Copy receive connector to another Exchange Server

There are times that you need to copy a receive connector to another Exchange Server. Think about installing another Exchange Server. The receive connectors will not copy automatically. That’s too bad. The only option is to create a receive connector and configure the settings. In this article, you will learn how to copy a receive connector to another Exchange Server with PowerShell.

Table of contents

Information

In a previous article, we described:

Sometimes, you only want to do a quick receive connector copy. With PowerShell, we can automate the process and copy the receive connector. It will save us time which we can spend on other tasks.

Before we start

In our example, we have two Exchange Servers:

  • Exchange Server EX01-2016 (copy receive connector from)
  • Exchange Server EX02-2016 (copy receive connector too)

Sign in to Exchange Admin Center. Click mail flow in the feature pane and click on receive connectors in the tabs.

Exchange Server EX01-2016 with the SMTP relay receive connector.

Copy receive connector to another Exchange Server from

Exchange Server EX02-2016 without an SMTP relay receive connector.

Copy receive connector to another Exchange Server before

In the next step, we will first get the receive connector IP addresses. After that, we will create a new receive connector and copy the remote IP addresses over.

Copy receive connector to another Exchange Server with PowerShell

Use the Get-ReceiveConnector cmdlet and list the receive connector IP addresses on the EX01-2016 Exchange Server.

[PS] C:\>(Get-ReceiveConnector -Identity "EX01-2016\SMTP relay").RemoteIPRanges | Sort-Object | Format-Table

LowerBound    UpperBound    Netmask CIDRLength   RangeFormat Size Expression
----------    ----------    ------- ----------   ----------- ---- ----------
192.168.1.70  192.168.1.80                              LoHi ::b  192.168.1.70-192.168.1.80
192.168.1.75  192.168.1.80                              LoHi ::6  192.168.1.75-192.168.1.80
192.168.1.99  192.168.1.99                     SingleAddress ::1  192.168.1.99
192.168.1.174 192.168.1.174                    SingleAddress ::1  192.168.1.174
192.168.1.221 192.168.1.221                    SingleAddress ::1  192.168.1.221
192.168.1.222 192.168.1.222                    SingleAddress ::1  192.168.1.222
192.168.1.234 192.168.1.234                    SingleAddress ::1  192.168.1.234
192.168.1.235 192.168.1.235                    SingleAddress ::1  192.168.1.235
192.168.1.240 192.168.1.240                    SingleAddress ::1  192.168.1.240

Run the cmdlet to copy the receive connector to another Exchange Server.

[PS] C:\>New-ReceiveConnector -Name "SMTP relay" -Server "EX02-2016" -Usage Custom -TransportRole FrontEndTransport -PermissionGroups AnonymousUsers -Bindings 0.0.0.0:25 -RemoteIPRanges (Get-ReceiveConnector "EX01-2016\SMTP relay").RemoteIPRanges

Identity             Bindings     Enabled
--------             --------     -------
EX02-2016\SMTP relay {0.0.0.0:25} True

In the next step, we will verify our work.

Verify copied receive connector

Let’s check the receive connectors on the Exchange Server EX02-2016 and confirm that the IP addresses are identical.

[PS] C:\>(Get-ReceiveConnector -Identity "EX02-2016\SMTP relay").RemoteIPRanges | Sort-Object | Format-Table

LowerBound    UpperBound    Netmask CIDRLength   RangeFormat Size Expression
----------    ----------    ------- ----------   ----------- ---- ----------
192.168.1.70  192.168.1.80                              LoHi ::b  192.168.1.70-192.168.1.80
192.168.1.75  192.168.1.80                              LoHi ::6  192.168.1.75-192.168.1.80
192.168.1.99  192.168.1.99                     SingleAddress ::1  192.168.1.99
192.168.1.174 192.168.1.174                    SingleAddress ::1  192.168.1.174
192.168.1.221 192.168.1.221                    SingleAddress ::1  192.168.1.221
192.168.1.222 192.168.1.222                    SingleAddress ::1  192.168.1.222
192.168.1.234 192.168.1.234                    SingleAddress ::1  192.168.1.234
192.168.1.235 192.168.1.235                    SingleAddress ::1  192.168.1.235
192.168.1.240 192.168.1.240                    SingleAddress ::1  192.168.1.240

In Exchange Admin Center, verify that the receive connector shows up under the Exchange Server EX02-2016.

Copy receive connector to another Exchange Server after

Double-click on the receive connector SMTP relay and verify the remote IP addresses.

Copy receive connector to another Exchange Server verify

The receive connector copy is a success. Did this save you some time?

Allow anonymous SMTP relay

Did you copy an anonymous SMTP relay receive connector? You have to grant MS-Exch-SMTP-Accept-Any-Recipient permissions to the Anonymous Logon Account on the receive connector. It will enable the relay to send mail out of the organization. More information by Microsoft.

[PS] C:\>Get-ReceiveConnector "EX02-2016\SMTP relay" | Add-ADPermission -User 'NT AUTHORITY\Anonymous Logon' -ExtendedRights MS-Exch-SMTP-Accept-Any-Recipient

Identity             User                 Deny  Inherited
--------             ----                 ----  ---------
EX02-2016\SMTP relay NT AUTHORITY\ANON... False False

Read more: How to configure Exchange Server after installation »

Conclusion

You learned how to copy the receive connector to another Exchange Server. Run the command to create a new receive connector and copy the remote IP addresses from another receive connector that you specify. This approach is excellent if it’s a one-on-one receive connector IP addresses copy.

Did you enjoy this article? You may also like Exchange 2016 ECP redirects to Exchange 2010 ECP. Don’t forget to follow us and share this article.

ALI TAJRAN

ALI TAJRAN

ALI TAJRAN is a passionate IT Architect, IT Consultant, and Microsoft Certified Trainer. He started Information Technology at a very young age, and his goal is to teach and inspire others. Read more »

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This Post Has 16 Comments

  1. Hi Ali

    Thank you for your articles, it is very helpful

    I would like to know what the configurations are of the default receive connectors and if those were created automatically or had to be created manually, and how the default receive connectors should look as default

    Thank you

    Reply

  2. Thank you. I’m always happy when I have an issue or question and I see that there is an ‘Alitajran.com’ article that’s available. Great work.

    Reply

  4. Hi, amazing content! I’m glad I found your site.

    I’m about to add a second server to my organization and I was wondering if I can rename our internal SMTP relay connector. It’s named “Internal Relay serverName”. By serverName I mean the current exchange server name ie. EX01\Internal Relay EX01.

    The reason I ask is, if I follow your instructions I will end up with a receive connector on the second exchange server with the name EX02\Internal Relay EX01, right? Its probably cosmetics but I rather have a generic name so that its not confusing to other admins.

    Thank you.

    Reply

    1. Glad to hear, Axel.

      You can fill in a receive connector name for the new SMTP relay connector. For example, in this article, the new receive connector name is “SMTP relay”.

      In your case:

      1. Create the new SMTP relay and give it the name “Internal Relay”
      2. Rename the receive connector on the first Exchange Server from “Internal Relay EX01” to “Internal Relay”

      After the above changes, the receive connector name “Internal Relay” will be shown on both Exchange Servers.

      Reply

  6. Here’s a script that really copies a receive connector including all properties. Extend to your own needs, tested on Exchange 2010 -> 2013/2016

    $RC = "SMTP relay"
$FromServer = "EX01-2019"
$ToServer = "EX02-2019"

$SourceRC = Get-ReceiveConnector "$FromServer\$RC"

New-ReceiveConnector `
    -Name $RC `
    -Server $ToServer `
    -TransportRole $SourceRC.TransportRole `
    -Bindings $SourceRC.Bindings `
    -RemoteIPRanges $SourceRC.RemoteIPRanges `
    -AdvertiseClientSettings $SourceRC.AdvertiseClientSettings `
    -AuthMechanism $SourceRC.AuthMechanism `
    -ConnectionInactivityTimeout $SourceRC.ConnectionInactivityTimeout `
    -ConnectionTimeout $SourceRC.ConnectionTimeout `
    -DefaultDomain $SourceRC.DefaultDomain `
    -DeliveryStatusNotificationEnabled $SourceRC.DeliveryStatusNotificationEnabled `
    -EightBitMimeEnabled $SourceRC.EightBitMimeEnabled `
    -EnableAuthGSSAPI $SourceRC.EnableAuthGSSAPI `
    -EnhancedStatusCodesEnabled $SourceRC.EnhancedStatusCodesEnabled `
    -ExtendedProtectionPolicy $SourceRC.ExtendedProtectionPolicy `
    -LongAddressesEnabled $SourceRC.LongAddressesEnabled `
    -MaxHeaderSize $SourceRC.MaxHeaderSize `
    -MaxHopCount $SourceRC.MaxHopCount `
    -MaxInboundConnection $SourceRC.MaxInboundConnection `
    -MaxInboundConnectionPercentagePerSource $SourceRC.MaxInboundConnectionPercentagePerSource `
    -MaxInboundConnectionPerSource $SourceRC.MaxInboundConnectionPerSource `
    -MaxLocalHopCount $SourceRC.MaxLocalHopCount `
    -MaxLogonFailures $SourceRC.MaxLogonFailures `
    -MaxMessageSize $SourceRC.MaxMessageSize `
    -MaxProtocolErrors $SourceRC.MaxProtocolErrors `
    -MaxRecipientsPerMessage $SourceRC.MaxRecipientsPerMessage `
    -MessageRateLimit $SourceRC.MessageRateLimit `
    -MessageRateSource $SourceRC.MessageRateSource `
    -PermissionGroups ($SourceRC.PermissionGroups -replace ", Custom") `
    -PipeliningEnabled $SourceRC.PipeliningEnabled `
    -RequireEHLODomain $SourceRC.RequireEHLODomain `
    -RequireTLS $SourceRC.RequireTLS
    Reply

  7. Pls will it work for migration of receive connectors from Exchange server 2010 to exchange server 2016?

    Reply

  8. Your site has been an amazing well of knowledge sir! Keep up the great work!

    Question, will the above, “copy receive connector to another server” work coming from 2010 to 2016?

    Cheers!
    JJ

    Reply

  9. Just what I was searching for. It worked great. It saved me a lot of time!!! Thank you so much for all your posts.

    Reply

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