SUMMARY
When you work with distribution groups in Exchange 2000,
you can hide the members of a group by setting special permissions in Microsoft
Active Directory directory service. Microsoft Exchange Server 5.5 depends on
Active Directory Connector (ADC), if available, to replicate a hierarchy of
directory objects between Exchange Server and Microsoft Windows 2000 Server
Active Directory. You can work with the ADC and the Recipient Update Service in
Exchange 2000 to make sure that these permissions are set properly. To avoid
common problems that can occur when you hide group membership, use the ADC or
the Exchange Tasks Wizard in Active Directory Users and Computers.
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Work with Hidden Distribution Groups
When the membership of a distribution group is hidden, you cannot
view or edit the permissions for that group. When you try to view permissions
in Active Directory Users and Computers, you receive the following error
message:
Windows cannot edit the permissions on
'Distribution Group' because they have been written in a nonstandard format by
another application. To enable editing, you must use the application to restore
permissions to a standard format.
These permissions are maintained
automatically. If you want to make changes to a group's permissions, you must
reveal that group's membership.
If your deployment includes both
Exchange Server and Exchange 2000 systems that use the ADC to coexist, the ADC
automatically identifies hidden distribution lists in Exchange Server, and then
replicates them correctly to Active Directory.
If you have Exchange
2000, or if you want to make the membership change take effect immediately, use
the Exchange Tasks Wizard in Active Directory Users and Computers.
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Hide Group Membership by Using Active Directory Users and Computers
The following procedure works for Exchange 2000 organizations:
- Click the group whose membership you want to
hide.
- Right-click the group, and then click Exchange Tasks.
- Follow the instructions in the Exchange Tasks Wizard, and
then click Hide Membership.
When you perform this procedure, Exchange 2000 immediately adds
the appropriate permissions to the group to prevent users from viewing its
membership.
Note: If you use Active Directory Users and Computers to view the
group's Properties page, you can still see a list of the group members.
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Unhide Group Membership
- In Active Directory Users and Computers, click the group
whose membership you want to hide.
- Right-click the group, and then click Exchange Tasks.
- Follow the instructions in the Exchange Tasks Wizard, and
then click Unhide Membership.
This procedure removes the extra permissions from the group.
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REFERENCES
For additional information, click the following article
numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
253827
XADM: How Exchange Hides Group Membership in Active Directory
299250 XADM: When You Reveal the Membership of a Previously Hidden Group, the Group Stays Hidden