Files in a Non-MAPI Public Folder Tree Do Not Inherit Permissions from Parent Folders

When you create a non-MAPI top-level hierarchy (TLH) or an application TLH in Microsoft Exchange System Manager, and then you add files to folders in the application TLH from drive M, the files may not inherit permissions from the parent folder after you modify permissions to the folder in Exchange System Manager. For example, when you assign permissions for a group to a particular folder by using Exchange System Manager, the permissions are not propagated to the existing files that are contained in the folder.

However, when you access the public folder by using Microsoft Outlook Web Access (OWA), and then you add a post with an attachment to the folder, the files do inherit permissions from the parent folder after you modify permissions to the folder in Exchange System Manager.

This issue occurs because of the way that the inheritance of permissions for files and folders is implemented for the NTFS file system and for the Exchange 2000 Server Installable File System (IFS).

When you add files to a folder that you create on drive M, the files inherit the permissions that are specified for the parent folder. However, when you modify the permissions to the folder by using Exchange System Manager, the existing files and folders in the parent folder do not inherit the new permissions that you set unless you select the Allow the permissions from parent to propagate to this object setting.

To work around this issue, do either of the following, as appropriate to your situation:

• Modify the permissions that are set on the folder, and then add the files that you want to the folder.
• Copy the files in the folder (the folder with the permissions that you want to modify) to a different folder. Modify the permissions that are set on the original folder, and then copy the files back to that folder.

For additional information about how to connect to a non-MAPI TLH in OWA, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: For more information about IFS, see "Chapter 26 - Exchange 2000 Architecture" of the Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server Resource Kit. To do so, visit the following Microsoft Web site: