Setup Mailbox to Delete All Incoming Messages 1

[mickeytech]

I wonder someone could tell me how to configure a mailbox to automatically delete all incoming messages. I am forwarding all spams to this mailbox. Please HELP! Thanks.

 

[kavita11]

Have you thought about setting up rules using Outlook?. You can login to the mailbox set up the rule to permanantly delete the messages.

 

[mickeytech]

I am not using any client. This is just a mailbox I setup for receiving and dumping the spam emails.

 

[NortonES2]

You could create a distribution list with no members in it and forward the spam to there.

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If it doesn't leak oil it must be empty!!

 

[mickeytech]

Where would the spam go in that case? Will they become badmail?

 

[gmcdonnell]

If mail if sent to a distribution group that has no members in it the messages are simply deleted from the information store.

Gary McDonnell

 

[mickeytech]

Thank you, Gary, for the explaination. I noticed that the MDBDATA folder in the Exchsrvr keeps growing with a lot of 5mb *.log files. What are these files? Can I delete them?

 

[gmcdonnell]

No - these are transaction log files. They are deleted when you do a proper backup of the Exchange information store using an Exchange-aware backup program.

NTBACKUP is upgraded to be Exchange aware when you install Exchange or the Exchange administration tools. With this version you will see the Exchange server listed separately in the tree and you can select the information store(s) you want to back up. After a successful backup the .LOG files will be automatically deleted.

Just doing a file type backup won't delete the LOG files.

Gary McDonnell

 

[mickeytech]

Thank you, Gary, for the helpful input. I assume that those transaction log files are for system recovery only and are not used for normal system functions. What will happen if I just delete them without proper backup? Will that erase any of the previous emails received? I have over 10GB of those log files and am wondering if indeet I need to keep them...

 

[gmcdonnell]

These log files ARE used for normal system functions in some cases. Don't delete them! If you don't want to do an Exchange aware backup and commit the logfiles then you can change to circular logging, which will commit the log files regularly and they will be deleted. But it will make it much more difficult to restore from a crash and you are assured of losing all of the data since your last Exchange database backup.

The transaction logs will be deleted when you do a proper (Exchange-aware) backup of the Exchange databases. File based backups are not sufficient and you most likely won't be able to recover data from a file based backup if you lose your databases or they get corrupted.

If you want to use circular based logging (which I don't recommend) you can enable it in the Exchange System Manager by changing the properties of the Storage Group on your server.

Gary McDonnell

 

[mickeytech]

Thank you, Gary. I will run the NTBackup tonight and let you know how it goes. Thanks again.

 

[mickeytech]

Gary,

The backup ran successfully and most of the log files are gone now Thanks again for your help. Since you are the Expert in Exchange, I would appreciate it if you could help clarify my original concern: Is there a way to configure a mailbox on the server side (not using Outlook) to delete all incoming mails? I already forwarded thousands of spams to this box. If not, I will proceed with your suggestion to set up a distribution list with no members. Thanks.