Preparing for Installation

This section covers the following pre-installation topics:

• Checking Installation Requirements

• Recommended File Systems for Message Stores

• Messaging Server Operating System Requirements

• Patch and Package Information for Messaging Server

Checking Installation Requirements

Before you install components, use the steps in this section to make sure the system on which you are installing is ready.

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.

To Check System Requirements

1. Make sure you are the root user for the system.

2. Have at least 2.2 GB free disk space for the unzipped image.

3. Have the image already unzipped.

To Ensure DNS is Running and Configured Properly

1. Make sure that the /etc/resolv.conf file has name server entries with the IP addresses of valid name servers. For example:

   domain comms.beta.com
   nameserver 192.168.100.22
   nameserver 192.168.100.23
   nameserver 192.168.100.24
   nameserver 192.168.100.25

2. Make sure that the /etc/hosts file has an entry for the fully qualified host name of the server. This fully qualified host name should be listed before the non fully qualified host name. For example:

   10.1.82.52 wireless.comms.beta.com wireless loghost

3. Make sure that the /etc/nsswitch.conf file is configured to use files first to resolve host names. The hosts line in the nsswitch.conf file should list files first in its entry:

   hosts: files dns nis [NOTFOUND=return]

   Or, if NIS is not used:

   hosts: files dns

4. On Solaris 10 platforms, you not only have to add the Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) to the /etc/hosts file, but also to the /etc/inet/ipnodes file.

   Otherwise, you'll get an error indicating that your host name is not a fully qualified domain name (FQDN).

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, and 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.

Messaging Server Operating System Requirements

The 64–bit release supports the following platforms:

• 64–bit version Solaris 9 Operating System Update 2 (SPARC® Platform Editions) with required patches

• 64–bit Solaris 10 Operating System SPARC and 64–bit x86 Platform Editions including Zones Support

• Any required 64–bit Hardware. See Solaris 64–bit documentation.

• The following platforms are not supported:

  • The 64–bit version of the installer is not supported on Linux

  • Messaging Server is no longer supported on HP-UX and Windows

The 32–bit 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, versions 3 (all updates) and 4 (all updates).

• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Enterprise Server, versions 3 (all updates) and 4 (all updates)

Patch and Package 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.

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

At the time of general release, the following Messaging Server 6.3 32–bit upgrade patches are available:

The following Messaging Server 6.3 product packages are part of this release: