Creating a Non-Mail Enabled User in SBS 2008

In SBS 2003 if we left the e-mail alias field empty in the Add User wizard we would end up with a user account with no mailbox.

In SBS 2008 if we try the same thing we get an error asking us to fill out the e-mail alias field.

When we head into the Exchange Management Console found in SBS Native Tools Management we need to stop and consider what the various commands mean when we right click on the user’s mailbox account:

In the SBS 2003 days, Remove would mean the removal of the user’s mailbox. But, this actually goes through and removes the user’s AD account as well _without warning_.

In SBS 2008 with Exchange 2007 we actually need to Disable the user’s mailbox which effectively removes the AD account’s mailbox.

Occasionally there is a need for a user account with domain resource access without the need for a mailbox.

This is how we get to that point by creating the user in the SBS Console and subsequently disabling that mailbox.

There is one thing to consider though, if we run the Change User Role wizard in the SBS 2008 Console the wizard _will_ add a mailbox back to the user account.

This is what the user account looks like in the SBS Console after the mailbox has been disabled:

Note the absence of an e-mail address.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer