archiving deleted items in the deleted items folder

[mitcher]

Because we have decided to use quota based archiving it seems we may have to archive deleted items lest mailboxes and hence database get out of control from a size perspective. I am aware that it is possible to set server side policy so that users deleted items folder it emptied upon exiting outlook; however we do not want to do this. From reading the "Setting Up Exchange Server Archiving" pdf for Version 8.0 of EV it seems it might be possible to use a "custom filtering ruleset file" to set a specific retention policy on deleted items that are archived. Hence we could limit and/or customize the amount of space that deleted items may take up in the Vault Stores etc. Does anyone have an example of such a file to achieve this. We are using an EMC CENTERA for our Vaults so does this make a difference? Any help/advice would be appreciated.

[GertjanA]

Hello Mitcher,

Where I used to admin EV, we decided to archive deleted items using the same policy as archiving the normal mail. Everything older than 28 days is archived. That worked well.

You can set a different retention category for the deleted items folder, you will have to use EVPM to set it.

I am not an EVPM expert, but it is really simple to setup (testlab ;) ) EVPM is described in the utilities pdf file.
I believe the ini file should look like:

[Directory]
directorycomputername = EVSRV01 (your ev-directory-server)
sitename = EV (ev site name)

[Filter]
name = filter1 (free to choose)
CreateShortcut = false (no shortcut after archiving)
DeleteOriginal = true (delete archived mail)
unreadMAIL = true (archive unread mail)
UseInactivityPeriod = true (defines to use the below)
InactivityUnits = days (what period a mail is not touched)
InactivityPeriod = 1 (1 effectively stating that mail in this folder is archived after 1 day)

[Mailbox]
distinguishedname = all (all mailboxes, but you can filter on provisioning groups and other types)

[Folder]
name = DeletedItems (which folder is targeted)
filtername = filter1 (apply this filter)

Again, test this, and remember to schedule it every now and then to have it apply to new mailboxes.

[Rob_Wilcox1]

I think Mitcher is referring to custom filters, which it is possible to do.. however, Gertjan, your approach is probably better... to assign a different retention category to items archived from the deleted items folder is better.

In other words, Mitcher, either way will work.. which is "best" is largely down to your business environment, I guess.

[mitcher]

thanks sounds good.
I assume we can list multiple provisioning groups to distinguishednamethe distinguishedname label separated by some allowable character.

[GertjanA · Accepted solution]

From Utilities pdf

ProvisioningGroup

Optional. Lets you select mailboxes that have been provisioned by a specific provisioning target group.
For example, to select all the mailboxes that have been provisioned by a group called “VIPs”:

ProvisioningGroup=VIPs

Note: In this example, EVPM selects only the mailboxes that have actually been provisioned by the provisioning target group. Other users may be eligible under the same group, but not provisioned because they have already been provisioned by a higher priority group. You must also run the provisioning task before running EVPMscripts that use the ProvisioningGroup setting, to ensure that provisioning is up to date.