Set up an Exchange mailbox - how it works

In this article we will show you how to set up an Exchange mailbox for an existing user. We show you the scenario for the user interface of Microsoft Exchange Server 2013, via Microsoft PowerShell and for the cloud service Office365.

We assume that you have already created an active domain including an LDAP directory and that the user already exists. For Office365 you can of course use an Active Directory connection or simply create the mailbox via the web interface. The article is aimed at advanced administrators. For the on-premise steps in the user interface and the console, we use a Hyper-V virtualized installation of Exchange Server 2013, which is connected via Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter to a Windows Server 2012 R2, on which domain, DNS and Active Directory are running,

Set up an Exchange mailbox using the Microsoft Exchange user interface

In this section we describe the steps for setting up a mailbox using the graphical user interface of Microsoft Exchange Server 2013. This works similarly for Exchange 2010:

1. Navigate to "Receiver Configuration" in the console tree.
2. In the Actions pane, click "New Mailbox".
3. On the Introduction page, click User Mailbox, and then click Next.
4. On the User Type page, select Existing User and click Add.
5. In the Select User dialog box, select the user for whom you want to create the new mailbox, and then click OK.
6. Click on Continue".
7. Complete the Alias ​​field on the Mailbox Settings page. The alias is a name for the mailbox - e.g. Max Mustermann. The alias must be unique in the structure. Avoid umlauts and special characters: e.g. Mueller instead of Müller. If you create several mailboxes at the same time, the Alias ​​field is not available and it is assigned automatically. You can then specify mailbox databases, postal and ActiveSync policies.
8. You can check everything again in the configuration summary on the "New Mailbox" page. Click New to set up the mailbox.
9. "Completed" should now appear on the "Completion" page (or "Error" together with a description in the event of an error). This completes the setup via the user interface. Close the wizard by clicking "Finish".

Set up Microsoft Exchange mailbox with PowerShell

If it is too difficult for you to set up several mailboxes in particular via the user interface, or if you want to automate the process, a PowerShell command is available.

1. Either start the PowerShell directly on the server - for example during a remote connection - via the start screen or the start menu (Windows Server 2010). Alternatively, you can start the PowerShell via the Windows Server 2012 R2 Server Manager by right-clicking on the relevant server.
2. In this example a mailbox is created for the existing user "Practical tips" in the domain "chip.de": Enable-Mailbox -Database "MyServer \ Mailbox Database"

Create a mailbox with Microsoft Office365

Here we show you how to create another mailbox for a user with the cloud service Microsoft Office365:

1. Sign in to your Office365 administrator account at www.office365.com.
2. Under Manage Organization, click Users & Groups and Add Users, Reset Passwords, and more.
3. Click here on the plus "+" above the user list.
4. You will now be guided through the facility with a form. Here you can set up and specify all details such as names, telephone numbers and the e-mail inbox.

In further practical tips, we will explain how you can retrieve mails with Outlook Web Access and how the free Outlook alternative Windows Live Mail works.