Exchange 2010 non-mailbox users not visible via EMC

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I have an unusual issue with my Exchange 2010 environment. The set-up is as follows:

  • 5x domain controllers – (2×2003, 2×2012, 1×2008)
  • Domain Function Level is: Windows Server 2003
  • Server 2003, Exchange 2003 Ent SP2
  • Co-existence
  • Server 2008 R2, Exchange 2010 Std SP3

A dcdiag /v /a /q shows everything is healthy.

The issue we are having is:

  1. A user is created via Active Directory (no mailbox).
  2. NOTE: We wait up to 15 minutes and have confirmed replication is working in AD as the other DC's have the user present. We attempt to add a mailbox to the user via Exchange 2010 using the Exchange Management Console.
  3. The user is not visible within "Recipient Configuration".
    NOTE: We are not searching for the user under "Recipient Configuration > Mailbox"
  4. If we attempt to use the find feature it does not find the user
  5. We are able to mail enable the user if we use the Exchange Management Shell.

At first I thought that perhaps the EMC may have had a filter on it, but this does not appear to be the case. I have also tried to reset the MMC cache (C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\MMC) by renaming the file.

Has anyone come across this problem or does anyone have any ideas?

Best Answer

I had a very similar situation and found that the account was actually created as a Mail Contact, Recipient Type Details column (EMC) = "Mail User" as opposed to "Mail Contact". I was unable to enable any mailbox features on the account. Although the account looks like a normal user account in AD, it doesn't show up as a normal mailbox or an account that a mailbox could be added to. We had to rebuild the account.

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