Chapter 4. Administering the SCOoffice Mail Server

Table of Contents

The admin Administrative Account
The Server Manager Administration Interface
Managing Domains
Managing Mail Users
Managing Mail Aliases
Managing System Services
Advanced SCOoffice Mail Server Administration

The SCOoffice Mail Server provides simple graphical administration using the Server Manager. This chapter describes:

Note

We strongly recommend that you implement a backup procedure for your SCOoffice Mail Server immediately.

For more information, see Chapter 2 “Configuration and Administration” and Chapter 3 “Mail Administration” in the Administrator's Guide.

The admin Administrative Account

The SCOoffice Mail Server has a single administrative account named "admin". This is the name you use to log into the Server Manager for administering your messaging server. It is a valid mail account and can receive mail.

The admin account is managed like other user accounts as described in “Managing Mail Users”. You can also change the admin password by clicking on Admin Password under the System menu in the Server Manager.

Before proceeding with SCOoffice Mail Server configuration, we recommend that you change the initial admin password, set by default to "admin." Neither the admin password nor any user password can be a null string. You must enter a string of at least one character; we recommend that you follow conventional password precautions as described in Chapter 8 “Changing Your SCOoffice Mail Server Password”.

Caution

You must select and maintain passwords carefully to ensure the security of your SCOoffice Mail Server. Insufficient password protection is a security risk.

In addition to the admin account, the SCOoffice Mail Server provides a default postmaster mail alias. Postfix (as well as most other MTAs) require that an account for "postmaster" exists so that messages to the address "postmaster@host.domain" can be delivered successfully. It also receives any error messages generated by Postfix. The postmaster mail alias is created automatically during installation with the "admin" administrator account as its sole member. A postmaster alias is also created automatically in new domains. This alias should not be deleted from the domain.

The Server Manager Administration Interface

The Server Manager is the principle SCOoffice Mail Server administrative utility. It is a web-based management interface with support for all functions required to administer an office mail server, including the ability to:

  • Add/delete/modify virtual hosts, mail domains, mail users, and mail aliases.

  • Monitor mail services.

  • Control client user privileges (ACLs, Access Control Lists).

The Server Manager provides mail server administration screens accessible only by an administrator account with the login name "admin". By default, the Server Manager is served by the Apache webserver at:

https://hostname/msg

where hostname is the value returned by the hostname(1) on the SCOoffice Mail Server system.

Note

SSL (Secure Socket Layer) connections are enabled by default in the SCOoffice Mail Server, allowing you to log in to the Server Manager immediately using an https URL. We strongly recommend that you use secure SSL connections provided by the https URL whenever possible.

The Server Manager screen includes menus for managing:

It also includes:

  • a Domain selection box.

  • a general HELP link that connects to the DocView online help system.

  • screen specific Help screens that connect to individual topics in the Administrator's Guide.

  • a LOGOUT button.

Note

To protect SCOoffice Mail Server security, we recommend that you log out of the Server Manager, rather than simply closing the browser window, whenever you are not actively using the Server Manager.

Managing Domains

To administer domains with the Server Manager, click on these buttons in the Domains menu:

View Domains

List the mail domains controlled by the SCOoffice Mail Server.

Create Domain

Enter a mail domain name and description.

Delete Domain

Delete the domain names you select.

To change domain names, including the primary domain, use the msgdomainmove(8) utility. For more information, see the msgdomainmove(8) manual page.

The SCOoffice Mail Server supports multiple mail domains, with user and alias lists displayed in per-domain views. To switch to a different domain, select it from the Domain box in the upper right of the screen.

For information about managing virtual domains (multiple mail domains presented by the same mail server), see “Managing Mail Domains” in the Administrator's Guide.

Managing Mail Users

You can use the Server Manager to create and modify mail accounts for users who receive mail on the SCOoffice Mail Server. In the Users menu, click on:

Create User

Creates a new user. Required entries are marked with an asterisk (*):

  • *User ID; an identification name for the user which is unique for all domains in your entire SCOoffice Mail Server installation.

  • First Name

  • Last Name

  • *Mail address

  • *Password

  • Calendar Node (if SCOoffice Mail Connector for Microsoft Outlook is installed)

The following optional information can also be entered by the admin user when the account is created or updated later by the client user (on some browsers, these options are displayed when you click on More):

  • Work Phone

  • Mobile Phone

  • Home Phone

  • Pager

  • FAX

  • Title

  • Office Location

  • Alternate Mail (Only the admin user can modify this field, client users cannot do so.)

  • Forward Mail To:

When you have entered all required and optional information, click on Create to enter the new user account information.

View Users

Lists all users in the selected mail domain, sorted by User ID. Clicking on the User ID link displays the user's complete account information. From this display you can take these User Actions:

  • Modify the listed settings.

  • change the user's Password.

  • view and modify the user's mail Quota

  • view Aliases to which the user is subscribed.

  • Delete this user.

Clicking on Quota lists mail quota usage for all users, sorted by email address. Click on email address to set or modify the quota.

To set or modify the user's mail quota limit, click on View Users and

  • select a User ID and click on Quota, or

  • select the Quota view and click on an email address.

Quota limits apply to the user's entire mailstore, including inbox and folders. Enter a value in megabytes of disk space; enter NONE to remove the quota. For more information, see “Setting Mail Quotas” in the Administrator's Guide.

 

Find User

Searches for a user in the selected mail domain. You can enter a full or partial word to be found in the User ID or any of the Name fields. Click on the User ID links in the search results to display user information and take User Actions.

Delete User

Selects a User ID to delete. When you click on Select, all the associated user information is erased from the LDAP database. You can also delete users from the View Users display.

Managing Mail Aliases

You can use the Server Manager to create and modify mail aliases. In the Aliases menu, click on:

Create Alias

Creates a new alias in the current domain. Required entries are marked with an asterisk (*):

  • *Alias (the alias name)

  • Description

  • *Owner (at least one owner is required, multiple owners are permitted and recommended)

  • Membership (whether users may add or remove members to or from the alias); the default is Open.

  • *Alias Members (at least one member is required)

If users have permission to create aliases (see “Managing System Services” below), they can also view and manage these fields. However, only the admin user can enable the following alias features (on some browsers, these options are displayed when you click on More):

Append File

The path of a file on the system to which mail to this alias will be appended.

Pipe Program

A program through which to pipe a message sent to the alias.

When you have entered all required and optional information, click on Create to enter the new alias information.

 
View Aliases

Lists all aliases in the selected mail domain, sorted by Alias. Clicking on the Alias link displays the complete alias information. From this display you can take these Alias Actions:

  • Modify the settings listed

  • add or remove alias Members

  • add or remove alias Owners

  • specify Programs/Files for the alias

  • Delete this alias

Find Alias

Searches for an alias in the selected mail domain. You can enter a full or partial word to be found in the Alias or Name fields. Click on the Alias links in the search results to display alias information and take Alias Actions.

Delete Alias

Selects an Alias to delete. You can also delete users from the View Aliases display.

Note

We recommend that every alias have at least two owners, and that important aliases also include the admin user as an owner or member.

Managing System Services

Use the selections in the Server Manager System menu to control general SCOoffice Mail Server system services:

Admin Password

Enter and confirm the new admin password value, then click on Apply to complete the change.

User Access

You can grant or deny these global access privileges for users in all mail domains controlled by the SCOoffice Mail Server:

  • User Profile Privileges:

    • Users can change their own password

    • Users can change their own profile

    • Users can change their own mail forward address

    • Users can change their own vacation notice

    • Users can change their own junk mail settings

  • User Alias Privileges:

    • Users can create mail aliases

    • Users can add aliases as members of an alias

    • Users can add remote members to aliases

The default for all these settings is Yes.

Note

When you change these settings, Preferences Manager screens for users currently logged in are not changed dynamically. We recommend that you alert SCOoffice Mail Server users when global or individual changes are made to their privileges.

 

Mail Services

The Server Manager allows you to view the status and perform certain actions on the SCOoffice Mail Server component servers:

  • cyrus - IMAP/POP Server

  • docview - OpenLinux Documentation Server

  • ldap - OpenLDAP Directory Server

  • postfix - Mail Transport Agent (MTA)

Junk Mail

The Server Manager allows you to control access to the Realtime Blackhole List (RBL) mail filtering service. Click on:

Reject messages

to enable RBL service

Don't use RBL

to disable RBL service

Then click on Apply to complete the change.

Note

RBL is a subsciption service that must be contracted before mail is filtered. For more information, see “Junk Mail Filtering”.

Advanced SCOoffice Mail Server Administration

Most routine SCOoffice Mail Server administration can be performed using the Server Manager interface. Nonetheless, there are a number of advanced tasks that must be performed from the command line or other interfaces, as documented in the Administrator's Guide.

Note

In addition to the topics in this chapter, we recommend that you consult the SCOoffice Mail Server Late News document, which is updated regularly on the SCO website:

Command line administration

Many of the functions available from the Server Manager can be performed at the command line; for example, adding multiple users with the msgusercreate(8) command. See “Administrative Interfaces” in the Administrator's Guide.

Importing user data

You can import user data from other systems; for example, using the msgusermigrate(8) command to convert a UNIX system /etc/password file into an LDAP datastore. See “Importing User Data” in the Administrator's Guide.

SCOoffice Mail Server component administration

Although the SCOoffice Mail Server ships with reasonable default settings for its principle LDAP, Postfix, and Cyrus components, each can be customized. See the individual component documentation listed on the DocView SCOoffice Mail Server home page.

Caution

Certain default parameters of these components cannot be changed without disabling your SCOoffice Mail Server installation. See Chapter 6 “Managing SCOoffice Mail Server Components” in the Administrator's Guide for a list of these parameters.

 

Mailbox recovery

You can perform disaster recovery on user mailboxes with Cyrus utilities. See “Mail Directory Recovery ” in the Administrator's Guide.

Enabling anti-virus protection

The SCOoffice Mail Server provides simple integration with commercial anti-virus software, and it supports Postfix component configuration for mail filtering. See “Avoiding Viruses” in the Administrator's Guide.

Virtual domains

The Server Manager can be used to create virtual domains (multiple mail domains presented by the same mail server). See “Managing Mail Domains” in the Administrator's Guide.

SSL security administration

While the SCOoffice Mail Server provides SSL (Secure Socket Layer) configuration by default using demonstration keys, many SSL benefits are not available without a signed certificate and key. See “Enabling SSL” in the Administrator's Guide.