Implementing Exchange Server 2003 to Novell GroupWise Connectivity

 

In theory, you need only a single Exchange 2003 server to use Connector for Novell GroupWise. However, it is not recommended that you run Connector for Novell GroupWise on an Exchange server that hosts mailboxes. Therefore, you should have at least one Exchange 2003 server that includes your Exchange mailboxes and a separate Exchange 2003 server that includes Connector for Novell GroupWise.

To simplify the discussion of how to configure Exchange 2003 to interoperate with a Novell GroupWise environment, this section is based on the assumption that you have a single Novell GroupWise post office. However, the information provided here can be applied to larger or more complex Novell GroupWise deployments. In larger deployments, the Novell GroupWise domain that you configure here acts as the bridgehead for other Novell GroupWise domains and post offices.

Figure 1 shows the minimum Windows and Exchange 2003 configuration that you should consider for configuring and testing interoperability with Novell GroupWise.

Figure 1   Basic Windows and Exchange environment

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Note

The following is a conceptual discussion of the steps involved in configuring the Connector for Novell GroupWise. For detailed instructions about how to configure Novell GroupWise and Connector for Novell GroupWise, see How to Install and Configure Connector for Novell GroupWise.

You must complete the following steps to configure Connector for Novell GroupWise:

  1. Ensure that prerequisites are met   Before you install Connector for Novell GroupWise on a new Exchange 2003 server, you must ensure that the Exchange 2003 server has been updated to Exchange Server Service Pack 1, has Novell NetWare connectivity, and can resolve the name of the Novell NetWare server running the API Gateway. All access to Novell GroupWise from Exchange 2003 is gained through the API Gateway using keyword-based text files. The advantage is that Exchange interacts with Novell GroupWise using Novell-supported technology. To communicate with Novell NetWare, either Gateway and Client Services or Novell NetWare Client for Windows must be installed on the Exchange 2003 server and Connector for Novell GroupWise.

    Note

    If your Novell NetWare environment is based on TCP/IP, use Novell NetWare Client for Windows to integrate the Exchange 2003 server into your Novell NetWare environment. Novell NetWare 4.8 is the preferred Novell Directory Services (NDS) client. If you want to use Gateway and Client Services instead, remember that this system configuration requires the NWLink (IPX/SPX) protocol between the Exchange 2003 server and the Novell API Gateway server. You must configure IPX routing in your TCP/IP-based Novell NetWare network to support Gateway and Client Services.

    In addition, ensure that the server running Novell NetWare and Novell GroupWise has the following software installed:

    • Novell NetWare 3.x

    • Novell NetWare Administrator

    • Novell GroupWise 5.x or later

  2. Prepare NDS and Novell GroupWise   To support Connector for Novell GroupWise, you must deploy a dedicated API Gateway and configure a foreign GroupWise domain for your Exchange 2003 organization in the Novell NetWare Administrator program. You must work with Novell NetWare Administrator on a workstation where the GroupWise administration files have been installed. You must complete the following steps to prepare NDS and Novell GroupWise for interoperability with Exchange 2003:

    1. Install the Novell GroupWise API Gateway on a Novell NetWare server   You should use the NLM version of the API Gateway for Connector for Novell GroupWise. For installation, copy the corresponding gateway files to a directory on your NetWare server. Before you start the actual installation, it is a good idea to create a gateway directory in the \Wpgate subdirectory of your GroupWise domain (for example, \API41). On the System Console, run NWConfig to install the API Gateway in the NetWare Configuration program.

      Note

      It is recommended that you install Patch 2 for the GroupWise 4.1 API Gateway for NLM on the Novell NetWare server that is running the API Gateway. This patch is available from Novell in the form of a self-extracting file called GW41API2.exe, at https://support.novell.com.

    2. Configure the API Gateway in the Novell GroupWise domain   After you have installed the GroupWise API Gateway files, you must start the Novell NetWare Administrator program and create a gateway object in the Novell GroupWise domain. You must create a GroupWise Gateway in the GroupWise domain object. Remember to enable directory synchronization for this object.

    3. Create a foreign domain document for the Exchange organization in the Novell GroupWise domain, and link it to the API Gateway   To complete the configuration, create an external foreign domain for your Exchange organization and configure the link table of the GroupWise domain to connect the external foreign domain to your GroupWise domain through the API Gateway. Otherwise, Novell GroupWise cannot route messages to Exchange users.

    4. Configure security for the API Gateway directory   It is recommended that you restrict access to the API Gateway directory, because the gateway is able to perform management functions similar to a Novell NetWare Administrator.

      The following API Gateway directories are most important:

       - API_IN   Receives incoming message header files from non-GroupWise systems

       - API_OUT   Holds outgoing message header files to non-GroupWise systems

       - ATT_IN   Receives incoming message bodies and attachments from non-GroupWise systems

       - ATT_OUT   Holds outgoing message bodies and attachments to non-GroupWise systems

       - WPCSIN   The GWMTA inbound queue where incoming messages are placed after they are processed through the API Gateway

       - WPCSOUT   The GWMTA outbound queue where outgoing messages are located before they are converted into keyword-based text files and placed into API_OUT and ATT_OUT through the API Gateway

      To identify Connector for Novell GroupWise and grant it permissions to read and write messages in the API input and output directories, a dedicated Novell NetWare account is required. You must create this account using Novell NetWare Administrator and then use the Exchange System Manager Microsoft Management Console (MMC) snap-in to configure the connector (on the General tab) to use this account for API Gateway access.

      Note

      The connector's NetWare account must be a member of a special group called NTGATEWAY, which you need to create using Novell NetWare Administrator. The connector's NetWare account requires permissions to create, read, write, and delete files in the API Gateway directories.

  3. Install Exchange 2003 with Connector for Novell GroupWise   After you configure your Novell GroupWise environment, you can install Exchange 2003 on a dedicated connector server. As part of this setup, you install Connector for Novell GroupWise. You must have Exchange Administrator permissions in the administrative group where the connector's target routing group exists to install Exchange 2003 on the server, and you must be a member of the local Administrators group on the server on which you install Exchange 2003.

  4. **Prepare the Exchange 2003 environment   **Next, you must enable Novell GroupWise proxy addresses on the server running Exchange 2003 with Connector for Novell GroupWise installed. By default, Novell GroupWise users see Exchange users as recipients in an external foreign domain called Exchange. The post office name corresponds to the administrative group name. The Recipient Update Service automatically generates the proxy addresses for each mailbox- and mail-enabled account in the Exchange organization using a proxy address generator. The GroupWise proxy address generator is GWXPXGEN.DLL, which resides in the Program Files\Exchsrvr\Address\Gwise\i386 directory.

    It is possible to customize GWISE proxy addresses through recipient policies in Exchange System Manager. Make sure that GWISE address is enabled and then customize the address generation rule. For example, you might want to shorten or change the reference to the post office name, which by default refers to the administrative group, but you cannot remove the post office name portion of the address. GroupWise addresses must conform to the GroupWise naming convention of domain.post office.user alias. Do not change the domain name portion until you have created a corresponding external foreign domain in GroupWise.

    You can use the placeholders listed in Table 1 to customize GWISE address generation (they differ from other placeholders in that & is used instead of %).

    Table 1   Proxy address configuration symbols

    To substitute Use this symbol

    The user's alias

    &M or &m

    The user's initials

    &I or &i

    An e-mail address based on the user's display name

    &D or &d

    The user's first name

    &G or &g

    The user's last name

    &S or &s

    An ampersand (&)

    &&

    For example, you can set the address format to Exchange.First Administrative Group.&d. A user whose display name is Birgit Seidl receives a Novell GroupWise address of: Exchange.First Administrative Group.Birgit Seidl.

    Warning

    After directory synchronization occurs, the connector creates secondary proxy addresses for Novell GroupWise recipients. These addresses, which do not display bold formatting on the user's E-Mail Addresses tab, are used as unique identifiers for Novell GroupWise recipients. Do not delete these secondary proxy addresses. In general, you should delete only addresses that you create manually.

  5. Configure Connector for Novell GroupWise   Connector for Novell GroupWise is configured using Exchange System Manager. The location of the connector depends on whether you have enabled viewing for routing or administrative groups in Exchange System Manager. Figure 2 shows the location of the connector when viewing for both routing and administrative groups is enabled.

    Figure 2   Location of Connector for Novell GroupWise in Exchange System Manager

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    Among other things, you must specify the Universal Naming Convention (UNC) path to the root directory of the connector's API Gateway, identify the connector account (which must be a member of the NTGATEWAY group, as mentioned earlier), and define message routing information for the connector. Alternatively, you can configure delivery restrictions to specify users and groups that are permitted or denied message transfer through Connector to Novell GroupWise.

  6. Test e-mail connectivity   To ensure that the message routing works, send test messages from Novell GroupWise to Exchange 2003 and from Exchange 2003 to GroupWise. Use your GWISE proxy address to specify an Exchange recipient in Novell GroupWise, for example, Exchange.First Administrative Group.Administrator. To find your proxy address, start the Active Directory Users and Computers MMC snap-in and display the E-Mail Addresses tab for your user account. After the message is received in Microsoft Outlook, reply to it and verify that the reply is received in Novell GroupWise.

    Note

    Always test newly configured Exchange connectors in both directions.

Implementing Multiple Connector Instances

You can configure multiple recipient policies to generate GWISE addresses according to different formats. For example, you might assign Birgit Seidl the address Exchange1.First Administrative Group.Birgit Seidl, while the Administrator might have the address Exchange2.First Administrative Group.Administrator. This corresponds to an Exchange organization with two external foreign domains in Novell GroupWise. You must create an external foreign domain in Novell GroupWise for Exchange1 and one for Exchange2 using Novell NetWare Administrator. To distribute the workload across multiple gateway instances, either point to the same API Gateway or to separate gateways (possibly in different GroupWise domains). In this way, multiple connector instances can share the message traffic to Exchange 2003 (Figure 3). To distribute outbound message traffic to GroupWise domains across multiple Connectors for Novell GroupWise, assign detailed GWISE address spaces to each connector.

Figure 3   Using multiple connector instances between Exchange 2003 and a Novell GroupWise organization

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Note

When you are implementing multiple connector instances, carefully design the directory synchronization topology to avoid duplicating addresses.

Specifying Routable Novell GroupWise Domains

Just as an Exchange 2003 organization can have multiple administrative groups, a Novell GroupWise environment can have multiple domains. These domains can transfer messages indirectly to the Exchange 2003 organization through another domain in which the connector's API Gateway is installed (Figure 4).

One Connector for Novell GroupWise can allow all users in all GroupWise domains to communicate with each Exchange user. Correct address space information must be assigned to the Connector for Novell GroupWise to allow for proper message routing. For example, assign an address space of GWISE:* to the connector to route messages to all GroupWise users through your connector instance. Additional configuration might be required in the Novell GroupWise environment. You must ensure that the link table configuration of the connector's GroupWise domain meets your GroupWise routing requirements. The GWMTA must be able to route inbound messages that are received from the API Gateway to their GroupWise destinations.

Figure 4   Using a single Connector for Novell GroupWise to reach multiple Novell GroupWise domains

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