Special Edition Microsoft Exchange Server 5.5

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Using the Microsoft Mail Connector for PC Networks



Microsoft Mail, as discussed previously, is a shared file messaging system that includes an active client and a passive server. The client initiates messaging activity, and the passive file server (usually referred to as a post office) acts as a storage location for the messages.

Exchange Server is a client-server messaging system that provides distributed processing between the client and the server to provide for messaging functionality.

To enable Microsoft Mail and Exchange Server to communicate and exchange messages, the Microsoft Mail Connector must be configured to provide connectivity for the Exchange Server to either coexist in a Microsoft Mail environment or to act as backbone support for a Microsoft Mail environment.

In this section, we will discuss the main components and the configuration of the Microsoft Mail Connector, as well as audit the Microsoft Mail Connector to assist with debugging and routing between Microsoft Mail and Microsoft Exchange.

Understanding the Microsoft Mail Connector

In Chapter 7, "Planning Connections to the Microsoft Mail Systems," you were introduced to the main components of the Microsoft Mail Connector that enables connectivity between the Microsoft Mail System and Microsoft Exchange. Recall that the messaging functionality in Microsoft Mail (responsible for the transfer and routing of messages) is provided by the Microsoft Mail External. Microsoft Mail External is the MTA for Microsoft Mail, which is available in three modes. The first mode of operation is the Microsoft Mail External, which is a legacy MTA application that runs in single threaded DOS mode. The other two modes include the OS/2 MMTA and NT MMTA, which are the multitasking External applications.

Figures 19.1 and 19.2 illustrate a visual comparison of the two message transfer agents.

FIG. 19.1 The External application running on DOS.



NOTE: In contrast to the External Application running on DOS, the Exchange Microsoft Mail Connector has a rich GUI interface that provides many new features and more functionality.

FIG. 19.2 The Exchange MS Mail Connector.

To connect to a Microsoft Mail post office from any messaging system on the same WAN/LAN, the MTA must be configured to do the following:

In Microsoft Exchange, you configure the Microsoft Mail Connector to receive messages from the Microsoft Exchange MTA, convert the messages into the Microsoft Mail format (MMF), and then deliver the messages to the target post office diagrammed in Figure 19.3.

Exchange creates a local, or virtual, post office on the Exchange server. This post office models the Microsoft Mail 3.x post office architecture and emulates a shared file messaging system under the Exchange hierarchy. The components of the Exchange server include the Information Store, Directory Services, System Attendant, and the Message Transfer Agent. These services coupled with the components of Microsoft Mail Connector are instrumental in the exchange of information between the messaging systems.

The core component of the connection from Exchange to Microsoft Mail (PC) is the Microsoft Mail Connector. It is used for the information transfer between Exchange and Microsoft Mail sites and post offices. Once the Exchange server processes the data interchange, the Microsoft Mail (PC) MTA can route the information to the Microsoft Mail downstream post offices. Exchange serves as the hub post office for several clusters, or spokes, of Microsoft Mail Post Offices.

FIG. 19.3 The Exchange to Microsoft Mail Architecture.



NOTE: Once you migrate the hub and spoke architecture of Microsoft Mail to Exchange, the Exchange servers become the mail hubs. The key benefit is that the same server that processes local mail or the information store can be the MTA for the existing Microsoft Mail Post Offices. Exchange can easily incorporate into existing mail architectures. This includes existing Microsoft Mail Post Offices running on Novell NetWare file servers.

The Exchange MS Mail Connector marries the functionality of a hub or gateway post office and the External application. The Microsoft Mail Connector (PC) MTA component of the Microsoft Mail Connector provides the functions of the Microsoft Mail External and Multitasking MTA application. These include the following:

As you migrate from existing Microsoft Mail shared file post offices, you may need to continue operating MS External or the Multitasking MTAs at the same time as the Microsoft Mail Connector of Exchange. These older MTA applications do not provide the same rich feature set as the Microsoft Mail Connector. The Microsoft Mail Connector enables you to integrate Exchange into any Microsoft Mail environment using existing External or Multitasking MTA applications.

This example applies to all MTA connections including asynchronous modem connections or X.25 service.


NOTE: With the Exchange server running on Windows NT, you can take advantage of the built-in remote access services of the operating system. This way you can create a WAN environment without separate asynchronous connections. All the servers are networked together via a WAN/LAN.

Now that we have reviewed how Microsoft Mail integrates with Microsoft Exchange, we will re-introduce the components and the configuration requirements of the Microsoft Mail Connector. As identified in previous sections, the components of the Microsoft Mail Connector include:

These components are configured in the Administrator program.

The message route from Exchange to Microsoft Mail (PC) is as follows:

1. The Microsoft Exchange user creates a message addressed to a Microsoft Mail (PC) recipient and submits it.

2. The Microsoft Exchange Information Store forwards the message to the Exchange MTA.

3. The Microsoft Mail Connector Interchange scans the Microsoft Exchange Server MTA and converts the message to Microsoft Mail format including attachments, OLE objects, and rich text formatting. It then places the message into the Microsoft Mail Connector Post Office, as well as queues for any messages within the Microsoft Mail Connector Post Office for delivery to the Microsoft Exchange MTA.

4. The Microsoft Mail Connector (PC) MTA scans the Microsoft Mail Connector Post Office for messages, and then queues the message in the Microsoft Mail (PC) Post Office.

Configuring the Microsoft Mail Connector

There are six key steps required to configure the Microsoft Mail Connector within Microsoft Exchange. The pages provided in the GUI interface will guide you through the procedure. The steps are as follows:

1. Define the Microsoft Mail Connector administrator mailbox within the Interchange page of the Microsoft Mail Connector.

2. Configure the Microsoft Mail Connector settings in the General page.

3. Using the Connection page, connect to each Microsoft Mail Post Office.

4. Configure the Microsoft Mail Connector (PC) MTA for each post office communication (asynchronous, LAN, or X.25 within the Connectors page).

5. Launch the Microsoft Mail Connector services in the Services applet of Control Panel or Services in the Computer menu of Server Manager.

6. Configure the Directory Services to include Microsoft Mail Post Office recipients.

The following are step-by-step procedures to assist in configuring the Microsoft Mail Connector within the Microsoft Exchange Administrator program:

1. Open the Exchange Administrator Program. This can be performed from the console on the Microsoft Exchange server or from a workstation with connectivity to both the Microsoft Exchange server and the Microsoft Mail Post Office.

2. Choose the site from the organization list, the server name from the site, and the Microsoft Mail Connector from the Connections list (see Figure 19.4).

FIG. 19.4 Select the Microsoft Mail Connector.

3. Open the Microsoft Mail Connector to configure the properties for the initial post office connection (see Figure 19.5).

FIG. 19.5 The Microsoft Mail Connector dialog box for (GARLAND01) with the Interchange page selected.

The Interchange page is the first tab that is displayed, which enables you to select the Administrator's mailbox. The mailbox you select will receive system information and alert messages from the Connector. These messages are typically due to non-delivery of mail (bounced mail) and failed messages.

4. Select the Administrator account. This account can be a user, group, distribution list, or public folder (see Figure 19.6).

FIG. 19.6 Configuring the Administrator Account for the Connector.

5. Select OK to return to the Interchange page.

6. From the Interchange page, select the primary language for the recipients. The selected primary language is used for interoperability with Microsoft Mail clients using an alternate language. This is useful for International users of Exchange. The default value is prompted from the Exchange server.

7. Select the Maximize MS Mail 3.x Compatibility check box. This option is used for OLE compatibility in messages transferred between the older version used in MS Mail clients and the new version of Exchange Clients.

By selecting Maximize MS Mail 3.x Compatibility, two versions of each OLE object are created. This option will increase or double the size of any OLE messages. If this option is not selected, MS Mail 3.x clients will not be able to view or save embedded objects originating from an Exchange client.

If you want to enable Message Tracking for the Microsoft Mail Connector, select Enable Message Tracking. This option will record message information into the tracking logs. It can also debug problems when messages do not appear to be routing properly, or it can be used to locate potential lost messages. The default for this option is disabled. For more information on message tracking, see Chapter 28, "Troubleshooting Exchange with Diagnostic Tools."

8. Click Apply to set these properties prior to defining the additional properties of the remaining page menus.


NOTE: The AppleTalk MTA Connector is discussed in Chapter 20, "Using the Microsoft Mail Connector for AppleTalk Networks."

Configuring the Microsoft Mail Connector (continued)

The following are steps to configure the Microsoft Mail Connector General page:

1. Select the General tab.

This page shows the server name (GARLAND01). The server name cannot be modified (see Figure 19.7).

FIG. 19.7 Use the General page to set basic properties of the Microsoft Mail Connector.

2. Define the Maximum Message Size.

You can define an upper limit for messages transferred through the Connector or accept the default value of No Limit. This option is useful if you want to restrict the size of the message transferred between systems (attachments included within the message can easily reach megabytes of data in size).

To limit the size, enter a maximum value between 0 and 9999999 kilobytes.

3. Type an administrative note or comment with respect to the MS Mail Connector. Include the initials of the technician working on the service. This comment can only be viewed from this Property page.

4. Click Apply to set the properties and configure the remaining Property pages.

Defining Post Office Connections

If you will recall from Chapter 7, "Planning Connections to Microsoft Mail Systems," there are two primary ways to connect Exchange to existing Microsoft Mail Post Offices: LAN connectivity or remote connectivity, which includes asynchronous and X.25 connections. LAN connectivity is the easiest to maintain in terms of setup and administration by virtue of configuring the message routing and transfer between the Microsoft Mail Connector and the Microsoft Mail 3.x Post Offices. Remote connectivity requires two components to connect the Exchange Server and the Microsoft Mail 3.x Post Office over the X.25 or the asynchronous service. The first is the Microsoft Mail Connector (PC) MTA. The second is the Microsoft Mail 3.x External or Multitasking MTA program at the remote Post Office location configured with an instance in the address space of the MTA to connect with the Microsoft Mail Connector.


TIP: If you have remote post offices with this configuration, you may want to either use NT Remote Access service to perform LAN-based connections or migrate these post offices to Exchange ahead of other post offices.

The following steps are used to set up the connections for Microsoft Mail (PC) Post Offices over LAN, asynchronous, or X.25 connections. Each connection method is described individually.

Creating a LAN Connection  Use the Connections page and Property page to create a LAN connection from Exchange to a Microsoft Mail post office.

The following are steps to perform a LAN connection to a Microsoft Mail post office:

1. Select the Connections tab.

This page shows the organization and site name, which is actively being configured (see Figure 19.8).


NOTE: You may want to clear the Confirm Before Connection Changes Are Applied check box if you do not want to have additional confirmation messages displayed before changes are set.

FIG. 19.8 The Connections page is used to define LAN connections.

2. Click the Create button to configure a new LAN connection post office (see Figure 19.9).

FIG. 19.9 Create a connection to a Microsoft Mail Post Office.

3. Select LAN under the Connection Parameters window.

4. Click the Change button to specify the path to the LAN-based Microsoft Mail Post Office.

5. In the Post Office Path dialog box, enter the complete path to the server, file share, and directory containing the Microsoft Mail Post Office in the Path box. Use the following format:

Microsoft Networking: \\server\share\path

Novell Networking: \\server\volume\path

6. Specify a Network or Domain login name and password in the Connect As and Password fields. You only need to complete these entries if any one of the following are true:

7. Click OK to confirm entries. If the connection is valid, the network and post office names will be entered into the appropriate fields in the Create Connection dialog box.

8. Define the number of connection retries for messages being sent to this post office. If this value is exceeded, the message is returned to the sender with an undelivered notification. The default value is 3.

An optional setting is to configure the routing information about the downstream post office from the one created. To import this information, follow these steps:

1. Click the Upload Routing button.

A Downstream Post Offices Summary dialog box appears with the routing information of any post office or gateway indirectly connected through this post office. If this post office is a hub for other post offices, this information should be uploaded. If the post office is a downstream post office, you may want to skip over these steps.

2. Select any downstream post office you do not want to have uploaded. Choose the post office and click Delete.

3. Click OK to set the routing changes.


NOTE: The information upload from this selection does not affect the configuration of the external options on the MS Mail Post Offices.
4. Click OK and return to the Connections Property page.

5. Click Apply to set the changes for the connection.

Creating an Asynchronous Connection  Use the Connections page and Property page to create an asynchronous connection from Exchange to an External MTA for an MS Mail Post Office (see Figure 19.10).

Do the following to perform an asynchronous connection to a Microsoft Mail Post Office:

1. Select the Connections tab.

2. Click the Create button to configure a new asynchronous connection (see Figure 19.11).

3. Select the Asynchronous radio button (see Figure 19.12).

FIG. 19.10 The Connections page is used to define asynchronous connections.

FIG. 19.11 The New Connections dialog box with Asynchronous selected.

4. Type in the Network name and post office in the respective field for the asynchronous connection post office.


NOTE: Unlike the LAN connection, you must enter the information for these values.
5. In the Sign on ID field, enter the serial number for the remote post office. The Sign on ID format is ##-#####.

6. Enter the remote post office site password in the Password field.

7. Enter a value for the Connections Attempts box. The range is from 0 to 99. This value determines how many connection attempts Exchange will make to try to communicate with the remote post office before returning the message to the original sender. The default value is 3.

FIG. 19.12 Advanced options for the asynchronous connections.

8. Enter a phone number in the respective field. Make sure to add an area code and any additional dialing prefixes. If you must dial a special digit (9, for example) to get an outside line, this must be included in the configuration. The phone number entered is the phone number for the remote post office MTA running the External application.


NOTE: Make sure that the phone number you enter contains all prefixes. In addition, this number should direct Exchange to the remote MTA running the External application.
9. Click the Options button to enter additional configurations for asynchronous connections.

10. Enter a value for Maximum Message Size. The default is set to No Limit (see Figure 19.12). If you want to limit the message size to be transferred over an asynchronous connection, enter a value between 0 and 9999 kilobytes in the respective field. This limits the size of attachment data without limiting routing data.

11. Enter a value for Failed Connection Retry For Urgent Mail. The value ranges from 1 to 99 minutes between connection attempts for messages defined as urgent. The default value is 10 minutes.

12. Enter a value for Failed Connection Retry for Normal Mail. This value ranges from 1 to 999 minutes between attempts to reconnect for messages defined as normal. The default is 10 minutes.

13. Enter a value for Dial Every. This value ranges from 1 to 999 minutes between connections for regular calls.

14. Check the box in order to select Allow Mail Reception After Sending. This enables messages to be transferred in a bi-directional single connection. This option offers faster and more efficient message delivery. If this selection is not made, connections are made on an individual basis for sending and receiving messages.

15. Check the box to select Return Registered Mail Confirmation. This will enable message confirmations to be transferred over the connection and between mail systems.

16. Click OK to set changes.

Creating an X.25 Connection  Use the Connections page and Property page to create an X.25 connection from Exchange to an External MTA for a Microsoft Mail Post Office. This connection is very similar to the asynchronous connection. This section assumes that the X.25 protocol is already configured and running on this Windows NT server.

Do the following steps to perform an X.25 connection to a Microsoft Mail Post Office:

1. Select the Connections page (see Figure 19.13).

2. Click the Create button to configure a new X.25 connection (see Figure 19.14).

FIG. 19.13 The Connections page is used to define X.25 connections.

FIG. 19.14 The New Connection dialog box with X.25 selected.

3. Select the X.25 radio button. This brings up the additional configuration for the X.25 parameters.

4. Enter the Network and Post Office names in their respective fields.

5. Enter the sign-on serial ID in the format ##-#####.

6. Enter the remote post office password.

7. Define the number of connection attempts. The default is 3.

8. Define the X.121 address. This value should include the entire X.121 address, consisting of up to 16 digits. The format should be as follows:

[Area][DNIC][DTE Address][sub-address]

For more information on Exchange and X.25 support, refer to Chapter 21, "Configuring X.400 Connections."

9. Click Apply to set the specifications.


NOTE: The Options dialog box for X.25 is identical to that for the asynchronous connection.

Creating an Indirect Connection  You can use the Microsoft Mail Connector to act as a hub post office. The hub post office can be specified to feed various spokes or indirect post offices.

Indirect connections are supported over LAN, asynchronous, or X.25 connections. They can be used to replace the External application running to service multiple downstream post offices.

Do the following steps to perform an indirect connection to a Microsoft Mail Post Office:

1. Select the Connections tab.

2. Select the hub post office and then click Create to configure the indirect post office.

3. From the Connection Configuration dialog box, select the hub post office from the Indirect Via drop-down list (see Figure 19.15).

FIG. 19.15 The Connection page is used to define indirect connections.

4. Click OK to set the configuration.

The message queue is the final component of the Connections page menu. The queue lists messages awaiting delivery by the Microsoft Mail Connector. Figure 19.16 shows an empty queue after all pending messages were delivered. Normally, you would use the queue window to monitor the message load passing through your Microsoft Mail Connector.

FIG. 19.16 The Microsoft Mail Connector message queue.


Configuring the Message Transfer Agent

Configuring the Message Transfer Agent

The following steps are used to create the Message Transfer Agent services for connections over LAN, asynchronous, or X.25. Each connection method will be described individually.

Creating a Microsoft Mail Connector (PC) MTA  Use the Connector MTA's page to create the MTA services required to transfer messages from Exchange to a Microsoft Mail Post Office. Follow these steps:

1. Select the Connector MTA's tab (see Figure 19.17).

2. Click New to create a new MTA service (see Figure 19.18).

3. Enter a name for the MTA service. This name is used by the Windows NT operating system to register the MTA Connector as a system service. Once the service is defined, you cannot modify the name. You would have to remove the service and re-create it.

Because the MTA runs as a system service, there are several character string limitations:

If you use any other character string, the service will not be able to register with the operating system.


NOTE: The naming convention is important with services. If you preface the MTAs with "MS Mail Connector," they will interfere with the integrated Exchange Mail Windows NT services listed in the Control Panel Services.

FIG. 19.17 The Microsoft Mail Connector MTA's page menu.

FIG. 19.18 The Microsoft Mail Connector MTA's page menu--New Service.

4. Select the Log Messages Sent At Serviced Post Offices check box. This option will set up logging in order to record each message transferred to the Microsoft Mail Post Office environment.

5. Select the Log Messages Received At Serviced Post Offices check box. This option will set up logging in order to record each message transferred from the Microsoft Mail Post Office environment.

6. Enter values for the Update Configuration field in minutes. This scans for updated information based on the interval minutes entered into this field. The default is 60 minutes.


NOTE: If you enter a 0 in this field, you will stop the configuration from checking for messages.[dagger]n
7. Enter a value for the Check For Mail Every field. This field accepts values from 0 to 999 minutes. This is the polling interval for how long the MTA waits before rechecking for mail coming to the MS Mail Connector post office. The default value is five minutes.

If you have multiple instances of the MTA service-to-service multiple Microsoft Mail Post Offices and gateways, you may want to stagger this time interval so that each instance does not overlap. One service would check for mail every five minutes, and the next service would check every six minutes.

8. Select the LAN option in the Connection Parameters section.

9. Define the MTA Connector options by clicking the Options button (see Figure 19.18).

These options apply to both the LAN and the asynchronous connection methods (see Figure 19.19). The first selection is for Maximum LAN Message Size. You can set an upper limit for the size of messages transferred through this MTA. The values range from 0 to 9999999 kilobytes, and the default is No Limit.

The next entry is used to define the Close Post Office If value. This value is used to close the destination post office connection when disk space utilization has reached whichever threshold point you designate from 0 to 999999999 kilobytes. Messages will queue up on the MTA until they are timed out or additional disk space is added on the destination post office.

In addition to closing the connection, you can set a value for Open Post Office If disk space that has been added or made available. This value ranges from 0 to 999999999 kilobytes. Disk space availability must rise above this value in order for message transfer to restart.

FIG. 19.19 The Microsoft Mail Connector MTA's page menu--New Service, Options dialog box.

The next three check boxes are used for administrative notifications to the Microsoft Mail LAN post office users. These have no impact for Exchange users. The first option is to check the NetBIOS Notification in order to have the MTA send a NetBIOS broadcast message.

The NetBIOS Broadcast will only work if the server and clients are running the NetBIOS protocol. In addition, you must start all the NT service MTAs prior to launching the External application on the destination post office for NetBIOS broadcasts to function properly. For more information, see the user manuals for the respective operating system to learn how to install NetBIOS.

Select Disable Mailer and Disable Mail Dispatch to stop mail notifications from being distributed via the External and Dispatch applications associated with the destination Microsoft Mail Post Offices. These do not impact the Exchange users. For more information on the application, refer to your Microsoft Mail Administrator's Guide.

Select the Startup box to define the method that this NT MTA service will launch. You have the option to have the MTA start automatically or manually.

Click OK to set these configurations.

10. Click OK followed by Apply to set all the configurations for this MTA service. If you modify these options for this service at a later point, you will need to stop and start the NT service in order to have the changes take effect.

Defining the Post Offices Service by the MTA  To complete the MTA service, you need to define the post offices service by the MTA services. Complete the following steps:

1. From the Microsoft Mail Connector property sheet, click the List button. The Serviced LAN Post Offices dialog box appears.

2. In the Serviced LAN Post Offices dialog box, select the post office to be serviced from the right panel of Available LAN Post Offices.

3. Click the Add button in the middle and the selection becomes a Serviced LAN Post Office.

4. Click OK to set the configurations.

If you need an additional service for an asynchronous connection, you will need to modify an existing MTA or create a new service. Following are the configuration differences for the asynchronous connection:

1. Click Create to create a new MTA service, or click Edit to modify an existing MTA.

2. On the Property page, select the Async And LAN option (see Figure 19.20).

FIG. 19.20 The MS Mail Connector MTA's page menu--New Service via asynchronous or X.25 connection.

3. Enter the appropriate values for the following:

Communication port is the server communication port to be used for the MTA service. The default value is COM1.

Modem script is used to define the initialization string for your particular modem.


NOTE: If you have an existing modem that requires a customized script file, you can copy this script to the following path on the Exchange server:

<UX.NO>%Exchangeroot%\connect\msmcom\maildata\glb




Modem Time-out is the value for the number of minutes the MTA will wait for a connection with the destination post office.

Communication Mode is the value that defines whether the MTA will send and receive messages or handle only one-way message transfers.

4. Click OK to set the configuration settings.

If this MTA has been modified, it will need to be stopped and restarted from the services control panel.

Starting the MTA NT Services  After you have configured all your MTA services and defined which post offices are serviced, you need to start the MTA NT services in order to begin message transfer. Do the following steps to start these services:

1. Open the control panel for the server services.

2. Locate the MTA service to be started, select the service, and click Start (see Figure 19.21). The service starts, and you can begin transferring messages between mail systems.

FIG. 19.21 The Microsoft Mail Connector MTA Windows NT service.

Microsoft Mail Connector Address Space

The following steps are utilized to create the address space for the Microsoft Mail Post Offices to be serviced by the Microsoft Mail Connector.

Configuring the Address Space

Configuring the address space is used to properly route messages throughout the organization. If you have additional gateways installed, configuring the address space is important to ensure the proper message route. Complete the following steps:

1. Select the Address Space tab (see Figure 19.22).

2. Select the address space to be created. Your selection will depend on the type of gateway used to receive these message transfers. The address spaces are associated with a specific template for each connector. The template assists with entering the destination mail address. The options are as follows:

FIG. 19.22 The Microsoft Mail Address Space page menu.

The following describes how to configure the Microsoft Mail Address Space access property pages on the Microsoft Mail Connector:

1. To create or edit the Microsoft Mail address space, select the address space in the connection window.

2. In the Property page for the Microsoft Mail address space, you must enter the network and post office of the destination Microsoft Mail Post Office.


NOTE: When you enter values for the address spaces, you can use wildcards, as in the following example:

MS:SWSPECTRUM\ADMIN\*



This address routes messages to all users on the destination post office.


3. All address spaces will create a message route from this Microsoft Mail Connector to the destination or foreign mail systems. For more information on routing and addressing, see Chapter 25, "Maintaining Exchange."

Configuring the Local Exchange Post Office

When you use the Microsoft Mail Connector for Microsoft Mail (PC), Exchange must emulate a Microsoft Mail Post Office. This is known as the local post office, which is created automatically when you install the Microsoft Mail Connector. It is first configured when you set up the Microsoft Mail Post Office interchange, as discussed earlier in the chapter.

The local post office is a working Microsoft Mail Post Office. Exchange uses this post office to transfer messages to Microsoft Mail Post Offices. The message is first placed into the MTA and is then transferred and converted into the local post office before being transferred out to the destination post office.

To configure the local post office, follow these steps:

1. Select the Local Postoffice tab (see Figure 19.23).

FIG. 19.23 The Microsoft Mail Connector local post office configuration.

2. Enter the network and post office names for the local Microsoft Exchange MS Mail post office interchange. These values can be changed. By default, Exchange enters the organization and site name into these fields.

3. Enter the password to be used by External MTA applications when you are connecting to and signing on to this local post office to transfer messages.


NOTE: This is a good time to note the local post office Sign on Serial ID. You will need this information when you are configuring External to communicate with this local post office.
4. Click the Regenerate button under the Microsoft Mail Connector Addresses heading. This selection will generate the proper addressing scheme to be used in routing messages through this local post office.

If any changes are made to this local post office, you must execute the address regeneration. You will need to update the information on the remote External MTA, gateway, or post office as well. Additionally, if you change this information, you must stop and restart the NT MTA service and Microsoft Mail Connector Interchange.

A warning will appear to require you to confirm this action.

5. Click OK to accept configuration settings and apply them to the Microsoft Mail Connector.

Microsoft Mail Connector Post Offices and Gateways in PC Mail

Once you have completed configuring the Exchange Microsoft Mail Connector, you must then configure each Microsoft Mail PC post office to work with the settings in Exchange. Refer to the Microsoft Mail Connector's local post office settings to create an External post office site in Microsoft Mail 3.x.

To configure the Microsoft Mail Post Office, follow these steps:

1. Attach your Exchange server to the Microsoft Mail Post Office with a network connection.

2. Launch the Microsoft Mail Administration utility to configure the post office settings.


NOTE: Once you have used the Exchange GUI interface, the DOS character-based administration utility of Microsoft Mail v3.x seems antiquated.
3. Toggle to the External-Admin Configuration menu item (see Figure 19.24).

4. Select Create and define the network, post office, and route for the Exchange MS Mail Connector local post office.

In this example, the Microsoft Mail Post Office is called ADMIN on the SWSPECTRUM network. An External route has been added to the Exchange local post office named TEXAS on the same SWSPECTRUM network. The connection type is direct. The only time you would use indirect is if you were routing Microsoft Mail through another Microsoft Mail hub post office prior to transferring the message to Exchange.

5. Select Yes to create the route and then exit the Administration application.

If you have other Microsoft Mail 3.x gateways, you will need to modify the settings for those post offices as well. Because there are many different types of Microsoft Mail gateways, you will be unable to define the process for each one. The key components to modify are the network and post office names, the sign-on ID, and the post office password. Refer to your user's manual for more information on how to configure the gateway.

FIG. 19.24 Use the Microsoft Mail Administration utility to configure the post office.

Managing the NT Service for the Microsoft Mail Connector

Now that the Microsoft Mail Connector is completely configured, you must start the connection service to begin transferring messages between Exchange and Microsoft Mail.

To start the Microsoft Mail connection services, follow these steps:

1. Open the Windows NT Control Panel or Windows NT Server Manager and select the Services option.

2. Select the Microsoft Mail Connector Interchange service (see Figure 19.25).

3. Click Start to launch the service.


NOTE: The Microsoft Mail Connector (PC) MTA is set to disabled because it is only used in the configuration of individual Microsoft Mail MTA services. This service cannot be started.
4. Close the Services window.

Testing the Connection Between Exchange and MS Mail

Now that all the services are running and messages are configured to route between Exchange and Microsoft Mail, you should test the connection.

To test the message routing between Exchange and Microsoft Mail, follow these steps:

1. Using the Microsoft Exchange client software, create and send a message to a recipient with a destination on the Microsoft Mail Post Office.

2. Verify in the Microsoft Mail 3.x client software that the message has arrived.

3. Reverse this process to verify message routing from Microsoft Mail to Exchange.

4. If the messages do not arrive, the first place to begin diagnosis is in the Windows NT Server Event log for the Exchange server.

FIG. 19.25 To start the MS Mail Connection, select the MS Mail Connector Interchange service.

The Microsoft Mail Connector interchange events are logged as "MSExchangeMSMI" for mail transfer between the Exchange Information Store and the Microsoft Mail Connector local post office.

The Microsoft Mail Connector (PC) MTA events are logged under the associated Microsoft Mail MTA services names.

In this figure, you can see that the MTA has created a system message on the Exchange local post office with the respective name (see Figure 19.26).

FIG. 19.26 The Windows NT event log for Microsoft Mail Connector entries.

In this example, the MTA service is called "MTA(service)," and the event would be logged with this name (see Figure 19.27). As you can see, the MTA server, ADMIN, has successfully started. When the MTA begins, we can use our Event Viewer to permeate through the event detail.

As you can see, Exchange provides numerous messages to the event log. If you have trouble with communication between Exchange and the Microsoft Mail Post Office, you can adjust the sensitivity of the auditing levels.

FIG. 19.27 The Windows NT event log will store a significant amount of events from the Exchange server. Each process has a unique service ID.

Adjusting the Auditing Levels for the Microsoft Mail Connector

To assist with debugging and routing problems between Exchange and Microsoft Mail, you may want to increase the level of auditing for the Microsoft Mail Connector.

To adjust the audit levels, follow these steps:

1. Open the MS Mail Connector Property page and select the tab for Diagnostics Logging (see Figure 19.28).

2. The left panel displays the services to be monitored, and the right panel displays the categories and logging levels. The service is the Microsoft Mail Interchange Connector. The categories to adjust are the MS Mail Interchange Connector, the MS Mail PC MTA, and the MS Mail AppleTalk MTA. (Note that the AppleTalk MTA is discussed in the next chapter.)

The levels indicate the level of granularity of information that you would like logged in to the event viewer. The levels for the MS Mail Connector are None, Minimum, Medium, and Maximum. Typically, you will have Minimum selected for the categories of the service that you are using. If you are not going to use the AppleTalk MTA, there is no need to turn logging on.

If problems do arise with the connections between Exchange and Microsoft Mail, you can increase the logging levels while you are in the debug mode. Realize that increasing the logging levels can potentially overload your event logs with an abundance of information as well as the system itself. The increase in logging should only be set while you are debugging a problem. Once the connection has been stabilized, it is a good idea to reduce the logging levels.

FIG. 19.28 The Microsoft Mail Connector page menu for adjusting system auditing levels.

If you are still having problems with Microsoft Mail message routing and the event logs are not providing the information necessary to solve the problem, try the following:

Configuring Directory Synchronization

The final component to configure is the Directory Synchronization between the Exchange server and Microsoft Mail.

This section will assume that the Directory Synchronization server is already set up and running on Exchange. Each site can only run one Directory Synchronization server. Each server, however, can support numerous directory requestors and remote directory requestors. In addition, this section will assume that Exchange and the Microsoft Mail Post Office can both send and receive messages via the Microsoft Mail Interchange Connector and the PC MTA. Directory Synchronization was explained in detail in Chapter 18, "Using Directory Replication and Synchronization."

Once the Directory Synchronization server is set up and configured on the Exchange server, there are a few steps needed to ensure that the MS Mail post offices are included in the synchronization process.

1. Make sure that the Exchange Site Directory Synchronization Service is installed and running (see Figure 19.29). Check your Windows NT Services applet to confirm this.

FIG. 19.29 The Exchange Directory Synchronization server properties.

2. Install and configure a remote directory requestor to synchronize the Exchange Global Address List (GAL) with the GAL on the Microsoft Mail 3.x post office network (see Figure 19.30).

The remote directory requestor has complete information necessary to communicate with the Exchange local post office prior to synchronizing with the connected Microsoft Mail Post Office.

3. Open the Microsoft Mail 3.x administration application and select the post office configuration options (see Figure 19.31).

From this panel you can configure the directory synchronization options, as well as the use of the global address for the local post office.

FIG. 19.30 The Exchange remote directory requestor used to synchronize with foreign systems, including Microsoft Mail 3.x.

4. From the Dir-sync menu, toggle to the Registration menu to configure the Directory Synchronization server information.

FIG. 19.31 Configuration options in the Microsoft Mail Administration program.

The information for the Directory Synchronization server will be the same as the Exchange MS Mail local post office. From this panel, enter the network, post office, and password for the server (see Figure 19.32).

5. From the Global Address menu in the post office configuration options, you will need to specify for the MS Mail 3.x post office to use the global address list.

Once the Microsoft Mail administration configuration is completed, stop and restart the Exchange Directory Synchronization Server service. Stop and restart the Microsoft Mail Connector Interchange as well.

FIG. 19.32 Creating a Directory Synchronization requestor in MS Mail.

In summary, there are many components required to connect Exchange with Microsoft Mail (PC) post offices. Each component of the Microsoft Mail Connector is tightly integrated with the components and services of Exchange to provide messaging functionality between the two mail systems.


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