5
Managing Domains

A domain is a logical collection of nodes that share the same directory information. The Domain Configuration Node (DCN) is the node that stores directory information for a domain. The DCN replicates directory information to all nodes that are members of its domain.

You can create, delete, and manage the domains that comprise your eMail Server system. Managing nodes includes the following tasks discussed in this chapter:

• Creating a Domain or Subdomain

• Changing Automatic Node Initialization

• Subscribing a Node to a Domain

• Unsubscribing a Node from a Domain

• Deleting a Domain

• Merging Two Domains

Creating a Domain or Subdomain

To create a new domain, you can either designate a DCN while installing a new node, or you can create a subdomain of the DCN to which you are currently connected. When you create a new domain, it becomes a child of the existing domain, which is called the parent.

To create a new domain while installing a node, see the Oracle eMail Server Installation Guide for instructions. To create a subdomain, use the following steps.

Prerequisites to Creating a Subdomain

To create a subdomain, you must first log on to the parent domain in which you want to create the subdomain. For example, if you initially log on to the SCN but you want to create a child domain of the DCN which is a different node, you must shut down and restart the Administration Tool and log on to the DCN to create a child domain for that DCN.

Caution: After creating a subdomain, wait until the replicator process propagates the change to all other nodes before beginning another configuration task. The replicator log file will return the message "transfer complete" when it is finished replicating.

See Also: "Using Server Process Logs" for more information about the replicator log file

Caution: Child domains do not receive replicated information from the parent domain. If you want the new domain to receive replicated information, you must subscribe the node on which the new domain resides to the parent domain.

Steps for Creating a Subdomain

This task can be performed through either the Administration Tool GUI, or the OOMGR command-line interface.

See Also: "Guidelines for Creating a Subdomain" for more information about performing this task

In the Administration Tool GUI

1. Start the Administration Tool GUI.

2. In the navigation tree, select Messaging System > Domains.

3. In the toolbar, click (Create).

4. Complete the Add a New Domain dialog box.

   See Also: "Parameters for Creating a Subdomain" for more information about the values to enter in this command

5. Click OK.

In OOMGR

1. Start OOMGR on the current DCN.

2. Enter the following command at the OOMGR prompt:

   IOFCMGR>insert domain QualifiedName=<qualified_name>
   
   2>ConfigNode=<node_name>
   
   3>AutoInit=[Enabled | Disabled];
   

   See Also: "Parameters for Creating a Subdomain" for more information about the values to enter in this command

3. Verify that the domain has been added by entering the following command at the OOMGR prompt:

   IOFCMGR>fetch domain QualifiedName=<qualified_name>;
   

Parameters for Creating a Subdomain

Parameter	Description
AutoInit	Indicates whether the new domain will automatically initialize new nodes. Enter Enabled to automatically initialize nodes; enter Disabled to prevent automatic node initialization. See Also:: "Changing Automatic Node Initialization" for more information
ConfigNode	Node name of the DCN for the new domain.
QualifiedName	Full domain name including the new child domain and all existing parent domains. For example, if the new child domain is acme, and the existing parent domain is com, then the qualified name of the child domain is acme.com.

Guidelines for Creating a Subdomain

• A parent domain can also be a child of another domain.

• In a multidomain system, you can only have one top-level domain that is not a child of another domain. If you want to use multiple top-level domains such as .com and .edu, then you can create a dummy top-level domain such as .world and make the other domains such as .com or .edu subdomains of this dummy domain. To make the dummy domain transparent to the user, enter the name of the new top-level domain as the value for the virtual_domain parameter for the POP3SRV or IMAP4SRV processes. The value of this parameter will then be automatically appended to the user's domain during login and stripped from outgoing addresses.

• The new child domain can be on a new node, or it can be on the same node as the parent domain.

Changing Automatic Node Initialization

When you create a domain, you indicate whether the domain will automatically initialize nodes. Node initialization involves the creation of a new node record in preparation for configuring a new node in an eMail Server system. If the new node is a DCN, node initialization creates the new domain record as well as the node record.

Node initialization can occur automatically or manually. If a domain automatically initializes nodes (when the automatic node initialization parameter is set to enable), then a node record is created when any administrator creates a node with the eMail Server Installer. If a domain does not automatically initialize nodes (when the automatic node initialization parameter is set to disable), then you must create new database records for the new node before the node can be created. Manual initialization ensures that nodes cannot be added to the domain without your consent.

See Also: "Manually Initializing a Node" for instructions on manually initializing a node

Steps for Changing Automatic Node Initialization

This task can be performed through either the Administration Tool GUI, or the OOMGR command-line interface.

In the Administration Tool GUI

1. Start the Administration Tool GUI.

2. In the navigation tree, select Messaging System > Domains > domain_name.

3. In the right pane, select Enabled or Disabled from the AutoInit list box.

4. Click Apply.

In OOMGR

1. Start OOMGR on the current DCN.

2. Enter the following command at the OOMGR prompt:

   IOFCMGR>update domain QualifiedName=<qualified_name>
   
   2>AutoInit=[Enabled | Disabled];
   

Subscribing a Node to a Domain

You can subscribe a member node of one domain to another domain to provide access to that domain's directory information. Normally, users in a domain only have access to the directory information in their domain. If they need to see directory information for another domain, then you must subscribe their node to the other domain. Keep in mind that subscribing a node to a domain increases the amount of information being replicated between nodes.

Caution: After subscribing a node to a domain, wait until the replicator process propagates the change to all other nodes before beginning another configuration task. The replicator log file will return the message "transfer complete" when it is finished replicating.

See Also: "Using Server Process Logs" for more information about the replicator log file

Steps for Subscribing a Node to a Domain

This task can be performed through either the Administration Tool GUI, or the OOMGR command-line interface.

In the Administration Tool GUI

1. Start the Administration Tool GUI.

2. In the navigation tree, select Messaging System > Domains > domain_name.

3. In the toolbar, click (Subscribe).

4. Complete the Subscribe a Node to a Domain dialog box.

5. Click OK.

In OOMGR

1. Start OOMGR on the DCN of the domain to which you want to subscribe the node.

2. Enter the following command at the OOMGR prompt:

   IOFCMGR>subscribe domain node=<node_name>;
   

Unsubscribing a Node from a Domain

You can unsubscribe a node from a domain to remove a node's access to another domain's directory information.

Prerequisites to Unsubscribing a Node from a Domain

Before unsubscribing a node from a domain, back up the system so that you can restore it in case of difficulty.

Caution: After unsubscribing a node from a domain, wait until the replicator process propagates the change to all other nodes before beginning another configuration task. The replicator log file will return the message "transfer complete" when it is finished replicating.

See Also: "Using Server Process Logs" for more information about the replicator log file

Steps for Unsubscribing a Node from a Domain

This task can be performed through either the Administration Tool GUI, or the OOMGR command-line interface.

In the Administration Tool GUI

1. Start the Administration Tool GUI.

2. In the navigation tree, select Messaging System > Domains > domain_name.

3. In the toolbar, click (Unsubscribe).

4. Complete the Unsubscribe a Node from a Domain dialog box.

5. Click OK.

In OOMGR

1. Start OOMGR on the DCN of the domain from which you want to unsubscribe the node.

2. Enter the following command at the OOMGR prompt:

   IOFCMGR>unsubscribe domain node=<node_name>;
   

Deleting a Domain

You can delete a domain from your eMail Server system if it is no longer needed.

Prerequisites to Deleting a Domain

1. Before deleting a domain, back up the system so that you can restore it in case of difficulty.

2. Delete any domain that is a child of the domain you want to delete.

3. Unsubscribe all nodes that subscribe to this domain. Refer to "Unsubscribing a Node from a Domain" for instructions.

   Caution: After deleting a domain, wait until the replicator process propagates the change to all other nodes before beginning another configuration task. The replicator log file will return the message "transfer complete" when it is finished replicating.

   See Also: "Using Server Process Logs" for more information about this log file

Steps for Deleting a Domain

This task can be performed through either the Administration Tool GUI, or the OOMGR command-line interface.

See Also: "Guidelines for Deleting a Domain" for more information about performing this task

In the Administration Tool GUI

1. Start the Administration Tool GUI.

2. In the navigation tree, select Messaging System > Domains.

3. In the right pane, select the Domains Data tab.

4. In the Domains Data tab, select the domain that you want to delete.

5. In the toolbar, click (Remove).

In OOMGR

1. Start OOMGR on the DCN of the domain that is the parent domain of the domain that you want to delete.

2. Enter the following command at the OOMGR prompt:

   IOFCMGR>delete domain QualifiedName=<qualified_name>; 
   

Guidelines for Deleting a Domain

If you delete a domain, then the aliases and distribution lists that contain the domain structure as part of an address can no longer be used. Also users cannot reply to existing messages sent from a user whose account was created in the deleted domain. You can use address rewriting rules to help route messages whose address have been made invalid by a change in configuration.

See Also: "Creating Gateway Rewriting Rules" for more information

Merging Two Domains

When you merge two domains, you must delete one domain after migrating the users and other domain information to the remaining DCN. When you merge domains, the number of nodes stays the same, but one of the nodes is no longer a DCN. The remaining DCN inherits some or all of the deleted domain's directory information. Users transferred from the deleted domain inherit any default privileges of the inheriting domain.

Prerequisites to Merging Two Domains

Before merging two domains, back up the system so that you can restore it in case of difficulty.

Steps for Merging Two Domains

This task can be performed through either the Administration Tool GUI, or the OOMGR command-line interface.

See Also: "Guidelines for Merging Two Domains" for more information about performing this task

In the Administration Tool GUI and OOMGR

1. Create new accounts on the DCN of the remaining domain for all accounts you are moving. Refer to Chapter 13, "Managing Directory Information", for instructions.

2. Migrate the user accounts from the old DCN to the new accounts on the remaining DCN. Refer to "Migrating Directory Accounts to Another Node or Domain" for instructions.

3. Unsubscribe all nodes from the domain you will delete. Refer to "Unsubscribing a Node from a Domain" for instructions.

4. Subscribe these nodes to the remaining domain. Refer to "Subscribing a Node to a Domain" for instructions.

5. Create aliases to redirect mail to the new accounts created in step 1.

   This solves two problems:

   • Users sending messages or invitations to old accounts will not receive bounced message notices.

   • Users who are transferred to the new domain do not have to log in to two accounts to check their messages.

   Refer to "Creating a Public Alias" for instructions.

6. Notify your users of the change to the qualified names of the moved users, specifying when the old accounts will be removed.

7. Remove old accounts and delete the empty domain once the specified time period is over. Refer to Chapter 13, "Managing Directory Information", for instructions on removing old accounts and "Deleting a Domain" for instructions on deleting a domain.

Guidelines for Merging Two Domains

• You cannot transfer directory information from the domain you intend to delete to the remaining domain by subscribing the DCN of the remaining domain to that of the domain to be deleted. The information is still labeled as information from another domain and is removed when you delete that domain.

• When creating accounts on the remaining domain, you can use the existing names for the objects you move, but the names on the remaining domain will be qualified with a different domain name than the names on the original domain. However, if one of the new accounts has the same name as an existing account, you may have to rename the account.