I’ve finished project setup for Domain Rewrite, what’s next?
After Domain Rewrite is configured in your project, each tenant will have a series of configurations automatically deployed through our orchestration engine. The following FAQs will help you get acquainted with the Domain Rewrite configuration components.
What is setup when I enable Domain Rewrite?
When Domain Rewrite is enabled, the following configuration items are created and managed. If Domain Rewrite is disabled, the same configurations will be removed.
- Exchange Online Transport Rules to redirect mail flow for Domain Rewrite eligible users
- Exchange Online Connectors to manage encrypted mail flow between Domain Rewrite and Exchange Online
- Mail-Enabled Groups to managed user’s eligibility for Domain Rewrite
All configurations can be reviewed for any tenant from the Exchange Online portal. You may also view all configurations using PowerShell.
How can I confirm everything was created?
You may verify the configurations from the Microsoft 365 admin portal or by using PowerShell.
To verify by portal, simply login to the Exchange Online Admin Portal. Then navigate to Mail Flow. Under Mail Flow you will find the rules and connectors. To view the groups, navigate to recipients then groups.
The simplest way is to use a PowerShell query to get a list of all rules, connectors and groups. Follow these easy steps to do just that.
- Launch PowerShell.
Connect to your tenant, if you don’t know how, here is a quick article from MS:
Once authenticated, run these example commands:
Get-TransportRule BT-* -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | select @{Name='Identity'; Expression={'Rule: '+$_.Identity }}
Get-InboundConnector BT-* -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | select @{Name='Identity'; Expression={'Inbound: '+$_.Identity }}
Get-OutboundConnector BT-* -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue |select @{Name='Identity'; Expression={'Outbound: '+$_.Identity }}
Get-DistributionGroup BT-* -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | select @{Name='Identity'; Expression={'Group: '+$_.Identity }}
- Repeat these steps for each tenant.
How are Transport Rules & Send Connectors used?
Exchange Online transport rules and send connectors are the way in which mail is routed from an Microsoft 365 tenant to On Demand Migration Domain Rewrite Service. Transport Rules examine a message to determine if it should be rewritten and the connectors route the message to On Demand Migration Domain Rewrite Service. This ensures that only messages that need to be rewritten are routed to Domain Rewrite and messages that do not are immediately sent to the recipients.
There are 3 categories of transport rules. The following section outlines each category and describes the naming convention used for the rules.
Sorting Rules
For outbound messages, a sorting rule examines each recipient on an SMTP message and adds an SMTP header to identify if the recipient is internal or external.
- BT-IntegrationPro-Out-S-Internet – rule for external recipients.
- BT-IntegrationPro-Out-S-[Guid]-[#] – rules for internal recipients in target tenant [Guid] where [#] indicates a block of SMTP domains. E.g. BT-IntegrationPro-Out-S-15d82781-e5e8-4691-a77f-0f5fb10b6482-1
From, To, CC Rules
For outbound messages, these rules determine if any of the From, To or CC addresses on an SMTP message include an internal or external recipient that should be rewritten and updates the SMTP header added above appropriately.
- BT-IntegrationPro-Out-[From/ToCc] – rules for external recipients.
- BT-IntegrationPro-Out-[Guid]-[From/ToCc] – rules for internal recipients in target tenant [Guid]. E.g. BT-IntegrationPro-Out-15d82781-e5e8-4691-a77f-0f5fb10b6482-From.
Inbound Rules
The outbound rules ensure that Microsoft 365 routes only the messages that need to be rewritten to On Demand Migration Domain Rewrite Service. The inbound rules have two functions.
BT-IntegrationPro-In - rule for messages returning from On Demand Migration Domain Rewrite Service.
After a message is rewritten it is returned to the original tenant for delivery to external recipients.
This rule removes the header added by the outbound rules so that a message is only processed by On Demand Migration Domain Rewrite Service once.
BT-IntegrationPro-In-DKIM - rule for messages returning from On Demand Migration Domain Rewrite Service.
When an external recipient replies to an ERS user, the message is rewritten back to the original domain. After which, the message is redirected to the original tenant.
This rule removes the secret key added to the header by the sending tenant to ensure the message was securely delivered before and after being rewritten.
How are Connectors used?
Domain Rewrite adds an inbound and outbound connector to all Microsoft 365 tenants defined on a project. The purpose of these connectors is to ensure mail flow from an Microsoft 365 tenant to Domain Rewrite is encrypted with the assigned TLS/SSL certificate. This outbound connector contains the FQDN of the Domain Rewrite ERS Relay used to receive mail for the tenant. Some versions of ERS include connectors for each Client/Project combination.
- BT-IntegrationPro-In – inbound connector
- BT-IntegrationPro-Out – outbound connector
How are groups used?
When an Email Address Rewrite mode is selected for a user, the user is added to either the ERS Day One group (Rewrite with Target Address) or the ERS Day Two group (Rewrite with Source Address).
The ERS day One and day Two groups are cloud-only Exchange Online distribution groups. ERS Day One is used to control which (not migrated) source users should be presented to external recipients using their target address. ERS Day Two is used to control which (migrated) target users should be presented to external recipients with their source address. Some versions of ERS include groups for each Client/Project combination.
Administration Groups
Domain Rewrite automatically adds the following two (2) groups in the source tenant(s) of a project. These groups are managed by the administrator(s) of the tenant.
- BT-IntegrationPro-[DayOne/DayTwo] – day one or day two mailbox users. E.g. BT-IntegrationPro-DayOne.
Internal Groups
Domain Rewrite automatically adds several groups in the source and target tenant(s) for internal use. These groups should not be changed or deleted by administrators and are managed by Domain Rewrite.
Source Tenants – Domain Rewrite adds the following groups in the source tenant(s) of a project.
- BT-IntegrationPro-[DayOne/DayTwo]-[Guid] – target addresses (contacts) of day one or day two users in target tenant [Guid]. E.g. BT-IntegrationPro-DayOne-15d82781-e5e8-4691-a77f-0f5fb10b6482
Target Tenants – Domain Rewrite creates the following groups in the target tenant(s) of a proj
- BT-IntegrationPro-[DayOne/DayTwo] – source addresses (contacts) of day one or day two users from all source tenants. E.g. BT-IntegrationPro-DayOne.
- BT-IntegrationPro-[DayOne/DayTwo]-[Guid] – source addresses (contacts) of day one or day two users from source tenant [Guid]. E.g. BT-IntegrationPro-DayOne-15d82781-e5e8-4691-a77f-0f5fb10b6482.
- BT-IntegrationPro-NC-[Guid] – source addresses (contacts) of users from source tenant [Guid] that have not been cutover. E.g. BT-IntegrationPro-NC-15d82781-e5e8-4691-a77f-0f5fb10b6482.
How does Mail Flow work with Domain Rewrite?
Important Tip: Microsoft 365 Advanced Threat Protection default settings may cause issues with Domain Rewrite for inbound messages. Please ensure that "Automatic forwarding" is set to "On" in the "Outbound spam filter policy" for your source or target tenant depending on the rewriting scenario you choose.
Rewrite with Target Address – Outbound Mail Flow
When a user sends an email as user@source.com, the Transport Rules in the Source Tenant check whether the message is in scope for Domain Rewrite
At least one external recipient in “To” or “Cc”
Sender and/or at least one recipient in “To” or “Cc” is Domain Rewrite Enabled
If the message is in scope for Domain Rewrite and there are multiple internal and external recipients, the message will be bifurcated and:
Copy of the message sent to external recipient will be securely redirected to the Quest Rewrite Service using the Outbound Connector in the Source Tenant.
Copy of the message sent to internal recipient is delivered by Exchange Online at the Source tenant with unchanged addresses.
Important Tip: Messages directed to internal recipient(s) will not be processed by Quest Rewrite Service.
When the Quest Rewrite Service receives the message from user@source.com, it processes it by rewriting @source.com to @target.com for every user that has Domain Rewrite enabled. The addresses in "From", "To", and "Cc" of the email message are rewritten for all external recipients.
The Quest Rewrite Service signs the message and securely (via the certificate uploaded during project setup) redirects it back to the Source Tenant using the Inbound Connector.
Exchange Online at the Source sends the message to external recipients as if it was sent by user@target.com, and all addresses of message recipients in "To" and "Cc" that have Domain Rewrite enabled appear as @target.com for external recipients
Rewrite with Target Address – Inbound Mail Flow
External recipient is not aware about @source.com and replies (or create a new email) to user@target.com
When the reply or a new mail arrives to the Target mail domain, the Transport Rules in the Target Tenant check whether any recipients in the “To” or “Cc” are in scope for Domain Rewrite
If the message is in scope for Domain Rewrite, it is securely redirected to the Quest Rewrite Service using the Outbound Connector in the Target Tenant
If the message is in scope for Domain Rewrite and there are multiple internal (recipients in the target tenant) and external recipients (recipients in the source tenant with Rewrite Service enabled), the message will be bifurcated and:
Copy of the message sent to external recipient (recipients in the source tenant with Rewrite Service enabled) will be securely redirected to the Quest Rewrite Service using the Outbound Connector in the Source Tenant.
Copy of the message sent to internal recipient is delivered by Exchange Online at the target tenant with unchanged addresses.
Important Tip: Messages directed to internal recipient(s) will not be processed by Quest Rewrite Service.
When the Quest Rewrite Service receives the message addressed to user@target.com, it processes it by rewriting @target.com back to @source.com for every user that has Domain Rewrite enabled
The Quest Rewrite Service signs the message and securely (via the certificate uploaded during project setup) redirects it back to the Target Tenant using the Inbound Connector
Exchange Online at the Target forwards the message to the Source
Source recipient gets the message as if it was addressed to user@source.com
Rewrite with Source Address – Outbound Mail Flow
When a user sends an email as user@target.com, the Transport Rules in the Target Tenant check whether the message is in scope for Domain Rewrite
At least one external recipient in “To” or “Cc”
Sender and/or at least one recipient in “To” or “Cc” is Domain Rewrite Enabled
If the message is in scope for Domain Rewrite, it is securely redirected to the Quest Rewrite Service using the Outbound Connector in the Target Tenant
If the message is in scope for Domain Rewrite and there are multiple internal (recipients in the target tenant) and external recipients, the message will be bifurcated and:
Copy of the message sent to external recipient will be securely redirected to the Quest Rewrite Service using the Outbound Connector in the Target Tenant.
Copy of the message sent to internal recipient is delivered by Exchange Online at the target tenant with unchanged addresses.
Important Tip: Messages directed to internal recipient(s) will not be processed by Quest Rewrite Service.
When the Quest Rewrite Service receives the message from user@target.com, it processes it by rewriting @target.com to @source.com for every user that has Domain Rewrite enabled. The addresses in "From", "To", and "Cc" of the email message are rewritten for all external recipients
The Quest Rewrite Service signs the message and securely (via the certificate uploaded during project setup) redirects it back to the Target Tenant using the Inbound Connector
Exchange Online at the Target sends the message to external recipients as if it was sent by user@source.com, and all addresses of message recipients in "To" and "Cc" that have Domain Rewrite enabled appear as @source.com for external recipients
Rewrite with Source Address – Inbound Mail Flow
External recipient is not aware about @target.com and replies (or create a new email) to user@source.com
When the reply or a new mail arrives to the Source mail domain, the Transport Rules in the Source Tenant check whether any recipients in the “To” or “Cc” are in scope for Domain Rewrite
If the message is in scope for Domain Rewrite, it is securely redirected to the Quest Rewrite Service using the Outbound Connector in the Source Tenant
If the message is in scope for Domain Rewrite and there are multiple internal (recipients in the source tenant) and external recipients (recipients in the target tenant with Rewrite Service enabled), the message will be bifurcated and:
Copy of the message sent to external recipient (recipients in the target tenant with Rewrite Service enabled) will be securely redirected to the Quest Rewrite Service using the Outbound Connector in the Source Tenant.
Copy of the message sent to internal recipient is delivered by Exchange Online at the source tenant with unchanged addresses.
Important Tip: Messages directed to internal recipient(s) will not be processed by Quest Rewrite Service.
When the Quest Rewrite Service receives the message addressed to user@source.com, it processes it by rewriting @source.com back to @target.com for every user that has Domain Rewrite enabled
The Quest Rewrite Service signs the message and securely (via the certificate uploaded during project setup) redirects it back to the Source Tenant using the Inbound Connector
Exchange Online at the Source forwards the message to the Target
Target recipient gets the message as if it was addressed to user@target.com
When is it safe to remove Domain Rewrite ERS configurations?
You may disable Domain Rewrite when production services are no longer required. Upon disabling, the related configurations will automatically be removed.