Entra / Microsoft 365 · Exchange Online
Find inactive distribution lists
Find inactive distribution lists based on Exchange Online message trace data, covering up to the last 10 days.
Connect & set up
Run these once per session. All scopes are read-only unless the script makes changes.
Connect-ExchangeOnline -ShowBanner:$False
Run it
The main script. Copy it, or download the .ps1 and run it from your console.
param([int] $LookbackDays = 10,[string] $StartDate = "$EndDate.AddDays(-$LookbackDays)",[string] $EndDate = "Get-Date",[int] $BatchSize = 2000)[array]$Modules = Get-Module | Select-Object -ExpandProperty NameIf ($Modules -notcontains "ExchangeOnlineManagement") {Write-Host "Connecting to Exchange Online..."Connect-ExchangeOnline -ShowBanner:$False}$CSVFile = "c:\Temp\ListofDLs.csv"[array]$Messages = $Null[int]$BatchSizeForMessages = 2000$Report = [System.Collections.Generic.List[Object]]::new()Write-Host "Collecting message trace data for the last 10 days"Try {# The warning action is suppressed here because we don't want to see warnings when more data is available[array]$MessagePage = Get-MessageTraceV2 -StartDate $StartDate -EndDate $EndDate `-ResultSize $BatchSizeForMessages -Status "Expanded" -ErrorAction Stop -WarningAction SilentlyContinue$Messages += $MessagePage} Catch {Write-Host ("Error fetching message trace data: {0}" -f $_.Exception.Message)Break}If ($MessagePage.count -eq $BatchSizeForMessages) {Do {Write-Host ("Fetched {0} messages so far" -f $Messages.count)$LastMessageFetched = $MessagePage[-1]$LastMessageFetchedDate = $LastMessageFetched.Received.ToString("O")$LastMessageFetchedRecipient = $LastMessageFetched.RecipientAddress# Fetch the next page of messages[array]$MessagePage = Get-MessageTraceV2 -StartDate $StartDate -EndDate $LastMessageFetchedDate `-StartingRecipientAddress $LastMessageFetchedRecipient -ResultSize $BatchSizeForMessages -Status "Delivered" -ErrorAction Stop -WarningAction SilentlyContinueIf ($MessagePage) {$Messages += $MessagePage}} While ($MessagePage.count -eq $BatchSizeForMessages)}# Remove Exchange Online public folder hierarchy synchronization messages$Messages = $Messages | Where-Object {$_.Subject -NotLike "*HierarchySync*"}[array]$MessageTable = ($Messages | Sort-Object RecipientAddress -Unique)[array]$DLs = Get-DistributionGroup -ResultSize Unlimited -RecipientTypeDetails 'MailUniversalDistributionGroup'Write-Host ("Processing {0} distribution lists..." -f $DLs.count)[int]$ActiveStatusCount = 0ForEach ($DL in $DLs) {$LastActiveDate = $nullIf ($MessageTable.recipientaddress -Match $DL.PrimarySMTPAddress) {$ActiveStatus = "Active"; $ActiveStatusCount++$LastActiveDate = $MessageTable | Where-Object {$_.RecipientAddress -eq $DL.PrimarySMTPAddress} | Select-Object -ExpandProperty Received$LastActiveDate = Get-Date ($LastActiveDate) -format 'dd-MMM-yyyy HH:mm:ss'Write-Host ("{0} is active - message found on {1}" -f $DL.DisplayName, $LastActiveDate) -Foregroundcolor Yellow} Else {$ActiveStatus = "Inactive"Write-Host ("{0} is inactive" -f $DL.DisplayName) -Foregroundcolor Red}$Reportline = [pscustomobject]@{Name = $DL.DisplayNameActive = $ActiveStatus}$Report.Add($ReportLine)$Text = ("DL state checked on {0} and determined as {1}. Last message addressed on {2}" `-f (Get-Date -format g), $ActiveStatus, $LastActiveDate )# This line updates the DL with details of the assessment. Comment it out if you don't want to do thisSet-DistributionGroup -Identity $DL.ExternalDirectoryObjectId -CustomAttribute15 $Text}$Report | Export-CSV $CSVFile -NoTypeInformationWrite-Host ""Write-Host ("Total distribution lists checked: {0}" -f $DLs.count)Write-Host ("Active distribution lists: {0}" -f $ActiveStatusCount)Write-Host ("Inactive distribution lists: {0}" -f ($DLs.count - $ActiveStatusCount))Write-Host ""Write-Host ("Report file available in: {0}" -f $CSVFile)
Parameters
ParameterDefaultNotes
-LookbackDays10Number of days back to search message trace data (Exchange Online limit is 10 days).-StartDate$EndDate.AddDays(-10)Start of the message trace search window.-EndDateGet-DateEnd of the message trace search window.-BatchSize2000Maximum number of message trace records to fetch per batch.Attribution
Author
Office365itpros