Get-Group

This cmdlet is available in on-premises Exchange and in the cloud-based service. Some parameters and settings may be exclusive to one environment or the other.

Use the Get-Group cmdlet to view existing group objects in your organization. In all environments, this cmdlet returns mail-enabled security groups, distribution groups, role groups, and room lists. For details about other supported group types in on-premises Exchange environments, see the RecipientTypeDetails parameter description.

For information about the parameter sets in the Syntax section below, see Exchange cmdlet syntax.

Syntax

Get-Group
   [-Anr <String>]
   [-Credential <PSCredential>]
   [-DomainController <Fqdn>]
   [-Filter <String>]
   [-IgnoreDefaultScope]
   [-OrganizationalUnit <OrganizationalUnitIdParameter>]
   [-ReadFromDomainController]
   [-RecipientTypeDetails <RecipientTypeDetails[]>]
   [-ResultSize <Unlimited>]
   [-SortBy <String>]
   [<CommonParameters>]
Get-Group
   [[-Identity] <GroupIdParameter>]
   [-Credential <PSCredential>]
   [-DomainController <Fqdn>]
   [-Filter <String>]
   [-IgnoreDefaultScope]
   [-OrganizationalUnit <OrganizationalUnitIdParameter>]
   [-ReadFromDomainController]
   [-RecipientTypeDetails <RecipientTypeDetails[]>]
   [-ResultSize <Unlimited>]
   [-SortBy <String>]
   [<CommonParameters>]

Description

The Get-Group cmdlet returns no mail-related properties for distribution groups or mail-enabled security groups, and no role group-related properties for role groups. To view the object-specific properties for a group, you need to use the corresponding cmdlet based on the object type (for example, Get-DistributionGroup or Get-RoleGroup).

You need to be assigned permissions before you can run this cmdlet. Although this topic lists all parameters for the cmdlet, you may not have access to some parameters if they're not included in the permissions assigned to you. To find the permissions required to run any cmdlet or parameter in your organization, see Find the permissions required to run any Exchange cmdlet.

Examples

Example 1

Get-Group

This example returns a summary list of all groups in your organization.

Example 2

Get-Group -Identity "Marketing Reports" | Format-List

This example returns detailed information for the group named Marketing Reports.

Example 3

Get-Group -Anr Mar*

This example uses the Anr parameter to return all groups that begin with "Mar".

Parameters

-Anr

The Anr parameter specifies a string on which to perform an ambiguous name resolution (ANR) search. You can specify a partial string and search for objects with an attribute that matches that string. The default attributes searched are:

  • CommonName (CN)
  • DisplayName
  • FirstName
  • LastName
  • Alias
Type:String
Position:Named
Default value:None
Required:False
Accept pipeline input:False
Accept wildcard characters:False
Applies to:Exchange Server 2010, Exchange Server 2013, Exchange Server 2016, Exchange Server 2019, Exchange Online, Exchange Online Protection

-Credential

This parameter is available only in on-premises Exchange.

The Credential parameter specifies the username and password that's used to run this command. Typically, you use this parameter in scripts or when you need to provide different credentials that have the required permissions.

A value for this parameter requires the Get-Credential cmdlet. To pause this command and receive a prompt for credentials, use the value (Get-Credential). Or, before you run this command, store the credentials in a variable (for example, $cred = Get-Credential) and then use the variable name ($cred) for this parameter. For more information, see Get-Credential.

Type:PSCredential
Position:Named
Default value:None
Required:False
Accept pipeline input:False
Accept wildcard characters:False
Applies to:Exchange Server 2010, Exchange Server 2013, Exchange Server 2016, Exchange Server 2019

-DomainController

This parameter is available only in on-premises Exchange.

The DomainController parameter specifies the domain controller that's used by this cmdlet to read data from or write data to Active Directory. You identify the domain controller by its fully qualified domain name (FQDN). For example, dc01.contoso.com.

The DomainController parameter isn't supported on Edge Transport servers. An Edge Transport server uses the local instance of Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services (AD LDS) to read and write data.

Type:Fqdn
Position:Named
Default value:None
Required:False
Accept pipeline input:False
Accept wildcard characters:False
Applies to:Exchange Server 2010, Exchange Server 2013, Exchange Server 2016, Exchange Server 2019

-Filter

The Filter parameter uses OPATH syntax to filter the results by the specified properties and values. The search criteria uses the syntax "Property -ComparisonOperator 'Value'".

  • Enclose the whole OPATH filter in double quotation marks " ". If the filter contains system values (for example, $true, $false, or $null), use single quotation marks ' ' instead. Although this parameter is a string (not a system block), you can also use braces { }, but only if the filter doesn't contain variables.
  • Property is a filterable property. For more information about the filterable properties, see Filterable properties for the Filter parameter.
  • ComparisonOperator is an OPATH comparison operator (for example -eq for equals and -like for string comparison). For more information about comparison operators, see about_Comparison_Operators.
  • Value is the property value to search for. Enclose text values and variables in single quotation marks ('Value' or '$Variable'). If a variable value contains single quotation marks, you need to identify (escape) the single quotation marks to expand the variable correctly. For example, instead of '$User', use '$($User -Replace "'","''")'. Don't enclose integers or system values in quotation marks (for example, use 500, $true, $false, or $null instead).

You can chain multiple search criteria together using the logical operators -and and -or. For example, "Criteria1 -and Criteria2" or "(Criteria1 -and Criteria2) -or Criteria3".

For detailed information about OPATH filters in Exchange, see Additional OPATH syntax information.

Type:String
Position:Named
Default value:None
Required:False
Accept pipeline input:False
Accept wildcard characters:False
Applies to:Exchange Server 2010, Exchange Server 2013, Exchange Server 2016, Exchange Server 2019, Exchange Online, Exchange Online Protection

-Identity

The Identity parameter specifies the group object that you want to view. You can use any value that uniquely identifies the group. For example:

  • Name
  • Distinguished name (DN)
  • Canonical DN
  • GUID
Type:GroupIdParameter
Position:1
Default value:None
Required:False
Accept pipeline input:True
Accept wildcard characters:False
Applies to:Exchange Server 2010, Exchange Server 2013, Exchange Server 2016, Exchange Server 2019, Exchange Online, Security & Compliance, Exchange Online Protection

-IgnoreDefaultScope

This parameter is available only in on-premises Exchange.

The IgnoreDefaultScope switch tells the command to ignore the default recipient scope setting for the Exchange PowerShell session, and to use the entire forest as the scope. You don't need to specify a value with this switch.

This switch enables the command to access Active Directory objects that aren't currently available in the default scope, but also introduces the following restrictions:

  • You can't use the DomainController parameter. The command uses an appropriate global catalog server automatically.
  • You can only use the DN for the Identity parameter. Other forms of identification, such as alias or GUID, aren't accepted.
Type:SwitchParameter
Position:Named
Default value:None
Required:False
Accept pipeline input:False
Accept wildcard characters:False
Applies to:Exchange Server 2010, Exchange Server 2013, Exchange Server 2016, Exchange Server 2019

-OrganizationalUnit

The OrganizationalUnit parameter filters the results based on the object's location in Active Directory. Only objects that exist in the specified location are returned. Valid input for this parameter is an organizational unit (OU) or domain that's returned by the Get-OrganizationalUnit cmdlet. You can use any value that uniquely identifies the OU or domain. For example:

  • Name
  • Canonical name
  • Distinguished name (DN)
  • GUID
Type:OrganizationalUnitIdParameter
Position:Named
Default value:None
Required:False
Accept pipeline input:False
Accept wildcard characters:False
Applies to:Exchange Server 2010, Exchange Server 2013, Exchange Server 2016, Exchange Server 2019, Exchange Online, Exchange Online Protection

-ReadFromDomainController

This parameter is available only in on-premises Exchange.

The ReadFromDomainController switch specifies that information should be read from a domain controller in the user's domain. You don't need to specify a value with this switch.

The command: Set-AdServerSettings -ViewEntireForest $true to include all objects in the forest requires the ReadFromDomainController switch. Otherwise, the command might use a global catalog that contains outdated information. Also, you might need to run multiple iterations of the command with the ReadFromDomainController switch to get the information.

By default, the recipient scope is set to the domain that hosts your Exchange servers.

Type:SwitchParameter
Position:Named
Default value:None
Required:False
Accept pipeline input:False
Accept wildcard characters:False
Applies to:Exchange Server 2010, Exchange Server 2013, Exchange Server 2016, Exchange Server 2019

-RecipientTypeDetails

The RecipientTypeDetails parameter filters the results by the specified group subtype. Valid values are:

  • MailNonUniversalGroup
  • MailUniversalDistributionGroup
  • MailUniversalSecurityGroup
  • NonUniversalGroup (on-premises Exchange Server only)
  • RoomList
  • UniversalDistributionGroup (on-premises Exchange Server only)
  • UniversalSecurityGroup (on-premises Exchange Server only)

You can specify multiple values separated by commas.

Type:RecipientTypeDetails[]
Position:Named
Default value:None
Required:False
Accept pipeline input:False
Accept wildcard characters:False
Applies to:Exchange Server 2010, Exchange Server 2013, Exchange Server 2016, Exchange Server 2019, Exchange Online, Security & Compliance, Exchange Online Protection

-ResultSize

The ResultSize parameter specifies the maximum number of results to return. If you want to return all requests that match the query, use unlimited for the value of this parameter. The default value is 1000.

Type:Unlimited
Position:Named
Default value:None
Required:False
Accept pipeline input:False
Accept wildcard characters:False
Applies to:Exchange Server 2010, Exchange Server 2013, Exchange Server 2016, Exchange Server 2019, Exchange Online, Security & Compliance, Exchange Online Protection

-SortBy

The SortBy parameter specifies the property to sort the results by. You can sort by only one property at a time. The results are sorted in ascending order.

If the default view doesn't include the property you're sorting by, you can append the command with | Format-Table -Auto Property1,Property2,...PropertyX. to create a new view that contains all of the properties that you want to see. Wildcards (*) in the property names are supported.

You can sort by the following properties:

  • Name
  • DisplayName
Type:String
Position:Named
Default value:None
Required:False
Accept pipeline input:False
Accept wildcard characters:False
Applies to:Exchange Server 2010, Exchange Server 2013, Exchange Server 2016, Exchange Server 2019, Exchange Online, Security & Compliance, Exchange Online Protection

Inputs

Input types

To see the input types that this cmdlet accepts, see Cmdlet Input and Output Types. If the Input Type field for a cmdlet is blank, the cmdlet doesn't accept input data.

Outputs

Output types

To see the return types, which are also known as output types, that this cmdlet accepts, see Cmdlet Input and Output Types. If the Output Type field is blank, the cmdlet doesn't return data.