You configure offline address books differently than online address lists.
To use an offline address book, the client must be configured to have a
local copy of the server mailbox, or you can use personal folders.
Clients using Outlook 2003 or earlier versions of Outlook retrieve the
offline address books from Exchange using the Messaging Application
Programming Interface (MAPI) protocol. Clients using Office Outlook
2007 or later versions of Outlook retrieve the offline address book
from the designated offline address book (OAB) distribution point.
Note
An OAB distribution point is a virtual directory to which Office
Outlook 2007 and later clients can connect to download the OAB. OAB
distribution points are hosted by servers running Internet Information
Services (IIS) as virtual directories. Each distribution point can have
two URLs associated with it: one URL for internal (on-site) access and
another for external (off-site) access.
Creating Offline Address Books
By default, the default offline address book includes all the
addresses in the global address list. It does this by including the
default global address list. All other offline address books are
created by including the default global address list or a specific
online address list as well.
You can create other custom offline address books by completing the following steps:
-
In the Exchange Management Console, expand the Organization
Configuration node by double-clicking it, and then select the related
Mailbox node. -
Right-click the Mailbox node in the console tree, and then select
New Offline Address Book. This starts the New Offline Address Book
Wizard. -
Type a name for the address book, as shown in Figure 1. The name should describe the types of recipients that are viewed through the offline address book.
-
Offline address books are generated on designated mailbox servers.
To specify the server to use to generate the address book, click
Browse. In the Select Mailbox Server dialog box, select the mailbox
server to use and then click OK. -
The default global address list is included by default. Clear the
Include The Default Global Address List check box if you do not want to
include it. -
To include other address lists, select the Include The Following
Address Lists check box. Click Add. In the Select Address List dialog
box, click the address list to use and then click OK. Repeat this step
as necessary to include other address lists. Click Next. -
On the Distribution Points page, shown in Figure 2 select the distribution points to use. The default settings depend on the way Exchange Server was installed. -
To support Outlook 2007 and later clients, you must enable Web-based
distribution. Select the Enable Web-Based Distribution check box, and
then click Add. In the Select OAB Virtual Directory dialog box, select
the OAB virtual directory to use and then click OK. Repeat as necessary.
-
To support Outlook 2003, you must enable public folder distribution. Select the Enable Public Folder Distribution check box. -
Click Next, and then click New to create the offline address book. Click Finish.
Note
REAL WORLD Exchange uses
public folders to distribute offline address books to client computers
that are running Outlook 2003 or Entourage. If you haven't already
created a public folder database for your organization, you'll need to
do this before you can enable public folder distribution. Note that if
all of your client computers are running Outlook 2007 or later, the OAB
and free/busy information are maintained separately from public folder
infrastructure and you don't need to create public folder databases or
public folders for this explicit purpose.
In the Exchange Management Shell, you can create offline address books using the New-OfflineAddressBook cmdlet. You apply offline address books using the Update-OfflineAddressBook cmdlet. Example 1 provides the syntax and usage for the New-OfflineAddressBook cmdlet. Example 2 provides the syntax and usage for the Update-OfflineAddressBook cmdlet.
Example 1. New-OfflineAddressBook cmdlet syntax and usage
Syntax
New-OfflineAddressBook -Name ListName -Server GenerationServer
-AddressLists AddressList1, AddressList2, ...
[-PublicFolderDistributionEnabled <$false|$true> ]
[-VirtualDirectories VirtualDir1, VirtualDir2, ...] {AddtlParams}
{AddtlParams}
[-DiffRetentionPeriod RetentionPeriod]
[-DomainController FullyQualifiedName]
[-GlobalWebDistributionEnabled <$true | $false>]
[-IsDefault <$true | $false>] [-Organization OrgName]
[-PublicFolderDatabase DatabaseIdentity]
[-Schedule Schedule] [-Server ServerName]
[-SkipPublicFolderInitialization {$true | $false}]
[-Versions Versions]
Usage
New-OfflineAddressBook -Name 'Offline - West Coast Sales'
-Server 'CorpSvr127'
-AddressLists '\West Coast Sales'
-PublicFolderDistributionEnabled $true
-VirtualDirectories 'CORPSVR127\OAB (Default Web Site)'
Example 2. Update-OfflineAddressBook cmdlet syntax and usage
Syntax
Update-OfflineAddressBook -Identity OABName
[-DomainController FullyQualifiedName]
Usage
Update-OfflineAddressBook -Identity '\Offline - West Coast Sales'
Configuring Clients to Use an Offline Address Book
Offline address lists are available only when users are working offline. You can configure how clients use offline address books by completing the following steps:
-
Do one of the following:
-
In Office Outlook 2007, click Tools, select Send/Receive, and then
select Download Address Book. The Offline Address Book dialog box
appears. -
In Office Outlook 2010, click the Office button. On the Info pane,
select Download Address Book. The Offline Address Book dialog box
appears.
-
Select the Download Changes Since Last Send/Receive check box to
download only items that have changed since the last time you
synchronized the address list. Clear this check box to download the
entire contents of your address book. -
Specify the information to download as either of the following two options:
-
Full Details
Select this option to download the address book with all address
information details. Full details are necessary if the user needs to
encrypt messages when using remote mail. -
No Details Select
this option to download the address book without address information
details. This reduces the download time for the address book.
-
If multiple address books are available, use the Choose Address Book
drop-down list to specify which address book to download. Click OK.
Assigning a Time to Rebuild an Offline Address Book
The default offline address book is rebuilt daily at 1:00 A.M. Other
offline address books are rebuilt daily at 5:00 A.M. You can change the
time when the rebuild occurs by completing these steps:
-
In the Exchange Management Console, expand the Organization
Configuration node by double-clicking it, and then select the related
Mailbox node. -
On the Offline Address Book tab, right-click the offline address book you want to configure, and then select Properties. -
Use the Update Schedule drop-down list to set the rebuild time. The available options are as follows:
-
Run Daily At 1:00 A.M. -
Run Daily At 2:00 A.M. -
Run Daily At 3:00 A.M. -
Run Daily At 4:00 A.M. -
Run Daily At 5:00 A.M. -
Never Run -
Use Custom Schedule
Tip
If you select Use Custom Schedule, click Customize to define your own rebuild schedule.
-
Click OK.
Rebuilding Offline Address Books Manually
Normally, offline address books are rebuilt at a specified time each
day. You can also rebuild offline address books manually. To do this,
complete the following steps:
-
In the Exchange Management Console, expand the Organization
Configuration node by double-clicking it, and then select the related
Mailbox node. -
On the Offline Address Book tab, right-click the offline address book you want to rebuild, and then select Update. -
When prompted to confirm the action, click Yes. Rebuilding address lists can take a long time. Be patient. Users will see the updates the next time they start Outlook.
Setting the Default Offline Address Book
Although you can create many offline address books, clients download
only one. This address list is called the default offline address book,
and you can set it by completing these steps:
-
In the Exchange Management Console, expand the Organization
Configuration node by double-clicking it, and then select the related
Mailbox node. -
On the Offline Address Book tab, right-click the offline address
book you want to configure, and then select Set As Default. Users will
use the new default offline address book the next time they start
Outlook.
Changing Offline Address Book Properties
The offline address book is based on other address lists that you've
created in the organization. You can modify the lists that are used to
create the offline address book by completing the following steps:
-
In the Exchange Management Console, expand the Organization
Configuration node by double-clicking it, and then select the related
Mailbox node. -
On the Offline Address Book tab, right-click the offline address book you want to configure, and then select Properties. -
On the Address Lists tab, you can make additional address lists a
part of the master offline address book by clicking Add, selecting the
list you want to use, and then clicking OK. If you no longer want an
address list to be a part of the offline address book, select the
address list, and then click the Remove button. -
On the Distribution tab, to change the clients supported, select or clear the client-related check boxes as appropriate. -
To enable or disable distribution points for Outlook 2007 and later
clients, select or clear the Enable Web-Based Distribution check box,
as appropriate. You can configure additional distribution points by
clicking Add, selecting the distribution point you want to use, and
then clicking OK. If you no longer want to use a distribution point,
select the distribution point, and then click the Remove button. -
To enable or disable distribution points for Outlook 2003 and other
MAPI clients, select or clear the Enable Public Folder Distribution
check box, as appropriate. Click OK.
In the Exchange Management Shell, you can modify offline address books using the Set-OfflineAddressBook cmdlet. Example 3 provides the syntax and usage.
Example 3. Set-OfflineAddressBook cmdlet syntax and usage
Syntax
Set-OfflineAddressBook -Identity OABName
[-AddressLists AddressList1, AddressList2, ... ]
[-ApplyMandatoryProperties {$true | $false}]
[-ConfiguredAttributes Attributes]
[-DiffRetentionPeriod RetentionPeriod]
[-DomainController FullyQualifiedName]
[-GlobalWebDistributionEnabled <$true | $false>]
[-IsDefault <$true | $false>] [-MaxBinaryPropertySize Size]
[-MaxMultivaluedBinaryPropertySize Size]
[-MaxMultivaluedStringPropertySize Size] [-MaxStringPropertySize Size]
[-Name Name] [-PublicFolderDistributionEnabled <$false|$true> ]
[-Schedule Schedule] [-UseDefaultAttributes {$true | $false}]
[-Versions Versions] [-VirtualDirectories VirtualDir1, VirtualDir2, ...]
Usage
Set-OfflineAddressBook -Identity '\Offline - West Coast Sales'
-Name 'West Coast Sales - Offline'
-AddressLists '\West Coast Sales'
-PublicFolderDistributionEnabled $true
-VirtualDirectories 'CORPSVR127\OAB (Default Web Site)'
Changing the Offline Address Book Server
In a large organization in which lots of users are configured to use
offline folders, managing and maintaining offline address books can put
a heavy burden on Exchange Server. To balance the load, you might want
to designate a server other than your primary Exchange servers to
manage and propagate offline address books.
You can change the offline address book server by completing these steps:
-
In the Exchange Management Console, expand the Organization
Configuration node by double-clicking it, and then select the Mailbox
node. -
On the Offline Address Book tab, right-click the offline address
book you want to configure, and then select Move. This starts the Move
Offline Address Book Wizard. -
The current offline address book server is listed in the Offline
Address Book Generation Server field. To use a different server, click
Browse, and then, in the Select Mailbox Server dialog box, choose a
different server. Click OK. -
Click Move, and then click Finish.
In the Exchange Management Shell, you can change the offline address book server using the Move-OfflineAddressBook cmdlet. Example 4 provides the syntax and usage.
Example 4. Move-OfflineAddressBook cmdlet syntax and usage
Syntax
Move-OfflineAddressBook -Identity 'OfflineAddressBookIdentity'
[-Server 'Server'] [-DomainController FullyQualifiedName]
Usage
Move-OfflineAddressBook -Identity '\Offline - West Coast Sales'
-Server 'CorpSvr127'
Deleting Offline Address Books
If an offline address book is no longer needed, you can delete it as
long as it isn't the default offline address book. Before you can
delete the default offline address book, however, you must set another
address book as the default.
You can delete an offline address book by completing the following steps:
-
In the Exchange Management Console, expand the Organization
Configuration node by double-clicking it, and then select the Mailbox
node. -
On the Offline Address Book tab, right-click the offline address book you want to configure, and then select Remove. -
When prompted to confirm, click Yes.
In the Exchange Management Shell, you can delete an offline address book using the Remove-OfflineAddressBook cmdlet. Example 5 provides the syntax and usage. Set the Force parameter to $true to force the immediate removal of an offline address book.
Example 5. Remove-OfflineAddressBook cmdlet syntax and usage
Syntax
Remove-OfflineAddressBook -Identity 'OfflineAddressBookIdentity'
[-Force <$false|$true>] [-DomainController FullyQualifiedName]
Usage
Remove-OfflineAddressBook -Identity '\Offline - West Coast Sales'
|
