Introduction
Welcome to Part 2 of my series on data lifecycle management! If you haven’t had a chance to check out Part 1, you can find it here. In this section, I'll guide you through the process of setting up MRM (Messaging Records Management) retention tags and policies, and show you how to assign them to your users. Without further ado, let’s dive in!
Table of contents
1. MRM configuration examples: retention tags and retention policies
As a quick reminder from Part 1, here’s a visual representation of what an email retention strategy flow chart looks like, highlighting the key steps for managing and implementing data retention policies effectively.
1.1. MRM Retention tags (Exchange Legacy)
I'm going to show you how to set up a couple of MRM retention tags, starting with one that ensures your calendar items are retained indefinitely. The configuration for this example is presented in the table below, and following that, you'll see an overview of how this setup looks in the portal.
EXAMPLE 1
To set up an MRM retention tag, navigate to purview.microsoft.com > Solutions > Data Lifecycle Management > Exchange (legacy) > MRM Retention tags > New tag.
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EXAMPLE 2
I'm not going to show you how to set up the "Notes - Never Delete" tag as the process is exactly the same, as the one above, you just select Notes instead of Calendar when asked what folder you want to apply the tag to.
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EXAMPLE 3
Next, I want to show you how to set up a retention tag that will retain data for 7 years before automatically deleting it. The configuration details for this tag are presented in the table below, and the screenshots following it provide a visual representation of how this setup appears in the portal.
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EXAMPLE 4
The next tag I want to show you, is one that will retain data indefinitely. The configuration details for this tag are presented in the table below, and the screenshots following it illustrate how this setup looks in the portal.
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1.2. MRM Retention policies (Exchange Legacy)
Don't forget: We do not recommend using this option except for moving items from a primary to an archive mailbox and applying retention or deletion settings to default folders. We recommend that you use 'Retention policies' in Microsoft 365 to protect content in SharePoint, OneDrive, Exchange and Microsoft 365 Groups.
Now that we have the retention tags created, we need to create a retention policy that consists of a group of these tags.
To set up an MRM retention policy, navigate to purview.microsoft.com > Solutions > Data Lifecycle Management > Exchange (legacy) > MRM Retention policies > New policy.
POLICY 1
The table below outlines the configuration for my retention policy, and the screenshot below illustrates what the process looks like in the portal.
You might be wondering why I’m incorporating personal tags into my custom policies: I want to ensure that users still have the option to apply retention tags to their emails themselves if they choose to do so. This flexibility empowers users to manage their data according to their specific needs while still adhering to the overall data retention strategy.
It's important to remember that the name of the retention policy must be limited to 72 characters.
POLICY 2
Just to give you an idea around another retention policy you can set up, the configuration is presented in the table below.
1.3. Assigning retention policies to users
There are two primary methods for assigning a new retention policy to a user, a group of users, or all Exchange mailboxes: - Via Exchange Admin Center User Interface: This approach is ideal for assigning the retention policy to an individual mailbox or a small group of users. It provides a user-friendly interface that allows for straightforward policy assignment. - Via PowerShell Script: This method is more suitable for assigning a retention policy to a large group of users or all Exchange mailboxes. It allows for bulk operations and can be automated, making it efficient for handling extensive user bases.
Using Exchange Admin Center (EAC) User interface *** Use the EAC to apply a retention policy to a single mailbox
1. Sign in to the Exchange admin center and navigate to Recipients > Mailboxes.
2. In the list view, select the mailbox to which you want to apply the retention policy.
3. In the details panes for that mailbox, select Mailbox, and then for the Retention policy section, select Manage mailbox policies.
4. In the Mailbox policies pane, use the dropdown list box for Retention policy to select the policy you want to apply to the mailbox, and then select Save.
*** Use the EAC to apply a retention policy to multiple mailboxes
1. Sign in to the Exchange admin center and navigate to Recipients > Mailboxes.
2. In the list view, select the multiple mailboxes to apply the same retention policy.
Above the list view, select Mailbox policies.
4. In the Mailbox policies pane, use the dropdown list box for Retention policy to select the policy you want to apply to the multiple mailboxes, and then select Save.
Using PowerShell
The first step when running any of the below commands is to make you are connected and authenticated to the Exchange Online PowerShell.
· Run PowerShell as an adminstrator
· Connect to Exchange Online module by running the below
· You will then be asked to authenticate by signing in with your work credentials
Once you are connected and authenticated to Exchange Online PowerShell, you can run any of the following commands for the below scenarios.
Use Exchange Online PowerShell to apply a retention policy to a single mailbox
The following example applies the retention policy “Email retention 7yrs, contacts, notes=kept forever+ no archive” to User1's mailbox:
Use Exchange Online PowerShell to apply a retention policy to multiple mailboxes
The following example applies the new retention policy “Email retention 7yrs, contacts, notes=kept forever+ no archive” to all mailboxes that have the old policy “Default MRM Policy”:
The following example applies the retention policy “Retain all email, contacts and notes – no archive” to all mailboxes in the Exchange organization:
The following example applies the retention policy “Retain all email, contacts and notes – no archive” to all mailboxes in the Finance organisational unit:
How do you know this worked?
To verify that you have applied the retention policy, run the Get-Mailbox cmdlet to retrieve the retention policy for the mailbox or mailboxes.
The following example retrieves the retention policy for User1's mailbox:
Get-Mailbox User1 | Select RetentionPolicy
The following command retrieves all mailboxes that have the retention policy policy “Email retention 7yrs, contacts, notes=kept forever+ no archive” applied:
Apply the "Retain all email, contacts and notes – no archive" retention policy to all mailboxes
Apply the "Email retention 7yrs, contacts, notes=kept forever+ no archive" retention policy to all mailboxes
Verify the changes were made
After that if you wish to double check that the retention policies have been assigned to all the users in your organisation, and that the changes have propagated across the environment, run the following commands in PowerShell:
Step 1: Connect to Exchange Online module and authenticate if you haven’t already
Step 2:
1. To display the list of users with their corresponding retention policies assigned in a PowerShell window, run the following command:
2. To export the list of users with their corresponding retention policies assigned to a .csv file, run the following command:
EXAMPLE:
Get-Mailbox -filter 'RetentionPolicy -like "*"' | Select-Object Name, RetentionPolicy | Export-csv C:\retention_export
Note:
Once the new retention policy is assigned to mailboxes, it may take up to 7 days for the updated retention settings to take effect in Exchange Online. This delay occurs as the Managed Folder Assistant, which processes mailboxes, operates on a cycle that ensures each mailbox is processed at least once within a 7-day period.
Conclusion
In this part, we’ve covered how to set up MRM retention tags, and configure retention policies for Exchange Online. Be sure to come back for Part 3, where we’ll take a closer look at retention labels and policies for Microsoft 365 workloads, providing even more insights to help you optimise your organisation’s data management strategies. Stay tuned!
You are reading "The Ultimate Guide to Mastering Data Lifecycle Management with Microsoft Purview: Part 2"
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