Create a Retention Policy

Article
07/23/2014

Applies to: Exchange Server 2010 SP3, Exchange Server 2010 SP2

Using retention policies, you can group one or more retention tags and apply them to mailboxes. A mailbox can't have more than one retention policy. Retention tags can be linked to or removed from a retention policy at any time.

A retention policy can contain the following retention tags:

One or more retention policy tags (RPTs) for supported default folders
One default policy tag (DPT) with the Move to Archive action.
One DPT with the Delete and Allow Recovery or the Permanently Delete action.
One DPT for voice mail.
Any number of personal tags

To learn more about retention policies and retention tags, see Understanding Retention Tags and Retention Policies.

Looking for other management tasks related to messaging records management (MRM)? Check out Deploying Messaging Records Management.

Prerequisites

A retention policy with the same name as the one being created doesn't already exist in your Exchange organization.
One or more retention tags should exist so you can associate them to the new retention policy.

Note

You can create a retention policy without linking any retention tags to it. Retention tags can be added or removed from a retention policy at any time. However, tags aren't applied to a mailbox until they're linked to a retention policy and the Managed Folder Assistant processes the mailbox.

What Do You Want To Do?

Use the EMC to create a retention policy
Use the Shell to create a retention policy

Use the EMC to create a retention policy

You need to be assigned permissions before you can perform this procedure. To see what permissions you need, see the "Messaging records management" entry in the Messaging Policy and Compliance Permissions topic.

In the console tree, expand the forest you want, and then navigate to Organization Configuration > Mailbox.
In the action pane, click New Retention Policy.
On the Introduction page, complete the following fields:
- Name Use this box to type a name for the retention policy.
- Add Click this button to add retention tags to the policy. To remove a tag from the policy, click the tag name, and then click Remove ().
On the Select Mailboxes page, click Add to select the mailboxes to which you want to apply the retention policy.

Note

You can create a retention policy without applying it to any mailboxes. You can also apply the policy to mailboxes at a later time by using the EMC or the Shell. For details, see Apply a Retention Policy to Mailboxes.
On the New Retention Policy page, review your configuration settings. To make any configuration changes, click Back. To create the retention policy, click New.
On the Completion page, review the following, and then click Finish to close the wizard:
- A status of Completed indicates that the wizard completed the task successfully.
- A status of Failed indicates that the task wasn't completed. If the task fails, review the summary for an explanation, and then click Back to make any configuration changes.

Use the Shell to create a retention policy

This example creates the retention policy Corp-Execs-RetPol and links the tags Corp-Exec-Default, Corp-Exec-Inbox, and Corp-Exec-DeletedItems to the policy.

New-RetentionPolicy "Corp-Execs-RetPol" -RetentionPolicyTagLinks "Corp-Exec-Default","Corp-Exec-Inbox","Corp-Exec-DeletedItems"

For detailed syntax and parameter information, see New-RetentionPolicy.

Other Tasks

After you create a retention policy, you may also want to:

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