Remove-Calendarevents
VasilMichev and TonyRedmond Does it need permission on Termed employees calendar? i am Global Admin and when i run this command with preview it does not preview any results Remove-CalendarEvents -Identity james.bond@domain.com -CancelOrganizedMeetings -QueryStartDate 11-7-2016 -QueryWindowInDays 120 -PreviewOnly -Verbose
Exchange Room Resource Name Change
We have Room resources on Exchange online which were migrated from on-premise exchange server, last year we completely migrated the on-premise exchange to EXO, now when we had to change the names of these room resources due to some relocations of the meeting rooms, we had to rename it from the on-premise ad since it is syncd. I have just renamed the AD object property(display name, SMTP etc), and once it is syncd via AAD, now could see the new name from the EXO but when we use Get-Mailbox -Identity via Exchange online powershell its still showing up the old name, is there any other on-premise ad attribute which needs to be changed?
Outlook - Online mode address book search fails with "Operation failed" when Name only is ticked.
I hope you had this issue and managed to solve 😂 pulling my hair already. Symptom: In classic Outlook for Windows, open the Address Book → set Search to Name only → type any single character → "The address book operation failed." Switch to More columns and the exact same search works fine. Ctrl+K resolution in the To: field works. OWA people search works. Mail flow is fine. It's only the Name-only ANR seek in the dialog. Environment: Exchange hybrid, mailbox in Exchange Online, dir-syncedfrom on-prem AD via Entra Connect Classic Outlook for Windows, online mode (Cached Mode is not permitted here — this is the constraint, I can't just flip it) Affects all users, all machines What I've already ruled out: Test Result Other address lists (Contacts, All Users) Same failure Ctrl+K in To: field Works Safe mode (outlook.exe /safe) Same failure — not add-ins Multiple accounts / multiple machines Same failure Brand-new mail profile Same failure — not profile corruption Addressing order (Tools > Options) GAL set first, not "Choose automatically" Off corporate network (5G) Same failure AddressBookPolicy / OfflineAddressBook on mailbox Both blank (inherit defaults) Get-OfflineAddressBook Default OAB, IsDefault: True, web dist enabled Get-GlobalAddressList Default GAL, IsDefaultGlobalAddressList: True, stock default RecipientFilter
HCW - Hybrid Configuration Wizard for Hybrid Certificate
I've gone through about 5 Microsoft Exchange Support Engineers for last two years with Exchange on-line migration and 80% of time running HCW, it caused email outages where the engineers did not know what to do. They've also gave conflicting information on how to correctly run HCW for adding server and to replace certificate. Some say use powershell and some says do not use powershell. Now, I need to replace the hybrid certificate, do I uncheck everything and check only "Update Secure Mail Certificate for connectors" in a centralized transport setup (email flows through on-prem servers) ? I assume uncheck everything will not roll back configurations. I have Microsoft Exchange engineers says it will and some say it won't and they all say they have 20+ experience.Will server to server migration work cross-domain/cross-active directory?
Back in 2016, I upgraded a client from Exchange 2008R2 to Exchange 2016. The way I did it was "the textbook way" I built the new Exchange 2016 server on the same network as the 2008R2 server, and migrated the mailboxes from the old server to the new server, using the migration tool in the ECP interface, then deinstalled the server. It was a pretty cake migration except for one problem - the internal AD domain name was "wonkulating.com" however the client had failed to maintain public registration for that domain, and had registered "wonkulatinggronkulator.com" for use on the Internet. So I set it up so that all internal and external access was to "email address removed for privacy reasons" User were happy, and the IT dept was able to kick the migration can down the road again. Well fast forward a decade. Now I'm an employee for the former client and worse I manage the IT group there - so my can-kicking bandaid has come back to haunt me now that it's time to update to exchange SE. (it also adds to the fun that there's a couple hundred more users on the network than there were a decade ago) I decided to cut the Gordion knot and kill off "wonkulating.com" since there's not a snowball's chance in hades we could afford to buy it now. So I built a new AD for wonkulatinggronkulator.com, and did the jiggery pokery with the DNS servers and setup trust between the forests and so on and now, servers on both domains are happy happy, I can apply both wonkulating.com and wonkulatinggronkulator.com security objects to server filesystems, users can login to either domain at any workstation regardless of what domain the workstation was joined to, and so on, and we are getting ready to migrate the users and workstations off the old AD and on to the new AD. My question to all of you is this. I'm planning on installing Exchange SE into the new AD forest wonkulatinggronkulator.com and we will move the users over in groups of 10 or 20 or so, so that staff can make sure everyone is happy, can login, get at their files, etc. But what I am wondering is if the exchange servers will cooperate with each other. I'm not using ADMT or any of that to move user objects over to the new server so userIDs will exist in parallel for some time to allow a gradual migration of file and application servers. (we are too big now for the come-in-on-weekend-and-hose-everything-up-in-a-mad-rush-migration-fueled-with-pizza-and-mountain-dew routine) It would be very nice to just kick off a migration job on one of the mailservers and have the inbox copied over, but if I have to I can tear out the mailbox on the old server into a PST file and jam it into the new server via import. Documentation on microsoft.com seems to say at some points the servers will cooperate with each other and at other points it seems to say each mailserver is atomic. Like most orgs we have a bastion host mailserver that touches the actual Internet, the exchange server is only allowed to provide OWA services to the Internet, while the bastion host server (running Linux, by the way) does the actual heavy lifting of spam scanning and filtering out scam mails. Only cleaned mail is passed to the on-prem exchange server. So if the servers -won't- cooperate cross-forest, then I can adjust mail routing on a per-user basis on the bastion host to send incoming mail to the server in wonkulating.com or the server in wonkulatinggronkulator.com depending on which server they are on. Technically, the ACTUAL user ID on the old AD is WONKULATING\exampleuser while on the new AD it will be WONKULATINGGRONKULATOR\exampleuser, so the servers SHOULD be smart enough to know they are different userIDs - except that the server on wonkulating.com was hacked up by me a decade ago to believe it was authoritative for BOTH "email address removed for privacy reasons" and "email address removed for privacy reasons" email addresses and that they were the same userID basically. So, I don't know what's going to happen until I try it and all of the documentation I can find on this matter is pretty fluffy, as it assumes you are moving from a domain name you own to a different domain name you own because you bought a company or something, or you are moving from one mailserver to the other inside of the same forest/domain. Lastly, suggestions to install Exchange SE into wonkulating.com then move it later into wonkulatinggronkulator.com will be /dev/nulled immediately, I'm done kicking the can down the road. There's more than 20 years of garbage in the wonkulating.com AD and the nonsense described here is just the tip of the iceberg. (you should see the GPO's in wonkulating.com, simply horrifying) Thanks!Import Bulk PST to Office 365 Step by Step | Stellar Migrator for Outlook
Learn how to import bulk PST files to Office 365 (Exchange Online) step by step using Stellar Migrator for Outlook. This tutorial walks you through automating the migration of multiple PST mailboxes to Exchange Online — no manual uploads, no scripting. Stellar Migrator for Outlook automates bulk PST-to-Office 365 migration, letting you map source PSTs to target Office 365 mailboxes (Primary, Archive, or Public Folder), apply filters, and run the whole job with minimal effort — without worrying about duplicate emails. It's a reliable way to move legacy mailboxes into Office 365. Using a CSV file, you can migrate unlimited PST files to Office 365 users from the same system or across networked systems. The software also supports incremental migration, so you can resume or re-run a job and only new items get imported — no duplicates, no reprocessing what's already migrated. Learn more: https://www.stellarinfo.com/import-pst-to-office-365.phpExchange Online PowerShell Updates to 3.10.1 to Fix CBA
Microsoft rushed out version 3.10.1 of the Exchange Online management PowerShell module to fix a problem with certificate-based authentication. It seems like a change in an internal Microsoft identity platform caused the tokens issued after a successful connection to Exchange Online to not authorize the execution of further cmdlets. To their credit, Microsoft fixed the issue, but is this the kind of thing that should be caught in testing? https://office365itpros.com/2026/07/27/exchange-online-management-3-10-1/
Gmail to Microsoft 365 Migration Issue Open for 7+ Days – Seeking Guidance or Escalation Path
I’m facing an issue with a Gmail to Microsoft 365 migration that has been open for more than 7 days, and I’m looking for guidance or an escalation path from the community. Scenario: Migration type: Gmail to Microsoft 365 Issue started: April 22 Current status: Stuck with no clear resolution What’s happening: The support ticket has been active since April 22. However, the updates I’ve been receiving are generic responses such as “we are working on it” and “this has been prioritized.” Despite multiple follow-ups, there has been: No clear root cause identified No ETA provided No technical breakdown of the issue I also requested a callback from the assigned manager and technical lead to better understand the situation, but the communication has remained email-only with repeated status updates. What I’m looking for: Has anyone faced similar issues during Gmail → Microsoft 365 migrations? Are there known blockers or common causes that could lead to this kind of delay? What is the recommended escalation path when support is unable to provide technical clarity or ETA? Any insights, workarounds, or guidance would be highly appreciated. Thank you in advance.Reference Architecture for an On-Premises AI Assistant for Microsoft Exchange.
Bringing Secure AI Capabilities to On-Premises Microsoft Exchange Many organisations continue to operate Microsoft Exchange within their own data centres because of regulatory requirements, data-residency policies, security considerations, operational dependencies, or the need to maintain complete control over sensitive email information. At the same time, users increasingly expect Artificial Intelligence to help them manage growing email volumes, understand long conversation threads, locate information quickly, analyse attachments, and prepare relevant responses. This creates an important question: Can organisations introduce AI-assisted email capabilities without migrating their on-premises Exchange environment or sending email data to public AI services? With the right architecture, the answer is yes. The opportunity for AI in on-premises Exchange Users spend a significant amount of time reading lengthy email chains, searching for previous discussions, identifying action items, reviewing attachments, and preparing responses. An AI-powered email assistant can help reduce this effort while continuing to operate within the organisation’s controlled infrastructure. Such a solution can be integrated with Microsoft Exchange through an Outlook Web App, or OWA, Add-In. The Add-In provides AI-assisted capabilities within the familiar Outlook Web interface and can be centrally deployed to selected users or Active Directory groups by the Exchange administrator. The purpose is not to replace Exchange or change the way emails are managed. Instead, it introduces an intelligence layer that helps authorised users interact more efficiently with the email information they are already permitted to access. Key capabilities of an AI-powered Exchange Email Assistant 1. Email and conversation summarisation The assistant can summarise an individual email or an entire conversation thread. Instead of reading every message in a long chain, the user can receive a structured summary covering: The purpose of the conversation. Important decisions and commitments. Key action items. Deadlines and pending responses. Relevant information available in attachments. The summarisation process can consider both incoming and sent messages so that the complete context of the conversation is preserved. 2. Contextual draft reply generation The assistant can prepare a suggested response based on the complete email thread and the user’s instructions. Users may select an appropriate tone, such as: Formal. Neutral. Technical. The generated response is placed in the user’s Exchange Draft folder or displayed for review within the OWA Add-In. A critical control is that the AI assistant does not independently send the email. The user remains responsible for reviewing, editing, approving, and sending the response. This human-review approach helps organisations adopt AI while retaining accountability over external and internal communications. 3. Natural-language mailbox search Traditional mailbox search generally depends on exact keywords, sender names, subjects, or date filters. An AI-enabled search experience allows users to search their mailbox using natural-language questions, such as: “Find emails received last month regarding the infrastructure renewal.” “Show unread emails from the finance team that require my approval.” “Find the discussion where the customer confirmed the delivery date.” “Summarise emails from a particular sender concerning the purchase order.” The solution can combine semantic search with traditional keyword-based search to improve the relevance of results. Users can also apply filters such as sender, subject, date range, read or unread status, and conversation thread. 4. Attachment analysis and OCR Important information is often contained within email attachments rather than the email body itself. An on-premises AI assistant can process supported documents, including: PDF files. Microsoft Word documents. Microsoft Excel files. Scanned documents. Image-based attachments. Optical Character Recognition, or OCR, can be used to extract information from scanned or image-based documents. The extracted content can then support email summarisation, contextual draft generation, and mailbox search. For example, a user may ask the assistant to prepare a response based on the commercial terms or delivery date mentioned in an attached document. Maintaining strict mailbox privacy Mailbox privacy is one of the most important architectural considerations for an enterprise AI email assistant. Each user must only be able to access and process emails from their own authorised mailbox. Information retrieved from one user’s mailbox must never become available to another user. This isolation should be enforced across every layer of the solution, including: User authentication. Exchange access tokens. Application sessions. Search indexes. Vector embeddings. AI prompts and responses. Cache and temporary data. Audit logs. The backend should validate the authenticated user and verify mailbox ownership for every request made to Exchange. Where vector search is used, mailbox data should be stored in user-isolated collections, partitions, or namespaces. This helps prevent cross-user retrieval at the data layer rather than relying only on controls within the user interface. Operating without public cloud AI services For organisations with strict security or data-sovereignty requirements, the AI models and supporting components can be deployed within the customer’s infrastructure. A fully on-premises architecture may include: A locally hosted Large Language Model. An on-premises embedding model. A re-ranking model. A vector database. A keyword-search engine. A backend API layer. An OCR or document-intelligence service. A secured OWA Add-In. Integration with Active Directory. Audit, monitoring, and administrative controls. The entire solution can operate within an internal network without sending email content, attachments, prompts, or generated responses to public AI platforms. This model can also support air-gapped environments where internet access is either restricted or completely unavailable. Centralised deployment and administration The OWA Add-In can be deployed centrally through Exchange administration controls. Administrators can assign the Add-In only to selected users or security groups. Employees who are not assigned the solution will not see the AI assistant within their Outlook Web interface. Administrative controls may include: User and group assignment. Enabling or disabling individual AI features. Summarisation-only mode. Draft-generation controls. Attachment-size restrictions. Session and retention policies. Model and performance settings. Usage monitoring. Audit logs. Resource utilisation monitoring. These controls allow organisations to begin with a limited group of users and gradually extend the solution after validating performance, security, and user adoption. Security and governance considerations Introducing AI into an enterprise email environment requires more than deploying a language model. The complete solution should be designed around security, privacy, governance, and responsible AI principles. Important considerations include: Authentication and authorisation The solution should integrate with the organisation’s existing identity infrastructure, such as Active Directory, and enforce role-based access controls. Encryption Email content, attachments, indexes, logs, and other sensitive information should be encrypted both in transit and at rest. Data retention Organisations should clearly define whether AI prompts, generated summaries, and draft content are retained. In privacy-sensitive environments, generated content may remain available only for the active session and should not be permanently stored by the AI application. Auditability The system should record relevant operational events, such as the user identity, requested function, timestamp, and processing status. Depending on the organisation’s policy, the actual email or generated response content may be excluded from audit logs. Human oversight AI-generated responses should be treated as suggestions. The user must review and approve them before sending. The assistant should also disclose its limitations and avoid presenting uncertain outputs as confirmed facts. Performance and capacity On-premises AI processing depends on available compute, memory, storage, and GPU resources. The architecture should account for: Number of concurrent users. Average mailbox size. Volume and size of attachments. Expected response time. Model size. Search-index growth. OCR processing requirements. High availability and backup requirements. A practical adoption approach Organisations do not need to introduce all capabilities at once. A controlled proof of concept can begin with a limited number of users and a defined set of features. A practical implementation sequence may include: Phase 1: Email summarisation Start with individual email and conversation-thread summaries. This provides immediate value while keeping the initial architecture relatively focused. Phase 2: Contextual draft replies Introduce draft generation with mandatory user review and clearly defined tone controls. Phase 3: Attachment processing Enable OCR and document parsing for supported attachments. Phase 4: Intelligent mailbox search Index authorised mailbox content and introduce natural-language search with strict per-user isolation. Phase 5: Wider deployment After security testing, performance validation, and user feedback, extend the solution to additional departments or user groups. Conclusion Organisations operating on-premises Microsoft Exchange do not necessarily need to choose between maintaining control over their email environment and adopting AI-assisted productivity capabilities. A carefully designed on-premises AI email assistant can support email summarisation, contextual draft preparation, attachment analysis, and natural-language mailbox search while keeping sensitive information within the organisation’s infrastructure. The most important success factors are not limited to the AI model itself. Identity controls, mailbox isolation, human approval, auditing, infrastructure sizing, and data-governance policies are equally important. For organisations evaluating private, sovereign, or air-gapped AI, on-premises Exchange can become an effective starting point for introducing practical AI capabilities in a secure and controlled manner. Connect with us to implement this solution in your organization. About the Author Vinay Prakash is the CEO of Glorious Insight and an Ex Microsoft Employee. He works with organisations on Data, Artificial Intelligence, Microsoft cloud technologies, enterprise applications, and secure on-premises AI solutions. For technical discussions related to private or on-premises AI adoption, he can be reached at: Email: email address removed for privacy reasons
