Network management Toolkit

Novell's NetMail XE an alternative to Exchange?

Tags:
Netware,
Protection,
Novell,
GroupWise

Ron Nutter Tech Republic

Published: 12 Feb 2003 09:56 GMT

If you're considering deploying an email server for your organisation, you may think that your only option is Microsoft Exchange. But if you need just basic mail service, possibly with calendaring and/or a Web interface, NetMail XE from Novell may be for you. NetMail XE, part of the NetMail product line, works on NT 4 or Windows 2000, and it doesn't require Directory to be in place. I'll show you how to install NetMail XE as an alternative to Microsoft Exchange.

Equipment needs
The overhead required for NetMail is fairly minimal compared to Exchange, so you can run it on a single-processor server with 384 MB of RAM without a problem. Even though NetMail XE comes from Novell, you're not forced to run it on NetWare. For the purposes of this article, I'll be implementing NetMail on a Windows 2000 Server. Before installing NetMail, make sure you've installed the latest patches on your server. In my case, I used Service Pack 2 and all the patches available for that level.

Installing NetMail XE
If you want to use the Web interface to send and receive email, you should install NetMail on a server that will be doing nothing but that. Unlike Exchange, which you add to the server's URL to get into the Web interface, NetMail replaces the main starter page so you don't have to worry about typing anything extra behind the server's fully qualified domain name.

Start the installation process by inserting the NetMail XE CD. When the NetMail XE Internet Messaging screen appears, click the Installation option. The next screen will give you the option to install NetMail, the Palm Conduit, or the ActiveSync Provider. Select the Install NetMail option.

When the wizard appears, click Next. Review the License Agreement and click Yes. When the Setup Type screen appears, select the Typical option and click Next. On the Start Copying Files screen, review the directory that NetMail will be installed to and the options that will be installed with it, and then click Next.

A Setup Status screen will show the installation's progress. When the files have been copied from the CD-ROM, the NetMail XE Configuration Utility window will appear. Enter the domain name that your mail server will be handling and the two domain name servers it will use for DNS resolution, and click OK. When the installation process is complete, click Finish.

Configuring NetMail XE
To administer NetMail, choose Start | Programs | NetMail XE | Manage NetMail XE. NetMail uses a specialised view of Microsoft's Management Console, and it does an excellent job of integrating into a Windows 2000 environment. When you use the NetMail XE Administration console, you'll see the screens that you're used to seeing when you create a user, with the addition of a NetMail XE tab for the user-specific tasks.

NetMail XE also gives you the option to configure or manage the server from a Web browser. The NetMail XE menu offers a Launch WebAdm Session option. If you try to use this option when you first start up the server, you'll get a Page Could Not Be Displayed error in the Internet Explorer screen that will appear when you connect to the server.

To use this option, first start the NetMail Web Administration service. Although it's set as a Manual start, you can switch it to Automatic if this will be your normal method of server administration. If you look closely at the properties for the link placed on your NetMail server, you'll see that it references port 81.

Securing NetMail XE
Before turning the server over to your users, make sure that things are locked down. Go into the WebAdm interface, click the NetMail XE Server link, and click Features. Make sure that the Prevent Relaying option is checked. This will require that users authenticate to the server before sending mail.

The next option involves enabling the server to use what are known as Realtime Blackhole lists. Blackhole lists, such as those listed by mail-abuse.org and relays.osirusoft.com, serve as clearinghouses where you can check to see if an email has been reported as an open relay or spam source. As you'll see in the documentation, it's possible to use more than one blacklist site. While this is a good idea, keep in mind that referencing multiple sites could delay NetMail in handling incoming email from other sources. You don't have to activate this feature right away, but you should have it in place as soon as you can.

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