Create a Shared Mailbox in Microsoft Exchange 2010

Thanks to: http://nchrissos.wordpress.com

A shared mailbox is a common mailbox that a group of users can open to read and send e-mail messages. It allows users to share a common calendar or a shared contact list. But how to create shared mailboxes in Microsoft Exchange 2010, since the Exchange Management Console (EMC) gui does not give you such an option? If you try to create a new mailbox, the only options are: User Mailbox, Room Mailbox, Equipment Mailbox and Linked Mailbox.

New Mailbox Wizard

First execute the Exchange Management Shell (EMS) from the Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 menu.

Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 Menu

The shell environment opens up

Exchange Management Shell

A. Create a new Shared Mailbox

Type in the following cmdlet:

New-Mailbox -Name <Maibox Name> -Alias <Alias> -OrganizationalUnit "<OU path>" -Database "<Database>" -UserPrincipalName <E-mail Address> -Shared

And give the appropriate permissions to the user

Add-MailboxPermission <Mailbox Name> -User "<domain\username>" -AccessRights FullAccess

Add-ADPermission Research -User "<domain\username>" -ExtendedRights Send-As

For example, I will create a new mailbox called Info and setup user Secretary to have access.

New-Mailbox -Name Info -Alias info -OrganizationalUnit "mydomain.local/myCompany/myDepartment" -Database "DB1" -UserPrincipalName info@mycompany.gr -Shared
Add-MailboxPermission Info -User "mydomain\secretary" -AccessRights FullAccess
Add-ADPermission Info -User "mydomain\secretary" -ExtendedRights Send-As

Full detailed syntax and parameters are in this Microsoft link.

B. Convert a User Mailbox to a Shared one

Type in the following cmdlet:

Set-Mailbox "<Maibox Name>" -Type shared

And give the appropriate permissions to the user as well

Add-MailboxPermission <Mailbox Name> -User "<domain\username>" -AccessRights FullAccess

Add-ADPermission Research -User "<domain\username>" -ExtendedRights Send-As

For example, let’s suppose that we have created a user mailbox called Helpdesk and we need to convert it to a shared mailbox and give access right to user Operator.

Set-Mailbox "Helpdesk" -Type shared
Add-MailboxPermission Helpdesk -User "mydomain\operator" -AccessRights FullAccess
Add-ADPermission Helpdesk -User "mydomain\operator" -ExtendedRights Send-As

Full detailed syntax and parameters are in this Microsoft link.

The last two commands about access and send-as permissions can be configured from EMC gui, by selecting the mailbox and clicking on “Manage Send As Permission..” or “Manage Full Access Permission…” at the right pane of the window.

Access and Send-As Permissions