ComArchive previously connected to Microsoft 365 Exchange using a special user account assigned full access to all mailboxes. This account is referred to as the Connector User. For technical reasons this account had to be excluded from MFA and assigning access to mailboxes has been an administrative hurdle.

ComArchive version 5 introduces the option of archiving using the Microsoft Graph API for Microsoft 365. ComArchive is then registered as an Enterprise App in Entra ID and can then be assigned the necessary rights to access all mailboxes and users. If this option is selected, all items for archiving are then fetched using the Graph API instead of directly from Exchange, making the Connector User redundant.

Limitations of archiving via Microsoft Graph

Microsoft Graph does not currently allow access to all types of items in Microsoft Exchange. Thus, ComArchive 5 is only able to archive these types of Exchange items:

• E-mails

• Calendars

The option to archive contacts is expected to be added later. For other types of content, we need Microsoft to add these to Graph before ComArchive can archive them.

Currently the necessary configuration steps for Microsoft 365 have to be performed manually (see our guide on how to do this) but we plan to automate this in a future version of ComArchive. 

If you're upgrading to ComArchive 5 ComArchive will continue using the previous setup using the Connector User and function exactly as before. You can then choose to migrate to the new method at a later date. Currently we recommend sticking with the Connector User, unless you need some of the new features. 

If you are using On-Premise Exchange there is no difference and ComArchive will work as it always has.

A number of other improvements have been made in ComArchive version 5:

• ComArchive now runs on .NET 10, the latest version of .NET

• The Exchange Servers page Admin Tool has been updated with a new and more user-friendly design

• Improved log messages for common errors like the Connector user not having access to a mailbox or a user's mailbox not being found

To add new feature, we must occasionally clean up old unused or outdated features. In version 5 we have thus removed the following features:

• Support for Exchange Server older than 2013 SP1. These versions only support an old communications protocol than ComArchive no longer supports.

• Compliance Adjustment in ComArchive Admin Tool. We recommend using ComArchive Compliance Engine (CCE) instead. If you don't have CCE available, please contact us to get started.

• Trimming