While I have to say I prefer to use PowerShell to create mailboxes as I like to do some customization of the scripts, if you simply want to create a load of mailboxes in one go, the CSV Import tool will do the job just as well.
There is a good collection of articles on this tool on our Technet site here. The only thing I can say you need to watch out for is that the csv file format that you use with the CSV Import Tool is slightly different than the one you use with our CSV_Parser.ps1 script.
CSV Import Prerequisites:
Prepare a CSV file for use with the CSV Import Tool:
There are a number of places you could obtain a CSV file from in the format required to use with the CSV Import Tool. If you have an Active Directory running to support your student accounts, you can use the CSVDE tool to get this file (download here: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=101669). If you do not have an AD running, it is highly likely you will have other databases you can extract an accurate list of your user population from.
- The CSV file needs to be laid out in a set format. You can work with many combination of actions and mailbox attributes when creating your new users, but only a few of these are mandatory:
- Action: The type of procedure to be performed, for example ‘Add’
- Type: You can create 2 types of item, an ‘Account’ or a ‘Contact’
- EmailName: the email address of the new mailbox you want to create. This address also becomes the LiveID
- Then there are many others…a full list of all the attributes you can specify are here: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/exchangelabshelp/bb847829.aspx, along with sample csv files for your reference.
Anyway, I recorded a short video of me creating some users with CSVImport.exe for your viewing pleasure.
download
Enjoy!
Jonny
