Exchange 2007 Audit Script - Version 3

I have updated the Exchange 2007 audit script yet again!

Included in this update are two MAJOR changes, firstly, the script uses and publishes information using the new HTML format, as created by Virtu-Al.

This script, and the functions which create its HTML output are far more efficient and literally cut the number of lines in the script down by half. Not only is the code leaner, but it is also infinitely more legible, and adding new tests to the current script is a breeze. This version of the HTML output is also compatible with multiple browsers, including Mozilla and Chrome.

Secondly, the script will now detect pipeline input. You can still use a server list as a parameter to the script, but now, you can also pipe content to the script. This content can include your server list, or output from Exchange commands such as get-transportserver or get-mailboxserver etc. Be careful though, because commands like get-exchangeserver could include Exchange 2003 servers.

If no server list is specified or piped, the script will still get all Exchange 2007 servers.

As another minor addition, I have added an additional test (Test-OutlookWebServices) to the CAS servers.

As always, your comments and feedback is always welcome.

The script can be downloaded from here:

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Updated: Exchange 2007 audit script (Version 2)

I have finally been able to complete the updates to my Exchange 2007 audit script. The script has some enhancements which includes suggestions and comments from some readers.

The new script includes a few checks against CAS servers, which I feel have been neglected in the past. These checks include test-owaconnectivity and test-activesyncconnectivity. These two commands need some additional work to enable. To test if these command will work, you can run both test-owaconnectivity and test-activesyncconnectivity with the –ClientAccessServer switch. Additional information will be available in the console if the commands are unable to run.

I have been meaning to update the HTML format, as designed and used by Virtu-Al, but I have been unable to find the time. This is definitely high on the priority list, as the new format is supported by multiple browsers, and cuts down the number of lines of code significantly. I really wanted to include the new HTML in this release, but it would have delayed the release by weeks.

Here is a complete list of changes:

 - You have the option to specify a list of servers to audit, if you don’t, the script will use get-exchangeserver to find servers to audit.
 - Changed disk space to values to gigabyte.
 - Added white space to mailbox store report. ( This is done with dotnet, and has been optimised to be really quick)
 - Added MAPI connectivity test to mailbox server report.
 - Added OWA connectivity report for CAS servers.
 - Added ActiveSync connectivity report for CAS servers.
 - Cleaned up some variable names.

I will release a newer version soon, which will include a few additional checks, and will also use the latest HTML code.

Your comments and suggestions are always welcome.

The script can be downloaded from here:

This script has been replaced by a later version, please check the following link, or download the updated version below:

http://powershellneedfulthings.blogspot.com/2009/11/exchange-2007-audit-script-version-3.html

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Exchange summary reports

Taking a cue from a post on the Windows Powershell Blog, by James Brundage, I decided to create a few notifications for my Exchange environment.

These little “scriptlets” will pop off a notification message in HTML format with a summary of information gathered by each.

The information is not server specific, as I tried to limit the number of instances required. And the content is very basic, but it gets the job done.

You can refer to James’ post above for more information on how to automatically schedule these to run.

You can copy the scripts by hovering over the code block and selecting “view source”

Mailbox database summary:

#//Mailbox Database Reports
$messageParameters = @{
    Subject = "Exchange 2007 Database Report - $((Get-Date).ToShortDateString())"
    Body =  Get-MailboxDatabase -status | 
   Select-Object Server, Name, Mounted, LastFullBackup | 
   Sort-Object Server, Name |
         ConvertTo-Html |
         Out-String
    From = "exrept@domain.com"
    To = "you@domain.com"
    SmtpServer = "10.10.10.10"
}
Send-MailMessage @messageParameters -BodyAsHtml

Exchange 2007 queue summary:

#//Exchange 2007 Queue Report
$messageParameters = @{
    Subject = "Exchange 2007 Queue Report - $((Get-Date).ToShortDateString())"
    Body =  Get-TransportServer |
   ForEach-Object { Get-Queue -Server $_ | 
   Select-Object NextHopDomain, MessageCount, Status} | 
   Sort-Object NextHopDomain |
         ConvertTo-Html |
         Out-String
    From = "exrept@domain.com"
    To = "you@domain.com"
    SmtpServer = "10.10.10.10"
}
Send-MailMessage @messageParameters -BodyAsHtml

Exchange 2003 queue summary:

#//Exchange 2003 Queue Report
$messageParameters = @{
    Subject = "Exchange 2003 Queue Report - $((Get-Date).ToShortDateString())"
    Body =  Get-ExchangeServer | 
   Where-Object {$_.IsExchange2007OrLater -eq $False} |
   ForEach-Object {
   Get-WmiObject -class exchange_smtpqueue -namespace ROOT\MicrosoftExchangev2 -computername $_ | 
   Where-Object -FilterScript {$_.MessageCount -gt 0} |  
   Select-Object VirtualMachine, QueueName, MessageCount, Size} |
   Sort-Object VirtualMachine |
         ConvertTo-Html |
         Out-String
    From = "exrept@domain.com"
    To = "you@domain.com"
    SmtpServer = "10.10.10.10"
}
Send-MailMessage @messageParameters -BodyAsHtml

Exchange 2007 MAPI connectivity summary:

#//MAPI Connectivity Report
$messageParameters = @{
    Subject = "MAPI Connectivity Report - $((Get-Date).ToShortDateString())"
    Body =  Get-MailboxServer |
   Where-Object {(get-mailboxdatabase -Server $_ ).count -gt '0'} |
   ForEach-Object { Test-MAPIConnectivity -Server $_ |
   Select-Object Server, Database, Result, @{Name="Latency(MS)";expression={(([TimeSpan] $_.Latency).TotalMilliSeconds)}}, Error} |
   Sort-Object Server, Database |
         ConvertTo-Html |
         Out-String
    From = "exrept@domain.com"
    To = "you@domain.com"
    SmtpServer = "10.10.10.10"
}
Send-MailMessage @messageParameters -BodyAsHtml

Exchange server disk summary:

#//Disk Space Reports
$messageParameters = @{
    Subject = "Exchange Disk Space Report - $((Get-Date).ToShortDateString())"
    Body =  Get-ExchangeServer |
   ForEach-Object { Get-WmiObject -computer $_ Win32_LogicalDisk} | 
   Where-Object {$_.DriveType -eq 3} |
   Select-Object SystemName, DeviceID, VolumeName, @{Name="Size(GB)";expression={[math]::round(($_.Size / 1073741824))}}, @{Name="Free(GB)";expression={[math]::round(($_.FreeSpace / 1073741824))}}, @{Name="Free(%)";expression={[math]::round(((($_.FreeSpace / 1073741824)/($_.Size / 1073741824)) * 100),0)}} | 
   Sort-Object SystemName, DeviceID |
         ConvertTo-Html |
         Out-String
    From = "exrept@domain.com"
    To = "you@domain.com"
    SmtpServer = "10.10.10.10"
}
Send-MailMessage @messageParameters -BodyAsHtml

Exhcange services summary:

#//Exchange Services Report
$messageParameters = @{
    Subject = "Exchange Services Report - $((Get-Date).ToShortDateString())"
    Body =  Get-ExchangeServer | 
   ForEach-Object {
   Get-WmiObject -computername $_ -query "select * from win32_service where Name like 'MSExchange%' or Name like 'IIS%' or Name like 'SMTP%' or Name like 'POP%' or Name like 'W3SVC%'" | 
   Select-Object SystemName, DisplayName, StartMode, State} |
   Sort-Object SystemName, DisplayName |
         ConvertTo-Html |
         Out-String
    From = "exrept@domain.com"
    To = "you@domain.com"
    SmtpServer = "10.10.10.10"
}
Send-MailMessage @messageParameters -BodyAsHtml

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New Look

If you are a regular visitor, you may have noticed that the site looks a little different.

I looked at the site during last week and decided that I had enough of the standard old blogger template. It was really boring, and half the blogger sites out there use the same template.

I spent most of Friday getting the new look ready, and I am pretty sure I have it all working now. I have added some RSS feeds and a Feedburner email subscription page.

I think the new look is cleaner and a little more unique, and I really hope you like it too. 

Your comments and suggestions are always welcome.

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View Performance data in a web browser

This is a little trick, which I have been meaning to share for a while. It is a very simple way to view performance data for your server, using a web browser. Now I am sure that it’s not news to everyone, but for those of you who see this for the first time, I am sure you’ll be able to use this in your environment.

Because I work primarily with Exchange server, I will be using some Exchange performance data for this post. However, you can use any performance counters you require, according to my knowledge they all work the same way.

To setup a basic html page with some performance data, open performance monitor, and add a counter from a remote server. I my case I have selected the % Processor Time. Once the graph starts populating with data, right-click anywhere on the graph and select “Save As”. Save the html file, either to your web server, or anywhere on your disk.

If you open the file from the disk, you have to manually start the logging again, I have noticed that if the page is loaded from a web server this is not required.

Microsoft included a very nice performance template in the Exchange 2007 Toolbox. I think we’ll start there, and open a performance counter with some pre-loaded information. You can access the performance data from the Exchange Management Console. Click the Toolbox and select Performance Monitor.

You can now save this data to an html document as before. There is one catch though, the performance data saved from this console points to the local machine. You have to open the html document in a text editor, and do a find and replace on the following string VALUE="\ with VALUE="\\MACHINENAME\ where MACHINENAME is your server name.

Now you should be able to load this html document from any computer or web server and have the selected performance data available.

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