Chapter 1
Introduction
iPlanet Messaging Server is a powerful, standards-based Internet messaging server designed for high-capacity, reliable handling of the messaging needs of both enterprises and service providers. The server consists of several modular, independently configurable components that provide support for several standards-based email protocols.
Messaging Server uses a centralized LDAP database for storing information about users, groups, and domains. Some information about server configuration is stored in the LDAP database; some is stored in a set of configuration files.
The Messaging Server product suite provides tools to support user provisioning and server configuration.
This chapter contains the following sections:
Support for Standard Protocols
iPlanet Messaging Server suuports most national, international, and industry standards related to electronic messaging. For a complete list, refer to Appendix A of the iPlanet Messaging Server Reference Manual.
Support for Hosted Domains
Messaging Server provides full support for hosted domains—email domains that are outsourced by an ISP. That is, the ISP provides email domain hosting for an organization by operating and maintaining the email services for that organization remotely. A hosted domain can share the same Messaging Server host with other hosted domains. In earlier LDAP-based email systems, a domain was supported by one or more email server hosts. With Messaging Server, many domains can be hosted on a single server. For each hosted domain, there is an LDAP entry that points to the user and group container for the domain and provides various domain-specific default settings..
Support for User Provisioning
Messaging Server uses a centralized LDAP database for storing information about users, groups, and domains. The iPlanet Delegated Administrator for Messaging product provides a Console graphical user interface and a set of command-line utilities for managing the users, groups, and domains within an organization.
For more information about managing users, groups, and domains, see the following documents:
iPlanet Messaging Server Provisioning Guide - describes how to create domain, user, group, or administrator entries using LDAP.
iPlanet Messaging Server Schema Reference Manual - describes schema for the iPlanet Messaging Server.
iPlanet Messaging Server Reference Manual - describes the Delegated Administrator command line utilities for managing users, groups, and domains.
iPlanet Messaging Server Delegated Administrator Console online help.
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Note
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You can also create users and groups with the Console interface, however, this is not recommended since doing so will prevent you from viewing and modifying these entries with the Delegated Administrator.
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Support for Unified Messaging
iPlanet Messaging Server provides the basis for a complete unified messaging solution: the concept of using a single message store for email, voicemail, fax, and other forms of communication.
Support for Webmail
iPlanet Messaging Server includes Messenger Express, a web-enabled electronic mail program that lets end users access their mailboxes using a browser running on an Internet-connected computer system using HTTP. Messenger Express clients send mail to a specialized web server that is part of iPlanet Messaging Server. The HTTP service then sends the message to the local MTA or to a remote MTA for routing or delivery.
Powerful Security and Access Control
iPlanet Messaging Server provides the following security and access control features:
Support for password login and certificate-based login to POP, IMAP, HTTP, or SMTP.
Support for standard security protocols: Transport Layer Security (TLS), Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) and Simple Authentication and Security Layer (SASL).
Delegated administration through access-control instructions (ACIs).
Client access filters to POP, IMAP, SMTP and HTTP.
Filtering of unsolicited bulk email using system-wide and per-user and server-side rules.
Convenient User Interfaces
Messaging Server consists of several modular, independently configurable components that provide support for email transport and access protocols.
To configure the Message Transfer Agent (MTA), Messaging Server provides a complete set of configuration files stored locally on the server and a set of command-line utilities. To configure the message store and message access services, Messaging Server provides a Console graphical user interface and a complete set of command-line utilities.
For information about how to configure the MTA and configure access to the MTA, see the following chapters in this manual:
See also the iPlanet Messaging Server Reference Manual.
For information about how to configure the message store and access to the store, see the following chapters in this manual:
See also the iPlanet Messaging Server Reference Manual.
In addition, you'll want to review the following chapters in this manual:
Post-Installation Directory and File Organization
After you install iPlanet Messaging Server, its directories and files are arranged in the organization depicted in Table 1-1. The table is not exhaustive; it shows only those directories and files of most interest for typical server administration tasks.
Table 1-1 Post-Installation Directories and Files
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Directory
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Default Location and Description
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server root directory
(server_root)
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/usr/iplanet/server5/
(default location)
The directory into which all servers of a given server group (that is, all servers managed by a given Administration Server) are installed. This may include other iPlanet servers in addition to Messaging Server.
This directory also contains the binary executables for starting and stopping the administration server (start-admin, stop-admin) and for starting the Console (startconsole).
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instance directory
(instance_root or
instance_directory)
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server_root/msg-instance_name/
(required location)
instance_name is the name of this instance of Messaging Server, as specified at installation. (Default = host name of server machine)
This directory contains the configuration files that define a given instance of Messaging Server. Multiple instances of Messaging Server, all using the same binary files, may exist on a given host machine.
This directory also contains some of the executables of the installed Messaging Server, such as configutil, start-msg, stop-msg, and so on.
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installation directory
(installDirectory)
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server_root/bin/msg/
(required location)
This directory contains some of the binary executables of the installed Messaging Server.
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configuration directory
config
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instance_root/config/
(required location)
Contains general configuration files such as local.conf, msg.conf, sslpassword.conf.
The values in the file msg.conf are set at installation time. Messaging Server uses this file for information it needs at startup such as the LDAP host name and port number.
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MTA directory
imta
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instance_root/imta/
(required location)
Contains several directories related to MTA configuration: bin, config, db, dl, programs, queue, tmp.
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MTA configuration directory
config
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instance_root/imta/config/
(required location)
Contains the MTA configuration files, such as imta.cnf, dispatcher.cnf, job_controller.cnf, aliases, imta_tailor, and so on.
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MTA queue directory
queue
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instance_root/imta/queue/
(required location)
Contains the message queue subdirectories. There is one subdirectory directly under this directory for each channel queue; for example: ims-ms, tcp_intranet, tcp_local, autoreply.
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MTA program directory
programs
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instance_root/imta/programs/
(required location)
Contains the site-supplied executable programs—if any—for processing user mail.
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MTA databases directory
db
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instance_root/imta/db/
(required location)
Contains the databases used by the MTA: aliasesdb.db, domaindb.db, profiledb.db, reversedb.db, ssrdb.db, and so on.
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Message store directory
store
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instance_root/store
(required location)
Contains the directories related to message store processing: mboxlist, partition, user.
For more information, see "Message Store Directory Layout".
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Manuals directory
manual
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server_root/manual
(required location)
Contains the documentation installed with the servers.
manual/en/admin/ contains Administration Server documentation.
manual/en/msg/ contains Messaging Server documentation
manual/en/slapd/ contains Directory Server documentation.
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