What's New in GroupWise 6.5

Articles and Tips: article

Adapted from various documents at http://www.novell.com/products/groupwise

01 Mar 2003

Novell recently released a new version of its GroupWise collaboration services software. This AppNote highlights the new features and enhancements that have been added to GroupWise 6.5.

Introduction
Overview of GroupWise 6.5 Enhanced and New Features
New Administrative Utilities
Enhanced Client Features
Improved Security
Spam Handling and Virus Scanning
Instant Messaging
Expanded Support for Mobile Devices
Open Standards and APIs for Developers
Conclusion

Topics	collaboration services, e-mail programs, groupware, GroupWise
Products	GroupWise 6.5
Audience	network designers, installers, administrators
Level	beginning
Prerequisite Skills	familiarity with GroupWise and groupware
Operating System	NetWare, Windows NT/2000
Tools	none
Sample Code	no

Introduction

Novell GroupWise, a key component of the Novell Nterprise solution family, is the premier communication and collaboration tool. Its innovative and open approach to collaboration services enables you to enhance security, control, mobility, and productivity, while reducing the cost of managing and maintaining essential communication and collaboration services.

The latest version, GroupWise 6.5, includes many new capabilities that let you take collaboration much further than you ever thought possible. The enhancements increase productivity by giving people greater control over their information, instant and mobile communications, and better tools for users to manage their day-to-day workload.

Overview of GroupWise 6.5 Enhanced and New Features

GroupWise 6.5 provides substantial improvements over GroupWise 6.0 in several key areas:

New Administrative Utilities. GroupWise 6.5 includes several new utilities for easier administration, especially in large systems with many users.
Expanded Client Features. The GroupWise 6.5 client has an updated look and feel. It features a new "checklist" user interface, built-in contact management, color-coded categories for e-mail messages, and the ability to edit the displayed subject of any item.
Improved Security. Administrators can now require Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) connections for all client access to GroupWise mailboxes. In addition, the Internet Agent and the WebAccess Agent can connect to post offices using SSL connections.
Spam Handling and Virus Scanning. GroupWise 6.5 has a new Junk Mail Handling feature that lets you control unwanted Internet e-mail messages (spam) through several layers of filtering, both at the user and Post Office Agent (POA) level. By integrating third-party software into GroupWise as trusted applications, you can scan messages and attachments for viruses and prevent virus damage to your system.
Instant Messaging. Novell GroupWise Messenger is a corporate-based, secure instant messaging solution that supports instant messaging, presence, and archiving of conversations. (GroupWise Messenger was not included in the GroupWise 6.5 Public Beta, but it is included in the released product.)
Expanded Support for Mobile Devices. Through various Novell partners, GroupWise 6.5 can connect with a broader range of mobile devices, including handhelds, personal digital assistants, cellular phones, and other wireless devices.
Open Standards and APIs for Developers. Novell's embracing of open standards, APIs, and partner scripting languages make it easier to develop add-on functionality and integrate GroupWise 6.5 with other systems.

This AppNote highlights some of the new features of GroupWise 6.5 in each of the areas listed above. For a complete list of new features and enhancements, see Appendix A in the Novell GroupWise 6.5 Installation Guide (available in Adobe PDF format with the product or online at http://www.novell.com/documentation).

New Administrative Utilities

GroupWise 6.5 includes several new administrative tools to help streamline user moves, facilitate user account recovery, provide more flexibility in Internet addressing, and allow for faster deletion of multiple accounts. This section highlights these and other new features in GroupWise 6.5 administration.

Note: The bulk of GroupWise 6.5 administration is performed through the Novell ConsoleOne utility.

User Move Status Utility

A new User Move Status utility (Tools > GroupWise Utilities > User Move Status) helps you track progress as you move users from one post office to another in ConsoleOne. Using the User Move Status utility, you can list users that are currently being moved and filter the list by domain, post office, and object. After starting to move users, you can use the User Move Status utility to monitor and control the move user process. You can view the current status of the move for each object and any errors that have occurred.

Recover Deleted Account Utility

Provided that you have a reliable backup procedure in place, you can restore recently deleted user and resource accounts in ConsoleOne. To restore a deleted account, click Tools > GroupWise Utilities > Recover Deleted Account. After the account has been re-created, use Tools > GroupWise Utilities > Backup/Restore Mailbox to complete the process.

Internet Addressing Changes

GroupWise 6.5 introduces several changes with regard to Internet addressing.

Allowed Address Formats. At the system level, you can select which address formats are allowed when receiving messages (for example, FirstName.Last- Name@InternetDomainName, UserID@InternetDomainName, and so forth). You can override these allowed address formats at the domain, post office, or user level. For example, you could allow all address formats at the system level; however, for a user named John Smith, you could override the settings to enable the user to receive messages as jsmith and john.smith, but not allow smith.john or jsmith.po.domain. You set system-level address formats in the Internet Addressing dialog box (ConsoleOne > Tools menu > GroupWise System Operations > Internet Addressing.
Free Form User Address for Internet Addressing Override. For the Internet Address override at the user level, you can enter the user address in any form as long as all characters are RFC-compliant (no spaces, commas, and so on). This eliminates the need to create gateway aliases for Internet addresses, and allows international organizations to more easily accommodate extended characters in user names. This option is set on the User object's GroupWise Internet Addressing page in ConsoleOne.
Prompt to Synchronize eDirectory E-Mail Address Attribute. If you change your Internet addressing options (for example, you change your preferred address format), you are prompted to update the eDirectory E-Mail Address attribute for all affected users. This prevents out-of-date e-mail address information in eDirectory. For large systems, the update process might take several minutes.
IDomains for External Objects. You can specify an Internet domain (IDomain) for any external (non-GroupWise) domains, post offices, and users defined in your system. Use the GroupWise Internet Addressing page on the Domain, Post Office, or User object.

Multiple Account Deletion

After selecting multiple GroupWise accounts for deletion and indicating whether to delete the eDirectory account, the GroupWise account, or both, the OK to All button applies your deletion options to all selected GroupWise accounts, rather than prompting you on each account to delete.

Agent Groups in GroupWise Monitor

In GroupWise 6.5 Monitor, you can create groups of agents to monitor. All agents in the group share the same threshold, notification, and polling options, so that you can set these options once for the agent group, rather than for each agent individually. For example, you could create an agent group for each region or site in your organization. The groups can be nested hierarchically. Agent groups can be created, renamed, deleted, and moved from group to group from both the Monitor Agent console and the Monitor Web console.

Enhanced Client Features

A common customer request Novell received regarding GroupWise was to update the Windows-based client. In response, the GroupWise 6.5 Client for Windows has been redesigned with a fresh new look and feel, and includes a number of new features and enhancements. (For more information about using these new features, click Help > What's New from the GroupWise client for Windows.)

Contacts Folder

To satisfy customer requests for better contact management, GroupWise 6.5 features a new system folder named Contacts. From the Contacts folder, you can view, create, and modify information about contacts, resources, organizations, and groups, instead of having to go to the Address Book as a separate tool. It offers a summary page that displays basic information for a given contact, but you can modity the way this information appears through an included XML template. Users can enter time-stamped comments and even use a new History tab to see everything they've sent to or received from a particular contact.

The Contacts folder, by default, represents the Frequent Contacts address book in the Address Book. (You can change the folder properties so that it represents a different address book in the Address Book.) Any modification you make in the Contacts Folder will also be made in the Frequent Contacts address book.

Checklist Folder

To better model the way in which users typically work within their mailbox folders, the GroupWise Task List folder has been replaced with a Checklist system folder. You can move any items (mail messages, phone messages, reminder notes, tasks, or appointments) to this folder and arrange them in the order you want to create a "task list." Each item is marked with a check box so that you can check off items as you complete them.

After you have moved an item to the Checklist folder, you can open it, click the Checklist tab, and assign it a due date. You can also mark it Completed and set its position in the list from the Checklist tab. This makes it easy to see which items are complete and which are still pending.

If you want another folder (including your main mailbox folder) to work the way the Checklist folder does, you can activate the checklist view by right-clicking the folder > clicking Properties > clicking the Display tab > selecting Checklist from the Setting Name drop-down list.

Editing Subject Lines (My Subject)

Another feature to help you organize your items is the ability to add your own personal subject to items in your item list. This personal subject then displays in the item list and in the Calendar. When you open the item, you can see the original subject line.

Other Client Enhancements

Other notable enhancements to the GroupWise 6.5 Client are as follows (for a complete list, see Appendix A of the Novell GroupWise 6.5 Installation Guide):

Filter Enhancements. The new Filter icon is two overlapping circles, one shaded and one white. The Filter icon is now located in the top right of the item list header. The Filter dialog box has been simplified. To access the previous Filter dialog box, click Advanced Filter in the Filter dialog box.
Calendar Enhancements. The Calendar has a new header with new navigation and date-choosing controls. These controls are consistent in every Calendar view. The colors in the Calendar have been softened to allow category colors of Calendar items to be more noticeable.
New Headers and Icons. Headers have been added above the item list, Folder List, Calendar, and QuickViewer. They have also been added to items. These headers provide information about the folder or view you are in. In items, they include drop-down lists that display who the item was sent to, recurring dates of auto-date appointments, attachment lists, and more. New icons have also been added, and existing icon images have been updated in the toolbar, Item List, Folder List, Calendar, attachment window, item views, and Quick- Viewer. Four new icons indicate status for sent items.
Attachment Enhancements. Opening attachments has been enhanced. If the attached item is a forwarded or embedded message, single-clicking the attachment opens the attached message in the message field of the open item. If the attached item is a file, single-clicking the attachment displays it in the message field of the open item.

Improved Security

GroupWise 6.5 gives you the best security available with support for all major standards including Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), Secure Multipurpose Internet Mail Extension (S/MIME), Public Key Infrastructure (PKI), and Transport Layer Security (TLS).

IMAP Support and Secure Connections via SSL

Both the GroupWise 6.5 NLM (NetWare) and Windows NT/2000 agents now support connections to IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol) e-mail clients. You can configure the POA for IMAP support on the POA Network Address page in ConsoleOne.

You can use SSL to secure connections between the POA and GroupWise clients or IMAP e-mail clients. You can disable, enable, or require (force) SSL connections for GroupWise clients either inside or outside your firewall and for IMAP e-mail clients that access the post office. If SSL is enabled, the client can access the post office with either an SSL or non-SSL connection. If SSL is disabled, SSL connections are not accepted by the POA. If SSL is required, only SSL connections are accepted by the POA. SSL options are configured on the POA Network Address and SSL Settings pages in ConsoleOne.

LDAP Server Pooling

LDAP server pooling helps enhance the scalability and fault tolerance of LDAP authentication for GroupWise users. Novell introduced initial LDAP authentication support in GroupWise 6 Support Pack 2. GroupWise 6.5 expands on that support to allow multiple LDAP servers to participate in the authentication process. You basically define a pool of LDAP servers so that if one LDAP server goes down, the POA moves on to the next one.

In GroupWise 6.5, LDAP server information is entered into ConsoleOne once per LDAP server, using Tools > GroupWise System Operations > LDAP Servers > Add. Then LDAP information specific to each post office is provided using the Security page for each Post Office object.

Trusted Server (Single Sign-On) Support

The GroupWise WebAccess Application can be configured to support Single Sign-On via trusted servers. When enabled, the WebAccess Application will authenticate users to GroupWise using authentication header credentials generated by an authentication server (for example, a Novell iChain Authentication Server). Authentication takes place through LDAP.

Spam Handling and Virus Scanning

GroupWise 6.5 features several new spam handling options that can be set at the POA, the Internet Agent, or by the user from the GroupWise client. By integrating third-party software into GroupWise as trusted applications, you can scan messages and attachments for viruses and prevent virus damage to your system.

Levels of Spam Control

Real-Time Blacklists. Many organizations, such as Mail Abuse Prevention System (MAPS), Open Relay DataBase (ORDB), and SpamCop, provide lists of IP addresses that are known to be open relay hosts or spam hosts. You can use the real-time blacklists provided by these sites to protect your users from offensive spam. You define blacklist sites through the Internet Agent object's Access Control Blacklists page in ConsoleOne.

Junk Mail Handling in the GroupWise Client. If administrators so choose, they can enable the new Junk Mail Handling feature in the GroupWise 6.5 client. This feature allows users to decide what to do with unwanted Internet e-mail that is sent to their GroupWise e-mail address. They can select to either "block" or "junk" unwanted e-mail messages. If they add the e-mail address or Internet domain to their Block List, further messages from that address or domain will never arrive in their mailbox. If they add the e-mail address or Internet domain to their Junk List, further messages from that address or domain are moved to a Junk Mail folder to be deleted or otherwise dealt with later.

Users can also specify a Trust List of addresses and domains that they never want to block or junk. They can also specify to junk all Internet e-mail originating from all users except those in their personal address books (including the Frequent Contacts address book).

Third-Party Content Filtering and Virus Protection

Administrators can use third-party content filtering products to block inbound e-mail based on criteria such as attachment extensions, word triggers, and origination DNS. Currently available products include GWAVA Anti-Virus and Anti-Spam Agents for GroupWise, RAV Antivirus, and Clearswift's MIMEsweeper. Other Novell partners are adopting APIs to bring their systems behind the GroupWise firewall.

In-house or third-party developers can also create trusted applications that can log into the GroupWise system and perform content filtering and virus scanning, among other functions. For more information, see "Trusted Applications" below.

Instant Messaging

Instant messaging (IM) has been steadily gaining in popularity since the introduction of enterprise IM products from AOL, Yahoo, and other vendors. It has also popped up as a feature in other collaboration products such as Lotus Sametime and Microsoft Exchange. However, network administrators are increasingly concerned about the lack of security in IM chat sessions.

To meet the need for a secure enterprise IM system that operates "behind the firewall," Novell offers GroupWise Messenger as part of GroupWise 6.5. GroupWise Messenger comes with logging and archiving tools, as well as policy-based management of the user contact list. Administrators will be able to control which groups can chat with which other groups. Messenger can also capture transcripts of every IM chat, and archive the sessions as searchable text.

Although this first iteration of GroupWise Messenger complies with the SIP/SIMPLE standard for instant messaging, it won't work straight out of the box with AOL or ICQ instant messaging. Novell is currently planning to provide connectivity between Messenger and other IM environments at the gateway level in the future.

Expanded Support for Mobile Devices

GroupWise partners have teamed up with Novell to provide a growing range of mobile support options for GroupWise users, including support for Palm OS and Pocket PC-based handhelds and personal digital assistants, and two-way access to Blackberry RIM and Synch ML devices such as cellular phones. For a list of Novell GroupWise partners, see http://www.novell.com/products/groupwise/ partners.

In addition, the Novell WebAccess and Wireless license, which is included at no additional cost, allows mobile workers not running the GroupWise client to access GroupWise at a greatly reduced fee, making it affordable to extend collaboration services to all your mobile employees.

Open Standards and APIs for Developers

In GroupWise 6.5, Novell has started to replace the system's back end with an architecture based on open standards. A standards-based back end will make it easy for third-party partners to integrate their products with GroupWise. Novell has also opened up the GroupWise message store for API accessibility, and provided a mechanism for trusted applications to access GroupWise mailboxes.

API Access to Message Store

Developers can use IMAP 4, a protocol-based API, to connect to the GroupWise post office agent. This allows any IMAP 4-compatible application to communicate with GroupWise 6.5.

Trusted Applications

Trusted applications are third-party programs that can log into the POA in order to access GroupWise mailboxes. This feature makes it easier for GroupWise partners and custom application developers to create products that can perform tasks such as mirroring the message store to another location or searching the store for content. The Trusted Applications feature in ConsoleOne (Tools > GroupWise System Operations > Trusted Applications) allows administrators to edit and delete the trusted applications that are available in a GroupWise system.

For instructions on adding trusted applications to your GroupWise system, see the GroupWise 6.5 NDK documentation at http://developer.novell.com/ndk/gw-index.htm.

Conclusion

This AppNote has given a brief overview of some of the many new features and enhancements in GroupWise 6.5. For more information, refer to the product Web page at http://www.novell.com/products/groupwise.

* Originally published in Novell AppNotes

Disclaimer

The origin of this information may be internal or external to Novell. While Novell makes all reasonable efforts to verify this information, Novell does not make explicit or implied claims to its validity.