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Create Search Folders using the EWS Managed API in a Mailbox or Archive Store using Powershell

Search folders are one of the suite of Exchange search options you can use programatically or to provide users with different views of their mailbox data in Outlook or OWA. Essentially a search folder is like a regular mailbox folder, except that it contains only links to messages in other folders that meet the criteria set in the search filter restriction which means that search folders are great for nonchanging, nondynamic queries. Search folders like Search Filters make use of restrictions in Exchange rather then using the Content Index which means that this comes along with some compromises ,if you are going to use search folders (or a lot of search filters) defiantly have a read of  http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc535025%28EXCHG.80%29.aspx .

To create Search Folders using the EWS Managed API its pretty simple for search folders to be visible in Outlook you need to use the SearchFolders WellKnownFolderName enumeration which in a Mailbox relates to the Finder folder in the Non_IPM_Subtree.

Eg the following will create a Search folder to find Items greater than 5 MB in a Mailbox

$MailboxName = "user@domain.com"

$dllpath = "C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange\Web Services\1.1\Microsoft.Exchange.WebServices.dll"
[void][Reflection.Assembly]::LoadFile($dllpath)
$service = New-Object Microsoft.Exchange.WebServices.Data.ExchangeService([Microsoft.Exchange.WebServices.Data.ExchangeVersion]::Exchange2010_SP1)
$service.TraceEnabled = $false

$service.Credentials = New-Object System.Net.NetworkCredential("user@domain.com","password")
$service.AutodiscoverUrl($MailboxName ,{$true})

$svFldid = new-object Microsoft.Exchange.WebServices.Data.FolderId([Microsoft.Exchange.WebServices.Data.WellKnownFolderName]::SearchFolders,$MailboxName)
$SearchFilter = new-object Microsoft.Exchange.WebServices.Data.SearchFilter+IsGreaterThan([Microsoft.Exchange.WebServices.Data.ItemSchema]::Size, (5*1024*1024));
$SearchFolder = new-object Microsoft.Exchange.WebServices.Data.SearchFolder($service);
$searchFolder.SearchParameters.RootFolderIds.Add([Microsoft.Exchange.WebServices.Data.WellKnownFolderName]::MsgFolderRoot);
$searchFolder.SearchParameters.Traversal = [Microsoft.Exchange.WebServices.Data.SearchFolderTraversal]::Deep;
$searchFolder.SearchParameters.SearchFilter = $SearchFilter
$searchFolder.DisplayName = "Bigger then 5 MB";
$searchFolder.Save($svFldid);

If you want to create a Search folder in the Archive Store there's no enumeration for the SearchFolders root folder in the Archive Store so you first need to find the Finder folder in the Archive Store then you can use this when you create the Search Folder for example the following will create a Search folder to find Items greater than 5 MB in the Archive Store.

$MailboxName = "user@domain.com"

$dllpath = "C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange\Web Services\1.1\Microsoft.Exchange.WebServices.dll"
[void][Reflection.Assembly]::LoadFile($dllpath)
$service = New-Object Microsoft.Exchange.WebServices.Data.ExchangeService([Microsoft.Exchange.WebServices.Data.ExchangeVersion]::Exchange2010_SP1)
$service.TraceEnabled = $false

$service.Credentials = New-Object System.Net.NetworkCredential("user@domain.com","password")
$service.AutodiscoverUrl($MailboxName ,{$true})

$FolderView = New-Object Microsoft.Exchange.WebServices.Data.FolderView(1);
$fsf = New-Object Microsoft.Exchange.WebServices.Data.SearchFilter+IsEqualTo([Microsoft.Exchange.WebServices.Data.FolderSchema]::DisplayName, "Finder");
$ffResult = $service.FindFolders([Microsoft.Exchange.WebServices.Data.WellKnownFolderName]::ArchiveRoot,$fsf, $FolderView)

$SearchFilter = new-object Microsoft.Exchange.WebServices.Data.SearchFilter+IsGreaterThan([Microsoft.Exchange.WebServices.Data.ItemSchema]::Size, (5*1024*1024));
$SearchFolder = new-object Microsoft.Exchange.WebServices.Data.SearchFolder($service);
$searchFolder.SearchParameters.RootFolderIds.Add([Microsoft.Exchange.WebServices.Data.WellKnownFolderName]::ArchiveMsgFolderRoot);
$searchFolder.SearchParameters.Traversal = [Microsoft.Exchange.WebServices.Data.SearchFolderTraversal]::Deep;
$searchFolder.SearchParameters.SearchFilter = $SearchFilter
$searchFolder.DisplayName = "Bigger then 5 MB";
$searchFolder.Save($ffResult.folders[0].Id);





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All sample scripts and source code is provided by for illustrative purposes only. All examples are untested in different environments and therefore, I cannot guarantee or imply reliability, serviceability, or function of these programs.

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