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alex-franco's avatar
alex-franco
Brass Contributor
Jun 17, 2021

PublicFolder CN=Schema,CN=Microsoft Exchange System Objects,DC=contoso,DC=com

I'm in the preparation stage of migrating our Public Folders from an on-premises Exchange 2016 CU19 server to Exchange Online. Running the SourceSiceValidation.ps1 script outputs several orphaned MEPFs in our Active Directory, and I get a similar output from the ValidateMailEnabledPublicFolders.ps1. The recommendation is to delete the orphaned MEPFs, but I'm running into an oddity that I just don't feel comfortable deleting. There's a PublicFolder named "Schema" in our MESO OU, and it just feels wrong to delete anything named "Schema" in a database. 

 

Get-ADObject "CN=Schema,CN=Microsoft Exchange System Objects,DC=***,DC=***" | fl


DistinguishedName : CN=Schema,CN=Microsoft Exchange System Objects,DC=***,DC=***
Name              : Schema
ObjectClass       : publicFolder
ObjectGUID        : 9*******-8***-4***-8***-2***********

 

Any advice on how to determine if this object really is safe to remove?

 

Thanks! 

exchange 2016
exchange online
migration
Public Folders

1 Reply

  • Japs's avatar
    Japs
    Copper Contributor
    Jun 24, 2025

    Since I ran into this one a couple of years later, and was frustrated to find no answers/followup, I decided to reply with my findings today.

    The object of type 'Public Folder' is indeed an object stored in AD related to your Public Folder.s Check against your public folders (PS> Get-PublicFolder). If you are no longer utilizing Public Folders, it is safe to remove. For reference, Ali Tarjans article on Arbitration mailboxes does not list public folders in this location, from which you could also conclude this object is not required. https://www.alitajran.com/check-exchange-arbitration-mailboxes

    My presumption is that it was automatically created by earlier versions of Exchange.

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