Migrating to Netware 4.1

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Setting Up Mail Services

Components of Messaging Services
- NetWare 4 MHS Installation Requirements
- Installing NetWare 4 MHS Services
- NetWare 4 MHS Post-Installation Check
- Assigning MHS-Related Properties to NDS Objects
- Other MHS-Related NDS Objects
- Using FirstMail

Your migration plan will probably include setting up mail service for your network. NetWare 4 server software comes bundled with a store-and-forward messaging engine for NetWare 4-based networks. This messaging engine is implemented by the MHS.NLM installed on the server during MHS installation.

NetWare 4 MHS Services also includes DOS and MS Windows versions of an e-mail client software package called FirstMail. FirstMail is an NDS-aware e-mail client from Novell.

This chapter describes how to install NetWare 4 message handling services and how to install the FirstMail client software that will access those services for DOS and Windows machines.

Components of Messaging Services

Messaging services transport data, called messages, between nodes on the network's underlying communications protocol of the network. The method of transmitting messages is called store-and-forward, which means that the message may be temporarily held at an intervening node on the network until it can be delivered. The message is delivered and then stored at the final destination node until the recipient is ready to read the message and decide its status (forward, delete, or store it). The types of messages include text, binary, graphic, audio, and video information.

For a simple LAN-based messaging application, messaging services consist of the following components:

Messaging server (also called Messaging engine)
User mailboxes
Messaging applications

The messaging server accepts messages from an application, typically a user's e-mail client software, and delivers the message to the destination user's mailbox. In a larger network consisting of an interconnection of many different types of networks, the message may have to be routed to other messaging servers before it can be delivered.

User mailboxes are held on a machine that is local to the user. This is typically the server the user is most frequently logged in to. A common method of implementing user mailboxes is to use a file system directory on the local server. Other methods that treat the user mailboxes as abstract mail objects are also available.

Typical messaging applications are e-mail client software and groupware software such as Novell's GroupWise, calendaring software, scheduling programs, and so on.

Lager networks require other messaging service components, such as mail gateways and mail routers. Mail gateways allow the delivery of messages to a foreign e-mail system. Mail routers are store-and-forward computers that may temporarily store the message and then forward the message to the final destination or an intervening destination. In some systems, the mail router may be implemented as part of the messaging server.

NetWare 4 MHS Installation Requirements

The NetWare 4 MHS software is provided in the NetWare 4 CD-ROM. You can create an unlimited number of mailboxes per NetWare server. You are, however, limited by the NetWare server license, which limits the number of concurrent user sessions on the network.

The minimum hardware requirements for the NetWare server on which MHS is installed are the following:

Intel 80386 processor or better
12 MB of RAM for server
65 MB of server hard disk
CD-ROM required for installation

The NetWare MHS services take up the following server resources:

500 KB of RAM
2.5 MB disk space for program storage, plus additional disk space for user mailboxes. The amount of disk space for user mailboxes depends on the size and number of messages stored in the user mailboxes.

Novell claims that the preceding minimum requirements are not sufficient to handle more than 10 users or more than 100 messages per day. For networks that need to process more than 100 messages per day, the following configuration is recommended:

Intel 80386 processor or better
16 MB of RAM for server, plus additional RAM to maintain more than 30% free cache buffers
65 MB of server hard disk, plus an additional 5 MB per user mailbox

Installing NetWare 4 MHS Services

The following is a guided tour of the NetWare 4 MHS installation process:

1. Mount the NetWare 4 Operating System CD-ROM. You can do this by typing the following:

     LOAD ASPICD (For ASPI for SCSI CDROM)      LOAD CDROM      CD MOUNT N

You can obtain the value of N by typing:

     CD VOLUME LIST

Note the volume number or name reported by the previous command.

2. Load the INSTALL NLM at the NetWare server with this line:

     LOAD INSTALL

You should see a screen similar to that shown in figure 8.1.

Figure 8.1 The Installation Options menu.

3. Select "Product options."

You should see a screen similar to figure 8.2.

Figure 8.2 Other installation options.

4. Select "Choose an item or product listed above" and highlight "Install NetWare MHS Services" (see fig. 8.3).

Figure 8.3 The Install NetWare MHS Services option.

Press Enter.

5. You should see the path name from which MHS Services will be installed (see fig. 8.4).

Figure 8.4 Default source path name for NetWare MHS Services.

Press Enter.

6. You will see a status of messages reporting the files that are copied (see fig. 8.5).

7. You will see a Postmaster General Authentication screen. Supply the Admin user name and password, and press Enter.

8. If the NetWare server on which MHS is being installed has multiple volumes, select the volume on which MHS services will be installed.

Figure 8.5 File Copy Status.

9. You are asked if this is the first install of the MHS tree. Answer Yes.

10. You will see a message announcing completion of the MHS installation.

Exit the INSTALL NLM.

11. Load the MHS.NLM with the following line:

 LOAD MHS

Also, place this statement in the AUTOEXEC.NCF file.

You can also install NetWare MHS services during the initial NetWare 4.x installation by completing the previously outlined steps after the initial NetWare 4.x server installation (see Chapter 3, "Installing and Upgrading to NetWare 4.x").

NetWare 4 MHS Post-Installation Check

As part of the NetWare 4 MHS installation, the Messaging Server and the Message Routing Group objects are created. This section describes these objects, their properties, and the changes to the NDS tree.

The Messaging Server enables the messaging services. This object defines the location of the message directory structure. This is the \MHS directory on the volume object on which MHS services were installed. The Messaging Server also identifies (via its NetWare Server property) the NetWare server on which the MHS services program (MHS.NLM) is running. This object is created and automatically configured as part of the NetWare 4 MHS service installation.

The Message Routing Group is used to identify a cluster of Messaging Servers that communicate with each other for transferring messages. A default message-routing group called MHS_ROUTING_GROUP is created as part of the NetWare MHS services installation.

The following is a list of changes made to the NDS tree:

The default Messaging Server and Message Routing Group are created in the context in which the NetWare 4 server is installed. Figure 8.6 shows the Messaging Server (NW4CS_MSG) and the Message Routing Group (MHS_ROUTING_GROUP) objects created in the server context OU=CORP.O=ESL.

Figure 8.6 Newly created message objects in server context.

A Postmaster General (default owner) user of the Message Routing Group is assigned. This user is the Admin user that was specified during the MHS installation. Figure 8.7 shows that the Postmaster General is Admin.ESL.
The default Messaging Server object is added to the Messaging Servers property of the Message Routing Group (see fig. 8.8).
A Postmaster for the Messaging Server is assigned (see fig. 8.9). This user is the Admin user specified during the MHS installation.

Figure 8.7 Postmaster General owner of Message Routing Group object.

Figure 8.8 Messaging Servers property of the Message Routing Group.

Figure 8.9 Postmasters property of the Messaging Server.

The Message Routing Groups property of the Messaging Server is set to the default Message Routing Group object (see fig. 8.10).
The NetWare Server property of the Messaging Server is set to the NetWare server on which the MHS installation was done. Additionally, the MHS Database Location property of the Messaging Server is set to the volume on which MHS services was installed. Figure 8.11 shows examples of these property settings.
The Postmaster General (Admin) user's Mailbox Location and Mailbox ID properties are set. The Mailbox Location is set to the Messaging Server, and the Mailbox ID is set to Admin (see fig. 8.12).
FirstMail program for DOS (mail.exe) and MS Windows (wmail.exe) are automatically installed in SYS:PUBLIC directory of the NetWare server on which installation was done.

If you delete or rename the Postmaster General user (Admin user), you must make changes to the Postmaster General properties of the Messaging Server and the Message Routing Groups. If you neglect to do this, the messaging services will malfunction.

Figure 8.10 Message Routing Groups property of the Messaging Server.

Figure 8.11 The NetWare server and the MHS Database location properties for a Messaging Server object.

Figure 8.12 Mailbox Location and Mailbox ID of Postmaster General user.

Assigning MHS-Related Properties to NDS Objects

The user, group, organizational role, organization, and organizational unit NDS objects have MHS-related properties. You can assign these properties using NWADMIN. You can use the Users page button of the Messaging Server object, or select the Mailbox page button of the object whose property needs to be set.

The following is an outline of how these properties can be set from the Messaging Server.

1. Double-click on the Messaging Server icon from within NWADMIN.

2. Select the Users property page button (see fig. 8.13).

3. Select the Add button, and use the Select Object dialog box (see fig. 8.14) to select the objects that need to be assigned to the Messaging Server. Any object so selected will have its Mailbox Location property set to the Messaging Server and its Mailbox ID set to the object's relative distinguished name (RDN).

Figure 8.13 Users property of Messaging Server.

Figure 8.14 The Select Object dialog box for assigning users to Messaging Server.

The following steps outline how you can set these properties for the user, group, organizational role, organization, or organizational unit objects. The example given involves setting the mailbox properties for the organization O=SCS.

1. Right-click on the selected object from NWADMIN and select the Details option.

2. Click on the Mailbox page button (see fig. 8.15).

3. Select the Browse icon to the right of the Mailbox Location (see fig. 8.16).

Figure 8.15 Mailbox properties of Organization O=SCS.

Figure 8.16 The Select Object dialog box for selecting the Messaging Server.

4. Use the Select Object dialog box to navigate the NDS tree and find the messaging server you want to assign to the Mailbox Location property (see fig. 8.17), and click on OK.

5. You will see the Mailbox properties set for the object (see fig. 8.18).

Select OK.

Figure 8.17 The Messaging Server object found using the Select Object dialog box.

Figure 8.18 Mailbox properties set for O=SCS.

Other MHS-Related NDS Objects

Besides the Messaging Server and the Message Routing Group objects, which are created when NetWare 4 MHS services are installed, there are two other objects that deal with messaging services. These objects are the External Entity and the Distribution List objects.

The External Entity Object

The External Entity object is used to refer to non-native NDS objects such as e-mail addresses of foreign e-mail systems. These objects are created and configured when gateway software is installed; they are not used for basic MHS services.

The External Entity object is a placeholder that allows you to send messages to users who would not normally be listed in the NDS tree because they are not part of the NDS-based network.

The Distribution List

A distribution list is a group of mailbox addresses. A single message can be addressed to the entire group and all group members will receive the message. If the mailboxes are on the same server, addressing a message to a distribution list reduces network traffic because a single message addressed to the distribution list mailbox is replicated at the server and distributed to the mailboxes on the list.

You can also use NDS group objects to distribute mail to the members of the group. Whereas a group's membership property cannot contain other groups, a distribution list can contain other distribution lists. In other words, distribution lists can be nested. Members of a distribution list do not share login scripts or trustee assignments. The membership only serves for the convenience of sending messages to multiple recipients.

To create a distribution list, use the following steps:

1. Right-click on the container object in which you want to create the distribution list.

2. Select Create, and select the distribution list from the list of objects. You will see the dialog box for creating a distribution list (see fig. 8.19).

3. Enter the name of the distribution list.

4. Select the Browse button to the right of the Mailbox Location field to set its value. You should see the Select Object dialog box (see fig. 8.20).

Figure 8.19 The dialog box for creating a distribution list.

Figure 8.20 The Select Object dialog box for setting the Mailbox Location.

5. Use the Select Object dialog box to browse the NDS tree and select the appropriate messaging server on which you want to define the distribution list.

6. Check the Define Additional Properties box and select Create. You should see the properties of the Distribution List object (see fig. 8.21).

7. Select the Members page button (see fig. 8.22).

8. Select Add, and use the Select Object dialog box to assign members to the distribution list (see fig. 8.23).

9. Click on OK to save changes.

Figure 8.21 Distribution List properties.

Figure 8.22 Members property of Distribution List object.

Figure 8.23 Assigning members to the distribution list.

Using FirstMail

FirstMail is available in MS Windows and DOS versions. The following guided tour describes how to set up FirstMail for MS Windows.

To use FirstMail, you must first set up a program item. Use the following steps to set up a FirstMail program item for MS Windows.

1. Select File in Program Manager.

2. Select New.

3. Select Program Item, then OK.

4. In the Program Item Properties, enter the following:

Description: FirstMail

Command Line: Z:\PUBLIC\WMAIL.EXE

5. Save changes.

The following is a guided tour for using FirstMail to create, send, and receive e-mail messages:

1. Double-click on the FirstMail icon. You should see the FirstMail screen (see fig. 8.24).

Figure 8.24 The FirstMail screen.

2. Select New Message from the File menu, or click on the first icon (pen and paper). You should see the screen for creating messages (see fig. 8.25).

Figure 8.25 The Create Message screen.

3. Enter the following information:

To: The name of another MHS user

Subj: Enter the name of subject

Cc: Optionally enter another MHS user

Click on the message area, then type a message.

4. Optionally, enable any of the following message options:

Confirm reading

Confirm delivery

Copy self

Urgent

No signature

5. Click on the send button.

The recipient of the message should perform the following tasks to read the message:

6. Log in to the network.

7. Start FirstMail.

8. Select Read New Mail from File menu or click on second icon (envelope) on the tool bar.

9. Double-click on message.

10. To save message, highlight it.

Click on the Move button in the "New mail folder" tool bar. Select the mail folder in which to save the message.

In this chapter you learned how to set up NetWare 4 Message handling services and how to install FirstMail, an NDS-aware e-mail client for DOS and Windows systems.

Migrating to Netware 4.1 -- Ch 8 -- Setting Up Mail Services