Entourage Exchange Setup 3.0

Update: Version 3.0 posted on January 31, 2009.

Purpose of the Entourage Exchange Setup 3.0 scripts

This set of two AppleScripts is intended to help an administrator assist his Entourage users with the setups of their Exchange server accounts. It has been tested specifically with Entourage 2008 12.1.5 but should work with any version of Entourage 2004 SP2 (11.2.0) and higher. Every company’s network is different so the primary setup script was written to provide enough ideas for a novice scripter to be able to adapt it for use in his network in just a few minutes.

The user’s Mac OS X Name (also called the “Display name” if using Active Directory) and email address are assumed to be in the form of:

“Last, First” and “first.last@domain.com”

But it can easily be modified for other variations such as:

“First Last” and “first@domain.com

It works especially well if the Mac is bound to Active Directory where the user’s Mac OS X Short Name will match the “User logon name” in Active Directory.

The Entourage Exchange Setup 3.0.scpt script must first be edited in “Script Editor.app” found in /Applications/Applescript and modified with server names appropriate to the network. If the user’s computer login (short name, long name, etc.) is consistent with his Exchange server’s login then it will work with little need for modification.

How do these scripts differ from the previous scripts?

The first two versions of the Entourage Exchange Setup scripts differ in one major way. They require the Entourage user to take action (double-click the script) prior to using Entourage. New users might not know to do this and experienced users may forget to do this if transferring to a new machine.

This new version simply works the first time the use launches Entourage.

Another big advantage is that an administrator can set all Entourage application defaults for his users. He can tweak all preferences, rules, schedules, signatures, custom views, default views, etc.

Support

E-mail me at mecklists@comcast.net. I will make every reasonable effort to answer questions about the scripts and work to correct bugs you may find.

To get started:

1. Download the scripts.
2. Read the included Entourage Exchange Setup 3.0 Administrator’s Guide.
3. Customize the Entourage Exchange Setup 3.0 script file with information about your servers.
4. Customize the format of your company’s email addresses. Seven example email formats are included.
5. Create an Entourage template and customize default preferences, rules, schedules, signatures, custom views, default views, etc.
6. Deploy the script and Entourage template to your Macs.
7. Instruct your users to simply launch Entourage.

For those administrators who prefer the older but simpler script that required their users to first double-click before using Entourage, it is still available: “How to use AppleScript to connect Entourage to Exchange Server 2000 sp2, 2003 or 2007”

Questions or comments about the script should be directed to Microsoft Macintosh MVP.