Use the Search and Retrieval Website to search for words or phrases from the archive. You can additionally limit the search by attachment names, from users, to users, date ranges, words to exclude, etc. When the results are listed you can open any of the messages found or modify the search.
You can install the Search and Retrieval Website on a separate server, for example, the same server that hosts your Outlook Web Access (OWA) Website. This allows external users to access and retrieve archived mail.
Search and Retrieval Website URL
The Search and Retrieval Website server name is used to construct a URL in the form http://servername/AOneSearch. This address must be accessible by users who want to access the Search and Retrieval Website. To allow both internal and external user access, use the external URL of the front-end OWA server. For example:
A company has an external OWA presence on http://mail.mycompany.com/exchange which is hosted by a front-end OWA server with the internal name myserver.
The Search and Retrieval Website is configured to use the name: http://mail.mycompany.com/AOneSearch and the internal company DNS is configured to use mail.mycompany.com as an alias for myserver.
You can configure an alias for the server in your internal company DNS. If you use a DNS alias rather than a fixed server name in the Search and Retrieval Website address, you need only modify the DNS alias record if you move the Search and Retrieval Website to a different server.
Access the Search and Retrieval Website
You can get to the Search and Retrieval Website in the following ways:
- In Outlook, click the Search archive folder in your mailbox (created after the first time a policy has archived mail for you, if it is configured to do so). The Search and Retrieval Website page displays within Outlook.
- Enter the Search and Retrieval Website URL in your browser, as configured on the Status Nodenode. This can be done from a desktop system or mobile device.
- If you are running Outlook Web Access, click the Search archive folder in your mailbox. A single message displays containing the Search and Retrieval Website URL.
The Website detects your primary browser language, and displays the search form based on that language, using the associated date format.
When you first connect, you are prompted to supply a username/password for authentication. If these details are correct and you check the box to remember me, the authentication (but not the password) is stored for 30 days.
You are only allowed to use the Search and Retrieval Website for searching if the authenticated user has an associated mailbox, and you have been granted rights to search into the archive of at least one mailbox.
A hierarchy containing the stores (mailboxes and PSTs) that you are allowed to search display, including the folders within those stores. Select any folder to display the messages archived from that folder.
There is a Search terms box – if you type a phrase there and click search, the archive is searched for items containing that phrase. You can select whether the search should apply to only the current folder, to all mailboxes that you are allowed to search in, or to both the archive and the live mailbox.
You can produce more sophisticated searches in the following ways:
- one AND two finds messages containing both words (this is the default if you just list words without an operator such as AND between them)
- one OR two finds messages containing one or other words
- one NEAR two finds messages containing both words within 10 words of each other
- "crown jewels" (a phrase in quotes) finds messages containing both words together as a phrase
- (one OR two) AND three (a search expression in brackets) finds messages containing 'three' and either 'one' or 'two'
- *day (use of * as a wildcard) matches any word ending in day. Use an asterisk (*) anywhere in a word to indicate any number of missing letters
- thurs??? (use of ? as a wildcard) matches any word starting thurs followed by exactly 3 letters. Use a question mark (?) anywhere in a word to indicate one missing letter
Click advanced search to access a dialog containing additional search options.
When a message is opened it is retrieved into the Retrieved items folder in your mailbox and displays in a new window using either Outlook or Outlook Web Access (OWA) if it is available. If neither can be used, you can still go to your retrieved items folder in your mailbox to find the message. There is no automatic deletion of retrieved items, so consider if you want to manually delete any items you retrieve.
When messages are archived, they are replaced with a message link, which contains much of the original mail characteristics such as the subject and some of the body. It includes an URL which, when selected, uses the Search and Retrieval Website to show a summary of the message, and can be retrieved and opened if required. It uses OWA if it is available, but if OWA is not enabled, go to your retrieved items folder in your mailbox to find the message.
Because this behavior is supplied by the Search and Retrieval Website, verify that the Search and Retrieval Website is correctly configured even if you do not want users to search into their archives.
The Search and Retrieval Website is also used by Quick Link so that users can retrieve archived items using Outlook in the same way as they view non-archived mail. There is no user interface aspect to this functionality.