Route journal messages to Google Vault

• If you previously set up Exchange journaling, you might have already completed some of these steps. However, we recommend that you follow each step in this process to ensure that Exchange journaling is configured properly.  
• Google Workspace support does not provide support for on-premise mail servers or third-party products. In the event of an Exchange issue, consult your Exchange administrator. 
• These instructions are designed to work with common Exchange scenarios. Any changes to your Exchange configuration should be made in consultation with your Exchange administrator.

You can set up several journaling mailboxes and mailbox databases on one or more Exchange servers. When setting up a journaling mailbox, you must place it in a mailbox database where you do not plan to turn on journaling.

Set up the journaling mailbox and create the distribution list for journaling

1. On the Mailbox server, open the Exchange Management console.
2. Expand Recipient Configuration, right-click Mailbox, and select New Mailbox.
3. Click User MailboxNext.
4. Select New Userclick Next.
5. Select the organizational unit where you want to create the journaling mailbox.
6. For First Name, enter Archive.
7. For Last Name, enter Master.
8. For Name, enter Archive Master.
9. For User logon name (User Principal Name), enter AMaster.
10. Enter and confirm the password for the user.
11. Uncheck the User must change password at next logon boxclick Next.
12. Select the appropriate mailbox database, messaging records management policy, and Exchange ActiveSync mailbox policyclick Next.
13. Review the configuration summary. If you need to make changes, click Back. 
14. Click New to create the mailbox.
15. In Active Directory, create a new distribution list (group) and name it Journal Recipient.
16. Add the following members to the distribution list (group):
    1. SMTP contact—The same address you created in Create an SMTP contact (above on this page).
    2. Archive Master—You created this in step 8 (above on this page).

Depending on your version of Exchange, you can turn on standard or premium journaling. With standard journaling, you configure journaling for each relevant mailbox database. With premium journaling, you configure rules that identify the groups of senders and recipients for whom messages are journaled. For details on the type of journaling your Exchange version supports, consult your Microsoft documentation.

Depending on the size of your organization and the configuration of your rules, you may have one or many journaling mailboxes. In circumstances where you have numerous journaling mailboxes with large volumes of journal reports, you might want to dedicate specific resources to those mailbox databases.

Turn on standard journaling

1. Open the Exchange Management Console.
2. Expand Server Configuration select Mailbox.
3. Select the server for the mailbox database where you want to turn on journaling.
4. Right-click the mailbox databaseclick Properties.
5. Click GeneralJournal Recipient.
6. For Send Journal reports to, click Browse, select Journal Recipient (the distribution list that you created of recipients of journaled messages), and click OK.
7. Click OK.
   All journaled messages for users on this mailbox database are now sent to the Journal Recipient distribution list. 
8. Repeat the steps for each mailbox database where you want journaling.

Turn on premium journaling

1. Ensure that the Journaling agent is enabled on the Hub Transport server:
   • Issue the Get-TransportAgent command. If an agent name is not returned, the agent is not enabled.
   • If needed, to enable the Journaling agent, issue the Enable-TransportAgent -Identity “Journaling agent” command.
2. On the Hub Transport Server, open the Exchange Management Console.
3. Expand Organization Configuration and select Hub Transport.
4. Click JournalingNew Journal Rule and enter a name for the journal rule.
5. For Send Journal reports to, click Browse and select Journal Recipient (the distribution list that you created of recipients of journaled messages).
6. For Scope, select the scope of the journal rule.
   • To apply the rule to a single recipient (for Journal Messages for Recipient), click Browse and select the appropriate recipient.
   • To apply the rule to multiple recipients (for Journal Messages for Recipient), click Browse and select the appropriate distribution list.
7. Click NewFinish.
   All journaled messages for users on this Hub Transport server are now sent to AMaster.
8. Repeat the steps for each Hub Transport server where you want journaling.

To ensure sufficient storage space for journal reports, you must create a Managed Content Setting rule to automatically delete all messages from the Inbox folder, at an interval you specify.

We suggest that you initially set this interval to every 7 days. Then, monitor the journaling mailbox size during the first few weeks after you turn on journaling and adjust the interval as needed. If you want to include all journal reports in your scheduled backups, set an appropriate interval to ensure that journal reports are not deleted before the backup runs.

Step 1: Create a managed content setting for the Inbox folder

1. In the Exchange Management Console, expand Organization Configuration and select Mailbox.
2. Click Managed Default Folders and select Inbox.
3. In the action pane, click New Managed Content Settings to open the New Managed Content Settings wizard.
4. For Name, enter Google Vault Content Setting.
5. For Message Type, select All Mailbox Content.
6. Check the Length of retention period day(s) box.
7. Enter the number of days that you want to retain messages.
8. For Retention period starts, select When delivered, end date for calendar and recurring tasks.
9. For Action to take at the end of retention period, select Permanently delete.
10. Click Next Next to bypass the Journal page.
11. Click New Finish.

Step 2: Create a managed folder mailbox policy

1. In the Exchange Management Console, expand Organization Configuration and select Mailbox.
2. In the action pane, click New Managed Folder Mailbox Policy to open the New Managed Folder Mailbox Policy wizard.
3. For Managed folder mailbox policy name, enter Google Vault Policy.
4. For Specify the managed folders to link with this policy, click Add to open the Select Managed Folder dialog box.
5. Select Inboxclick OK.
6. Click New Finish.

Step 3: Apply the managed folder mailbox policy to the journaling mailbox

1. In the Exchange Management Console, expand Recipient Configuration and select Mailbox.
2. Right-click Archive Master and select Properties.
3. Click Mailbox SettingsMessaging Records Management and select Properties.
4. Check the Managed folder mailbox policy box and click Browse.
5. Select Google Vault Policy and click OK.
6. Click OK to confirm.

Step 4: Configure the Managed Folder Assistant to run the policy

1. In the Exchange Management console, expand Server Configuration and select Mailbox.
2. Right-click the Mailbox server that hosts the Archive Master journaling mailbox and click Properties.
3. Click Messaging Records Management and for Schedule the Managed Folder Assistant, select Use Custom Schedule and click Custom.
4. For Schedule, select the times and days for the managed folder assistant to run.
   We suggest running the assistant during off-peak hours.
5. Click OK.