22/6/2014 $(Get-Exchange).

Info() Powershell Scripting for Exchange Server Some Tips

http://www.get-exchange.info/2012/12/30/powershell-scripting-for-exchange-server-some-tips/ 1/20
$(Get-Exchange).Info()
Encounters of an Exchange Administrator
Home
About
Legal
Type text to search here...
Home > Exchange, Powershell > Powershell Scripting for Exchange Server Some Tips
Powershell Scripting for Exchange Server Some Tips
December 30th, 2012 Sahal Leave a comment Go to comments
Here is a consolidation of few features and tips from my scripting practice for Exchange Server.
First thing any scripter need is a script editor, and when you talk about script editors for Powershell, there is a minimum feature requirement. Of them are Tab
completion, Testing and debugging the script from the editor itself.
Getting the Exchange cmdlets inside the editor, for this first thing required is to have Exchange Management Tools Installed. After that we open Powershell
ISE and check the loaded PS Snapins
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
PS C:\> Get-PSSnapin | Format-Table Name

Name
----
Microsoft.PowerShell.Diagnostics
Microsoft.WSMan.Management
Microsoft.PowerShell.Core
Microsoft.PowerShell.Utility
Microsoft.PowerShell.Host
22/6/2014 $(Get-Exchange).Info() Powershell Scripting for Exchange Server Some Tips
http://www.get-exchange.info/2012/12/30/powershell-scripting-for-exchange-server-some-tips/ 2/20
You can see from above all the loaded snapins, and you wont see Exchange Snapins.
Now, lets check for the Registered but not loaded Snapins
You can see above there are three snapins registered by Exchange Server 2010
Now load the Registered Snapins to the current session
10
11
Microsoft.PowerShell.Management
Microsoft.PowerShell.Security
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
PS C:\> Get-PSSnapin -Registered | Format-Table Name

Name
----
Microsoft.Exchange.Management.PowerShell.E2010
Microsoft.Exchange.Management.PowerShell.Setup
Microsoft.Exchange.Management.Powershell.Support
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
PS C:\> Get-PSSnapin -Registered | Add-PSSnapin

PS C:\> Get-PSSnapin | Format-Table Name

Name
----
Microsoft.PowerShell.Diagnostics
Microsoft.WSMan.Management
Microsoft.PowerShell.Core
Microsoft.PowerShell.Utility
Microsoft.PowerShell.Host
Microsoft.PowerShell.Management
Microsoft.PowerShell.Security
Microsoft.Exchange.Management.PowerShell.E2010
Microsoft.Exchange.Management.PowerShell.Setup
Microsoft.Exchange.Management.Powershell.Support
22/6/2014 $(Get-Exchange).Info() Powershell Scripting for Exchange Server Some Tips
http://www.get-exchange.info/2012/12/30/powershell-scripting-for-exchange-server-some-tips/ 3/20

Now we have all the exchange cmdlets loaded in our session, good to go.
Lets try a simple Exchange 2010 Cmdlet.
Why is this error, whenever you start Exchange Management Console or Exchange Management Shell, it initiates a Powershell Remoting Session, and sets some
default settings such as the Domain Controller, the Exchange Server to connect etc. In above case these things didnt happen as we have just loaded the raw
cmdlets using PSSnapin.
Another important point to note is RBAC, when you load just the snapins, you are loading the raw cmdlets to the session. Exchange is not intended to be
managed like that. There is Robust Access Control layer built into the management tools, the Role Based Access Control (RBAC). When we do execute
cmdlets by just loading PSSnapin it DOESNT RESPECT RBAC, and when RBAC is not respected the cmdlets may give unexpected results.
PS: But this doenst block us from using the snapins to easily write or edit scripts, only thing is that you cannot run the scripts here.
The solution is to use Implicit Remoting:
In this method, we are not loading any Snapins, we just create an implicit remoting session using Import-PSSession and that session loads all the cmdlets we
need, it also respects the RBAC (So you only get access to the Cmdlets you have been assigned inside the RBAC Roles).
Creating an Implicit Remoting session to Exchange Server 2010
#If you want to pass an alternate credential to connect to exchange you can use -Credential parameter
#To interactively pass the credentials use -Credential (Get-Credential) to the New-PSSession Cmdlet
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
PS C:\> Get-Mailbox
Get-Mailbox : Value cannot be null.
Parameter name: serverSettings
At line:1 char:12
+ Get-Mailbox <<<<
+ CategoryInfo : NotSpecified: (:) [Get-Mailbox], ArgumentNullException
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : System.ArgumentNullException,Microsoft.Exchange.Management.RecipientTasks.GetMailbox
1 $session = New-PSSession -ConfigurationName Microsoft.Exchange -ConnectionUri <a href="http://EXSRV1/Powershell&lt;/a&gt;Import-PSSession
22/6/2014 $(Get-Exchange).Info() Powershell Scripting for Exchange Server Some Tips
http://www.get-exchange.info/2012/12/30/powershell-scripting-for-exchange-server-some-tips/ 4/20
There is one warning always comes as powershell checks for the cmdlet verbs used, its due to the cmdlets Clean-MailboxDatabase, and Retry-Queue, both
Clean and Retry are not in the Approved verbs you get when executing the cmdlet Get-Verb
Now lets try Get-Mailbox
All is well!
Now lets see another difference to keep in mind while scripting for Exchange
Lets see some examples from Exchange Management Shell
2
3
4
5
6
7
WARNING: Some imported command names include unapproved verbs which might make them less discoverable. Use the Verbose parameter for mo
re detail or type Get-Verb to see the list of approved verbs.

ModuleType Name ExportedCommands
---------- ---- ----------------
Script tmp_819a88a7-c59d-464e... {Get-IRMConfiguration, New-MailUser, Enable-CmdletExtensionAgent
1
2
3
4
5
6
PS C:\> Get-Mailbox

Name Alias ServerName ProhibitSendQuota
---- ----- ---------- -----------------
Administrator Administrator ex2010mbx11 unlimited
DiscoverySearchMailbox... DiscoverySearchMa... ex2010mbx11 50 GB (53,687,091,200 bytes)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
[PS] C:\>$mbx = Get-Mailbox -Identity Administrator
[PS] C:\>$mbx.EmailAddresses

SmtpAddress : admin@get-exchange.local
AddressString : admin@get-exchange.local
ProxyAddressString : smtp:admin@get-exchange.local
Prefix : SMTP
IsPrimaryAddress : False
PrefixString : smtp
1 SmtpAddress : Administrator@get-exchange.local
22/6/2014 $(Get-Exchange).Info() Powershell Scripting for Exchange Server Some Tips
http://www.get-exchange.info/2012/12/30/powershell-scripting-for-exchange-server-some-tips/ 5/20
you can see from above that you are getting a complete object of email address which has properties like prefixstring, IsPrimaryAddress etc. see the members of
email address object
Similarly you can see the members of the Mailbox itself, for readability i have remove most of them. The relevant member to our discussion is EmailAddresses
properyt, you can see here that its a of ProxyAddressCollection
2
3
4
5
6
AddressString : Administrator@get-exchange.local
ProxyAddressString : SMTP:Administrator@get-exchange.local
Prefix : SMTP
IsPrimaryAddress : True
PrefixString : SMTP
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
[PS] C:\>$mbx.emailaddresses | Get-Member
TypeName: Microsoft.Exchange.Data.SmtpProxyAddress

Name MemberType Definition
---- ---------- ----------
CompareTo Method int CompareTo(Microsoft.Exchange.Data.ProxyAddress othe
Equals Method bool Equals(System.Object obj), bool Equals(Microsoft.E
GetHashCode Method int GetHashCode()
GetSimilarProxy Method Microsoft.Exchange.Data.ProxyAddressBase GetSimilarProx
GetType Method type GetType()
ToPrimary Method Microsoft.Exchange.Data.ProxyAddressBase ToPrimary()
ToSecondary Method Microsoft.Exchange.Data.ProxyAddressBase ToSecondary()
ToString Method string ToString()
TryDeencapsulate Method bool TryDeencapsulate(Microsoft.Exchange.Data.ProxyAddr
AddressString Property System.String AddressString {get;}
IsPrimaryAddress Property System.Boolean IsPrimaryAddress {get;}
Prefix Property Microsoft.Exchange.Data.ProxyAddressPrefix Prefix {get;
PrefixString Property System.String PrefixString {get;}
ProxyAddressString Property System.String ProxyAddressString {get;}
SmtpAddress Property System.String SmtpAddress {get;}
01
02
03
04
05
06
[PS] C:\>$mbx | Get-Member
TypeName: Microsoft.Exchange.Data.Directory.Management.Mailbox

Name MemberType Definition
---- ---------- ----------
Clone Method System.Object Clone()
22/6/2014 $(Get-Exchange).Info() Powershell Scripting for Exchange Server Some Tips
http://www.get-exchange.info/2012/12/30/powershell-scripting-for-exchange-server-some-tips/ 6/20
Now lets observe the same from Powershell Console or the ISE
you can see here, that you are not getting anything like prefix or IsPrimary etc. you are just getting the data as string.
To prove that lets use Get-Member on the EmailAddresses property or you can also use
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
Equals Method bool Equals(System.Object obj)
GetHashCode Method int GetHashCode()
GetProperties Method System.Object[] GetProperties(Syst
GetType Method type GetType()
ToString Method string ToString()
...
EmailAddresses Property Microsoft.Exchange.Data.ProxyAddressCollection EmailAddresses {g...
1
2
3
4
PS C:\> $mbx = Get-Mailbox -Identity Administrator
PS C:\> $mbx.EmailAddresses
smtp:admin@get-exchange.local
SMTP:Administrator@get-exchange.local
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
# $mbx.EmailAddresses.GetType()
PS C:\> $mbx.EmailAddresses | Get-Member
TypeName: System.String

Name MemberType Definition
---- ---------- ----------
Clone Method System.Object Clone()
CompareTo Method int CompareTo(System.Object value), int CompareTo(string strB)
Contains Method bool Contains(string value)
CopyTo Method System.Void CopyTo(int sourceIndex, char[] destination, int destinationIndex, int count)
EndsWith Method bool EndsWith(string value), bool
So, having looked at all those details, just see if we see any difference in the Retried Object itself in the

PS C:\> $mbx | Get-Member
TypeName: Deserialized.Microsoft.Exchange.Data.Directory.Management.Mailbox

Name MemberType Definition
---- ---------- ----------
ToString Method string ToString(), string ToString(string format, System.IFormatProvider formatP...
22/6/2014 $(Get-Exchange).Info() Powershell Scripting for Exchange Server Some Tips
http://www.get-exchange.info/2012/12/30/powershell-scripting-for-exchange-server-some-tips/ 7/20
Important information to look here is the word "Deserialized" in the beginning of Type Name and also in the definition of EmailAddresses property. This brings
us another concept to understand, "How Powershell Remoting perform Data Transfer". This discussion is to not dig into that area, i will provide some reference
links to read abou it at the end of this post. Its already explained by Powershell Experts out there.
Deserialized Objects
In short, it does somthing called serialization and deserializaion - a form of transporting data or live objects using XML. When objects get deserialized they loose
their dynamic nature, so you cannot perform most of the method calls or explore dynamic nature of the Object.
Lets understand this by looking at another example:
Exploring maibox database object inside the script, lets first look at from Powershell Console or ISe
the property EdbFilePath gives you the complete path to the Database File.
you can see the type of this property is string
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
PSComputerName NoteProperty System.String PSComputerName=ex2010mbx11
RunspaceId NoteProperty System.Guid RunspaceId=1c8913bb-b202-4b52-8a13-17da41b77056
AcceptMessagesOnlyFrom Property Deserialized.Microsoft.Exchange.Data.Directory.ADMultiValuedProperty`1[[Microsof...
AcceptMessagesOnlyFromDLMembers Property Deserialized.Microsoft.Exchange.Data.Directory.ADMultiValuedProperty`1[[Microsof...
AcceptMessagesOnlyFromSendersOrMembers Property Deserialized.Microsoft.Exchange.Data.Directory.ADMultiValuedProperty`1[[Microsof...
AddressBookPolicy Property {get;set;}
AddressListMembership Property Deserialized.Microsoft.Exchange.Data.Directory.ADMultiValuedProperty`1[[Microsof...
Alias Property System.String {get;set;}
AntispamBypassEnabled Property System.Boolean {get;set;}
ArbitrationMailbox Property {get;set;}
ArchiveDatabase Property {get;set;}
ArchiveDomain Property {get;set;}
....
EmailAddresses Property Deserialized.Microsoft.Exchange.Data.ProxyAddressCollection {get;
1
2
3
4
$Db = Get-MailboxDatabase MBX11-DB01

PS C:\> $Db.EdbFilePath
C:\MBX11-DB01\mbx11-db01.edb
22/6/2014 $(Get-Exchange).Info() Powershell Scripting for Exchange Server Some Tips
http://www.get-exchange.info/2012/12/30/powershell-scripting-for-exchange-server-some-tips/ 8/20
Also if you execute below you get no output:
Now, perform the same steps from Exchange Management Shell
You can see here the property EdbFilePath is not just a string here its a complete object with more classified information, such as the DriveName property,
PathName property etc.
here you get an output from the EdbFilePath.PathName, notice this failed in the pervious example in ISE.
This is because EdbFilePath is not a string object here.
1
2
3
4
5
PS C:\> $Db.EdbFilePath.GetType()

IsPublic IsSerial Name BaseType
-------- -------- ---- --------
True True String System.Object
1
2
PS C:\&gt; $Db.EdbFilePath.PathName
PS C:\&gt;
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
[PS] C:\>$Db = Get-MailboxDatabase MBX11-DB01

[PS] C:\>$Db.EdbFilePath
IsPathInRootDirectory : False
PathName : C:\MBX11-DB01\mbx11-db01.edb
IsLocalFull : True
IsUnc : False
DriveName : C:
ServerName :
1
2
[PS] C:\>$Db.EdbFilePath.PathName
C:\MBX11-DB01\mbx11-db01.edb
01
02
03
04
[PS] C:\>$Db.EdbFilePath | gm
TypeName: Microsoft.Exchange.Data.EdbFilePath

Name MemberType Definition
22/6/2014 $(Get-Exchange).Info() Powershell Scripting for Exchange Server Some Tips
http://www.get-exchange.info/2012/12/30/powershell-scripting-for-exchange-server-some-tips/ 9/20
What is the take way from this is while writing the script keep in mind the differences, such that in EMS $Db.EdbFilePath is an object by itself and if you
requirement is to just get the path you can use $Db.EdbFilePath.PathName But this will not work when you are executing from PowerShell ISE.
Next thing to consider is testing and executing your Scripts for Exchange Environment, you can use PowerShell ISE to write scripts, but for testing run them from
Exchange Management Shell, and keep in mind the difference like above and due to that the intellisence or tab completion will not show the nested properties.
Scheduling Exchange Server Scripts
Now a simple tip on how to schedule Exchange Server Scripts using Task Scheduler. Most of the times, you need to run scripts on a repeated intervel without
user intervention. you can schedule your Exchange scripts and still use the EMS as the execution platform. i will just show the Action to trigger while creating a
Scheuled Task for Exchange Server 2010 Script.
The Program to Run will be Powershell.exe
You should pass optional arguments to Powershell.exe to do things like running it in non-interactive Mode and/or hide the window etc. you can use -Command
to say which command to run once powershell.exe is loaded
Field Program to Run: C:\Windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe
Field Optional Arguments:
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
---- ---------- ----------
CompareTo Method int CompareTo(Microsoft.Exchange.Data.Lo
Equals Method bool Equals(System.Object value), bool E
GetHashCode Method int GetHashCode()
GetType Method type GetType()
ToString Method string ToString()
ValidateDirectoryPathLength Method System.Void ValidateDirectoryPathLength(
ValidateEdbFileExtension Method System.Void ValidateEdbFileExtension()
ValidateFilePathLength Method System.Void ValidateFilePathLength()
DriveName Property System.String DriveName {get;}
IsLocalFull Property System.Boolean IsLocalFull {get;}
IsPathInRootDirectory Property System.Boolean IsPathInRootDirectory {ge
IsUnc Property System.Boolean IsUnc {get;}
PathName Property System.String PathName {get;}
ServerName Property System.String ServerName {get;}
[PS] C:\>
22/6/2014 $(Get-Exchange).Info() Powershell Scripting for Exchange Server Some Tips
http://www.get-exchange.info/2012/12/30/powershell-scripting-for-exchange-server-some-tips/ 10/20
-NonInteractive -WindowStyle Hidden -command . C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\V14\bin\RemoteExchange.ps1; Connect-ExchangeServer -
auto; & C:\Scripts\Report-ServerHealth.ps1
There different aspects in the optional arguments field:
1. -NonInteractive Non Interactive Window
2. -WindowStyle Hidden The Powershell windows is hidden (you can still the process in task manager)
3. -command the command to execute after loading powershell.exe, this can be one or multiple cmdlets(seperated by ;)
4. The first cmdlet . C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\V14\bin\RemoteExchange.ps1; -> the is the default script loaded when you open EMS
5. Connect-ExchangeServer -auto; -> this is the function which was loaded by the previous script called RemoteExchange.ps1
6. & C:\Scripts\Report-ServerHealth.ps1 -> now the real script we have created (finally!!)

Its the era of Powershell v3 now, which bring more interesting features for writing scripts, such as Intellisense, auto module loading, show command feature etc.
PS v3 is not yet supported by Exchange server 2010 (that is at version SP2 RU5) so DO NOT go and install it on your Exchange Server 2010 Server, you will
breat it.
but you can use it for script editing, on your desktop or scripting machine. below are few useful features:
The Improved Intellisense feature, this will help to discover cmdlets and parameter and even parameter values
22/6/2014 $(Get-Exchange).Info() Powershell Scripting for Exchange Server Some Tips
http://www.get-exchange.info/2012/12/30/powershell-scripting-for-exchange-server-some-tips/ 11/20
Intellisense Examples:
22/6/2014 $(Get-Exchange).Info() Powershell Scripting for Exchange Server Some Tips
http://www.get-exchange.info/2012/12/30/powershell-scripting-for-exchange-server-some-tips/ 12/20
Exploring Objects made easy (remember Deserialization EdbFilePath is a String here as you can see):
22/6/2014 $(Get-Exchange).Info() Powershell Scripting for Exchange Server Some Tips
http://www.get-exchange.info/2012/12/30/powershell-scripting-for-exchange-server-some-tips/ 13/20

The Show-Command cmdlet to find out the syntax to use before you start scripting, you can fill out the GUI Form and then click on Copy to copy the syntax to
clipboard.
22/6/2014 $(Get-Exchange).Info() Powershell Scripting for Exchange Server Some Tips
http://www.get-exchange.info/2012/12/30/powershell-scripting-for-exchange-server-some-tips/ 14/20
Paste it back in the editor and you just got a complete syntax to use.
Some PSRemoting References:
About_Remot_Output
How objects are send to and from remote sessions
What else to look for while Writing or Editing Scripts for Exchange Server, do give your comments!


22/6/2014 $(Get-Exchange).Info() Powershell Scripting for Exchange Server Some Tips
http://www.get-exchange.info/2012/12/30/powershell-scripting-for-exchange-server-some-tips/ 15/20
Share This:
Tweet 8 4 Like Compartir
0
Categories: Exchange, Powershell Tags: Scripting, Tips
Comments (0) Leave a comment
1. No comments yet.
Name (required)
E-Mail (will not be published) (required)
Website
CAPTCHA Code *
Subscribe to comments feed
Submit Comment
Notify me of follow-up comments by email.
Notify me of new posts by email.
Exchange 2013 Step By Step: AD Preparation Notes New Visio Stencils for Office 2013 Suite
Share More
22/6/2014 $(Get-Exchange).Info() Powershell Scripting for Exchange Server Some Tips
http://www.get-exchange.info/2012/12/30/powershell-scripting-for-exchange-server-some-tips/ 16/20
Get updates in your inbox
note:your email address is not shared
Join 12 other subscribers
Email Address
Subscribe
Categories
Community (4)
22/6/2014 $(Get-Exchange).Info() Powershell Scripting for Exchange Server Some Tips
http://www.get-exchange.info/2012/12/30/powershell-scripting-for-exchange-server-some-tips/ 17/20
Directory Service (1)
Exchange (10)
General (7)
Personal Thoughts (2)
Powershell (7)
ScriptingGames (1)
Virtualization (6)
Tag Cloud
Act ive Direct ory Aut omat ion Bdot Net BITPro Ex2013St epBySt ep Exchange Exchange 2013 Exchange 2013 Preview General Hyper-V Kerala DHSE
Lab MyBlog Office Oracle Powershell Powershell Pipeline PowershellV3 PSH2013 Script ing Set up SQL SQLBangalore SQLPlus Tally TechEd TechEdIn Tips UserGroup
Virtualization Vist ual Basic Welcome Windows 2008 R2 Windows Server 2012
Recent Posts
Scripting Games Advanced Event 3 My Submission
Exchange 2013 Step By Step: AD Preparation Notes
Powershell Scripting for Exchange Server Some Tips
22/6/2014 $(Get-Exchange).Info() Powershell Scripting for Exchange Server Some Tips
http://www.get-exchange.info/2012/12/30/powershell-scripting-for-exchange-server-some-tips/ 18/20
You must be willing to do the things
today others don't do in order to have
the things tomorrow others won't have.
Les Brown #Quotes
Retweeted by Sahal Omer
Bille Baty
@BilleBaty
Expand
#Poweshell DSC, MS App-V, Server
2012 BYOD, Get connected. Join us
on 7th June. #bitpro #psbug UG Meet.
At #Bangalore bit.ly/1ksy4zZ
Sahal Omer
@GetExchange
Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
Back up an Azure VM using Microsoft
Azure Automation #powershell
buff.ly/1mOCQGy
Jan Egil Ring
@JanEgilRing
21 Jun
3 Jun
16 May
Tweets
Follow
Tweet to @GetExchange
22/6/2014 $(Get-Exchange).Info() Powershell Scripting for Exchange Server Some Tips
http://www.get-exchange.info/2012/12/30/powershell-scripting-for-exchange-server-some-tips/ 19/20
Get-Exchange.Info
A 18 personas les gusta Get-Exchange.Inf o.
Plug-in social de Facebook
Me gusta
Archives
22/6/2014 $(Get-Exchange).Info() Powershell Scripting for Exchange Server Some Tips
http://www.get-exchange.info/2012/12/30/powershell-scripting-for-exchange-server-some-tips/ 20/20
May 2013
February 2013
December 2012
November 2012
September 2012
August 2012
July 2012
June 2012
May 2012
March 2012
Copyright 2012 www.get-exchange.info