Implementing Edge Services for an Exchange Server 2007 Environment : Using EdgeSync to Synchronize Active Directory Information to the Edge Transport Server

EdgeSync is a component of the Edge Transport server that allows replication of certain data from Active Directory to the Edge Transport server to support specific antispam and email filtering components. As an example, an organization might want a copy of their recipient email address list at the Edge Transport layer of their security system so that if an email comes in for a user who does not exist in the organization, the message can be purged immediately instead of taking up disk space to queue, route, or even manage unnecessary content.

Understanding the EdgeSync Process

The EdgeSync process runs on the Hub Transport server in an Active Directory forest and replicates data to the Edge Transport server(s). The EdgeSync communication between the Hub and Edge Transport server is secure. For example, EdgeSync is required if you plan on recognizing and taking action on email messages that are sent to nonexistent recipients.

Using EdgeSync to Subscribe the Server to the Exchange Server 2007 Organization

EdgeSync is also used to subscribe the Edge Transport server to the internal Exchange Server 2007 organization. Subscribing the Edge Transport server in this manner automatically defines the Send Connectors on the Edge Transport server after they have been replicated to ADAM on the Edge Transport server from a Hub Transport server. The Hub Transport server the Edge Transport server has subscribed with will now route all email from its domain addressed to Internet recipients through the subscribed Edge Transport server(s). Send Connectors must be configured manually if the Edge Transport server is not subscribed internally and utilizing EdgeSync.

Maintaining the EdgeSync Schedule of Replication

EdgeSync runs on a regularly scheduled basis with configuration data being replicated every hour and recipient information being replicated every 4 hours. This ensures the information needed by the Edge Transport server is up to date. EdgeSync replicates the following items from Active Directory to the ADAM instance on the Edge Transport server:

• Outlook 2003 and 2007 Safe Senders Lists (Blocked Senders are not replicated)

• Valid email recipients listed in AD (used by the Block E-Mail Sent to Non-Existent Recipients feature of the Recipient Filtering Agent)

• Accepted and remote domains

• Send Connector configuration

• List of Hub Transport servers

Configuring EdgeSync on an Edge Transport Server

Configuring EdgeSync begins with exporting the Edge Transport subscription file for importing on a Hub Transport server that communicates with Active Directory. The Edge Transport subscription file is in Extensible Markup Language (XML) format. This procedure must be repeated for each Edge Transport server.

New-EdgeSubscription –FileName "C:\temp\EdgeSubscriptionInfo.xml"

New-EdgeSubscription -filename "C:\temp\EdgeSubscriptionInfo.xml" 
-CreateInternetSendConnector $true -site "Default-First-Site-Name"


					  

As noted earlier, EdgeSync is not configured through the Exchange Management Console. Four EdgeSync commands exist for use with the Exchange Management Shell:

• Get-EdgeSubscription

• New-EdgeSubscription

• Remove-EdgeSubscription

• Start-EdgeSynchronization

Each shell command has its own parameters you can set based on the action(s) performed by the command. Each command performs a specific task or set of tasks.

The Get- command is used to retrieve the current configuration for EdgeSync. For example, entering Get- EdgeSubscription -Identity EDGE1 displays EdgeSync configuration on a server named EDGE1. This command can be run on any Exchange 2007 server on the network.

Running the Get-EdgeSubscription command on an Edge Transport server displays that server’s EdgeSync subscription, whereas running the Get-EdgeSubscription–Identity parameter to specify the name of the Edge Transport server. on a Hub Transport server can also display EdgeSync subscriptions on Edge Transport servers. Use the

Creating a New EdgeSync Subscription File

The New-EdgeSubscription command is used to add a new Edge subscription to a Hub Transport server and configure the options for adding a new subscription, such as whether to automatically create the Send Connector or specify the Active Directory site. The following example imports a new Edge Transport subscription file, thus subscribing the Edge Transport server to the network. This command is run on the Hub Transport server.

New-EdgeSubscription -FileName "C:\temp\EdgeServerSubscription.xml"

Removing an EdgeSync Subscription

The Remove-EdgeSubscription command is used to unsubscribe an Edge Transport server from participating in EdgeSync. The following example removes an Edge subscription from Active Directory. This command is run on the Hub Transport server.

Remove-EdgeSubscription -Identity EDGE3 -DomainController dc1.companyabc.com

					  

Starting EdgeSync Synchronization

Edge synchronization can be started by running the Start-EdgeSynchronization command on any Exchange 2007 server joined to the Active Directory domain. Starting Edge synchronization comes in handy when you have added a new Edge server, want to test synchronization, or replicate changes immediately. The Start-EdgeSynchronization command initializes EdgeSync to all Edge Transport servers.

Start-EdgeSynchronization