cheredenine Posted December 16, 2008 Posted December 16, 2008 We're currently languishing in the 19th century as far as email is concerned - RM Easymail as provided by the CC isn't the best way to do it in my opinion. I had originally planned to go down the Exchange route, but it seems like the costs will be too great, so I'm interested in an open source alternative. I gather several people on here have had success with Zimbra, so i have some questions: Is the free version sufficiently full-featured to use longterm? To put in perspective, our users currently log in to a webmail client everytime they want to access email, so Outlook integration isn't necessarily an expectation. Is it possible, with the free version, to use IMAP for those users who might still want Outlook (or any other compatible email software). I've an idea that POP3 is possible, but i don't want email stores spread over every PC on site and not backed up.. Is AD integration possible for automatic account set up? Any other advice? Alternative suggests? Shortcuts to make things easier? I've had some exposure to Ubuntu in the past, but don't want to make things more difficult for myself by using a GUI-less server edition of the OS - I'm presuming Zimbra will work alright on the normal desktop version? Cheers!
kmount Posted December 16, 2008 Posted December 16, 2008 Yes its full featured. Yes you can use IMAP. AD integration is possible for authentication and there's scripts available to bulk import your users as is. I'd urge you to install the server version of Ubuntu instead of the Desktop as there are differences in the I/O functions etc. Even if you install GUI onto the server version if you want to ... Hope this helps.
reggiep Posted December 16, 2008 Posted December 16, 2008 @KMOUNT. Does that mean it will not work on desktop ubuntu? I am much more comfortable with the desktop version and have run all my other projects with it?
kmount Posted December 16, 2008 Posted December 16, 2008 It will work, I just wouldn't advise it. A bit like I wouldn't advise running server software on XP over 2003 if I could help it.
webman Posted December 16, 2008 Posted December 16, 2008 It is fully-featured for use - the only things you benefit if you pay is the support, Blackberry/push mail, hot backup etc. We use exclusively the web client too to avoid nasty Outlook PST problems with profiles and so everyone is using the same interface (easier from support and training perspective). We use Mozilla Prism as a front-end client to the web interface because it's rendering engine is far superior and quicker than IE, gives the users of an "application" feel, can have popup notifications, and is separate from the machine's web browser. I developed a small C# launcher program for this too that makes use of Zimbra's pre-authentication functionality to provide seamless and passwordless logins on the network. A GUI is an unnecessary overhead on a server - it's better to manage files via WinSCP or a console session via PuTTY and SSH.
Ric_ Posted December 16, 2008 Posted December 16, 2008 You really don't need a GUI on the server to manage Zimbra... the admin controls are web based and you rarely need the console unless you are upgrading. Webman's little gubbins all sound good too... if only he would share them with all us other 'geekers P.S. I'd use Debian over Ubuntu because I'm awkward
kmount Posted December 16, 2008 Posted December 16, 2008 I decided to use Ubuntu because it had a 64bit version available to deal with my 16GB of RAM!
reggiep Posted December 16, 2008 Posted December 16, 2008 We use Mozilla Prism as a front-end client to the web interface. Thanks for the nod to prism, I'm just looking at it now and it looks very interesting.
DMcCoy Posted December 16, 2008 Posted December 16, 2008 Whatever you use make sure it's a version that's listed as compatible, such as the Ubuntu LTS server versions, you can have issues with missing packages during install and upgrades if you don't. It's best to start with the basic ubuntu server install without any existing apache/sql installed.
cheredenine Posted December 16, 2008 Author Posted December 16, 2008 Thanks for all the advice so far - looks like it should be pretty useful! A couple more queries - has anyone got a handy screen shot of the web interface, and how is performance on middling server hardware?
kmount Posted December 16, 2008 Posted December 16, 2008 Get yourself a demo account and give it a whirl. Demo here. As for server specs, it's a tricky one, how many users are you looking at? We've bought a dual quad core xeon with 16GB of ram for ours, 1250 users, probably 250 concurrent. I dare say I overspecced?
Ric_ Posted December 16, 2008 Posted December 16, 2008 All the screenies you could desire are at View demos of Zimbra enterprise messaging and collaboration software along with little videos It really is dead easy to use.
cheredenine Posted December 16, 2008 Author Posted December 16, 2008 We're a small school - so no more than 700 users, the majority of which are pupils and may well be happy with our up-coming VLE's email provision. Its really the staff who have the major issues with Easymail, so i'm guessing quite a modest server would do the trick. Cheers, everyone!
Navaho Posted December 16, 2008 Posted December 16, 2008 Just a quick point - if you don't like using a command line, Webmin might be a useful alternative to a full GUI install. I haven't used it for some time, but I found it useful before I became confident enough to just use a command line.
Geoff Posted December 16, 2008 Posted December 16, 2008 Webmin doesn't work correctly on Debian based Linux distros. You're recommended to use ebox instead. eBox Downloads | eBox Platform But IMHO it's well worth your time learning your way around the Linux shell. It's a useful skill.
kmount Posted December 16, 2008 Posted December 16, 2008 Wouldn't touch Webmin with a barge pole, had a customers box rooted because of it. Mind you, with effort I'm sure they'd have found another way.
pete Posted December 16, 2008 Posted December 16, 2008 iirc there was a small celebration among the ubuntu developers when they no longer had to support webmin.
cheredenine Posted December 17, 2008 Author Posted December 17, 2008 One further question - are there any issues with Zimbra co-existing with other applications? I have a server in mind to act as a link between outside world and our MIS server, with Apache doing reverse proxy duty - would this cause problems for Zimbra or vice versa?
webman Posted December 17, 2008 Posted December 17, 2008 The Zimbra documentation recommends it runs on its own dedicated server; but having said that I don't see why it won't be possible to run Zimbra webmail on different ports, and still have your Apache reverse proxy running as it is (as long as that is all you're running as well as Zimbra and the server has the resources to support it). Just make sure the server OS is supported by Zimbra and meets the minimum/recommended requirements.
cheredenine Posted December 17, 2008 Author Posted December 17, 2008 I need to do some more homework on this, so i'm kinda just thinking aloud here, not asking for answers... But if i'm reverse proxy-ing anyway, i guess i could keep the ports as default (ie 80 or 443 accordingly) but point the server to itself. Save our staff having to remember URLs with port numbers in. Or maybe, if possible, use Apache to redirect to itself on a different port. Sad, i know, but i can't wait to get started playing with this sort of thing. Just need the hardware to do it!
webman Posted December 17, 2008 Posted December 17, 2008 If you have Apache listening on port 80, you can't have Zimbra listening on the same port. But yes, by all means, have Apache reverse-proxy for your email access to localhost:8080 and have Zimbra listening on 8080.
CarolBooth Posted January 13, 2009 Posted January 13, 2009 I second the recommendation of Webmin. I had to start from scratch with linux recently to set up Moodle and we're now settingup Zimbra. Webmin is fantastic because it shows you the options you might want without you having to know already that they exist (I did buy an Ubuntu server admininstration book too, but I'm like that). It's really helped me learn and get results while I'm learning.
CarolBooth Posted January 13, 2009 Posted January 13, 2009 Geoff, In what way does webmin not work? I've been using it happily on my ubuntu server for backups, some package management, file management and mySQL database management. Am I in danger of trouble later? Carol Webmin doesn't work correctly on Debian based Linux distros. You're recommended to use ebox instead. eBox Downloads | eBox Platform But IMHO it's well worth your time learning your way around the Linux shell. It's a useful skill.
Geoff Posted January 13, 2009 Posted January 13, 2009 As per https://answers.edge.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/2873 The following give the reasons that webmin was removed from Debian. As Ubuntu is a Debian derived package, it's not surprising Ubuntu doesn't have it either. webmin removed from the archive #343897 - ftp.debian.org: Please remove all webmin related packages - Debian Bug report logs #271505 - RFA: webmin -- Web-based administration toolkit - Debian Bug report logs
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