I have an old exchange 2003 server and i want to put the same auto response on all the accounts. Can this be done with one rule in exchange or do i need to configure all the accounts in Outlook and then put an auto reply rule on? The reason i want to do this is these accounts are no longer used and all the accounts are forwarding mail to a 3rd party hosted exchange enviroment. I need an auto reply to be sent to the sender to advise them the account is no longer active and they need to send to an alternative domain email account. Thanks

A better option is to "move" those SMTP addresses and SMTP domain to the hosted environment and associate them with the correct accounts that you are now forwarding the messages to. That way, you dont annoy the original sender, the recipients still get the message and you help avoid the risk of getting put on blocklist for responding to spoofed messages or creating a mail loop. In 2003 there is no native way to do this short of scripting something, using a 3rd party gateway or product, or setting a rule or in OOF - mailbox by mailbox.

A better option is to "move" those SMTP addresses and SMTP domain to the hosted environment and associate them with the correct accounts that you are now forwarding the messages to. That way, you dont annoy the original sender, the recipients still get the message and you help avoid the risk of getting put on blocklist for responding to spoofed messages or creating a mail loop. In 2003 there is no native way to do this short of scripting something, using a 3rd party gateway or product, or setting a rule or in OOF - mailbox by mailbox.