How to count amount of mailboxes on an EX2k server 1

[Orblivian]

Hi,

I'm looking for some 3rd party tools to count how many mailboxes are located on an exchange server.
For example Exchange server A contains 100 mbx :
Storage group 1 & 2 each have 50 mbx
On Storage group 1 mailbox store 1 contains 23mbx en mailbox store contains 27 mbx...

Are there some tools that either show it graphically or even better exportable to .csv or .xls? We need it for balancing the mbx to several servers. I know you can cound them when you make a search in AD, but it is a large job on several servers/SG/mb stores.

Thanx

David.

 

[SteveTheGeek]

Orblivian,
For a straight list of mailboxes in each store, you can go to Start > Programs > MS Exchange > System Manager, and look in Admin Groups > First Admin Group [or whatever yours is named] > Servers > [servername] > [your storage group(s)] and find the list of mailboxes there. Helpful for size/last logon info, too.
-Steve

 

[Orblivian]

Hi Steve,

The method you described is just showing all mbx. But you don't get a number of mbx.
That's the first thing we tried. The only solution we found for the moment is searching within AD on all specific SG and mb stores.

 

[kmcferrin]

You can use Microsoft Operations Manager to generate reports on mailbox store utilization. I'm not sure if you'll want to go that route since it can be pricey, but I know that it works.

You could probably also find someone to write a clever script that connects via ADSI and pulls that same information for you and puts it into a .CSV file.

 

[Orblivian]

I'm not a scipting guru, so I don't think that will be possible for the moment.
And about MOM, that's an investment we're definitely not going to make just for counting some mbx
We're just looking for a small 3rd party tool.

 

[heard]

Hi Orblivian,

If all you want is a .csv file to import into an Excel spreadsheet then you have the means at your fingertips - FREE.

If you get as far as SteveTheGreek suggests, where you have mailboxes highleighted in the lefta hand pane - left click on Action and select Export Lists... and this will give you the option to export as a CSV file.

Works a treat.

Heard

 

[Marcs41]

Very good point Heard!
And you can even make graphs out of it!

Marc
[sub]If 'something' 'somewhere' gives 'some' error, expect random guesses or no replies at all. Please specify details.
Free Tip: The F1 Key does NOT destroy your PC![/sub]

 

[Marcs41]

LOL, I even got you your very first star Heard! Keep up the good posts!

Marc

 

[Orblivian]

That's a good trick, but the problem is we need this every day and we've got 8 ex2k servers with the max amount of SG and mb stores used.
If we have to open every mb store one by one and export to an excel file, this means we have to do this 8 x 4 x 5 = 160 times.
I don't understand why M$ doesn't foresee a small tool or even a counter like in NT explorer to count mbx.

 

[Marcs41]

Every day?
Just out of curiosity, how come?
Doe sit change that often, and doesn't anyone know then?

 

[Orblivian]

Ok, not every day, several times a week
We create a lot of accounts with several people, so we pick out random servers to put the mbx.
That's why we need to know the amount of mbx for "balancing" the stores.

 

[Marcs41]

Uh, would it not be easier to keep a minimum of administration, and just add them to the list when you create them?
I know, low-tech, but effective!

 

[Orblivian]

We're a team of 5 people who manages the accounts, so it is already a minimum.
But using a list to put a mark when you use the server is hard to do, as when we delete accounts, there is a free slot on the server and then the list is direct a mess.
Apparantly there are no 3rd party tools (cheap, not M$ MOM) so I don't think we're goint to find a solution for this.
Anyway, if anyone has the same problem and found a solution for it, please let me know.

 

[Marcs41]

Hmm, you could post it in the VB Forum, with some scripting it should possible to do it.

 

[Orblivian]

Ok thanx, I'll do that if a find a good forum. I saw there are a lot of forums in this site.
And he needs to have a good knowledgde of Ex2k.