Configuration Guide

© 1997 Digital Integration (NZ) Ltd

 

This guide is designed as a 'Pick-a-Path' guide. Do not simply read from start to finish, follow each step and link as necessary until you have satisfactorily configured your i-Mail system. Each link will take you to the next step in the configuration process and the next step will appear starting at the top of your browser.

 

Introduction

The purpose of this guide is to set up your i-Mail messaging system. It will lead you through the steps required to configure a basic i-Mail system with a single domain and POP collection point. To setup multiple domains and mail sources, run through the guide as many times as required.

This guide does not account for the more obvious options such as registration details, logging and notification messages. To configure these options please refer to the appropriate pages in the Admin & Config section of the manual.

 

Before You Begin

Before configuring i-Mail, gather as much of the following information as possible, or have the appropriate resources available to find out.

Registered domain names
Local IP network numbers
ISP POP mailbox login name and passwords
ISP SMTP and POP server names or IP addresses
IP address or DNS name of any other mail servers you will be forwarding to
Mail account names
Schedule times for collecting mail
Novell login names

Quick Start

Select the point that you wish to enter the guide

Step 1: Domain Configuration
Step 2: Mail Collection
Step 3: Schedule Mail Collection
Step 4: Configure Mail Connectors
Step 5: Schedule Outbound Mail

 

 


 

Step 1: Domain Configuration

Load i-Mail administration utility (In case you had not already guessed to do this).

Is this domain your primary domain?

When i-Mail connects to another mail system, either on the internet or to another local mail server it must identify itself so that messages have a return path. If you use GroupWise, Exchange, Notes etc. and are forwarding mail through i-Mail, you should set the i-Mail primary domain as the same as your main company domain.

 

Yes

No



 

Primary Domain

Enter your domain name in the 'Primary Domain' field of the General Tab.

 

Continue

 

 


 

Domain Configuration

When i-Mail scans message files for recipients it must know what domains to look for. A message may indeed have many recipients and they are normally all embedded in the message itself. By specifying what domains you own, i-Mail will keep the names of recipients for your domain(s) and discard those that are not.

Will this domain be hosted by i-Mail or is the mail being forwarded to another mail system?

 

i-Mail is the mail server Mail will be forwarded

 

 


 

Local Domain

Add this domain to the 'Hosted Domain' section (top section) of the Domains Tab. Do this by entering the domain name, i.e. my.company.com, in the 'Domain' field and press 'Add'.

You may also specify here whether mail should be discarded if a specified name is not found (not generally recommended). Otherwise the PostMaster will receive these messages to determine whether to keep, forward or discard them.

 

Continue

 

 


 

Remote Domain

Add this domain to the 'Remote Domain' section (bottom section) of the Domains Tab. Do this by entering the domain name, i.e. my.company.com, in the 'Domain' field and press 'Add'.

Enter the IP address or DNS name of the remote systems SMTP client port in the 'Destination Host' field. For example, GroupWise will listen for SMTP mail on all network interfaces of the server, so the destination host would be the IP address of one of the network cards on that server. i-Mail acts as a mail client sending mail into the GroupWise SMTP client interface.

Check the 'Enable Local SMTP' box in the TCP Ports / Connectors Tab to allow i-Mail to send mail to the remote messaging system.

Do you want i-Mail or the remote mail system to resolve user account names?

If i-Mail is used to resolve account names then messages will be scanned for users in the Accounts Tab. If the user is not found the message can be forwarded to a designated remote postmaster.
If the remote system is used to resolve names, mail is simply forwarded straight to the system without regard to the existence of the user. It is then up to the remote system to do what it will with the message.

 

i-Mail Lookup Remote system resolves names

 

 


 

i-Mail Remote User Lookup

In the Domains Tab, check the 'Use local users to lookup recipients' box for this domain.

If you want mail for this domain that has an invalid recipient (one that is not in the user account list) to be forwarded to the remote mail system, check the 'Forward to' option and enter the remote users mail name (not the full e-mail address).

 

Continue

 

 


 

User Accounts (Local Domain)

For each user in your i-Mail system you will need to set up a POP login account. To do so, follow this procedure:

Go the the User Accounts Tab
Enter the users mail login name into the 'Mail login name' field and click 'Add'. This is the name the user will enter into their client mail program.
Enter the users full name in the 'Full Name' field.
Enter a password. If no password is given, the mailbox name will be used by default. Passwords are case sensitive.
If you want the user to be able to update their credentials (password, netnotify, etc) check the 'User update' box.
If you want the user to be notified of new mail arrival, check the 'NetNotify' box and enter the users Novell login name.
Click 'Set'

Repeat for each user.

 

Continue

 

 


 

User Accounts (Remote Domain)

For each user on your remote mail system you will need to set up an i-Mail user account. To do so, follow this procedure:

Go the the User Accounts Tab
Enter the users mail login name into the 'Mail login name' field and click 'Add'. This should be the name that the user on the remote system is known by when internet mail is sent to them i.e. if the users internet address is robert@company.com then the mail login name would be robert.
The rest of the fields are mostly unused for users of remote domains except for forwarding and NetNotify and may be left blank.

If you want the user to be notified of new mail arrival, check the 'NetNotify' box and enter the users Novell login name.
Click 'Set'

Repeat for each user.

 

Continue

 

 


 

PostMaster

The PostMaster account is a special user within i-Mail and is vital to guarantee delivery of messages in your system. Messages that do not have a local recipient may be discarded if this is not set. A common reason for mail not having a recipient is mail lists. These messages normally only contain the e-mail name of the mail list itself and no actual destinations, therefor you will need to have a PostMaster to receive these messages.

i-Mail may also need to notify someone of problems and status info. These messages are all delivered to the PostMaster.

Is your PostMaster directly connected to this i-Mail server or is the PostMaster on a different mail system?

A directly connected PostMaster is a user who collects their mail directly from the i-Mail server.
A remote PostMaster can be anywhere else, even at a completely different e-mail address.
Local PostMaster Remote PostMaster

 

 


 

Local PostMaster

On the General Tab, check the 'PostMaster is a local i-Mail user' option.

To specify who is the PostMaster, change to the Aliasing Tab and enter 'PostMaster' in the 'Alias' field. Click 'Add'. Now enter the name of the user, as defined in the user account list, in the 'Name' field and click set.

 

Continue

 

 


 

Remote PostMaster

On the General Tab, check the 'PostMaster is a user on another e-mail server' option.

Enter the full e-mail address of the remote PostMaster. If the remote PostMaster is on the mail server that i-Mail is forwarding mail to, you still need to specify the full address so that i-Mail can find which domain to send to.

 

Continue

 

 


Step 2: Mail Collection

Will you be collecting mail from a POP mailbox account?

A POP account is the mail storage point at your ISP.

 

Yes No

 

 


POP Mail Collection

On the TCP Ports / Connections Tab, enable the POP collection agent by checking the 'Enable POP collect' box.

Change to the POP/SMTP Connectors Tab. Enter the name or IP address of the POP server, usually pop3.isp.com or similar, and click 'Add'.
Enter your POP username and password for this account in the respective fields. These should have been acquired from your ISP.

What should i-Mail do with the mail from this POP account? Should it distribute the mail, give it to a single user on this i-Mail system or forward it to a user on a remote mail system?

Distribution uses the user accounts defined in the User Accounts Tab to determine who will receive the message. This applies to both local i-Mail systems and to mail forwarded to a remote system if local lookup is enabled. This option is normally used for general company mailboxes.
Setting single user mail will store the mail directly into the local i-Mail user mailbox. It will not in any way be forwarded to a remote system.
The forwarding option allows all mail for this POP account to be sent to a user on another mail server.
Single user and forwarded mail are used primarily to retrieve personal/individual mail from the internet to get copies at the office, or for mobile users who need to access their e-mail while on the road from the ISP. Both of these options store/forward mail for this user only, regardless of the recipient names embedded in the message.

 

Distribute Single User Forward

 

 


Mail Distribution

Check the 'Obtain recipients from message headers' option in the POP/SMTP Connectors Tab. Click 'Set'

 

Continue

 

 


Single User Mail Account

Check the 'Put mail into this users mailbox' option in the POP/SMTP Connectors Tab. Enter the mailbox name only of the user, as defined in the User Accounts Tab, in the 'Put mail into this users mailbox' field. Click 'Set'.

 

Continue

 

 


POP Account Mail Forwarding

Note: Do not confuse this option with mail forwarding to other messaging systems. This option allows all mail from a single POP account to be sent to a single user on a remote system.

Check the 'Forward mail to' option in the POP/SMTP Connectors Tab. Enter the full e-mail name of the remote user in the 'Forward mail to' field. Click 'Set'.

 

Continue

 

 


Step 3: Schedule Your Mail Collection

Note: This section is separates from the POP mail collection as it affects all POP connectors.

When do you want mail collected from this POP account? All the time, at defined times during each day of the week or at a regular interval 24hrs per day.

Generally you should use defined times for mail collection to reduce communications costs as the mail collection can be disable during non-operating hours. Any messages that are sent outside operating hours will be queued up waiting for the first collect process.

 

Constant Scheduled Regular Intervals

 

 


Constant Mail Collection

Check the 'Inbound mail collection scheduled with local mail' box on the Scheduling Tab. The inbound mail processor will activate every time the local queues are cleared. This interval is specified in the 'Local mail processing interval' field.

Using this option will normally keep a dial-on-demand link active full time, and is therefor discouraged for general use.

The environment where constant collection might prove useful is where mail is being collected from a locally connected POP server.

 

Continue

 

 


Scheduled Mail Collection

Check the 'Inbound mail uses scheduled times' box on the Scheduling Tab.

For each time of each day you want mail collected, add the entry into the schedule in the lower half of the window. For example, to collect mail every three hours between 8:00am and 5:00pm Monday through Friday, check the boxes for Monday to Friday , Select 08:00 for hour and 00:00 for minute and click 'Add'. Change the hour to 11:00 and click 'Add', repeat for 14:00 and 17:00.

This is the recommended option for most networks

 

Continue

 

 


Timed Interval Mail Collection

Check the 'Checked every' box on the Scheduling Tab and enter the interval, in minutes, that you want mail collected.

Note: This option runs 24hrs a day and may not be very efficient on communication costs if you are, for instance, not going to read mail during the night.

 

Continue

 

 


Step 4: Configure Mail Connectors

Will this i-Mail server be accepting connections for POP or SMTP clients?

POP clients are programs that will connect to i-Mail and get mail from a user account mail store.
SMTP clients are programs which send messages into i-Mail. These programs might be mail programs such as Netscape and Inbox or another mail server such as GroupWise which may use i-Mail to do outbound mail processing.

 

Yes No

 

 


Enable POP/SMTP Connectors

To allow users or other mail systems to collect mail from the i-Mail server, check the 'Allow POP clients' box in the TCP Ports / Connectors Tab.
In the 'Maximum POP client connections' field enter the maximum number (or more) of clients that will download mail from the server at any one time. To be on the safe side it is generally a good idea to enter the number of PC's you have connected to your network plus a few for good measure.

To allow users or other mail systems to send mail to the i-Mail server, check the 'Allow SMTP clients' box in the TCP Ports / Connectors Tab.
In the 'Maximum SMTP client connections' field enter the maximum number (or more) of clients that will send mail to the server at any one time. To be on the safe side it is generally a good idea to enter the number of PC's you have connected to your network plus a few for good measure.

 

Continue

 

 


Multiple Mail Systems

Will you have any other mail systems running on the same server as i-Mail?

 

Yes No

 

 


Bind IP Address

If your other mail system accepts POP or SMTP (inbound and outbound) mail clients, you will need to configure i-Mail so that no conflicts arise. There are two methods of achieving this...

1) Bind to address

The first option is to bind another local IP address to your server network card and tell i-Mail to bind to this new address. To do this you simply check the 'Bind to' box in the TCP Ports / Connectors Tab and enter the newly bound IP address in the next field. Note however that systems such as GroupWise will accept mail on all active IP addresses when it is started. To overcome this problem you need to load the programs and bind the addresses in the following order:
Bind addresses which GroupWise will use
Load GroupWise and its internet connectors
Bind addresses which i-Mail will use
Load i-Mail
Your system should now happily accept clients on both systems, given the client is configured to talk to the appropriate address.

2) Change ports

This method is a little easier to configure on the server side, however some programs cannot talk to non-standard ports for sending or receiving mail. To change the port, simply modify the 'Clients get mail on port' and the 'Clients send mail on port' fields in the TCP Ports / Connectors Tab. You will then need to change the programs that connect to i-Mail to connect to these new ports. For example, using Netscape on the client with a server that has an IP address of 192.168.0.1 you would configure your inbound and outbound mail servers as 192.168.0.1:1110 and 192.168.0.1:1025 respectively to receive and send on ports 1110 and 1025.

 

Continue

 

 


Disable POP/SMTP Connectors

To prevent users or other mail systems collecting mail from the i-Mail server, clear the 'Allow POP clients' box in the TCP Ports / Connectors Tab.

To prevent users or other mail systems from sending mail to the i-Mail server, clear the 'Allow SMTP clients' box in the TCP Ports / Connectors Tab.

 

Continue

 

 


Outbound Mail

Will i-Mail be sending mail to the internet?

 

Yes No

 

 


Enable Internet Connector

Check the 'Enable External SMTP' box in the TCP Ports / Connectors Tab to allow i-Mail to process messages that are destined for domains that have not been configured in the Domains Tab. Generally this means internet mail.

 

Continue

 

 


Internet Mail Destination

Where should internet mail be sent? Should it be sent to your ISP or should it be sent directly to the recipient of the message?

This should be set to go to the ISP unless you have specific requirements which need the mail to go directly to the destination mail server. If you configure mail to go directly to the remote system and it is down at the time, your mail message will fail causing hold ups in the local system. Ordinarily you would send mail to the ISP who has a permanent internet connection to handle such problems.

 

Via ISP Direct To Recipient

 

 


Route Mail Via ISP

Check the 'Send outbound mail to this host' in the POP/SMTP Connectors Tab and enter your ISP SMTP server name or IP address in the next field.

 

Continue

 

 


Send Mail Direct

Check the 'Send outbound mail directly to destination host' in the POP/SMTP Connectors Tab.

 

Continue

 

 


Disable Internet Connector

Clear the 'Enable External SMTP' box in the TCP Ports / Connectors Tab to prevent i-Mail from processing messages that are destined for domains that have not been configured in the Domains Tab.

 

Continue

 

 


Step 5: Schedule Outbound Mail

When do you want mail sent to the internet? At defined times each day during the week, when the number of outbound messages reaches a certain level or when outbound mail has been sitting in the queue for a certain time period?

Generally you should use the age of the message to determine when mail should be delivered to the internet. This way batches of messages get queued and sent together taking maximum advantage of on-line time.
To have mail sent immediately when it arrives in the i-Mail queue, select the number of messages and set the number to one.

 

Scheduled Number of Messages Age of Message

 

 


Schedule Outbound Mail

Check the 'Outbound mail uses scheduled times' option on the Scheduling Tab.

For each time of each day you want mail sent, add the entry into the schedule in the lower half of the window. For example, to send mail every three hours between 8:00am and 5:00pm Monday through Friday, check the boxes for Monday to Friday , Select 08:00 for hour and 00:00 for minute and click 'Add'. Change the hour to 11:00 and click 'Add', repeat for 14:00 and 17:00.

 

Continue

 

 


Outbound Mail - Queue Limit

Check the 'Sent when' option on the Scheduling Tab and enter into the next field the minimum number of mail messages which must be queued before i-Mail will connect to the internet and send the mail.

 

Continue

 

 


Outbound Mail - Age Limit

Check the 'When oldest message is' option on the Scheduling Tab and enter into the next field the maximum age a mail message may be in the queue before i-Mail will connect to the internet and send all the waiting mail.

 

Continue

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

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Finish

If your system contains multiple domains and/or POP collection points you may now, if you are not sure of some of the configuration methods, want to run through the guide again until your system is fully configured.

This concludes the configuration of your i-Mail system. You should now check through your configuration and modify any of the minor details that are not covered in this guide before proceeding to load i-Mail. Refer to the administration and configuration index for details on the other settings available within the i-Mail administration utility.

 

 

 

 

© 1997 Digital Integration (NZ) Ltd