Microsoft 365 Messaging

This course examines the key elements of Microsoft 365 messaging administration, including message transport and mail flow, messaging security, hygiene, and compliance, messaging infrastructure, and hybrid messaging. It is designed for those who are aspiring to be Messaging Administrators in a Microsoft 365 deployment.

The course helps to prepare the student for the Microsoft exam MS-203: Microsoft 365 Messaging

This course covers aspects of both Exchange Online and Exchange Server, as well as an Exchange hybrid environment. Those needing a more in-depth look at Exchange Online itself should consider course QAAEXOE Mastering Office 365 Exchange Online Administration For a more detailed look at planning and deploying Exchange hybrid, consider course QADEXHE Mastering Exchange Hybrid Deployments – Hands-on.

Audience profile

This course is aimed at those wanting to become Messaging Administrators in Microsoft 365.

A Messaging Administrator plans, deploys, configures, troubleshoots, and secures the messaging infrastructure in a hybrid and cloud enterprise environment. Responsibilities include managing recipients, mailboxes, transport, mail flow, administrative roles, threat protection, compliance, migrations, and client connectivity. To implement a secure hybrid topology that meets the business needs of a modern organization, the Messaging Administrator must collaborate with other workload administrators and the Microsoft 365 enterprise administrator. The Messaging Administrator should have a working knowledge of authentication types, licensing, and integration with Microsoft 365 applications.

Accessing your courseware and registering attendance with Microsoft

At the end of the course, the student should be able to:

• Configure and manage the transport pipeline
• Manage and troubleshoot mail flow and transport issues
• Manage message hygiene and compliance
• Manage authentication for messaging
• Configure organizational settings and sharing
• Manage role-based permissions
• Create and manage recipient objects and resources
• Plan, deploy and troubleshoot a hybrid environment
• Perform mailbox migrations

• Ability to navigate the Microsoft 365 admin center, the Exchange admin center, and the Microsoft 365 Defender portal
• Ability to create Domain Name System (DNS) records at an intermediate level
• Familiarity with Active Directory concepts such as centralized domain management, sites, and directory-based identity-related services
• Ability to write PowerShell commands at an intermediate level

Learning Path 1 - Manage the transport pipeline in Microsoft 365

Introduces the transport services used by Microsoft Exchange and provides instruction on how to configure those services and manage transport rules.

Modules in this Learning Path

• Explore transport services
• Configure message transport
• Manage transport rules

Lab: Create connectors

Learning Path 2 - Manage and troubleshoot mail flow in Microsoft 365

Examines how to manage mail flow components in Exchange Online, Exchange Server, and Exchange hybrid deployments, and explores how to troubleshoot mail flow and mail transport issues.

Modules in this Learning Path

• Manage mail flow
• Troubleshoot mail flow
• Troubleshoot transport issues
• Troubleshoot mail flow using logs

Lab: Create mail flow rules

Learning Path 3 - Manage message security

Explores Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) features and functionality, including the use of anti-malware and anti-spam policies, and Microsoft 365 Defender features that extend messaging protection against advanced threats.

Modules in this Learning Path

• Plan for message security
• Manage anti-malware and anti-spam policies
• Explore threat protection in Microsoft 365 Defender

Lab: Create hygiene filters

Learning Path 4 - Manage compliance in Microsoft 365

Examines the compliance features in Microsoft 365, Exchange Server, and Exchange Online, along with the eDiscovery features in Exchange that help organizations perform discovery searches for relevant content within mailboxes.

Modules in this Learning Path

• Explore messaging compliance in Microsoft 365
• Explore messaging compliance in Exchange
• Manage Exchange Online archiving and auditing
• Manage Content Search

Lab: Manage message compliance

Learning Path 5 - Manage your Microsoft 365 messaging environment

Examines how to manage your messaging environment in Microsoft 365, including authentication for messaging, configuring organizational settings, and configuring organizational settings.

Modules in this Learning Path

• Manage authentication for messaging
• Configure organizational settings
• Configure organizational sharing

Learning Path 6 - Manage role-based permissions in Microsoft 365

Examines how messaging administrators manage role-based permissions, and how they must plan and configure permissions carefully so as not to put their messaging environment or their entire Active Directory at risk

Modules in this Learning Path

• Manage administrator roles
• Manage user roles
• Analyze role-based permissions

Lab: Manage roles and permission policies

Learning Path 7 - Manage recipient objects and resources in Microsoft 365

Examines some of the most common tasks that messaging administrators perform, such as creating and configuring email recipients, including mailboxes, groups, and resources, as well as managing permissions for recipients.

Modules in this Learning Path

• Explore the different types of Exchange recipients
• Create and manage Exchange recipients
• Manage email addresses, lists, and resources

Lab: Create and manage public folders
Lab: Create Exchange recipients
Lab: Create groups

Learning Path 8 - Manage the hybrid deployment life cycle

Examines how to plan, implement, and troubleshoot a hybrid Exchange deployment, including implementing the Hybrid Configuration Wizard and advanced hybrid functionality, such as public folder coexistence, pass-through authentication, and mailbox replication.

Modules in this Learning Path

• Explore Exchange hybrid deployment requirements
• Plan and configure a hybrid deployment using the Hybrid Configuration Wizard
• Provide a gateway for Internet email using Edge Transport servers
• Implement advanced hybrid functionality
• Troubleshoot hybrid deployments

Lab: Prepare Azure AD for a hybrid deployment
Lab: Configure your hybrid deployment
Lab: Test your hybrid deployment
Lab: Troubleshoot your hybrid deployment

Learning Path 9 - Manage mailbox migrations

Examines how to plan for mailbox migrations to Exchange Online, and how to implement IMAP migrations, cutover migrations, staged migrations, and advanced migrations.

Modules in this Learning Path

• Plan mailbox migrations
• Run IMAP migrations
• Run cutover and staged migrations
• Run advanced mailbox migrations
• Exercise: Planning a mail migration to Microsoft 365