Applies to: Exchange Server 2007 SP3, Exchange Server 2007 SP2, Exchange Server 2007 SP1
Topic Last Modified: 2007-07-11

Use the Recipient Configuration node for a variety of recipient management tasks. Specifically, you can view the recipients in your Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 organization, create new recipients, and manage existing mailboxes, mail contacts, mail users, and distribution groups.

The Recipient Configuration node contains the following sub-nodes:

When you select Recipient Configuration, the result pane displays all recipient types in your Exchange organization. These include mailbox users, distribution groups, mail contacts, and mail users. 

To focus on a set of recipients that have specific attributes, you can use a variety of expressions to filter the list of recipients that appears in the result pane. For more information about filters, see How to Filter the Result Pane.

When you select the Recipient Configuration node, the following actions are available either by right-clicking Recipient Configuration or by using the action pane.

Modify Recipient Scope
  • Click Modify Recipient Scope to open the Recipient Scope dialog box box. You can use this dialog box to change the scope for the recipients.

  • Changing the recipient scope changes the number of recipients that are displayed in the result pane. The recipient-specific dialog boxes within various wizards and property pages also work within the same scope.

  • 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 the administrators to focus on all recipients that are in a specific location in the Active Directory directory service. Selecting a more limited recipient scope also reduces the number of recipients that are returned, and consequently improves the performance of the Exchange Management Console.

  • For detailed information about the options in the Recipient Scope dialog box, see Recipient Configuration > Recipient Scope.

Modify the Maximum Number of Recipients to Display
  • Click Modify the Maximum Number of Recipients to Display to open the Maximum Number of Recipients to Display dialog box. You can use this dialog box to set the maximum number of recipients to display in the result pane.

  • By default, a maximum of 1,000 recipients is displayed. Increasing this value can be beneficial in large environments. However, increasing the value also increases the time it takes to display the results. Depending on the size of the organization, it may have a performance impact on the domain controller to which you are connected.

  • For more information about this dialog box, see Recipient Configuration > Maximum Number of Recipients to Display.

Find
  • Click Find to open the Find dialog box. You can use the Find dialog box to search for recipients in your organization. For more information about using the Find dialog box, see Using the Find Dialog Box.

New Mailbox
  • Click New Mailbox to open the New Mailbox wizard. This wizard helps you create a new user, room, equipment, or linked mailbox.

  • For more information about managing mailboxes, see Managing User Mailboxes.

New Mail Contact
  • Click New Mail Contact to open the New Mail Contact wizard.

  • Mail contacts are mail-enabled Active Directory objects that contain information about people or organizations that exist outside your Exchange organization. 

  • For more information about managing mail contacts, see Managing Mail Contacts and Mail Users.

New Mail User
  • Click New Mail User to open the New Mail User wizard.

  • Mail users are mail-enabled Active Directory users that do not have a mailbox in your Exchange organization.

New Distribution Group
  • Click New Distribution Group to open the New Distribution Group wizard. This wizard helps you create both distribution and security groups.

  • Distribution groups are mail-enabled Active Directory objects that contain information about people within an Exchange organization. All distribution groups can be used for e-mail distribution. Security groups can also be used to assign permissions to shared resources. 

  • For more information about managing distribution groups, see Managing Distribution Groups.

New Dynamic Distribution Group
  • Click New Dynamic Distribution Group to open the New Dynamic Distribution Group wizard. This wizard helps you create a new dynamic distribution group.

  • In Exchange Server 2003, dynamic distribution groups were called query-based distribution groups. Dynamic distribution groups provide the same functionality as mail-enabled distribution groups. However, instead of containing a static group of recipients, the membership list for dynamic distribution groups is calculated based on their configuration each time they are used. When a message is sent to a dynamic distribution group, it is delivered to all recipients in the organization that match the criteria defined for that dynamic distribution group.

  • For more information about managing dynamic distribution groups, see Managing Distribution Groups.

Export List

Click Export List to open the Export List dialog box. You can use this dialog box to save the list of recipients in the result pane to a text file. For instructions about how to use the Export List feature, see How to Export Lists from the Exchange Management Console.

View

Click View in the action pane to modify how objects are displayed in the Microsoft Management Console (MMC). The following options are available:

  • Add/Remove Columns

    Click Add/Remove Columns to select which columns you want to display in the result pane and to change the order. The available columns depend on the node that you select.

    The MMC automatically saves your settings. To revert to the default column view, click Restore Defaults in the Add/Remove Columns dialog box.

  • Save Current Filter as Default

    Click Save Current Filter as Default to make the existing filter the default filter for the servers listed in the result pane.

  • Visual Effects

    Click Visual Effects to set the visual effects to be always on, never on, or automatic. Use the visual effects setting to configure how Exchange wizards are displayed. If your connection is slow when running wizards, you can increase performance by turning off visual effects. Use the Automatic setting to have the Exchange Management Console detect if your system should have visual effects turned on or off.

  • Customize

    Click Customize to select the MMC components and snap-ins to display or hide. These settings apply to the entire MMC.

    For more information, see Customize View.

Depending on the recipient type that you select in the result pane, a different set of actions will be available in the action pane:

For More Information

To learn more about recipients, see Understanding Recipients.

For more information about managing recipients, see Managing Recipients.