We recently received an alert in our Operations Center from the Operations Manager Exchange Management Pack stating that a client Exchange 2010 managed server did not have a test mailbox. I logged onto the server to create the test mailbox using the Exchange Management Shell. I ran the new-TestCasConnectivityUser.ps1 cmdlet and it returned an unusual error:

CreateTestUser: Mailbox could not be created. Verify that OU ‘Users’ exists and that password meets complexity requirements

The default ‘Users’ OU existed in the client’s Active Directory and I knew that the password submitted met the complexity requirements for the domain. I started researching the error and came across a blog post by Rikard Ronnkvist of Sweden. He had disected and debugged the powershell script and came up with the following command:

When he ran the command the output stated that “Multiple organizational units match identity ‘Users’. Specify a unique value.”

While reviewing the Organizational Unit structure of the client’s Active Directory, I discovered a second OU named “Users,” which was a child OU of an “SBS Users” OU. I edited the powershell script and changed the value of the $OrganizationalUnit variable to “SBS Users/Users.” I again attempted to create the test user mailbox by running the following command:

get-mailboxServer | .\new-TestCasConnectivityUser.ps1

The script completed successfully and the test user mailbox was created in the SBS Users/Users OU. If you experience the same error when attempting to create a test mailbox, look for that second “Users” OU! Thanks to Rikard Ronnkvist for sharing his solution with the Internet community.