This section explains how to create public folder databases
and set basic public folder database properties. It doesn't go into
detail about managing the many facets of public folders.
Understanding Public Folder Databases
Public folders are used to share messages and files in an
organization. You manage public folder databases much differently than
you do mailbox databases, but there are many similarities with respect
to internal structure and management. And when it comes down to it, a
public folder database is really nothing more than a special type of
mailbox that Exchange replicates to other public folder databases.
Public folder databases must have a public folder tree associated
with them. This public folder tree must be unique and can be assigned
to a single public folder database only. Users access items that are
stored in public folders through the public folder tree.
Each Mailbox server in your Exchange organization can have a maximum
of one public folder database, and this is the default public folder
database associated with the mailbox databases configured on that
server (assuming that a default database was created during setup).
Exchange doesn't support creating
multiple public folder databases on a Mailbox server. One of the
primary reasons for this is that MAPI mail clients, such as Microsoft
Office Outlook 2003, can access only their default public folder tree.
You can replicate public folder databases from one Mailbox server to
another. Replication allows mailbox users to access public data,
regardless of which Mailbox server they are using. Having multiple
Mailbox servers, each with a public folder database that is replicated,
helps to distribute the workload. When an Exchange organization has two
or more public folder databases, each on separate servers, replication
occurs automatically between the public folder databases on those
servers using public folder replication. If a replica of the requested
content exists on the Exchange server that serves the request, the
client application accesses the local replica. If the replica does not
exist on the local server, Exchange attempts to locate a replica in the
same Active Directory site.
Creating Public Folder Databases
You can create public folder databases using the New Public Folder
Database Wizard. The default database file path and default copy file
path are set automatically to be the same as those used for system
files and backup system files, respectively.
To create a public folder database, complete the following steps:
-
In the Exchange Management Console, expand the Organization Configuration node, and then select the related Mailbox node.
-
In the details pane, the Database Management tab is selected by
default. You should see a list of databases that are available in the
Exchange organization.
-
In the left pane, right-click the Mailbox node, and then select New
Public Folder Database from the shortcut menu. You should now see the
New Public Folder Database Wizard, as shown in Figure 1.
-
In the Public Folder Database Name text box, type a name for the public folder database.
-
Click Browse to the right of the Server Name text box. Select the
Mailbox server that will host the mailbox database and then click OK.
Only Mailbox servers in the Active Directory forest to which you are
connected are available. Click Next.
-
On the Set Paths page, the database file path and log folder path
are set to the default location for Exchange data on the selected
server. If you don't want to use the default locations, enter the
desired paths for the database file and the related logs using the text
boxes provided. Leave the Mount This Database check box selected if you
want to mount this database. Mounting a database puts it online, making
it accessible to users with permissions. Click Next.
Note
The wizard creates any required folders on the server if they do not exist.
-
Click New to create the public folder database, and then click
Finish. On the Completion page, the Summary states whether the
operation was successful. If an error occurred, you need to take the
appropriate corrective action. Otherwise, you can now modify the
properties of the public folder database as necessary.
In the Exchange Management Shell, you can create public folder databases using the New-PublicFolderDatabase cmdlet. Example 1 provides the syntax and usage.
Note
A separate cmdlet is used to mount the database.
Example 1. New-PublicFolderDatabase cmdlet syntax and usage
Syntax
New-PublicFolderDatabase -Server ServerName -Name DatabaseName
[-DomainController DCName]
[-EdbFilePath EdbFilePath]
[-LogFolderPath LogFolderPath]
Usage
New-PublicFolderDatabase -Server "MAILSERVER25" -Name "Project Teams"
-EdbFilePath "C:\Project Teams\Project Teams.edb"
-LogFolderPath "C:\Logs\Project Teams"
