Question

How do I create a Shared and/or Resource mailbox in Office 365?

Overview

When creating a Shared/Resource mailbox you must first create and place the user object in the appropriate departmental organizational unit in Active Directory, this is how you "pre-stage" the account.

Answer

Creating an Office 365 shared/resource mailbox

Method 1: Create an Office 365 mailbox directly using the uinform tool

1. Pre-stage the account in your OU
2. Login to https://admin.uinform.ucdavis.edu
3. Search for the user, then select on their Sam Account Name to select the account
4. Select the "Exchange" tab, and click "Provision Mailbox"
5. Select "Create Mailbox in Office 365", fill in your email address in the confirmation box, and click submit (see image below)
   
   
   
6. After about 2 hours, you should get an email confirmation that the account was created.
7. Once you get the email saying the account was created, convert this mailbox to a shared/resource mailbox using one of the following methods:
   
   1. Use PowerShell Office365 Exchange Management Shell - See KB0000322 for more information how to connect.
      Set-oMailbox -Identity [UPN] -type Shared
      or
      Set-oMailbox -Identity [UPN] –type Room
      or
      Set-oMailbox -Identity [UPN] –type Equipment
   2. Use Office365 ECP to convert a mailbox to a shared mailbox. Note: There is no option to convert to a room or equipment mailbox, that must be done via PowerShell.
      
      1. Login to the Office365 ECP - https://outlook.office365.com/ecp/
      2. Under "recipients" select "mailboxes"
      3. Search for the mailbox name, and select it in the list
      4. In the right section of the window, under "Convert to Shared Mailbox", select "Convert"
      5. Click "Yes" when prompted to confirm that you want to convert the mailbox

Note: There is a known issue where the AD attributes of the user object do not update to reflect their type change done above. You can read the previously linked article for more information. Or use the following PowerShell cmdlet to set the attributes correctly:

• Set-ADUser -Identity [UPN] -server ou.ad3.ucdavis.edu -Replace @{msExchRemoteRecipientType=100;msExchRecipientTypeDetails=34359738368}