Configure the Pickup Directory

Applies to: Exchange Server 2010

You can use the Shell to configure the properties of the Pickup directory in Microsoft Exchange Server 2010. By default, the Pickup directory exists on every computer running Exchange 2010 that has the Hub Transport server role or the Edge Transport server role installed. Correctly formatted e-mail message files that you copy to the Pickup directory are submitted for delivery. The Pickup directory is used by administrators for mail flow testing, or by applications that must create and submit their own messages.

Looking for other management tasks related to managing connectors? Check out Managing Connectors.

What Do You Want to Do?

• Use the Shell to configure the Pickup directory location
• Use the Shell to configure the maximum size for message headers
• Use the Shell to configure the maximum number of recipients per message
• Use the Shell to configure the maximum rate of message processing for the Pickup directory

Use the Shell to configure the Pickup directory location

You need to be assigned permissions before you can perform this procedure. To see what permissions you need, see the "Hub server" entry in the Transport Permissions topic.

Use the PickupDirectoryPath parameter of the Set-TransportServer cmdlet to configure the location of the Pickup directory. By default, the Pickup directory is located at C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\TransportRoles\PickUp. The directory must be local to the Exchange 2010 computer.

This example changes the Pickup directory location to C:\Pickup Directory on server Exchange 01.

Set-TransportServer Exchange01 -PickupDirectoryPath "C:\Pickup Directory"

When changing the location of the Replay directory, you need to be aware of the following:

• Setting the value of the PickupDirectoryPath parameter to $null disables the Pickup directory.
• The directory specified by the PickupDirectoryPath parameter and the ReplayDirectoryPath parameter can't be the same.
• Changing the location of the Pickup directory doesn't copy any existing message files from the old Pickup directory to the new Pickup directory. The new Pickup directory location is active almost immediately after the configuration change, but any existing message files are left in the old Pickup directory.

You also need to make sure that the permissions are configured correctly on the new location of the Pickup directory. To learn more about the permission requirements, see "Permissions for the Pickup and Replay Directories" in Understanding the Pickup and Replay Directories.

For detailed syntax and parameter information, see Set-TransportServer.

Use the Shell to configure the maximum size for message headers

You need to be assigned permissions before you can perform this procedure. To see what permissions you need, see the "Hub server" entry in the Transport Permissions topic.

Use the PickupDirectoryMaxHeaderSize parameter of the Set-TransportServer cmdlet to set the maximum message header size for a Pickup directory. By default, the maximum size for the header part of a message that can be processed by the Pickup directory is 64 KB. Messages that contain headers larger than the specified maximum value are rejected by the Exchange 2010 server.

This example configures the maximum size for message headers accepted by the Pickup directory to 96 KB on the Exchange 2010 computer Exchange01.

Set-TransportServer Exchange01 -PickupDirectoryMaxHeaderSize 96KB

The valid input range for the PickupDirectoryMaxHeaderSize parameter is from 32 KB through about 2 GB (2147483647 bytes).

For detailed syntax and parameter information, see Set-TransportServer.

Use the Shell to configure the maximum number of recipients per message

You need to be assigned permissions before you can perform this procedure. To see what permissions you need, see the "Hub server" entry in the Transport Permissions topic.

Use the PickupDirectoryMaxRecipientsPerMessage parameter of the Set-TransportServer cmdlet to set the maximum number of recipients per message that the Pickup directory accepts. By default, the maximum number of recipients in a message that can be processed by the Pickup directory is 100. Messages that contain more recipients than the specified maximum value are rejected by the Exchange 2010 server.

This example sets the maximum number of recipients in a message accepted by the Pickup directory to 200 on the Exchange 2010 computer Exchange01.

Set-TransportServer Exchange01 -PickupDirectoryMaxRecipientsPerMessage 200

The valid input range for the PickupDirectoryMaxRecipientsPerMessage parameter is from 1 through 10000.

For detailed syntax and parameter information, see Set-TransportServer.

Use the Shell to configure the maximum rate of message processing for the Pickup directory

You need to be assigned permissions before you can perform this procedure. To see what permissions you need, see the "Hub server" entry in the Transport Permissions topic.

The rate of message processing for both the Pickup directory and the Replay directory is specified by the PickupDirectoryMaxMessagesPerMinute parameter of the Set-TransportServer cmdlet. By default, the Pickup directory can process messages at a rate of 100 messages per minute. Limiting the rate of message processing helps prevent performance issues caused by processing numerous messages in the Pickup directory.

This example increases the maximum rate of message processing for the Pickup and Replay directories to 200 messages per minute on server Exchange01.

Set-TransportServer Exchange01 -PickupDirectoryMaxMessagesPerMinute 200

The valid input range for the PickupDirectoryMaxMessagesPerMinute parameter is from 1 through 20000.

For detailed syntax and parameter information, see Set-TransportServer.