This file tells Exchange Administrator to start from the organization level (i.e., /o) and export all information for all mailboxes and subcontainers (including recipient containers). You can then use Microsoft Excel macros, an ActiveState Perl script, a VBScript program, or any other method to remove, reformat, add, or edit the data.
Mission 2: Customize, Customize, Customize
Exchange Server lets you define custom attributes for each mailbox, distribution list (DL), and custom recipient. By default, Exchange Server names these attributes Custom Attribute 1 through Custom Attribute 10, but most people change these names (e.g., rename Custom Attribute 1 to Employee Hire Dates, rename Custom Attribute 2 to Employee ID). If you keep the default attribute names, you can use those names to export and import the attribute values. If you change the attribute names, you can use the modified names to export and import the values, but you might be unable to properly reimport your data. To fix this problem, use the attribute's directory name, rather than the display name, in your import file (e.g., use Extension-Attribute-2, rather than Custom Attribute 2 or Employee ID, as the attribute name in your export or import file's header). Apart from this minor adjustment, you can easily read, modify, and change custom attribute values as you would for any other attribute type—no muss, no fuss.
Mission 3: Whip Up a Batch (of Mailboxes and Domain Accounts)
Administrators who are migrating users from another mail system frequently need to create a batch of mailboxes. This procedure is easy if you use the Create mode I discussed in August. However, you might want to create mailboxes and NT domain accounts at the same time—for example, when migrating users away from a UNIX-based mail host. To complete this task, you need to create an options file to instruct Exchange Administrator. Also, the PDC for the domain in which you're creating the mailboxes must be available, and the import must occur on the server on which you want to locate the new mailboxes. For example, the following import options file tells Exchange Administrator to use NT security on the files, to create new NT accounts for the new mailboxes, and to not generate random passwords:
[import]
applyntsecurity=yes
createntaccounts=yes
generatepassword=no
ntdomain=ra
When I specify this options file as part of the admin.exe import command, Exchange Administrator creates the accounts in the ra domain. The resulting CSV import file will look like the following:
Obj-Class,Mode,Directory Name,
Alias Name,Display Name,E-Mail Address,Home-Server
Mailbox,Create,Jason McNamara,
Jason,Jason McNamara,SMTP:
jason@robichaux.net,HSV1
This file contains the Mode property, as well as a directory name, display name, alias email address, and home server for each recipient. These properties are required. You can use the import options file to specify more attributes, or you can specify a recipient template to permit Exchange Administrator to copy the account details for you.
As I've shown you in my most recent columns, Exchange Administrator's export and import features are extremely flexible. You can use these tools to create, remove, or modify any Exchange Server recipient object, big or small.