Microsoft has announced the deprecation of the Search-MailboxAuditLog and New-MailboxAuditLogSearch cmdlets in Exchange Online. This initiative aims to streamline and enhance the audit logging experience by consolidating functionalities into the Search-UnifiedAuditLog cmdlet. ​

Key Dates to Remember

• March 1, 2025: New audit log data will cease to be written to mailboxes. Data up to this date will remain accessible for historical reference. ​
• June 2025: Microsoft will provide documentation and a self-service migration tool to facilitate the transfer of existing audit log data to the Unified Audit Log (UAL). ​
• End of 2025: The legacy cmdlets will be fully retired and removed from Exchange Online. ​

Migration Recommendations

To ensure a seamless transition:

1. Assess Dependencies: Catalog all scripts and applications that utilize the soon-to-be-deprecated cmdlets. ​
2. Engage Compliance Teams: Collaborate with legal and compliance departments to address any regulatory implications.​
3. Confirm Auditing Status: Ensure that auditing is active in your tenant. Detailed instructions can be found here.​
4. Implement Migration Tool: Upon its release in June 2025, employ the self-service migration tool to transfer legacy audit logs to the UAL. This tool is specifically designed for customers with extended audit log retention settings exceeding one year. ​Source

Advantages of Search-UnifiedAuditLog

Transitioning to the Search-UnifiedAuditLog cmdlet offers several benefits:

• Broader Record Support: Handles a diverse array of record types beyond Exchange. ​
• Enhanced Filtering: Provides advanced filtering options for more precise queries. ​Source
• Unified Interface: Delivers a consolidated auditing experience across Microsoft services. ​

Important Considerations

• The forthcoming migration tool is tailored for organizations with audit log retention settings exceeding one year. ​
• Microsoft’s Audit Premium with Extended Retention plan offers advanced auditing features and extended data retention, catering to entities with rigorous compliance mandates. ​

For comprehensive details, refer to the official announcement: Microsoft Exchange Online: Search-MailboxAuditLog and New-MailboxAuditLogSearch will retire.

​For more articles about Exchange and related topics, please visit MyGPT’s Blog.​

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