Applies to: Exchange Server 2007
Topic Last Modified: 2007-06-12

Use the Recipient Scope dialog box to change the Active Directory directory service scope for the Recipient Configuration node in the Exchange Management Console.

Changing the recipient scope changes the number of recipients that are displayed in the result pane when you select the Recipient Configuration node. The recipient dialog boxes within various wizard and property pages also work within the same scope. By default, the recipient scope is set to the domain that hosts your Exchange servers.

You can set the scope to include all recipients in the forest or limit it to all recipients in a specific organizational unit (OU). The recipient scope allows administrators to focus on all recipients that are in a specific location in Active Directory. Setting a more limited scope also reduces the number of recipients that are returned, thereby improving the performance of the Exchange Management Console.

The recipient scope is different from the filters you can create for the result pane. The filters are based on the attributes of the recipients and allow administrators to focus on all recipients that share a common attribute. The recipient scope allows the administrators to focus on all recipients that are in a specific location in Active Directory.

Select one of the following options for setting the scope of the recipient configuration.

View all recipients in forest
  • Click this button to display all recipients in the Active Directory forest.

    • Global Catalog   Select this check box, and then click Browse to open the Select Global Catalog dialog box. Use this dialog box to select a global catalog server to which to connect. If you do not select this check box, Exchange automatically selects an available global catalog server.

View all recipients in specified organizational unit
  • Click this button to limit the list of recipients that appears in the result pane to a specific domain or OU. If you select this check box, you must also select an OU.

  • Organizational Unit   Click Browse to open the Select Organizational Unit dialog box. Click the organizational unit that you want to use, and then click OK.

    Note:
    You can also select an entire domain.
  • Recipient Domain Controller   Select this check box, and then click Browse to open the Select Domain Controller dialog box. Use this dialog box to select a domain controller to which to connect. If you do not select this check box, Exchange automatically selects an available domain controller.