Hello,One of our production facilities has been cut off from the outside world(data communication) for at least of couple of days.Due to this, the people are not able to respond to their email in a timely manner.All email is still delivered to our Exchange 2007 mailserver. (The mail server is located somewhere else)Is there an easy way to set-up an "AutoResponder" in Exchange 2007 for all these people (they are in a separate mail store) that there will be an delay in email communication for the next few days.Thanks,Remko

Not from exchange by default. You need to set the auto reply on the OL for all the users. (http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook/HA010347861033.aspx)or else you need to use some third party utility which will work from server and no need to create the rules on the OL.Raj

Those queuing messages will start to bounce back to the original senders at some point. Check what you have set for retry timeouts( not sure which queue they may be in).Auto-responses are a bad idea, they can create mail-loops and get your domain put on blocklists.Can you restore their datastore to another 2007 server and let them access those mailboxes remotely either through OWA or Outlook Anywhere?Or, if you have no way to restore the production database, create new, empty, dial-tone,mailboxes for those that need it, and move those mailboxes configuration-only as described in this KB example until their connection comes back up and them you can use export-mailbox to merge the old and new mailboxes? Just some thoughts.http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa998340.aspxHow to Restore a Mailbox Database to a New Server with Database PortabilityGet-Mailbox -Database <SourceDatabase> |where {$_.ObjectClass -NotMatch '(SystemAttendantMailbox|ExOleDbSystemMailbox)'}| Move-Mailbox -ConfigurationOnly -TargetDatabase <TargetDatabase>

Does the network for exchange server still work? You said that mail server is located somewhere else, so, unreachable users are all located in different network, probably using outlook anywhere to connect the exchange service, right? If you want to set the auto response for these unreachable users mailboxes, please set the transport rule on the transport server: Condition: Send to a member of Distribution Group (Please add unreachable mailboxes to the Distribution Group) Action: Send bounce message to sender with enhanced status code (You can modify the Bounce message body, so please explain the reason of bounce at there) Andys right about the auto response idea, itll add the pressure to the performance of the exchange server Notes: Please dont forget to check the Allow automatic replies for the remote domains in the EMCJames Luo TechNet Subscriber Support (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/subscriptions/ms788697.aspx) If you have any feedback on our support, please contact tngfb@microsoft.com

Thanks guys for your input. Let me explain a little bit more on the situation.We have two sites. One in the UK and one in the Netherlands.Each site has its own domain and the sites are connected with each other via a MPLS line(dedicated line).The mail server is located in theNetherlands and "Linked Mailboxes" are setup for the UK users.All mail is delivered in the Netherlands.The site in the UK is currently isolated due to flooding. As a result of this, data connections are not available anymore.As the data connectionsare down, the domain controller in the UK cannot be reached for authentication (Linked Mailbox) resulting in not being able to logon via webmail, outlook, mobile phone.Currently they are setting up wireless 3G devices for some key personel to getcommunication back online.I have created a litlle workaround for just a couple of users right now. For this I have created local user accounts on our domainfor these people withfull permissions to the UK mailbox.This way they can open up their webmail and from there open up their own mailbox.There might be an easier way, but thiswas the first thing that came to mind.For all other people, mail is still delivered to their mailbox. However, they are not able to reply to these emails as they cannot log on.My thoughts were that if I could inform the sender of an email that there will be a delay in reply due toabove circumstances I might create some understanding to the sender.Any thoughts on this are very welcome.Remko

So, its a resource forest environment. Users are in the UK, and the exchange is in the Netherlands. Does the method above work for you?James Luo TechNet Subscriber Support (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/subscriptions/ms788697.aspx) If you have any feedback on our support, please contact tngfb@microsoft.com

Yes, seems to work OK. As long asthere is no flooding :-)I'de rather have a single domain with DC's replicating all over the production facilities. (there are actually more)However, management has decided otherwise.

The infrastructure in the flooded area has been restored. Therefore my question is no longer pending. Thanks to all the contributers. Remko