Configure the Drop Directory

Applies to: Exchange Server 2010 SP3, Exchange Server 2010 SP2

You can use the Shell to configure the Drop directory used by a Foreign connector in Microsoft Exchange Server 2010. Every Foreign connector installed on or assigned to a computer running Exchange 2010 that has the Hub Transport server role installed uses a different Drop directory. The Drop directory is used by the Foreign connector to send messages to the foreign gateway server that doesn't use SMTP to transmit messages. Messages sent to recipients that exist in the address space defined on the Foreign connector are copied into the Drop directory of the Foreign connector.

Looking for other management tasks related to managing connectors? Check out Managing Connectors.

Prerequisites

• You must have an existing Foreign connector. For detailed steps about creating a foreign connector, see Create a Foreign Connector.

• You must have created the Drop directory for your Foreign connector. By default, the Drop directory isn't created automatically when you create a Foreign connector. You must manually create each Drop directory folder in Windows Explorer.

What Do You Want to Do?

• Use the Shell to configure the Drop directory location

• Use the Shell to configure the maximum size of the Drop directory

Use the Shell to configure the Drop directory location

You need to be assigned permissions before you can perform this procedure. To see what permissions you need, see the "Hub server" entry in the Transport Permissions topic.

Two items control the location of the Drop directory for each Foreign connector:

• The RootDropDirectoryPath parameter in the Set-TransportServer cmdlet

  This option is used for all Foreign connectors that exist on the Hub Transport server. The value of the RootDropDirectoryPath parameter may be a local path or a Universal Naming Convention (UNC) path to a remote server. By default, the value of this parameter is blank. This indicates the value of the RootDropDirectoryPath parameter is the Exchange 2010 installation folder. The default Exchange 2010 installation folder is C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\.

• The DropDirectory parameter in the Set-ForeignConnector cmdlet   

  This value is set for each Foreign connector that exists on the Hub Transport server. The value of the DropDirectory parameter may be a simple directory name or an absolute file path. If the value of the RootDropDirectoryPath is specified, the value of the DropDirectory parameter must be a simple directory name. If the value of the RootDropDirectoryPath isn't specified, the DropDirectory parameter may contain absolute path information or may be a simple directory name. By default, the value of the DropDirectory parameter is the name of the Foreign connector.

  If the value of the DropDirectory parameter doesn't contain absolute path information, the location of the Drop directory is defined by the combination of the DropDirectory and the RootDropDirectoryPath parameters. If the value of the DropDirectory parameter contains absolute path information, the value of the RootDropDirectoryPath parameter must be unspecified.

  Note

  You can't configure the Drop directory by using the EMC. To configure the Drop directory, you must use the Shell. For more information about how to use the Shell, see Exchange Management Shell.

This example sets the root Drop directory for all Foreign connectors on the Exchange 2010 computer Hub01 to C:\Drop Directory. Then it configures the Foreign connector Fax Connector to use the Drop directory Fax. As a result of running these two commands, the Fax Connector Foreign connector uses C:\Drop Directory\Fax folder as its Drop directory.

Set-TransportServer Hub01 -RootDropDirectoryPath "C:\Drop Directory"
Set-ForeignConnector "Fax Connector" -DropDirectory "Fax"

When you change the location of the Drop directory, you have to be aware of the following:

• Changing the location of the Drop directory doesn't copy any existing message files from the old Drop directory to the new Drop directory. The new Drop directory location is active almost immediately after the configuration change, but any existing message files are left in the old Drop directory.

• The Drop directory must have the following permissions assigned to it:

  • Network Service: Full Control

  • System: Full Control

  • Administrators: Full Control

For detailed syntax and parameter information, see Set-TransportServer and Set-ForeignConnector.

Use the Shell to configure the maximum size of the Drop directory

You need to be assigned permissions before you can perform this procedure. To see what permissions you need, see the "Foreign connectors" entry in the Transport Permissions topic.

The maximum size of the Drop directory used by a Foreign connector is controlled by the Set-ForeignConnector cmdlet. When the specified maximum value is reached, no new message files can be copied into the Drop directory until the existing messages are delivered and deleted. By default, the maximum size of the Drop directory is unlimited.

This example sets the maximum size of the Drop directory to 400 MB for the Foreign connector named "Fax Connector."

Set-ForeignConnector "Fax Connector" -DropDirectoryQuota 400MB

The valid input range for this parameter is from 1 byte through about 2GB (2147483647 bytes).

For detailed syntax and parameter information, see Set-ForeignConnector.

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