Get-DistributionGroup

Reference

Module:: ExchangePowerShell

Applies to:: Exchange Server 2010, Exchange Server 2013, Exchange Server 2016, Exchange Server 2019, Exchange Online, Exchange Online Protection

This cmdlet is available in on-premises Exchange and in the cloud-based service. Some parameters and settings may be exclusive to one environment or the other.

Use the Get-DistributionGroup cmdlet to view existing distribution groups or mail-enabled security groups. To view the members of a group, use the Get-DistributionGroupMember cmdlet.

For information about the parameter sets in the Syntax section below, see Exchange cmdlet syntax.

Syntax

Get-DistributionGroup
   [-Anr <String>]
   [-Credential <PSCredential>]
   [-DomainController <Fqdn>]
   [-Filter <String>]
   [-IgnoreDefaultScope]
   [-IncludeAcceptMessagesOnlyFromDLMembersWithDisplayNames]
   [-IncludeAcceptMessagesOnlyFromSendersOrMembersWithDisplayNames]
   [-IncludeAcceptMessagesOnlyFromWithDisplayNames]
   [-IncludeBypassModerationFromSendersOrMembersWithDisplayNames]
   [-IncludeGrantSendOnBehalfToWithDisplayNames]
   [-IncludeModeratedByWithDisplayNames]
   [-OrganizationalUnit <OrganizationalUnitIdParameter>]
   [-ReadFromDomainController]
   [-RecipientTypeDetails <RecipientTypeDetails[]>]
   [-ResultSize <Unlimited>]
   [-SortBy <String>]
   [<CommonParameters>]

Get-DistributionGroup
   [[-Identity] <DistributionGroupIdParameter>]
   [-Credential <PSCredential>]
   [-DomainController <Fqdn>]
   [-Filter <String>]
   [-IgnoreDefaultScope]
   [-IncludeAcceptMessagesOnlyFromDLMembersWithDisplayNames]
   [-IncludeAcceptMessagesOnlyFromSendersOrMembersWithDisplayNames]
   [-IncludeAcceptMessagesOnlyFromWithDisplayNames]
   [-IncludeBypassModerationFromSendersOrMembersWithDisplayNames]
   [-IncludeGrantSendOnBehalfToWithDisplayNames]
   [-IncludeModeratedByWithDisplayNames]
   [-OrganizationalUnit <OrganizationalUnitIdParameter>]
   [-ReadFromDomainController]
   [-RecipientTypeDetails <RecipientTypeDetails[]>]
   [-ResultSize <Unlimited>]
   [-SortBy <String>]
   [<CommonParameters>]

Get-DistributionGroup
   [-Credential <PSCredential>]
   [-DomainController <Fqdn>]
   [-Filter <String>]
   [-IgnoreDefaultScope]
   [-IncludeAcceptMessagesOnlyFromDLMembersWithDisplayNames]
   [-IncludeAcceptMessagesOnlyFromSendersOrMembersWithDisplayNames]
   [-IncludeAcceptMessagesOnlyFromWithDisplayNames]
   [-IncludeBypassModerationFromSendersOrMembersWithDisplayNames]
   [-IncludeGrantSendOnBehalfToWithDisplayNames]
   [-IncludeModeratedByWithDisplayNames]
   [-ManagedBy <GeneralRecipientIdParameter>]
   [-OrganizationalUnit <OrganizationalUnitIdParameter>]
   [-ReadFromDomainController]
   [-RecipientTypeDetails <RecipientTypeDetails[]>]
   [-ResultSize <Unlimited>]
   [-SortBy <String>]
   [<CommonParameters>]

Description

You need to be assigned permissions before you can run this cmdlet. Although this topic lists all parameters for the cmdlet, you may not have access to some parameters if they're not included in the permissions assigned to you. To find the permissions required to run any cmdlet or parameter in your organization, see Find the permissions required to run any Exchange cmdlet.

Examples

Example 1

Get-DistributionGroup

This examples returns a summary list of all distribution groups and mail-enabled security groups in your organization.

Example 2

Get-DistributionGroup -Identity "Marketing Reports" | Format-List

This example returns detailed information about the distribution group named Marketing Reports.

Example 3

Get-DistributionGroup -Anr marketing | Format-Table Name, ManagedBy -Auto

This example returns all distribution groups and mail-enabled security groups whose names contain the string "marketing" and shows the group owners.

Parameters

-Anr

The Anr parameter specifies a string on which to perform an ambiguous name resolution (ANR) search. You can specify a partial string and search for objects with an attribute that matches that string. The default attributes searched are:

CommonName (CN)
DisplayName
FirstName
LastName
Alias

Type:	String
Position:	Named
Default value:	None
Required:	False
Accept pipeline input:	False
Accept wildcard characters:	False
Applies to:	Exchange Server 2010, Exchange Server 2013, Exchange Server 2016, Exchange Server 2019, Exchange Online, Exchange Online Protection

-Credential

The Credential parameter specifies the username and password that's used to run this command. Typically, you use this parameter in scripts or when you need to provide different credentials that have the required permissions.

A value for this parameter requires the Get-Credential cmdlet. To pause this command and receive a prompt for credentials, use the value (Get-Credential). Or, before you run this command, store the credentials in a variable (for example, $cred = Get-Credential) and then use the variable name ($cred) for this parameter. For more information, see Get-Credential.

Type:	PSCredential
Position:	Named
Default value:	None
Required:	False
Accept pipeline input:	False
Accept wildcard characters:	False
Applies to:	Exchange Server 2010, Exchange Server 2013, Exchange Server 2016, Exchange Server 2019, Exchange Online, Exchange Online Protection

-DomainController

This parameter is available only in on-premises Exchange.

The DomainController parameter specifies the domain controller that's used by this cmdlet to read data from or write data to Active Directory. You identify the domain controller by its fully qualified domain name (FQDN). For example, dc01.contoso.com.

Type:	Fqdn
Position:	Named
Default value:	None
Required:	False
Accept pipeline input:	False
Accept wildcard characters:	False
Applies to:	Exchange Server 2010, Exchange Server 2013, Exchange Server 2016, Exchange Server 2019

-Filter

The Filter parameter uses OPATH syntax to filter the results by the specified properties and values. The search criteria uses the syntax "Property -ComparisonOperator 'Value'".

Enclose the whole OPATH filter in double quotation marks " ". If the filter contains system values (for example, $true, $false, or $null), use single quotation marks ' ' instead. Although this parameter is a string (not a system block), you can also use braces { }, but only if the filter doesn't contain variables.
Property is a filterable property. For more information about the filterable properties, see Filterable properties for the Filter parameter.
ComparisonOperator is an OPATH comparison operator (for example -eq for equals and -like for string comparison). For more information about comparison operators, see about_Comparison_Operators.
Value is the property value to search for. Enclose text values and variables in single quotation marks ('Value' or '$Variable'). If a variable value contains single quotation marks, you need to identify (escape) the single quotation marks to expand the variable correctly. For example, instead of '$User', use '$($User -Replace "'","''")'. Don't enclose integers or system values in quotation marks (for example, use 500, $true, $false, or $null instead).

You can chain multiple search criteria together using the logical operators -and and -or. For example, "Criteria1 -and Criteria2" or "(Criteria1 -and Criteria2) -or Criteria3".

For detailed information about OPATH filters in Exchange, see Additional OPATH syntax information.

Type:	String
Position:	Named
Default value:	None
Required:	False
Accept pipeline input:	False
Accept wildcard characters:	False
Applies to:	Exchange Server 2010, Exchange Server 2013, Exchange Server 2016, Exchange Server 2019, Exchange Online, Exchange Online Protection

-Identity

The Identity parameter specifies the distribution group or mail-enabled security group that you want to view. You can use any values that uniquely identifies the group. For example:

Name
Alias
Distinguished name (DN)
Canonical DN
Email address
GUID

Type:	DistributionGroupIdParameter
Position:	1
Default value:	None
Required:	False
Accept pipeline input:	True
Accept wildcard characters:	False
Applies to:	Exchange Server 2010, Exchange Server 2013, Exchange Server 2016, Exchange Server 2019, Exchange Online, Exchange Online Protection

-IgnoreDefaultScope

This parameter is available only in on-premises Exchange.

The IgnoreDefaultScope switch tells the command to ignore the default recipient scope setting for the Exchange PowerShell session, and to use the entire forest as the scope. You don't need to specify a value with this switch.

This switch enables the command to access Active Directory objects that aren't currently available in the default scope, but also introduces the following restrictions:

You can't use the DomainController parameter. The command uses an appropriate global catalog server automatically.
You can only use the DN for the Identity parameter. Other forms of identification, such as alias or GUID, aren't accepted.

Type:	SwitchParameter
Position:	Named
Default value:	None
Required:	False
Accept pipeline input:	False
Accept wildcard characters:	False
Applies to:	Exchange Server 2010, Exchange Server 2013, Exchange Server 2016, Exchange Server 2019