Exchange Management Shell reference

This appendix provides additional information related to the Exchange Management Shell (EMS). You can use this section as a reference for finding commonly-used automatic shell variables and type accelerators, along with a listing of commonly-used EMS scripts that are installed with Exchange 2013. Additionally, common filterable properties supported by EMS cmdlets that include filter parameters are outlined in detail.

Commonly-used shell variables

PowerShell and the Exchange Management Shell provide several automatic variables. The following table provides a list of commonly-used automatic variables with a description for each one:

Variable Name	Description
$$	Contains the last token in the last command received.
$?	Contains the execution status of the last command.
$^	Contains the first token in the last command received.
$_	Contains the current object being processed within a pipeline.
$Args	Contains an array of undeclared arguments received by a function, script, or script block.
$Error	Contains an array of error objects recorded in the current shell session. The latest error can be accessed using the zero index of the array, that is, $error[0].
$Exbin	References the full path to the Exchange Server\Bin directory. This variable is only present when starting the shell using the Exchange Management Shell shortcut on a machine with the Exchange tools installed.
ExScripts	References the full path to the Exchange scripts directory. This variable is only present when starting the shell using the Exchange Management Shell shortcut on a machine with the Exchange tools installed.
False	Provides a Boolean false value when used in commands and scripts.
$ForEach	Contains the enumerator inside a ForEach-Object loop.
$Home	Contains the full path to the user's home directory.
$Host	Contains an object that represents the current PowerShell host application.
$Input	Contains the enumerator for items passed to a function. The $Input variable can access the current object being processed within a pipeline.
$MaximumHistoryCount	Specifies the maximum number of entries that can be saved in the command history in the current shell session.
$Null	Provides a NULL or empty value when used in commands and scripts.
$Profile	Contains the full path to the PowerShell profile for the current user and the current host application.
$PSHome	Contains the full path to the installation directory of Windows PowerShell.
$Pwd	Contains the path to the current location.
$True	Provides a Boolean true value.

To view the variables currently defined in your shell session, run Get-Variable. You can also read more about PowerShell variables by running the Get-Help <TopicName> cmdlet on the following about topics:

• about_Automatic_Variables

• about_Environment_Variables

• about_Preference_Variables

Note

The preceding topics only reference PowerShell-specific variables, and not the shell variables that are specific to the Exchange Management Shell.

Commonly-used type accelerators

Type accelerators, also referred to as type shortcuts, allow you to create an object of a specific .NET Framework type without having to enter the entire type name. This is a feature that is supported by both PowerShell and the Exchange Management Shell, and allows you to reduce the amount of typing required when creating an object or explicitly typing a variable. The following table lists some of the most commonly-used type shortcuts:

Type shortcut	.NET framework type
[int]	System.Int32
[long]	System.Int64
[string]	System.String
[bool]	System.Boolean
[byte]	System.Byte
[double]	System.Double
[decimal]	System.Decimal
[datetime]	System.DateTime
[array]	System.Array
[hashtable]	System.Collections.HashTable
[switch]	System.Management.Automation.SwitchParameter
[adsi]	System.DirectoryServices.DirectoryEntry

Scripts available in the $Exscripts directory

The following table lists some of the most commonly-used EMS PowerShell scripts that are installed with Exchange 2013:

Name	Description
AddUsersToPFRecursive.ps1	Adds a user and their permissions to the client permissions list for a public folder and all the folders beneath it in the hierarchy.
CheckDatabaseRedundancy.ps1	Monitors the redundancy of replicated mailbox databases.
CheckInvalidRecipients.ps1	Fixes recipient objects that have multiple primary SMTP addresses defined.
CollectOverMetrics.ps1	Reports on the database availability group, switchover, and failover metrics.
CollectReplicationMetrics.ps1	Reports on the replication status and statistics for databases.
ConvertOABVDir.ps1	Converts the OAB virtual directory to an IIS web application/application pool.
ConvertTo-MessageLatency.ps1	Provides end-to-end latency information gathered from message tracking logs.
DatabaseMaintSchedule.ps1	Generates the maintenance and quota notification schedule time based on a set of input values.
Disable-AntimalwareScanning.ps1	Disables Antimalware scanning.
Disable-InMemoryTracing.ps1	Used to undo the changes made by the Enable-InMemoryTracing.ps1 script.
Enable-AntimalwareScanning.ps1	Enables Antimalware scanning.
Enable-CrossForestConnector.ps1	Configures a send connector for cross-forest trust for anonymous users.
Enable-InMemoryTracing.ps1	Enables In Memory Tracing.
ExchUCUtil.ps1	Configures Exchange Unified Messaging for the use of Office Communications Server.
Export-MailPublicFoldersForMigration.ps1	Exports the properties of all the mail-enabled public folders to a CSV file.
Export-PublicFolderStatistics.ps1	Generates a CSV file with lists of public folders and the individual sizes.
Export-RetentionTags.ps1	Exports retention tags to an external file.
get-AntispamFilteringReport.ps1	Generates a report on anti-spam filtering.
get-AntispamSCLHistogram.ps1	Reports on all entries for the Content Filter and groups by SCL values.
get-AntispamTopBlockedSenderDomains.ps1	Reports on the top 10 (unless specified otherwise) sender domains blocked by anti-spam agents.
get-AntispamTopBlockedSenderIPs.ps1	Reports on the top 10 (unless specified otherwise) sender IPs blocked by anti-spam agents.
get-AntispamTopBlockedSenders.ps1	Reports on the top 10 (unless specified otherwise) senders blocked by anti-spam agents.
get-AntispamTopRBLProviders.ps1	Reports on the top 10 (unless specified otherwise) reasons for rejection by blocklist providers.
get-AntispamTopRecipients.ps1	Reports on the top 10 (unless specified otherwise) recipients rejected by anti-spam agents.
Get-UCPool.ps1	Reports on the UC Pools created by OCS/Lync.
GetValidEngines.ps1	Returns a list of engines being used by the forefront filtering agent.
Import-MailPublicFoldersForMigration.ps1	Imports the mail-enabled public folders from a CSV file and calls the cmdlet Enable-MailPublicFolder.
Import-RetentionTags.ps1	Imports retention tags from an external file.
Install-AntispamAgents.ps1	Installs the anti-spam agents on a mailbox server.
MailboxDatabaseReseedUsingSpares.ps1	Validates the safety of the environment, before swapping failed database copy to a spare disk and reseeding.
ManageScheduledTask.ps1	Manages scheduled tasks in PowerShell.
Merge-PublicFolderMailbox.ps1	Merges the contents of the given public folder mailbox with the target public folder mailbox.
MigrateUMCustomPrompts.ps1	Migrates a copy of all Unified Messaging custom prompts.
Move-PublicFolderBranch.ps1	Moves the contents of folders that reside along with the given folder to the target public folder mailbox.
Move-TransportDatabase.ps1	Moves the queue database to an alternate disk on a transport server.
MoveMailbox.ps1	Works like the Move-Mailbox cmdlet in Exchange 2007 and performs synchronous mailbox moves.
new-TestCasConnectivityUser.ps1	Creates a test user that can be used when testing connectivity on CAS servers.
Prepare-MoveRequest.ps1	Prepares mailboxes for cross-forest mailbox moves.
PublicFolderToMailboxMapGenerator.ps1	Generates a CSV mapping file that contains the public folder to the mailbox structure.
RedistributeActiveDatabases.ps1	Attempts to redistribute active databases evenly across a number of mailbox servers within a DAG.
ReinstallDefaultTransportAgents.ps1	Reinstalls default transport agents on servers.
RemoveUserFromPFRecursive.ps1	Removes a user from the client permissions list for a public folder and all the folders beneath it in the hierarchy.
ReplaceUserPermissionOnPFRecursive.ps1	Replaces the permissions of a user for a public folder with a new set of permissions and applies it to all the folders beneath it in the hierarchy.
ReplaceUserWithUserOnPFRecursive.ps1	Replaces a user for a new user on the client permissions list for a public folder and applies it to all the folders beneath it in the hierarchy.
Reset-AntispamUpdates.ps1	Removes the anti-spam agents from a transport server.
ResetAttachmentFilterEntry.ps1	Resets the list of attachment types for attachment-filtering to factory set defaults.
ResetCasService.ps1	Resets the virtual directory on CAS.
ResumeMailboxDatabaseCopy.ps1	Resumes activation and logfile replication for specified mailbox databases.
RollAlternateServiceAccountPassword.ps1	Updates the service account credentials and distributes the update to specified CAS servers.
SearchDiagnosticInfo.ps1	Prints the result of Get-SearchDiagnosticInfo.
Split-PublicFolderMailbox.ps1	Splits the given public folder mailbox based on the size of the folders.
StartDagServerMaintenance.ps1	Initiates DAG server maintenance.
StopDagServerMaintenance.ps1	Stops DAG server maintenance and resumes mailbox database copies.
StoreTSConstants.ps1	This file contains global constants used by the Store Database Troubleshooters.
StoreTSLibrary.ps1	A collection of Store Troubleshooting on Content Index (CI) catalogs.
Troubleshoot-CI.ps1	Performs troubleshooting on CI catalogs.
Troubleshoot-DatabaseLatency.ps1	Diagnoses disk subsystem issues (used by SCOM).
Troubleshoot-DatabaseSpace.ps1	Troubleshoots log growth (used by SCOM).
Uninstall-AntispamAgents.ps1	Uninstalls the anti-spam agents.
Update-MalwareFilteringServer.ps1	Updates the malware filter definitions.

Scripts may be added to this directory as you install rollup updates and service packs, and some of them will only be present when a specific server role is installed. For example, the anti-spam scripts will only be available on mailbox servers. To view all the scripts in the $ExScripts folder, run Get-ChildItem $exscripts –Filter *.ps1.