Unoverica Message Transport v2.11 Chapter 4: Managing Mail Accounts

Chapter 4: Managing Mail Accounts

4.2 Synchronizing NetWare Accounts with Unoverica Message Transport’s Directory

After successfully installing and configuring Unoverica Message Transport, any users who are defined on the local NetWare server – or any users in the NDS tree who are accessible via the server’s bindery context – can send and receive mail immediately.

By referencing the NetWare accounts stored in the bindery or NDS, users can immediately send mail to each other. However, you do not have much control over the mail-specific attributes of the users that are stored in NetWare’s bindery, or even those stored in NDS. By storing user account information in Unoverica Message Transport’s directory, you gain much more control over the user accounts (as they apply to mail).

Some of the benefits of storing user account information in Unoverica Message Transport’s internal directory are:

Support for multiple domains. By creating a user account in Unoverica Message Transport’s directory, you can associate the account with any of the domains that your mail server supports. A NetWare user account is associated with the mail server’s primary domain, so if you need to support a user with an alternative domain name, then they must be added to the mail server.
Support for duplicate NDS accounts. If your NDS tree has multiple user accounts with the same username (in different containers), then you must use the directory in order to define external mail accounts. If you do not do this, then the mail server will not be able to deliver mail to both accounts.
Support for remote users. By default, only users with NetWare accounts can receive mail at that server. In order for a user without a NetWare account to receive mail, they must be added to the directory manually.
Detailed account management. By using Unoverica Message Transport’s directory, you can define a large amount of account information, such as multiple account names, the mailbox filename, and other attributes that are not definable outside of the directory.

If your site consists of a single NetWare server, and all of the users on that server will have access to electronic mail using the default domain, then you probably do not need to use Unoverica Message Transport’s internal directory. If you need to support remote users or multiple domains, or if you need to manage mail account details, then you will need to use Unoverica Message Transport’s directory.

NOTE: These two options are mutually exclusive. You cannot use NetWare accounts for some users and Unoverica Message Transport’s directory for other users. If you decide to make the Unoverica Message Transport directory the primary point of management, either because you want the advanced configuration options or you require better integration with NDS, then you must manage ALL of your mail users through Unoverica Message Transport’s internal directory.

NOTE: This does not apply to the alias accounts, which are separate entities from the user accounts. Aliases are always available, regardless of where the user accounts are stored.

If you wish to create user accounts in the Unoverica Message Transport directory for all of your NetWare users, then you should use the Synchronize function to combine the two together. This will create Unoverica Message Transport user accounts for all of the NetWare user accounts found in the NetWare Bindery or in the NDS container you specify.

Synchronizing the directories is accomplished through three distinct steps. You must:

Define the "NetWare Directory Services Context (+NWDSCONTEXT)" and "NetWare Directory Services Sync Root (+NWDSSYNCROOT)" options if you are using NDS. For more information on this subject, refer to section 4.2.1 Defining the NDS Synchronization Options.
Enable the "Use Directory (+DIRECTORY)" option. For instructions on how to set this option, refer to section 4.2.2 Enabling the Directory.
Perform the directory synchronization. For more information on this subject, refer to section 4.2.3 Synchronizing the Directories.

Once these steps have been completed, all of the users in the NetWare bindery or in the NDS tree will have been integrated into the Unoverica Message Transport directory.

For more information on the different types of user accounts, refer to section G.1 Unoverica Message Transport User Accounts. For more information on the differences between the NetWare bindery and Unoverica Message Transport’s internal directory, refer to section G.2 Choosing a Directory Provider.

STEP: If the server you are using for Unoverica Message Transport is running NetWare 4.x, go to section 4.2.1 Defining the NDS Synchronization Options. Otherwise, go to section 4.2.2 Enabling the Directory.