PowerShell Script – Exchange Mailcontact

PowerShell Script – Exchange 2007 Mailcontact

This page explains how to create Contact and  – Mailcontact objects in Exchange 2007.  If you are looking for a straightforward example to learn Exchange 2007 PowerShell commands, then Mailcontact is an ideal vehicle to practise.  The key verbs are: get, new and disable.

Topics for Mailcontact

• Walk-through
• Get-Mailcontact
• New-Mailcontact
• Disable Mailcontact
• Exchange PowerShell Nouns
• Exchange PowerShell Verbs
• PowerShell New-Mailcontact

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Walk-through with Exchange Management Console

To begin with, I recommend a walk-through with the Exchange Management Console.  Firstly it will clarify the objects that we are creating, secondly it will alert you to nuances such as Aliases don’t have spaces.

Get-Mailcontact

As a prelude, open the PowerShell command prompt and type:

Type these commands after you have created a new mail object with the GUI, and again after you employ PowerShell to create the Mail Contact.

Note 1: As with so many PowerShell nouns contact is both case insensitive and singular.

New-Mailcontact

Our mission is to achieve with PowerShell what you could do manually with the Wizard (See Right).  Once you issue the plain command New-Mailcontact, you need to provide information about:

ExternalEmailAddress:
Name:
Alias:
OrganizationalUnit:

Example 1 Create a New Mailcontact called Eddie Jones”

Once created you should see your new Mailcontact.  Try viewing all such objects try:

Note 2: ft is an alias or shorthand for Format-Table.

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Disable-Mailcontact

Disabling is different from deleting the object.  Disabled Mail Contacts appear in the Exchange System Manager and can be verified by comparing Get-Mailcontact with Get-Contacts.  You can also confirm by checking the contents of the Disconnected folder in the Exchange Management Console.

Example 2 Disable a Mailcontact

Note 3: For names with spaces, enclose them with single quotes.

Test your command with Get-Contact.  Compare the results with Get-Mailcontact.  See Exchange Nouns also see Exchange PowerShell Verbs

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PowerShell Scripts for the Outlook Client

It's possible to use PowerShell to read and even manipulate the Outlook Client.

Here is an example which lists the senders' email addresses in the Inbox folder.

See more PowerShell's and Outlook »

Summary of Controlling Mailcontact

Mailcontact is an Exchange object and a PowerShell noun.  In order to control Mailcontact, master the verbs get, new and disable.

See more Microsoft PowerShell tutorials

• PowerShell Tutorials  • Methods  • Cmdlets  • PS Snapin  • Profile.ps1  • Exchange 2007

• Command & Expression Mode  • PowerShell pipeline (|)  • PowerShell ‘where‘  • PowerShell ‘Sort’

• Windows PowerShell Modules  • Import-Module  • PowerShell Module Directory 

If you see an error of any kind, do let me know.  Please report any factual mistakes, grammatical errors or broken links.