GroupWise X.400 Gateway and Third Party MTAs = How to know which Third Party MTA will work with my system.

(Last modified: 19Feb2003)

This document (10014715) is provided subject to the disclaimer at the end of this document.

goal

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Formerly TID #2913084

GroupWise 4.1 X.400 Gateway for NLM

Novell GroupWise 5.2

Novell GroupWise 5.5

fix

The GroupWise X.400 Gateway communicates with third party MTAs through a system of encoded files and shared directories. Outbound messages are converted from the GroupWise proprietary format to an X.400 format and then encoded using a set of encoding rules called Basic Encoding Rules (BER) that are ASN.1 compliant. The message is then copied to an MTA input queue, which is a directory common to both the GroupWise X.400 Gateway and the third party MTA. The MTA is responsible for routing the message properly.

To provide more detail, the file that ends up in the MTA input queue is a P1 Application Protocol Data Unit (APDU). P1 is the protocol for communication between X.400 MTAs. According to the X.400 recommendations, a P1 APDU may contain Interpersonal Messages (IPMs), Interpersonal Notifications (IPNs), Reports, or Probes. IPMs may be of a P2 format, or a P22 format. The difference between the P2 and the P22 formats is that P2 is the original 1984 X.400 recommendation for formatting IPMs, and P22 is the 1988 and 1992 extensions to that recommendation.

X.400 Customer Needs

When a customer decides to use the GroupWise X.400 Gateway, they might fall into two groups. The first group is those customers that are getting into X.400 messaging for the first time. Customers implementing X.400 for the first time will almost always get the X.400 service from an X.400 service provider or integrator. The provider or integrator will provide the physical network connection, the transport protocol services, and the third party MTA. These customers don't usually get a choice of what type of MTA they will use, because the service provider has most likely standardized on a specific brand of MTAs. The ONLY thing that these customers need to consider is what platform (OS/2 or NLM) will they run the GroupWise X.400 Gateway on. Platform selection suggestions follow later.

The second group of customers are those customers that already have X.400 in their messaging environment, and now they want to add GroupWise. In this case, the customer will almost certainly have an MTA already installed and running. These customers will want to know whether the MTA will work with GroupWise or not. According to development, and as stated in our documentation, the GroupWise X.400 Gateway has been tested with Isocor Isoplex 400, Isocor Isoplex 800, Retix Openserver, NetTel Route400, and DEC MRX (also called DEC Mailbus). "Tested" means that the product has been tested in a reliable configuration where the MTA was properly configured.

Of the second group, there may be customers that have an MTA other than those listed above. For these customers, they need to know that the GroupWise 4.1 X.400 Gateway Ver.2 is compliant with the 1984, 1988, and 1992 X.400 recommendations. They also need to know that our gateway communicates with the X.400 MTA via a set of shared directories with files that are P1 APDUs. Sometimes, these customers might understand it better if you say the files are X.400 ASN.1 encoded messages, as opposed to ASCII text files. This implies that the customer's MTA must be capable of scanning a gateway input queue, and distributing messages to an external gateway entity in the same format (P1 APDU).

Customers in the second group that either don't know the capability of their MTA or need assistance configuring it to work with the GroupWise X.400 Gateway should contact either the MTA software vendor or a qualified system integrator.

Platform Selection Suggestions

Of special consideration to all customers is the platform for the gateway. This type of decision is usually made upon the recommendations of a qualified system integrator, that will both implement and support the solution.

The GroupWise X.400 Gateway is available as a NetWare NLM, and as an OS/2 application. Remember that the gateway must have file copy rights to both the GroupWise domain directories (where the WPDOMAIN.DB and Message Server input/output queues are located) and to the X.400 MTA System directory (where the GATEWAY.DAT and MTA input/output queues are located). When selecting a platform for the MTA, consider the following:

1. Will the gateway have file copy access to the file system where the GroupWise domain is located?
2. Will the gateway have file copy access to the file system where the X.400 MTA is located?
3. What file system protocols will be necessary to communicate with both directory structures?
4. Will these protocols run reliably together?

Many of these questions yield answers and solutions that can be very complex. System integrators are the most qualified people to both provide and implement these solutions.

Platform Selection Examples

For example, if the GroupWise domain and MTA System directory are both located on a NetWare file server, NetWare NLM would be an excellent choice. The only consideration would be whether the file server would have enough memory, and whether the gateway should run locally or remotely.

As another example, if the GroupWise domain is on an IBM LAN Server, and the MTA System directory is on Unix machine, the OS/2 version of the gateway might be a good choice. The OS/2 machine would need to run IBM LAN Server requesters, TCP/IP, and NFS in order to access both directory structures.

As a final example, if the GroupWise domain is on an NT Server, and the MTA System directory is on a DEC VAX, the most likely solution would be the OS/2 version of the gateway. The OS/2 machine would need to be able to mount the file systems of both the NT Server and the VAX. NetWare NLM could not be a choice because NetWare is currently incapable of mounting an NT server (this may change in the future). However, moving the domain to NetWare might be an alternative worth exploring.

A Final Note On Technical Support

Novell Technical Support can assist customer in configuring the GroupWise X.400 Gateway. Technical Support can ensure that the gateway is writing the P1 APDU to the proper MTA input queue, and that the gateway is picking up P1 APDUs from the MTA output queue. For assistance in configuring file system access and third party MTAs, customers should contact their system integrator or X.400 service provider..

document

Document Title:	GroupWise X.400 Gateway and Third Party MTAs = How to know which Third Party MTA will work with my system.
Document ID:	10014715
Solution ID:	4.0.28636475.2283216
Creation Date:	20Aug1999
Modified Date:	19Feb2003
Novell Product Class:	Groupware

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