Applies to: Exchange Server 2013

Topic Last Modified: 2012-12-10

As in previous versions of Exchange, you can use the Exchange Management Shell in Microsoft Exchange Server 2013 to view information about queues and the messages in those queues, and to perform management actions on queues and messages. In Exchange 2013, queues exist on Mailbox servers and Edge Transport servers. This topic refers to these servers as transport servers.

When you use the Shell to view and manage queues and messages in queues on transport servers, it's important to understand how to identify the queues or messages you want to manage. Typically, transport servers contain a large number of queues and messages to be delivered. You use the filtering parameters that are available on the queue and message management cmdlets to identify the queues or messages that you want to view or manage.

Note that you can also use Queue Viewer in the Exchange Toolbox to manage queues and messages in queues. However, the queue and message viewing cmdlets support more filterable properties and filter options than Queue Viewer. For more information about using Queue Viewer, see Queue Viewer.

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Queue filtering parameters

The following table describes the filtering parameters that are available on the queue management cmdlets.

Cmdlet Filtering parameters Comments

Get-Queue

Identity

Filter

Include

Exclude

You can't use the Identity parameter in the same command with the Filter parameters. You can use the Include and Exclude parameters with the Filter parameter in the same command.

Resume-Queue

Retry-Queue

Suspend-Queue

Identity

Filter

You need to use either the Identity parameter or the Filter parameter, but you can't use both in the same command.

Get-QueueDigest

Server

Dag

Site

Forest

Filter

You need to use the Server, Dag, Site, or Forest parameter, but you can't use any of them together in the same command. You can use the Filter parameter with any of the other filtering parameters.

Note that a Server parameter is available on all queue management cmdlets. On the Get-QueueDigest cmdlet, the Server parameter is a scope parameter that specifies the server or servers where you want to view summary information about queues. On all other queue management cmdlets, you use the Server parameter to connect to a specific server, and run the queue management commands on that server. You can use the Server parameter with or without the Filter parameter, but you can't use the Server parameter with the Identity parameter. You use the transport server's hostname or FQDN with the Server parameter.

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Queue identity

The Identity parameter on the queue management cmdlets identifies a specific queue. When you use the Identity parameter, you can't specify any other queue filtering parameters, because you've already uniquely identified the queue. The Identity parameter uses the basic syntax <Server>\<Queue>.

The <Server> placeholder is the hostname or FQDN of the Exchange server, for example mailbox01 or mailbox01.contoso.com. If you omit the <Server> qualifier, the local server is implied.

The <Queue> placeholder accepts one of the following values:

  • Persistent queue name   Persistent queues have unique, consistent names on all Mailbox or Edge Transport servers. The persistent queue names are:

    • Submission   This queue contains messages waiting to be processed by the categorizer.

    • Unreachable   This queue contains messages that can't be routed. This queue doesn't exist until messages are placed in it.

    • Poison   This queue contains messages that are determined to be harmful to the Exchange server. This queue doesn't exist until messages are placed in it.

  • Delivery queue name   The name of a delivery queue is the value of the NextHopDomain property of the queue. For example, the queue name could be the address space of a Send connector, the name of an Active Directory site, or the name of a DAG. For more information, see the "NextHopSolutionKey" section in the Queues topic.

  • Queue integer   Delivery queues and shadow queues are assigned a unique integer value in the queue database. However, you need to run the Get-Queue cmdlet to find the integer value for the queue in the Identity or QueueIdentity properties.

  • Shadow queue name   A shadow queue uses the syntax Shadow\<QueueInteger>

The following table summarizes the syntax you can use with Identity parameter on the queue management cmdlets. In all values, <Server> is the hostname or FQDN of the server.

Queue identity formats

Identity parameter value Description

<Server>\<PersistentQueueName> or <PersistentQueueName>

A persistent queue on the specified server or the local server.

<PersistentQueueName> is Submission, Unreachable, or Poison.

<Server>\<NextHopDomain> or <NextHopDomain>

A delivery queue on the specified server or the local server.

<NextHopDomain> is a routing destination or delivery group for the messages in the queue. For more information, see the "NextHopSolutionKey" section in the Queues topic.

<Server>\<QueueInteger> or <QueueInteger>

A delivery queue on the specified server or the local server.

<QueueInteger> is the unique integer value of the queue that's displayed in the Identity property of the Get-Queue cmdlet.

<Server>\Shadow\<QueueInteger> or Shadow\<QueueInteger>

A shadow queue on the specified server or the local server.

<Server>\* or *

All queues on the specified server or the local server. Note that these values can only be used with the Get-Queue cmdlet.

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Queue Filter parameter

You can use the Filter parameter on the all of the queue management cmdlets to specify the queues you want to view or manage based on the properties of the queues. The Filter parameter creates an expression with comparison operators that restricts the queue operation to queues that meet the filter criteria. You can use the -and logical operator to specify multiple conditions that the results must match.

For a complete list of queue properties you can use with the Filter parameter, see Queues.

For a list of comparison operators you can use with the Filter parameter, see the Comparison operators to use when filtering queues or messages section in this topic.

For examples of procedures that use the Filter parameter to view and manage queues, see Manage Queues.

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Include and Exclude parameters

Exchange 2013 has the Include and Exclude parameters available on the Get-Queue cmdlet. You can use these parameters individually, together, and with the Filter parameter to fine-tune your queue results on the local or specified transport server. For example, you can:

  • Exclude empty queues from the results.

  • Exclude queues to external destinations from the results.

  • Include queues that have a specific value of DeliveryType in the results.

The Include and Exclude parameters use the following queue properties to filter queues:

Value Description Shell code example

DeliveryType

This value includes or excludes queues based on the DeliveryType property. You can specify multiple values separated by commas. The valid values for DeliveryType are explained in the "NextHopSolutionKey" section in the topic Queues topic.

This example returns all delivery queues on the local server where the next hop is a Send connector on the local server that's configured for smart host routing:

Get-Queue -Include SmartHostConnectorDelivery

Empty

This value includes or excludes empty queues. Empty queues have the value 0 in the MessageCount property.

This example returns all queues on the local server that contain messages

Get-Queue -Exclude Empty

External

This value includes or excludes queues that have the value External in the NextHopCategory property.

External queues always have one of the following values for DeliveryType:

  • DeliveryAgent

  • DnsConnectorDelivery

  • NonSmtpGatewayDelivery

  • SmartHostConnectorDelivery

For more information, see the "NextHopSolutionKey" section in the Queues topic.

This example returns all internal queues on the local server

Get-Queue -Exclude External

Internal

This value includes or excludes queues that have the value Internal in the NextHopCategory property. For more information, see the "NextHopSolutionKey" section in the Queues topic.

This example returns all internal queues on the local server.

Get-Queue -Include Internal

Note that you can duplicate the functionality of the Include and Exclude parameters by using the Filter parameter. For example, the command Get-Queue -Exclude Empty yields the same result as Get-Queue -Filter {MessageCount -gt 0}. However, the syntax of the Include and Exclude parameters is simpler and easier to remember.

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Get-QueueDigest

Exchange 2013 adds a new queue cmdlet named Get-QueueDigest. This cmdlet allows you to view information about some or all of the queues in your Exchange organization by using a single command. Specifically, the Get-QueueDigest cmdlet allows you to view information about queues based on their location on servers, in DAGs, in Active Directory sites, or in the whole Active Directory forest.

The filtering and sorting parameters that are available with the Get-QueueDigest cmdlet are described in the following table.

Parameter Description

Dag, Server, or Site

These parameters are mutually exclusive, and set the scope for the cmdlet. You need to specify one of these parameters or the Forest switch. Typically, you would use the name of the server, DAG or Active Directory site, but you can use any value that uniquely identifies the server, DAG, or site. You can specify multiple servers, DAGs, or sites separated by commas.

Forest

This switch is required if you aren't using the Dag, Server, or Site parameters. You don't specify a value with this switch. By using this switch, you get queues from all Exchange 2013 Mailbox servers in the Active Directory forest. You can't use the Forest switch to view queues in remote Active Directory forests.

DetailsLevel

This parameter accepts the values None, Normal, and Verbose. The default value is Normal. When you use the value None, the queue name is omitted from the Details column in the results.

Filter

This parameter allows you to filter queues based on the queue properties. You can use any of the filterable queue properties as described in the Queue Filters topic.

GroupBy

This parameter groups the queue results. You can group the results by one of the following properties:

  • DeliveryType

  • LastError

  • NextHopCategory

  • NextHopDomain

  • NextHopKey

  • Status

  • ServerName

By default, the results are grouped by NextHopDomain. For information about these queue properties, see Queue Filters.

ResultSize

This parameter limits the queue results to the value you specify. The queues are sorted in descending order based on the number of messages in the queue, and grouped by the value specified by the GroupBy parameter. The default value is 1000. This means that by default, the command displays the top 1000 queues grouped by NextHopDomain, and sorted by the queues containing the most messages to the queues containing the least messages.

Timeout

The parameter specifies the number of seconds before the operation times out. The default value is 00:00:10 or 10 seconds.

This example returns all non-empty external queues on the Exchange 2013 Mailbox servers named Mailbox01,Mailbox02, and Mailbox03.

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Get-QueueDigest -Server Mailbox01,Mailbox02,Mailbox03 -Include External -Exclude Empty

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Message filtering parameters

The following table describes the filtering parameters that are available on the message management cmdlets.

Cmdlet Filtering parameters Comments

Get-Message

Identity

Filter

Queue

All filtering parameters are mutually exclusive, and you can use them together in the same command.

Remove-Message

Resume-Message

Suspend-Message

Identity

Filter

You need to use either the Identity parameter or the Filter parameter, but you can't use both in the same command.

Export-Message

Identity

The Identity parameter is required.

Note that a Server parameter is available on all message management cmdlets except for the Export-Message cmdlet. You use the Server parameter to connect to a specific server, and run the message management commands on that server. You can use the Server parameter with or without the Filter parameter, but you can't use the Server parameter with the Identity parameter. You use the transport server's hostname or FQDN with the Server parameter.

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Message identity

The Identity parameter on the message management cmdlets identifies a specific message in one or more queues. When you use the Identity parameter, you can't specify any other message filtering parameters, because you've already uniquely identified the message. The Identity parameter uses the basic syntax <Server>\<Queue>\<MessageInteger>.

The <Server> placeholder is the hostname or FQDN of the Exchange server, for example mailbox01 or mailbox01.contoso.com. If you omit the <Server> qualifier, the local server is implied.

The <Queue> placeholder accepts the identity of the queue as described in the "Queue identity" section in this topic. For example, you can use the persistent queue name, the NextHopDomain value, or the unique integer value of the queue in the queue database.

The <MessageInteger> placeholder represents the unique integer value that's assigned to the message when it first enters the queue database on the server. If the message is sent to multiple recipients that require multiple queues, all copies of the message in all queues in the queue database have the same integer value. However, you need to run the Get-Message cmdlet to find the integer value for the message in the Identity or MessageIdentity properties.

The following table summarizes the syntax you can use with Identity parameter on the message management cmdlets. In all values, <Server> is the hostname or FQDN of the server.

Message identity formats

Identity parameter value Description

<Server>\<Queue>\<MessageInteger> or <Queue>\<MessageInteger>

A message in a specific queue on the specified server or the local server.

<MessageInteger> is the unique integer value of the message that's displayed in the Identity property of the Get-Message cmdlet.

<Queue> represents one of the following values:

  • Persistent queue name   The value Submission, Unreachable, or Poison.

  • Delivery queue name   The value of the NextHopDomain property of the queue, which is effectively the name of the queue. This value could be a routing destination or a delivery group. For more information, see the "NextHopSolutionKey" section in the Queues topic.

  • Queue integer   The unique integer value of the delivery queue or shadow queue that's displayed in the Identity property of the Get-Message or Get-Queue cmdlets.

  • Shadow queue identity   The shadow queue identity uses the syntax Shadow\<QueueInteger>.

<Server>\*\<MessageInteger> or *\<MessageInteger> or <MessageInteger>

All copies of the message in all queues in the queue database on the specified server or the local server.

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Message Filter parameter

You can use the Filter parameter on the Get-Message, Remove-Message, Resume-Message, and Suspend-Message cmdlets to specify the messages you want to view or manage based on the properties of the messages. The Filter parameter creates an expression with comparison operators that restricts the message operation to messages that meet the filter criteria. You can use the -and logical operator to specify multiple conditions that the results must match.

For a complete list of message properties you can use with the Filter parameter, see Queues.

For a list of comparison operators you can use with the Filter parameter, see the Comparison operators to use when filtering queues or messages section in this topic.

For examples of procedures that use the Filter parameter to view and manage messages, see Manage Queues.

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Queue parameter

The Queue parameter is used only with the Get-Message cmdlet. You can use this parameter to get all messages in a specific queue, or all messages from multiple queues by using the wildcard character (*).When you use the Queue parameter, use the queue identity format <Server>\<Queue> as described in the "Queue identity" section in this topic.

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Comparison operators to use when filtering queues or messages

When you create a queue or message filter expression by using the Filter parameter, you need to include an comparison operator for the property value to match. The following table shows the comparison operators that you can use in a filter expression and how each operator functions. For all operators, the values compared aren't case sensitive.

Comparison operators

Operator Function Shell code example

-eq

This operator is used to specify that the results must exactly match the property value that's supplied in the expression.

To display a list of all queues that have a status of Retry:

Get-Queue -Filter {Status -eq "Retry"}

To display a list of all messages that have a status of Retry:

Get-Message -Filter {Status -eq "Retry"}

-ne

This operator is used to specify that the results shouldn't match the property value that's supplied in the expression.

To display a list of all queues that don't have a status of Active:

Get-Queue -Filter {Status -ne "Active"}

To display a list of all messages that don't have a status of Active:

Get-Message -Filter {Status -ne "Active"}

-gt

This operator is used with properties where the value is expressed as an integer or date/time. The filter results only include queues or messages where the value of the specified property is greater than the value that's supplied in the expression.

To display a list of queues that currently contain more than 1,000 messages:

Get-Queue -Filter {MessageCount -gt 1000}

To display a list of messages that currently have a retry count that's more than 3:

Get-Message -Filter {RetryCount -gt 3}

-ge

This operator is used with properties where the value is expressed as an integer or date/time. The filter results only include queues or messages where the value of the specified property is greater than or equal to the value that's supplied in the expression.

To display a list of queues that currently contain 1,000 or more messages:

Get-Queue -Filter {MessageCount -ge 1000}

To display a list of messages that currently have a retry count that's 3 or more:

Get-Message -Filter {RetryCount -ge 3}

-lt

This operator is used with properties where the value is expressed as an integer or date/time. The filter results only include queues or messages where the value of the specified property is less than the value that's supplied in the expression.

To display a list of queues that currently contain less than 1,000 messages:

Get-Queue -Filter {MessageCount -lt 1000}

To display a list of messages that have an SCL that's less than 6:

Get-Message -Filter {SCL -lt 6}

-le

This operator is used with properties where the value is expressed as an integer or date/time. The filter results only include queues or messages where the value of the specified property is less than or equal to the value supplied in the expression.

To display a list of queues that currently contain 1,000 or fewer messages:

Get-Queue -Filter {MessageCount -le 1000}

To display a list of messages that have an SCL that's 6 or less:

Get-Message -Filter {SCL -le 6}

-like

This operator is used with properties where the value is expressed as a text string. The filter results only include queues or messages where the value of the specified property contains the text string that's supplied in the expression. You can include the wildcard character (*) in a -like expression that's applied to a text string field, but not with a field that has the enumeration type.

To display a list of delivery queues that have a destination to any SMTP domain that ends in Contoso.com:

Get-Queue -Filter {Identity -like "*contoso.com"}

To display a list of messages that have a subject that contains the text "payday loan":

Get-Messages -Filter {Subject -like "*payday loan*"}

You can specify a filter that evaluates multiple expressions by using the -and comparison operator. The queues or messages must meet all conditions of the filter to be included in the results.

This example displays a list of queues that have a destination to any SMTP domain name that ends in Contoso.com and that currently contain more than 500 messages.

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Get-Queue -Filter {Identity -like "*contoso.com*" -and MessageCount -gt 500}

This example displays a list of messages that are sent from any email address in the contoso.com domain that have an SCL that's greater than 5.

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Get-Message -Filter {FromAddress -like "*Contoso.com*" -and SCL -gt 5}

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Advanced paging parameters

Depending on current mail flow, queries against queues and messages can return a large set of objects. You can use the advanced paging parameters to control how query results are retrieved and displayed.

When you use the Shell to view queues and the messages in the queues, your query retrieves one page of information at a time. The advanced paging parameters control the size of the result set and can also be used to sort the results. All advanced paging parameters are optional and can be combined with any one of the parameter sets that can be used with the Get-Queue and Get-Message cmdlets. If you don't specify any advanced paging parameters, the query returns the results in ascending order of identity.

By default, when a sort order is specified, the message identity property is always included and is sorted in an ascending order. This is the default ordering relationship. The message identity property is included because the other properties that can be included in a sort order aren't unique. By explicitly including the message identity property in the sort order, you can specify that the results display the message identity sorted in descending order.

You can use the BookmarkIndex and BookmarkObject parameters to mark a position in the sorted result set. If the bookmark object no longer exists when the next page of results is retrieved, the default ordering relationship makes sure that the result set starts with the closest object to the bookmark. The closest object depends on the specified sort order.

The following table describes the advanced paging parameters.

Advanced paging parameters

Parameter Description

BookmarkIndex

This parameter specifies the position in the result set where the displayed results start. The value of this parameter is a 1-based index in the total result set. If the value is less than or equal to zero, the first complete page of results is returned. If the value is set to Int.MaxValue, the last complete page of results is returned.

BookmarkObject

This parameter specifies the object in the result set where the displayed results start. If you specify a bookmark object, that object is used as the point to start the search. The rows before or after that object, depending on the value of the SearchForward parameter, are retrieved. You can't combine the BookmarkObject parameter and the BookmarkIndex parameter in a single query.

IncludeBookmark

This parameter specifies whether to include the bookmark object in the result set. By default, the value is set to $true and the bookmark object is included. You may run a query for a limited result size, and then specify the last item in that result set as the bookmark for the next query. In this case, you may want to set IncludeBookmark to $false so that the object isn't included in both result sets.

ResultSize

This parameter specifies the number of results to display per page. If you don't specify a value, the default result size of 1,000 objects is used. Exchange limits the result set to 250,000.

ReturnPageInfo

This parameter is a hidden parameter. It returns information about the total number of results and the index of the first object of the current page. The default value is $false.

SearchForward

This parameter specifies whether to search forward or backward in the result set. This parameter doesn't affect the order in which the result set is returned. It determines the direction of search relative to the bookmark index or object. If no bookmark index or object is specified, the SearchForward parameter determines whether the search starts from the first or last object in the result set.

The default value for this parameter is $true. If the this parameter is set to $true and a bookmark is specified, the query searches forward from that bookmark. If you use this configuration and there are no results beyond the bookmark, the query returns the last full page of results.

If the SearchForward parameter is set to $false and a bookmark is specified, the query searches backward from that bookmark. If you use this configuration and there is less than a full page of results beyond the bookmark, the query returns the first full page of results.

SortOrder

This parameter specifies an array of message properties used to control the sort order of the result set. The sort order properties are specified in descending order of precedence. Each property is separated by a comma and appended with a plus sign (+) to sort in ascending order, or a minus sign (-) to sort in descending order.

If an explicit sort order isn't specified by using this parameter, the records that match the query are displayed and sorted by the Identity field for the respective object type. The results are always sorted by identity in ascending order when a sort order isn't explicitly specified.

The following code example shows how to use the advanced paging parameters in a query. In this example, the command connects to the specified server and retrieves a result set that contains 500 objects. The results are displayed in a sorted order, first in ascending order by sender address, and then in descending order of message size.

Get-Message -Server mailbox01.contoso.com -ResultSize 500 -SortOrder +FromAddress,-Size

If you want to view successive pages, you can set a bookmark for the last object retrieved in a result set and run an additional query. You need to use the scripting capabilities of the Shell to perform this procedure.

The following example uses scripting to retrieve the first page of results, sets the bookmark object, excludes the bookmark object from the result set, and then retrieves the next 500 objects on the specified server.

  1. Open the Shell and type the following command to retrieve the first page of results.

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    $Results=Get-message -Server mailbox01.contoso.com -ResultSize 500 -SortOrder +FromAddress,-Size
  2. To set the bookmark object, type the following command to save the last element of the first page to a variable.

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    $temp=$results[$results.length-1]
  3. To retrieve the next 500 objects on the specified server and to exclude the bookmark object, type the following command.

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    Get-message -Server mailbox01.contoso.com -BookmarkObject:$temp -IncludeBookmark $False -ResultSize 500 -SortOrder +FromAddress,-Size

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