Creating Exchange 2016 Distribution Group Naming Policy.

What is Group naming policy?

Group naming policy lets you standardize and manage the names of distribution groups which are being created by users in the organization. The policy can prevent users from using specific words as well as help with preventing inappropriate group names. You can require a specific prefix and suffix to be added to the name for the group as well.

How does a group naming policy work?

When a user creates a group, they specify a name in the Display Name field. After the group is created, Microsoft Exchange applies the group naming policy by adding any prefix or suffix that you’ve defined in the group naming policy. The full name is displayed in the distribution groups list in the Exchange Administration Center (EAC), the shared address book, and the To:, Cc:, and From: fields in email messages. If a user tries to use a word that you’ve blocked, they get an error message when they try to save the new group and are asked to remove the blocked word and save the group again.

How to you create a naming policy?

To create a group naming policy, you need to navigate to the Exchange Admin Center > Groups then click on … > Configure group naming policy.

On the group naming policy configuration page, I will add the prefix and suffix to be added.

To add a Prefix, I will select Text from the drop down and provide a value.

I will do the same for the suffix as well.

As we can see on the general page now, the prefix and suffix has been configured for the policy, now the next option is to configure the Blocked Words.

To configure the Blocked Words, click on “blocked words” on the left-hand side and provide a list of words that your users cannot use when creating a new group.

Once you have added a list for words, click on “Save” to save the naming policy.

How do we know the policy is working?

To verify that the policy is working, you can open the group naming policy and verify the preview.

You can also run the following in Exchange Management Shell.

#ThatLazyAdmin

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