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mrbayItFlag for United States of America

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get-mailbox delete content in specific OU or distribution list

hello, i am trying to delete content from multiple users mailbox.

The command i am using does so successfully for one user, however i am looking to target a specific user base and particular subject either inside an OU or inside a distribution list. So far the script i am using doesnt work. Can anyone help?

Get-Mailbox -OrganizationalUnit "ou=local" –ResultSize unlimited | Search-Mailbox -SearchQuery 'subject:*subject*' –DeleteContent
 

(assume the OU path is accurate)

thanks in advance
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Recept

When specifying the OU use the full path including domain name.

For example;
Get-Mailbox -OrganizationalUnit 'domain.com/OU' –ResultSize unlimited | Search-Mailbox -SearchQuery 'subject:*subject*' –DeleteContent


If this still doesn't work please post the error message.
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ASKER

thank you i tried the full path before and it didnt work, by full path do you mean

ou=etc,ou=etc,dc=domain,dc=local
That is correct, either should work

Get-Mailbox -OrganizationalUnit 'domain.local/etc/etc' –ResultSize unlimited | Search-Mailbox -SearchQuery 'subject:*subject*' –DeleteContent

Get-Mailbox -OrganizationalUnit 'ou=etc,ou=etc,dc=domain,dc=local' –ResultSize unlimited | Search-Mailbox -SearchQuery 'subject:*subject*' –DeleteContent


I'd suggest you run just the Get-Mailbox command first to make sure it is working, once confirmed you can add the Search-Mailbox.

Get-Mailbox -OrganizationalUnit 'domain.local/etc/etc' –ResultSize unlimited

OR

Get-Mailbox -OrganizationalUnit 'ou=etc,ou=etc,dc=domain,dc=local' –ResultSize unlimited
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ASKER

it looked like it was going to work then got an

"unexpected error a watson event has been generated"

Object reference not set to an instance of an object
That sounds like an error outside of Exchange Management Shell. Did you receive it running just the Get-Mailbox command or the full thing?

Perhaps try with a smaller -ResultSize as a test.

Get-Mailbox -OrganizationalUnit 'domain.local/etc/etc' –ResultSize 10
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ASKER

interesting i cant go above 30, but the number of people in the OU is 50 so i need to process more than that. Any idea why?
It's not clear why the Exchange Management Shell is crashing, it certainly should be able to handle many more than 30 results. Do you have another machine with the Exchange Management Shell installed?

To workaround the issue you could filter the results based on name so you're dealing with smaller number of users.

Get-Mailbox -OrganizationalUnit 'domain.local/etc/etc' –ResultSize Unlimited -Filter {(name -gt 'a') -and (name -lt 'f')}

Get-Mailbox -OrganizationalUnit 'domain.local/etc/etc' –ResultSize Unlimited -Filter {(name -gt 'g') -and (name -lt 'r')}

Get-Mailbox -OrganizationalUnit 'domain.local/etc/etc' –ResultSize Unlimited -Filter {(name -gt 's') -and (name -lt 'z')}

Open in new window


If that works then try and add the second part of the command back into the mix.

Get-Mailbox -OrganizationalUnit 'domain.local/etc/etc' –ResultSize Unlimited -Filter {(name -gt 'a') -and (name -lt 'f')} | Search-Mailbox -SearchQuery 'subject:*subject*' –DeleteContent

Get-Mailbox -OrganizationalUnit 'domain.local/etc/etc' –ResultSize Unlimited -Filter {(name -gt 'g') -and (name -lt 'r')} | Search-Mailbox -SearchQuery 'subject:*subject*' –DeleteContent

Get-Mailbox -OrganizationalUnit 'domain.local/etc/etc' –ResultSize Unlimited -Filter {(name -gt 's') -and (name -lt 'z')} | Search-Mailbox -SearchQuery 'subject:*subject*' –DeleteContent

Open in new window

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ASKER

i like that approach alot, however tried it and got

the command got positional parameter cannot be found that accepts argument filter
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ASKER

oh you know what im sorry it did work, i tried to apply it on a different filter. Instead of OU's im doing distriibution list which gave me a better view of what i was looking for. I assumed i could apply the same path to that parameter but i guess i cant. Here is the string i am trying now

Get-Distributiongroupmember alias –ResultSize unlimited -Filter {(name -gt 'a') -and (name -lt 'f')} | Search-Mailbox -SearchQuery 'subject:subject' –DeleteContent
Does the Get-DistributionGroupMember return all of the users or bomb out at 30 results as well?

Get-Distributiongroupmember alias –ResultSize unlimited
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ASKER

it bombs out just l like the other one, and only works at 40. However your idea for doing it by name group is perfect only problem is the error i mentioned above that i get, parameter one
i should note im on exchange 2010 with latest sp and rolup
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ASKER

thank you so much