Applies to: Exchange Server 2013, Exchange Online

Topic Last Modified: 2012-07-11

Use the Get-DistributionGroup cmdlet to query for existing distribution groups.

For information about the parameter sets in the Syntax section below, see Syntax.

Syntax

Get-DistributionGroup [-ManagedBy <GeneralRecipientIdParameter>] <COMMON PARAMETERS>
Get-DistributionGroup [-Anr <String>] <COMMON PARAMETERS>
Get-DistributionGroup [-Identity <DistributionGroupIdParameter>] <COMMON PARAMETERS>
COMMON PARAMETERS: [-AccountPartition <AccountPartitionIdParameter>] [-Credential <PSCredential>] [-DomainController <Fqdn>] [-Filter <String>] [-IgnoreDefaultScope <SwitchParameter>] [-Organization <OrganizationIdParameter>] [-OrganizationalUnit <OrganizationalUnitIdParameter>] [-ReadFromDomainController <SwitchParameter>] [-RecipientTypeDetails <RecipientTypeDetails[]>] [-ResultSize <Unlimited>] [-SortBy <String>] [-UsnForReconciliationSearch <Int64>]

Examples

EXAMPLE 1

This example retrieves the group Marketing Reports and pipelines the object to the Format-List command to display the information about the distribution group.

Copy Code 
Get-DistributionGroup -Identity "Marketing Reports" | Format-List

EXAMPLE 2

This example retrieves all distribution groups whose names contain the string "marketing" and pipelines the object to the Format-Table command to display the distribution group names and who they're managed by.

Copy Code 
Get-DistributionGroup -Anr marketing | Format-Table Name, ManagedBy

Detailed Description

You can use distribution groups to create email distribution lists and security groups to assign permissions to shared resources. Distribution groups can be used only with email applications to send email messages to collections of users. You can use the Get-DistributionGroup cmdlet to query for existing distribution groups.

You need to be assigned permissions before you can run this cmdlet. Although all parameters for this cmdlet are listed in this topic, you may not have access to some parameters if they're not included in the permissions assigned to you. To see what permissions you need, see the "Distribution groups" entry in the Recipients Permissions topic.

Parameters

Parameter Required Type Description

AccountPartition

Optional

Microsoft.Exchange.Configuration.Tasks.AccountPartitionIdParameter

This parameter is reserved for internal Microsoft use.

Anr

Optional

System.String

The Anr parameter specifies a string on which to perform an ambiguous name resolution (ANR) search. You can specify a partial string and search for objects with an attribute that matches that string. The default attributes searched are:

  • CommonName (CN)

  • DisplayName

  • FirstName

  • LastName

  • Alias

Credential

Optional

System.Management.Automation.PSCredential

The Credential parameter specifies the user name and password for accessing Active Directory. The default is the current user's credentials.

This parameter requires the creation and passing of a credential object. This credential object is created by using the Get-Credential cmdlet. For more information, see Get-Credential.

DomainController

Optional

Microsoft.Exchange.Data.Fqdn

The DomainController parameter specifies the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) of the domain controller that retrieves data from Active Directory.

Filter

Optional

System.String

The Filter parameter indicates the OPath filter used to filter recipients.

For more information about the filterable properties, see Filterable Properties for the -Filter Parameter.

Identity

Optional

Microsoft.Exchange.Configuration.Tasks.DistributionGroupIdParameter

The Identity parameter specifies the identity of the distribution group object.

This parameter accepts the following values:

  • Alias

    Example: JPhillips

  • Canonical DN

    Example: Atlanta.Corp.Contoso.Com/Users/JPhillips

  • Display Name

    Example: Jeff Phillips

  • Distinguished Name (DN)

    Example: CN=JPhillips,CN=Users,DC=Atlanta,DC=Corp,DC=contoso,DC=com

  • Domain\Account

    Example: Atlanta\JPhillips

  • GUID

    Example: fb456636-fe7d-4d58-9d15-5af57d0354c2

  • Immutable ID

    Example: fb456636-fe7d-4d58-9d15-5af57d0354c2@contoso.com

  • Legacy Exchange DN

    Example: /o=Contoso/ou=AdministrativeGroup/cn=Recipients/cn=JPhillips

  • SMTP Address

    Example: Jeff.Phillips@contoso.com

  • User Principal Name

    Example: JPhillips@contoso.com

IgnoreDefaultScope

Optional

System.Management.Automation.SwitchParameter

The IgnoreDefaultScope parameter instructs the command to ignore the default recipient scope setting for the Exchange Management Shell session and use the entire forest as the scope. This allows the command to access Active Directory objects that aren't currently in the default scope. Using the IgnoreDefaultScope parameter introduces the following restrictions:

  • You can't use the DomainController parameter. The command uses an appropriate global catalog server automatically.

  • You can only use the DN for the Identity parameter. Other forms of identification, such as alias or GUID, aren't accepted.

  • You can't use the OrganizationalUnit and Identity parameters together.

  • You can't use the Credential parameter.

ManagedBy

Optional

Microsoft.Exchange.Configuration.Tasks.GeneralRecipientIdParameter

The ManagedBy parameter indicates the DN of the user or contact that manages the group.

This parameter accepts the following values:

  • Alias

    Example: JPhillips

  • Canonical DN

    Example: Atlanta.Corp.Contoso.Com/Users/JPhillips

  • Display Name

    Example: Jeff Phillips

  • Distinguished Name (DN)

    Example: CN=JPhillips,CN=Users,DC=Atlanta,DC=Corp,DC=contoso,DC=com

  • Domain\Account

    Example: Atlanta\JPhillips

  • GUID

    Example: fb456636-fe7d-4d58-9d15-5af57d0354c2

  • Immutable ID

    Example: fb456636-fe7d-4d58-9d15-5af57d0354c2@contoso.com

  • Legacy Exchange DN

    Example: /o=Contoso/ou=AdministrativeGroup/cn=Recipients/cn=JPhillips

  • SMTP Address

    Example: Jeff.Phillips@contoso.com

  • User Principal Name

    Example: JPhillips@contoso.com

Organization

Optional

Microsoft.Exchange.Configuration.Tasks.OrganizationIdParameter

The Organization parameter is reserved for internal Microsoft use.

OrganizationalUnit

Optional

Microsoft.Exchange.Configuration.Tasks.OrganizationalUnitIdParameter

The OrganizationalUnit parameter limits results to a specific organizational unit (OU) container.

ReadFromDomainController

Optional

System.Management.Automation.SwitchParameter

The ReadFromDomainController parameter specifies that the user information is read from a domain controller in the user's domain. If you set the recipient scope to include all recipients in the forest, and if you don't use this parameter, it's possible that the user information is read from a global catalog with outdated information. If you use this parameter, multiple reads might be necessary to get the information.

Note:
By default, the recipient scope is set to the domain that hosts your Exchange servers.

RecipientTypeDetails

Optional

Microsoft.Exchange.Data.Directory.Recipient.RecipientTypeDetails[]

The RecipientTypeDetails parameter specifies the type of recipients returned. Recipient types are divided into recipient types and subtypes. Each recipient type contains all common properties for all subtypes. For example, the type UserMailbox represents a user account in Active Directory that has an associated mailbox. Because there are several mailbox types, each mailbox type is identified by the RecipientTypeDetails parameter. For example, a conference room mailbox has RecipientTypeDetails set to ConferenceRoomMailbox, whereas a user mailbox has RecipientTypeDetails set to UserMailbox.

You can select from the following values:

  • ArbitrationMailbox

  • ConferenceRoomMailbox

  • Contact

  • DiscoveryMailbox

  • DynamicDistributionGroup

  • EquipmentMailbox

  • ExternalManagedContact

  • ExternalManagedDistributionGroup

  • LegacyMailbox

  • LinkedMailbox

  • MailboxPlan

  • MailContact

  • MailForestContact

  • MailNonUniversalGroup

  • MailUniversalDistributionGroup

  • MailUniversalSecurityGroup

  • MailUser

  • PublicFolder

  • RoleGroup

  • RoomList

  • RoomMailbox

  • SharedMailbox

  • SystemAttendantMailbox

  • SystemMailbox

  • User

  • UserMailbox

ResultSize

Optional

Microsoft.Exchange.Data.Unlimited

The ResultSize parameter indicates the maximum number of recipient objects returned.

SortBy

Optional

System.String

The SortBy parameter specifies the attribute used to sort the results.

UsnForReconciliationSearch

Optional

System.Int64

This parameter is reserved for internal Microsoft use.

Input Types

To see the input types that this cmdlet accepts, see Cmdlet Input and Output Types. If the Input Type field for a cmdlet is blank, the cmdlet doesn’t accept input data.

Return Types

To see the return types, which are also known as output types, that this cmdlet accepts, see Cmdlet Input and Output Types. If the Output Type field is blank, the cmdlet doesn’t return data.