Requirements for Messaging Server

This section describes the following platform, client product, and additional software requirements for this release of Messaging Server:

• Important Patch Information for Messaging Server

• Messaging Server Operating System Requirements

• Messaging Server Client Software Requirements

• Product Version Compatibility Requirements for Calendar Server 6.3.

• Additional Software Requirements for Messaging Server

• Support for High Availability

• Recommended File Systems for Message Stores

For information about upgrading to Messaging Server 6.3 from a previous version of Messaging Server, see Messaging Server Installation Notes.

Important Patch Information for Messaging Server

For the most current list of required patches for Sun Java System Messaging Server go to http://sunsolve.sun.com and select either “Patches” or “Patch Portal”. As operating system patch requirements change and patches to Java Enterprise System components become available, updates will be made available on SunSolve, initially in the form of recommended patch clusters.

At the time of general release of the Sun Java Communications Suite 5, the following Messaging Server 6.3 upgrade patches are available:

Messaging Server Operating System Requirements

This release supports the following platforms:

• Solaris 9 Operating System Update 2 (SPARC® and x86 Platform Editions) with required patches

• Solaris 10 Operating System (SPARC and x86 Platform Editions) including Zones Support

• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Advanced Server (32– and 64–bit versions), versions 3 (all updates) and 4 (all updates). See Deprecated and Removed Features for Messaging Server

• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Enterprise Server (32– and 64–bit versions), versions 3 (all updates) and 4 (all updates)

Messaging Server is no longer supported on HP-UX or Windows platforms.

For detailed information about Solaris and Linux requirements, including required upgrade patches and kernel versions, see theSun Java Communications Suite 5 Installation Guide.

For a list of the Messaging Server packages, see Appendix E, Product Components for This Release, in Sun Java Communications Suite 5 Installation Guide.

The installer checks for required platform patches. You must install all required patches or the installation process will not continue.

The performance of your messaging server depends on many factors, including CPU power, available memory, disk space, file system performance, usage patterns, network bandwidth, and so on. For example, throughput is directly related to file system performance. If you have questions about sizing and performance, contact your Sun Java System representative.

Messaging Server Client Software Requirements

Communications Express access for Messaging Server requires a JavaScript-enabled browser. Follow the browser recommendations inCommunications Express Browser Requirements for optimal performance.

Product Version Compatibility Requirements for Messaging Server

Messaging Server is compatible with the product versions listed in this section:

NSS Version Requirements for Messaging Server

Messaging Server 6.3 requires the use of the shared security component NSS version 3.9.3.

For more details about product version dependencies, see the Sun Java Enterprise System 5 Installation Guide for UNIX and Sun Java Enterprise System 5 Release Notes for UNIX

Additional Software Requirements for Messaging Server

A high quality caching DNS server on the local network is a requirement for a production deployment of Messaging Server. Messaging Server depends heavily on the responsiveness and scalability of the DNS server.

Additionally, ensure in your setup that DNS is properly configured and that it is clearly specified how to route to hosts that are not on the local subnet:

• The /etc/defaultrouter should contain the IP address of the gateway system. This address must be on a local subnet.

• The /etc/resolv.conf exists and contains the proper entries for reachable DNS servers and domain suffixes.

• In /etc/nsswitch.conf, the hosts: line has the files, dns and nis keywords added. The keyword files must precede dns and nis.

• Make sure that the FQDN is the first host name in the /etc/hosts file.

If your Internet host table in your /etc/hosts file looks like:

123.45.67.89 budgie.west.sesta.com
123.45.67.89 budgie loghost mailhost

            

change it so that there is only one line for the IP address of the host. Be sure the first host name is a fully qualified domain name. For example:

123.45.67.89 budgie.west.sesta.com budgie loghost mailhost

            

Support for High Availability

Messaging Server can be run on the following versions of Sun Cluster and Veritas Cluster Server in a Solaris 9 or Solaris 10 environment:

Messaging Server 6.3 now supports Sun Cluster 3.2. However, note the following caveats: there is no new documentation for the new CLI introduced in Sun Cluster 3.2; Sun Cluster manuals provide examples to bridge the gap. In addition, the upgrade of Sun Cluster 3.1/Messaging Server 6.3 to Sun Cluster 3.2/Messaging Server 6.3 is currently not supported.

Recommended File Systems for Message Stores

The following file systems are recommended for message stores:

• LUFS (Logging UFS).

• VxFS (Veritas File System). Veritas File System provides good system performance if configured properly. If you use VxVM, the Veritas Volume Manager, you need to carefully watch that the volumes and the log file for the volumes are set to be regularly striped.

• HAStoragePlus File System for Sun Cluster installations. The HAStoragePlus File System provides better performance than the default Sun Cluster Global File System.

• NFS (Network File System).

  You can use NFS on MTA relay machines, for LMTP, for autoreply histories, for message defragmentation. (See the Sun Java System Messaging Server 6.3 Administration Guide. In addition, NFS can be supported on BSD-style mailboxes (/var/mail/ ) as well as for the Message Store. The following versions of NFS have been certified for use with Messaging Server: Sun StorEdge 5310 NAS Appliance.