 135) and two randomly
picked ports (unless you configure
fixed RPC ports), so make sure that
any firewalls between the Exchange
servers allow RPC communication.
—John Savill
What’s the Microsoft Exchange Server Quota Message Service?
Quota Message Service is a
Microsoft tool that lets you send custom messages to users who exceed
their mailbox quotas. The tool basically turns off the system-generated
quota messages and substitutes its
own component, which lets you
define a custom quota message. You
can download Quota Message Service at http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=eb52f6ab-e07a-476c-b32b-145af6ea970c&displaylang=en. You can use the
tool with Exchange 2003 and
Exchange 2000. (To use the tool with
Exchange 2000, you need a hotfix,
which you can download at http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=824312).
You can find additional information
about Quota Message Service at the
Microsoft Exchange Team Blog at
http://msexchangeteam.com/archive/2004/04/20/117024.aspx.
—John Savill
Where do I store images that I want to use as part of my Windows SharePoint Services site?
By default, Windows SharePoint
Services looks in the C:\program
files\common files\microsoft shared\web server extensions\60\template\images folder to locate images. You
can confirm this location by looking at
the Microsoft Management Console
(MMC) Internet Information Services
(IIS) Manager snap-in. Expand the
site, then Layouts and Images. Right-
click Images and select Properties.
Open the Virtual Directory tab and
confirm the Local path. You can now
copy images to this folder or create a
subfolder for your custom images.
—John Savill
How can I locate email accounts in AD?
Most Exchange admins would
welcome any tool that makes it easier
for them to manage users’ email
accounts, especially if they manage a
medium-to-large Exchange organization where most users have multiple
email addresses. Dave Roth provides
such a tool: the FindEmail.pl command-line script, which uses ADO
databases and Active Directory Service Interfaces (ADSI) to query Active
Directory (AD) and determine email
addresses for particular user accounts.
Look for Dave’s article, “Locating
Email Accounts in AD,” and script in the
August 2006 issue of Windows Scripting Solutions, InstantDoc ID 50543.
—Editors
What do Windows IT pros think about Exchange 2007 and Office 2007?
Travel supposedly broadens the mind, and it’s certainly true in my case. I recently traveled to several countries as part of the Get Ready for Exchange and Outlook 2007 Road- show, co-sponsored by Windows IT Pro and Microsoft. I visited Portugal, Norway, and South Africa (three places I’d never been before), plus a variety of airports (my favorite: Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, which has a nifty in-airport art museum). I’ve met and talked with a lot of people about Exchange Server 2007 and the 2007 Microsoft Office system, and I was struck by their opinions and reactions to the new products.
First, I found a huge interest in the new Exchange Management Console and its accompanying scripting environment, the Exchange Management Shell. Many of the people I spoke with were excited about the potential uses of the command-line environment, but a few folks expressed worry that Exchange 2007 would require people to use the command line, which is partially true. Microsoft’s stated goal is for the command line to allow every operation you can perform in Exchange Management Console. Furthermore, some less-common tasks that aren’t in the GUI can be performed only through the command line. One feature new to Exchange 2007 Beta 2 that grabbed a lot of interest was Exchange Management Console’s ability to show the exact Exchange Management Shell command necessary to complete a given task: People like to see how the command is constructed according to the options they choose in the GUI.
Second, I was glad to see that Microsoft’s message about public folders is getting out to the world. Public folders aren’t dead; rather, Microsoft has publicly committed to supporting them at least until the end-of-life for Exchange 2007—10 years after it ships. That means that you have until around 2016 before you have to worry about whether Microsoft will eliminate public folders. You can build a public-folder–free environment with Exchange 2007 and Microsoft Office Outlook 2007, and given that many organizations use public folders only for free/busy data and offline address books, I think such environments will probably be of great interest. There are still some questions about how we’ll be able to migrate Exchange public folder data to SharePoint; I’ll write about that in an upcoming article.
Third, Microsoft needs to do a better job of explaining exactly what users need to deploy Exchange Unified Messaging (UM). There’s intense interest in this feature, but most people are confused about whether their existing PBX systems will work with Exchange UM and, if not, what kinds of equipment they should plan on buying. As more Microsoft partners get up to speed on Exchange 2007, I expect this problem to solve itself, but I’d love to see some recommended hardware for a “UM starter kit” that could be used for pilot, test, and branch-office installations.
Fourth, the reaction to the new scheduling and calendaring features has been uniformly enthusiastic. If Microsoft can continue clearly communicating how the Calendar Concierge features make life better for both end users and server administrators, the company will find a ready audience among people who are frustrated by the challenges of scheduling meetings.
Finally, my travels taught me not to
count on Verizon’s “world phone” service to work outside North America
unless I’m using a Verizon-branded
phone. I wasn’t, and thus was reduced
to using Skype and phone cards to
call the United States from South
Africa. Verizon’s network coverage in
the United States has been excellent
for me, and its high-speed Evolution-Data Optimized data service is super
valuable on road trips, but I’m going to
have to deploy a second phone for
overseas travel. I welcome your comments and experiences with T-Mobile
and Cingular (or maybe I’ll just keep
buying prepaid Global System for
Mobile Communication Subscriber
Identity Module cards in the countries
I visit).
—Paul Robichaux
Where can I learn more about Exchange Connections?
Next month’s Windows and
Microsoft Exchange Connections
conference packs more than 50 sessions covering Exchange and Share-
Point into four days at the Mandalay
Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas.
The sessions provide a unique opportunity for Exchange and SharePoint
professionals to meet their peers and
learn from experts on topics such as
SMTP troubleshooting, Exchange online
backup recovery, message hygiene,
SharePoint workflows, and of course,
the next-generation “2007” versions
of Exchange and SharePoint. The
conference, which is co-sponsored by
Microsoft, Windows IT Pro, TechNet
Magazine, and Tech Conferences and
co-located with several other Connections conferences, also features a
vendor expo, the perennially popular Ex-
change 2003 Troubleshooting course,
and the Mandalay Bay Resort’s sandy
beach and tropical lagoon, a great place
to unwind with your IT colleagues
after an intense day of technical sessions. For more information and to
register, go to the Connections Web
site at http://winconnections.com/default.asp.
—Editors
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GET MORE ONLINE Follow these links to access the resources mentioned in this month’s Exchange Ideas. View Exchange Server versions in ESM Capitalizing surnames on mail merge printouts Replicate public folders between Exchange organizations Quota Message Service Storing images for Windows SharePoint Services Locating email accounts in AD IT pros’ feedback on Exchange 2007 To subscribe to the free Exchange & Outlook UPDATE email newsletter, go to http://www.windowsitpro.com/email Exchange Connections |
