r/sysadmin•
ukdkbr

Exchange 2010 and removing disconnected mailboxes

My manager created an AD account and mailbox for a new hire, somewhere along the line she misspelled the username entry and attempted to remove both the account and the mailbox and start again.

The mailbox alias that was removed was correct, it was deleted and re-created with the same alias and mailbox name. So a disconnected mailbox exists that has identical attributes as a live mailbox. This initially caused on end users sending this person email and then having it bounce back. I resolved these issues but we're still left with a disconnected mailbox.

I just want to make sure that if I follow the instructions for using the Exchange Management Shell to remove a disconnected mailbox that microsoft has here: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg181092%28v=exchg.141%29.aspx This will only remove the disconnected mailbox and not the live mailbox in the same database and with the same mailbox name.

Posted May 31, 2013, 12:50 AM UTC

83
ashdrewnessMCM/MCSM/MVP-Exchange•

The disconnected mailboxes will just go away once the mailbox retention period for the database expires. So there's really no need to manually remove them.

1
ukdkbrOP•

Oh, that is good to know. In Exchange 2010 do all deleted mailbox move into a disconnected mailbox state?

1
ashdrewnessMCM/MCSM/MVP-Exchange•

Yes, in fact even when you do a mailbox move it soft deletes the source mailbox.

1