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John Twohig's avatar
John Twohig
Iron Contributor
Dec 13, 2021
Solved

Adding to Distribution List

I am not sure if this should be here or in Exchange.   We have a Distribution List where some members have email accounts in our O365 tenant and some members are outsiders. For outsiders we normall...
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office 365
  • VasilMichev's avatar
    VasilMichev
    Dec 16, 2021
    Name and Display name are two different parameters, what I'm saying is you should be able to keep display name as "FFF LLLL" while providing a unique value for the Name parameter.
VasilMichev's avatar
VasilMichev
MVP
Dec 14, 2021
Whenever you are referencing a user (or any object for that matter), try to use a unique-valued identifier, such as the UPN or the primary SMTP address. If you use something like display name or alias, you will run into duplicates in almost every organization of size.
There are also some "corner cases" where even properties such as SMTP can be duplicate, such as for example when you have Guest users added. Anyway, in your scenario best run a simple

Get-Recipient "XXX XXXXX"

to see all the matches, or use a different, unique value.
  • John Twohig's avatar
    John Twohig
    Iron Contributor
    Dec 14, 2021

    VasilMichev 

     

    When I try Get-Recipient I get the message: "Get-Recipient: The operation couldn't be performed because object 'XXX XXXXX' couldn't be found on 'CY4PR10A02DC004.NAMPR10A002.PROD.OUTLOOK.COM'."

     

    Which makes sense because the user doesn't have a mailbox. 

     

    I am not sure what you mean about referencing a user as I don't have a choice in what to enter. Display Name and Email are required fields. 

    Thanks

    • bbhorrigan's avatar
      bbhorrigan
      Brass Contributor
      Dec 15, 2021
      It sounds like you need to create a mail object for the user in your environment, that way it can be easily referenced, and doesn't have to be an internal object.

      I would just create a mail contact.
      https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/exchange/recipients-in-exchange-online/manage-mail-contacts
      • John Twohig's avatar
        John Twohig
        Iron Contributor
        Dec 15, 2021

        bbhorrigan 

         

        That is the problem. It won't let me create a mail contact. I didn't realize until I saw the message from VasilMichev that using Powershell would bypass the checking. 

         

        I was just about to do that when I saw your message that a mail object doesn't have to be internal. I am not sure how to create one but it gives me a direction to try a couple of things. If they don't work for me right away I will just create the mail contact with Powershell.

         

        Thanks

    • VasilMichev's avatar
      VasilMichev
      MVP
      Dec 15, 2021
      If you want to locate the "duplicate" object, try the same cmdlet with the SMTP and alias values. Or just create the contact via PowerShell *New-MailContact), as it allows you to bypass the check that's causing this issue in the first place.

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