Introduction to Dynamic distribution groups Group with few examples

Introduction to Dynamic DL Group:

Dynamic distribution groups are mail-enabled Active Directory group objects that are created to expedite the mass sending of email messages and other information within a Microsoft Exchange organization.

The cloud-based service supports a special kind of distribution group called a dynamic distribution group. Unlike the static membership list of a regular distribution group, also known as a public group, the membership list for a dynamic distribution group is calculated every time a message is sent to the group. This calculation is based on filters and conditions you define when you create the group. When an e-mail message is sent to a dynamic distribution group, it is delivered to all recipients in the organization that match the filters and conditions you defined.

Important:
A dynamic distribution group includes any recipient in Active Directory with attribute values that match its filter. If a recipient's properties are modified to match the filter, the recipient could inadvertently become a group member and start receiving messages that are sent to the group. Well-defined, consistent account provisioning processes will reduce the chances of this issue occurring.

You have two options: prescanned filters that use the Included Recipients parameter and customized filters that use the Recipient Filter parameter. You can't use customized filters and prescanned filters at the same time. Both filtering methods are implemented by using Windows Powershell.

We have used Customized filters that use the Recipient Filter parameter to create dynamic distribution group.

When would you use a dynamic distribution group?

-         In addition, dynamic distribution groups are useful if you want to conceal the members of a distribution group, because the group membership is never displayed to senders, recipients, or other users.

-        Dynamic distribution groups to filter the Employees based on their department, Company Division, Employee type etc…. That way you don't have to manually add or remove Employees from the departmental, Company level distribution groups.

A dynamic distribution group queries Active Directory mail-enabled objects and builds the group membership based on the results. The group membership is recalculated whenever an email message is sent to the group. The query filters provided with Microsoft Exchange are limited to any combination of the following parameters:

·         ConditionalCompany

·         ConditionalCustomAttribute N (where N is a value from 1 through 15)

·         ConditionalDepartment

·         ConditionalStateOrProvince

·         IncludedRecipients

You can also create any custom query using the RecipientFilter parameter.

Few regularly used Examples given for your reference  : 

Create a Distribution Group

New-DistributionGroup -Name "<Distribution Group Name>"

Create a Distribution Group + Details

New-DistributionGroup -Name <DL name> -DisplayName <DL display name> -Alias <Alias> -PrimarySmtpAddress <Email Address>

Delete (Remove) a Distribution Group

Remove-DistributionGroup "<Distribution Group Name>"

Add user to a Distribution Group

Add-DistributionGroupMember "<Distribution Group Name>" -Member <Identity> -BypassSecurityGroupManagerCheck

Adding Distribution Group owner

Set-DistributionGroup -Identity "<Distribution Group Name>" –ManagedBy <Identity> -BypassSecurityGroupManagerCheck

Add an Email Alias to Distribution group

Set-DistributionGroup "<Distribution Group Name>" -EmailAddresses SMTP:<Primary Email>,<Alias Email>

Hide Distribution group from GAL

Set-DistributionGroup "<Distribution Group Name>" -HiddenFromAddressListsEnabled $True

Add recipient to multiple distribution groups

$Array = "<DL name>","<DL name>","<DL name>" ForEach ($item in $Array) { Add-DistributionGroupMember -Identity $item –Member <Identity> –BypassSecurityGroupManagerCheck }

Assign “Send As” Permissions to Distribution Group

Add-RecipientPermission "<Distribution Group Name>" -Trustee <Identity>  -AccessRights SendAs -Confirm:$False

Assign “Full Access” permissions to Distribution Group + AutoMapping

$DL = Get-DistributionGroupMember <Distribution Group Name> | Select-Object -ExpandProperty Name ForEach ($Member in $DL) {Add-MailboxPermission -Identity <Identity>  -User $Member -AccessRights ‘FullAccess’ -InheritanceType all}

Create Dynamic Distribution Group for user from specific Office

New-DynamicDistributionGroup -Name "<Distribution Group Name>" -RecipientFilter {(RecipientType -eq 'UserMailbox') -and (Department –like <'Department Name'>)}