Diagnosing SIMS Problems Caused by Improper Directory Entries

Because SIMS relies completely on the presence and values of certain attributes in the directory, the single most common set of problems installing and maintaining SIMS is with LDIF generated by sources other than imldifsync, or by ldapmodify if accurate information is not entered into the SIMS install HTTP forms. This section discusses some common problems caused by incorrectly configuring attributes, and provides hints in diagnosing them.

General Hints

LDIF-generating scripts should be careful not to accidentally include non-printing characters or white space characters in attribute values. This is most commonly seen when a space (` `) is added at the end of an attribute value when not appropriate. For example, you should enter the value for mailFolderMap as

"mailFolderMap: SUN-MS"

:

and not as:

"mailFolderMap: SUN-MS "

.

where the quotes show the inappropriate spaces.

It is always best to try and scope a particular problem before trying to diagnose it. This may sound obvious, but within the context of SIMS this means:

If some users are having problems, dump the LDIF for users that are known to work (using ldapsearch(1) or the Admin Console) and compare this with the entries of users that do work.

If data was added with an LDIF generating script, or even with imldifsync, for users that don't work, try adding the same information via the Admin Console. If this works then look for white space or unprintable characters and determine if they are being added by the LDIF-generating scripts.

Users Can't Login to Their IMAP Mail Server

Check the following attributes:

userPassword - Should match the encrypted password entry in /etc/passwd or the equivalent. Note this will not be true if the attribute is changed directly sometime after the directory has been in use for a while.

uid - Should match the uid in /etc/passwd or the equivalent.

mailFolderMap - This currently has only one of two valid values: "Sun-MS" for users receiving mail via the SIMS messages store, and "UNIX V7" for users who use the /var/mail inbox format.

Mail Inbound to the SIMS MTA Bounces

Check the following attributes:

rfc822Mailbox - Should have valid user@FQDN (fully qualified DNS domain name) value.

mailDeliveryOption - Mailbox, native, program, forward, and file for users; shared, program, and file for groups.

mailFolderMap - See "Some of the Default LDIF Attributes and Syntax" on page 263

Mail Delivered Does Not Arrive

mailQuota - Set incorrectly

mailFolderMap - See "Some of the Default LDIF Attributes and Syntax" on page 263

Mail Forwarded Between SIMS and Other Servers Isn't Received.

mailForwardingAddr - Not set or set incorrect