Public Folder

The service for Public Folders only supports restoring content and permissions of Public Folder to the original location and you must use impersonation accounts to protect the Public Folder data..

IBM® Storage Protect for Cloud Microsoft 365 now supports the backup of Public Folder metadata via the app profile authentication. To protect Public Folder metadata, ensure your backup for Public Folder metadata is enabled and the Exchange Administrator role is assigned to the app in Microsoft Entra ID.

The Public Folders backup will perform operations by using the permissions that are associated with the impersonation accounts. To configure impersonation accounts, refer to Configure Backup Settings. We recommend a 1:500 ratio for the impersonation accounts and the Public Folders. For more information about impersonation technology, see Impersonation and EWS in Exchange. The impersonation accounts configured must meet the following conditions:
  • The impersonation account must have the Exchange Online product license.
  • This user must also have the Owner permission to the Public Folders.

If you have configured impersonation accounts for Public Folder in the IBM Storage Protect for Cloud interface, the impersonation accounts will be synchronized to IBM Storage Protect for Cloud Microsoft 365 after June 2023 release. You can check and configure the impersonation accounts through Settings > Backup page on the IBM Storage Protect for Cloud Microsoft 365 interface.

For the Auto discovery of Public Folders, ensure you have at least one of the following apps configured for your tenant:
  • IBM Storage Protect for Cloud Microsoft 365 (Exchange Online) service app
  • Microsoft 365 default app with at least the Exchange Online permissions
  • Custom app profile with the required permissions.

For details on creating an app profile, refer to Create an App Profile. For the app permissions, refer toRequired Permissions of Microsoft 365 App Profile.

For details on creating and managing service account profile, refer to Manage Service Account Profiles.

Note the following for the Public Folder service:
  • Use Object ID instead of mailbox address as the unique identifier for Exchange Online mailboxes and Public Folders. This change has been made to the IBM Storage Protect for Cloud Microsoft 365. Due to this change, the mailboxes that have been re-created with the same address will no longer be regarded as the same one. This might require a broader search to ensure you find all the backup data for restoring, exporting, or deleting; the mailbox being renamed can only be found by the new name with the former backup data associated, and its former name will be displayed in its row.
  • For subscriptions with Multi-Geo enabled, the public folders can only be protected in the Central Location.

After your app profile is ready, navigate to the Auto Discovery in IBM Storage Protect for Cloud interface to configure a scan profile for the Public Folders that you want to protect in IBM Storage Protect for Cloud Microsoft 365. For details, refer to Auto Discovery for Microsoft 365.

Then, you can navigate to IBM Storage Protect for Cloud Microsoft 365 interface to enable the backup service after the Auto Discovery scan job completes.