PowerShell Get-MailboxStatistics

PowerShell Get-MailboxStatistics For Exchange Mailbox Size

With Get-MailboxStatistics you get a report on the size of the mailboxes, the number of messages they contain, and when each was last accessed.  Very often this is too much information, therefore you need to master the -Server or even the -Identity parameter.

• Getting Started with Get-MailboxStatistics
• List the Get-MailboxStatistics Parameters
• Get-MailboxStatistics TotalItemSize Property

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Getting Started with Get-MailboxStatistics

Get-MailboxStatistics is an ideal command for taking your first tentative steps using PowerShell on an Exchange server.  Launch PowerShell, I favour the ISE GUI version, and type:

List the Get-MailboxStatistics Parameters

PowerShell is full of goodness.  In this instance you can get kill two birds with one stone, get more specific data as you learn about this cmdlet’s parameters.

Use the parameters displayed by Get-Help to reduce the output to just database DB01:

See SolarWinds Storage Response Time Monitor »

Here is another useful parameter:

Get the stats for one particular user:

Get-MailboxStatistics TotalItemSize Property

Let us employ PowerShell to report on the mailbox size.  Incidentally, I discovered the TotalItemSize property by calling for Get-Member, this is what I tried:

This is how I put the new knowledge into practice: 

Convert TotalItemSize – To MB

A minor irritation with TotalItemSize is that the units are very small, namely bytes.  Fortunately, further research with Get-Member reveals a method (not a property) called ToMB().  It’s a bit of a struggle, but you can persuade PowerShell to display the Size in Megabytes with: @{label="Mailbox Size (MB)";expression={$_.TotalItemSize.Value.ToMB()}

Guy Recommends: The SolarWinds Exchange Monitor

Here is a free tool to monitor your Exchange Server.  Download and install the utility, then inspect your mail queues, monitor the Exchange server’s memory, confirm there is enough disk space, and check the CPU utilization.

This is the real deal – there is no catch.  SolarWinds provides this fully-functioning freebie, as part of their commitment to supporting the network management community.

Free Download of SolarWinds Exchange Monitor

Compare PowerShell with the EMC

From a learning point-of-view it it’s worth a walk-through in the Exchange Management Console (EMC), the benefit is you can compare the PowerShell script with what you see in the Exchange GUI.

• Launch the EMC, navigate to the Recipient Configuration, Mailbox (see right).

Note 3: See more on PowerShell’s Get-MailboxStatistics.

Summary of Get-MailboxStatistics

Get-MailboxStatistics is a suitable command for learning about how PowerShell can interrogate Exchange.  Not only is it useful on its own, but
Get-Help Get-MailboxStatistics
will reveal useful parameters such as -Server,  -Identity and -Database.  Also how to display Exchange 2010 mailbox size in MB with TotalItemSize.

See more PowerShell Cmdlets for Exchange 2010:

• Exchange 2010 Home   • Get-ExchangeServer   • Set-ExchangeServer   • New-SystemMessage   • SP1

• Get-Mailbox   • Get-MailboxStatistics   • Connect-Mailbox   • Enable-Mailbox   • Disable-Mailbox

• PowerShell Exchange Cmdlets   • Set-Contact    • New-Mailcontact   • Add-MailboxPermission -identity