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Uninstall the retired AntiSpam Agents from an Exchange Server

Microsoft announced that they deprecated the support for the SmartScreen Antispam content filters for Exchange Servers. This script uninstall the old and retired SmartScreen Antispam Agents from the local Exchange Server.

There are known issues with the SmartScreen AntiSpam content filters if you run Exchange 2016 on Windows Server 2016. So removing them might be always a good idea if you want to have a stable Exchange.

The Script removes the following AntiSpam Agents:

  • Content Filter Agent
  • Sender Id Agent
  • Protocol Analysis Agent

Before running the script and remove the AntiSpam Agents listed above, you should consider a solid alternative solution. There are several good on Premises Solutions available, and there are even more Cloud Services, including Microsoft’s own Exchange Online Protection (EOP). This could be handy if you have Office 365, you just change/tweak the Mailflow and your Mailboxes are protected. My favorite solution is a CentOS based Linux Box running Postfix, SpamAssassin and MIMEDefang. I use this together with some AntiVirus solutions to scan all inbound and Outbound mails. However, this is just my personal favorite because it’s very reliable and flexible, but I know that many prefer a all-in-one solution running on Windows. Again, there are a lot of great solutions out there!

Here is the Gist with the Script:

<#
        .SYNOPSIS
      Uninstalls the old and retired Antispam Agents from an Exchange Server

        .DESCRIPTION
      Microsoft announced that they deprecated the support for the SmartScreen Antispam content
      filters for Exchange Servers. This script uninstalls the old an retired SmartScreen Antispam
      Agents from the local Exchange Server.
      This is an easy to use and light weight replacement for Uninstall-AntiSpamAgents.ps1 from
      the \Scripts of your Exchange Installation, it will remove just the dead parts and leave the
      rest as it is. Some find that it might be better to leave the rest intact.

        .EXAMPLE
      PS C:\> Remove-AntiSpamAgents

        .NOTES
      Find a suitable an solid replacement solution for your email hygiene. This could be any 3rd
      party solution on premise or cloud. Never use email without any good email hygiene!

      If you want, you might run the Uninstall-AntiSpamAgents.ps1 from the \Scripts folder created
      by Setup during Exchange installation. It removes erything related to the AntiSpamAgents.

      Taken from the links below.

        .LINK
      https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/exchange/2016/09/01/deprecating-support-for-smartscreen-in-outlook-and-exchange/

        .LINK
      https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/exchange/2017/03/23/exchange-server-edge-support-on-windows-server-2016-update/
#>
[CmdletBinding(ConfirmImpact = 'Medium',
					SupportsShouldProcess = $true)]
param ()

begin
{
	# Constants
	$STP = 'SilentlyContinue'

	# Agents to remove
	$TransportAgentsToRemove = 'Content Filter Agent', 'Sender Id Agent', 'Protocol Analysis Agent'
}

process
{
	# Loop over the List
	foreach ($TransportAgentToRemove in $TransportAgentsToRemove)
	{
		# Do we have the agent we would like to remove?
		if (Get-TransportAgent -Identity $TransportAgentToRemove -ErrorAction $STP -WarningAction $STP)
		{
			Write-Verbose -Message "Try to remove $TransportAgentToRemove"

			try
			{
				# Do it, or dry run it?
				if ($pscmdlet.ShouldProcess("$TransportAgentToRemove", 'Remove TransportAgent'))
				{
					# Remove it...
					$paramUninstallTransportAgent = @{
						Identity	     = $TransportAgentToRemove
						ErrorAction   = $STP
						WarningAction = $STP
						Confirm		  = $false
					}
					Uninstall-TransportAgent @paramUninstallTransportAgent
				}
			}
			catch
			{
				# Whoopsss
				Write-Warning -Message "Unable to remove $TransportAgentToRemove"
			}

			Write-Verbose -Message "$TransportAgentToRemove was removed"
		}
		else
		{
			Write-Verbose -Message "Sorry, $TransportAgentToRemove was not found..."
		}
	}

}

#region License
<#
      Copyright (c) 2016, Joerg Hochwald (http://jhochwald.com). All rights reserved.

      Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without modification, are permitted
      provided that the following conditions are met:

      1.  Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice,
      this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.

      2.  Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice, this list of
      conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materials
      provided with the distribution.

      3.  Neither the name of the copyright holder nor the names of its contributors may be used
      to endorse or promote products derived from this software without specific prior
      written permission.

      THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR
      IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY
      AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT HOLDER OR
      CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL
      DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE,
      DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY,
      WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN
      ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.

      By using the Software, you agree to the License, Terms and Conditions above!
#>

<#
      This is a third-party Software!

      The developer of this Software is NOT sponsored by or affiliated with Microsoft Corp (MSFT) or any of its subsidiaries in any way

      The Software is not supported by Microsoft Corp (MSFT)!
#>
#endregion License

Requirements:

  • Run it on the (or each) Exchange Server
  • You need to run it elevated in the Exchange Management Shell
  • Remote PowerShell is fully supported

The Script itself is documented, so you should easily be able to see what it will do. Under normal circumstances it will not show anything (I don’t want it to be too noisy). If you want to follow each step, just run it in verbose mode.

Please note: Even if the script is unable to remove one, or any, of the Agents above, it will write a warning. Same if one, or all, of the Agents doesn’t exist, or were removed with another run before. This is an easy to use and light weight replacement for Uninstall-AntiSpamAgents.ps1 from the \Scripts of your Exchange Installation; it will remove just the dead parts and leave the rest as it is. Some find that it might be better to leave the rest intact.

You need to restart the Transport Agent to make the changes work. This is not part of the script, because I like to do such actions manually!