These rules are used to manage the flow of email communication within a Microsoft 365 organization, ensuring regulatory compliance, maintaining a record of email correspondences, and more.
What are Journal Rules?
In Microsoft 365, Journal rules are used to define what emails should be journaled (recorded) and where these records should be stored. They can be employed for selective journaling, allowing an organization to archive incoming, outgoing, or internal messages of specified users, groups, or all users.
Journal rules can be created directly in the Exchange admin center (EAC), or using PowerShell.
The important parameters to define while creating a journal rule are:
- Senders: The users, contacts, or groups whose sent messages should be journaled.
- Recipients: The users, contacts, or groups whose received messages should be journaled.
- Journal email address: Specify the mailbox to receive the journal reports.
- Scope: This can be set as internal, external, or both. Internal means both the sender and the recipient are in your organization. External means either the sender or the recipient is outside your organization.
Managing Journal Rules in EAC
To create a Journal rule in the Exchange Admin Center, follow these steps:
- Navigate to the Compliance management >> Journal rules tab in EAC.
- Click on the plus icon (+) to create a new journal rule.
- Enter the required information such as the rule name, senders/recipients, journal email address, and scope.
- Hit save to create the rule.
Remember that creating a journal rule with no recipients or sender specified will apply to all email traffic in your organization.
To edit an existing journal rule:
- Select the rule you want from the compliance management >> Journal rules list.
- Edit the settings as required, then hit save.
Similarly, a journal rule can be deleted by selecting it and clicking on the trash icon.
Managing Journal Rules Using PowerShell
PowerShell offers much flexibility, allowing batch operations and scripting. Here’s how to create, modify, and remove journal rules using PowerShell.
To create a new journal rule:
New-JournalRule -Name "Example Rule" -JournalEmailAddress "journal@example.com" -Scope Global -Enabled $true
This PowerShell command creates a new journal rule named “Example Rule,” sends journal reports to “journal@example.com,” has a global scope, and is enabled.
To edit a journal rule:
Set-JournalRule -Identity "Example Rule" -JournalEmailAddress "new-journal@example.com"
This command modifies the “Example Rule” to change the journal email address to “new-journal@example.com.”
To delete a journal rule:
Remove-JournalRule -Identity "Example Rule"
This command removes the journal rule named “Example Rule.”
In conclusion, managing journal rules is a critical component of MS-203 Microsoft 365 Messaging, allowing organizations to have better control over their mail flow.
Practice Test
True or False: In MS Outlook, Journal Rules are used to automatically record actions for specified users.
- True
- False
Answer: True.
Explanation: Journaling on a mailbox enables the organization to keep a record of all email communications of its users, important for compliance and regulatory needs.
Multiple Select: Which Journal Rule options can you manage in MS-203 Microsoft 365 Messaging?
- A. Exchange admin center
- B. Security & Compliance center
- C. SharePoint admin center
- D. Teams admin center
Answer: A, B.
Explanation: Both the Exchange and Security & Compliance centers offer options to manage Journal Rules in line with MS-203 Microsoft 365 Messaging functionalities.
You can only create one journal rule per mailbox. True or False?
- True
- False
Answer: False.
Explanation: You can create multiple journal rules for a mailbox. Keep in mind that the actions are applied in the order that the rules are listed in the list.
Single Select: To ensure complete archival of messaging data, it’s best practice to:
- A. Create a journal rule for only one mailbox
- B. Create a journal rule for all mailboxes
- C. Watch the traffic of every mailbox manually
- D. Rely only on automatic archiving procedures
Answer: B
Explanation: To ensure a complete archival of messaging data, all mailboxes need to be included in the journaling process.
Journal rules can only record sending and receiving of emails. True or False?
- True
- False
Answer: False.
Explanation: In addition to recording the sending and receiving of emails, journal rules can also record other events like meetings, task requests and document sharing depending on configuration.
Multiple Select: What actions can you perform in managing Journal rules?
- A. Create
- B. Modify
- C. Discontinue
- D. Rotate
Answer: A, B, C.
Explanation: In managing Journal rules, you can create new rules, modify existing rules or dismiss/stop rules. There isn’t a “rotate” option.
Journaling can be enabled or disabled on public folders. True or False?
- True
- False
Answer: False.
Explanation: Journaling is not supported for public folders in Microsoft It’s only supported on user mailboxes.
Single Select: Which center gives you the ability to search and investigate journaled content in Microsoft 365 Messaging?
- A. Security & Compliance center
- B. Exchange admin center
- C. SharePoint admin center
- D. Teams admin center
Answer: A.
Explanation: The Security & Compliance center offers the Search and Investigation feature which can be used to search all journaled content.
A “journal report” generated by a journal rule can be sent to a third party email address. True or False?
- True
- False
Answer: True.
Explanation: When a message matches a journal rule, a journal report is sent to the journaling mailbox, which can be a mailbox outside of your organization as it may contain sensitive information.
Single Select: Journal rules in Microsoft 365 Messaging typically do NOT involve:
- A. Compliance
- B. Security
- C. Risk Mitigation
- D. Website Design
Answer: D.
Explanation: Journaling in messaging mainly deals with compliance, security, and risk mitigation. It does not necessarily includes any website design.
Interview Questions
What is the main function of journal rules in Microsoft 365 Messaging?
Journal rules in Microsoft 365 Messaging are applied to control and manage the inflow and outflow of email messages in an organization. They provide a way to journal or record email communications for compliance, regulatory, or other business requirements.
How can you create a journal rule in Microsoft 365?
A journal rule can be created in Microsoft 365 using the Exchange admin center (EAC) by going to Compliance management > Journal rules > New (+).
What does the “Journal the following messages” setting do in Microsoft 365 Messaging?
“Journal the following messages” determines what type of messages are journaled. You can choose all messages, or messages sent or received from specific individuals, groups, or all members of specific groups.
What purpose does the “Send undeliverable journal reports to” serve in Microsoft 365 Messaging?
“Send undeliverable journal reports to” is the setting where you specify an email address to receive the undeliverable journal report in case the original journal report can’t be delivered to the journaling mailbox.
Can you apply more than one journal rule to the same message in Microsoft 365?
Yes, you can apply more than one journal rule to the same message in Microsoft 365. However, the order in which the rules are applied matters and can impact the end result.
What would happen if the journaling mailbox becomes unavailable in Microsoft 365?
If the journaling mailbox becomes unavailable, the journal reports will be undeliverable and may be lost. This can lead to significant compliance and legal issues.
In what scenarios would you need to disable a journal rule in Microsoft 365?
You may need to disable a journal rule during troubleshooting, configuration changes, or if the rule is no longer needed for compliance or other business requirements.
How can you verify if a journal rule is working as expected in Microsoft 365?
You can verify the operation of a journal rule by checking the journal reports in the specified journaling mailbox. They should include the journaled messages according to the conditions set in the rule.
Which message attribute is used for the spam confidence level (SCL) junk email threshold for determining if a message is to be journaled?
The SCL attribute in the message header is used for the spam confidence level junk email threshold for determining if a message is to be journaled.
Can you configure a journal rule to only apply to outbound emails in Microsoft 365?
Yes, you can configure a journal rule to apply only to outbound emails by specifying the rule to only act on email messages in which the sender is from inside the organization.
Are journal rules in Microsoft 365 Messaging subject to any limitations on the quantity or complexity of conditions?
While Microsoft 365 supports multiple journal rules, the service places a limit on the total conditions using a cumulative condition counting method. Too many conditions may exceed limits and cause problems with rule enforcement.
What options are available for journal rule scope in Microsoft 365 Messaging?
The options for scope in Microsoft 365 Messaging journal rules include: Global (all messages), Internal (messages sent and received within the organization), and External (messages sent or received outside the organization).
Can you use the Exchange Management Shell to manage journal rules in Microsoft 365 Messaging?
Yes, you can use the Exchange Management Shell for managing journal rules, but the necessary cmdlets need to be executed with administration privileges.
What’s the importance of the Priority parameter in journal rules within Microsoft 365 Messaging?
The Priority parameter is important as it helps determine the order in which the journal rules are applied. Lower values are processed first, and when two rules have the same priority, the older rule is processed first.
How can you remove a journal rule in Microsoft 365 Messaging?
A journal rule can be removed in Microsoft 365 Messaging via the Exchange admin center (EAC) by navigating to Compliance management > Journal rules. Select the rule you want to remove and click the Delete (-) button.
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