You can do this using DOHPropTest – it’s only a little tricky. But first, I’d recommend you leave the ‘unaddresed messages’ distribution list Unity setup creates where it is – the other two lists created (the ‘all subscribers’ and ‘system event messages’) can be moved or deleted if you want but the unaddressed messages list is very important. It’s referenced by mail alias in the registry and moving it will require some extra steps.
To change the container that Unity creates new subscribers or new distribution lists in when they are added through the SA, fire up DOHPropTest – you’ll find it in the tools depot under Diagnostic Tools or you can find it on the hard drive under \commserver\techtools\. You do not need the password for this so just leave it blank when asked and then select “ignore” when warned that the password is not valid – the rest of DOHPropTest will be read only but what we need to do here will be allowed.
In the lower right of the DPT main form, select the “AD Monitor” button. It’ll bring up a list of Parameters on the right for your AD domain (If you have more than one domain being monitored they will show on the left but I gather that’s not the case here). In the list of parameters go down to the bottom and select “NEWDISTLIST_ROOT”. It’s current value will be showed in the edit but below and will probably look something like “CN=Users,DC=yourDomainName,DC=com”. To set it, for instance, to go to an OU container called “MyDLs” that’s created under an OU called “MyObjects” you change the value to “OU=MyDLs,OU=MyObjects,DC=YourDomainName,DC=com” and then select the “Set” button to save it.
You do not need Unity to restart for this change to take effect. The first DL that’s created in this container will take a minute or two to show up in ADUC as the syncher gets it’s new orders but you should be able to change this to any path you like and save it using this method. The same deal, by the way, goes for where new users are created.
One BIG word of caution in addition to moving the unaddressed messages DL noted above – Make sure the directory facing account (i.e. the domain account associated with the AVDSAD service in the SCM) has rights to update and add DLs in this new container.
