DIGITAL_Enterprise_Mail_Monitor_______________ Server Release Notes September 1997 These notes describe any known problems you may meet when using the Mail Monitor server on OpenVMS Alpha, OpenVMS VAX, DIGITAL UNIX, and Windows NT. The notes also describe changes in the the software, since MAILbus Monitor Version 2.1. Software Version: Version 3.0. Revision/Update Information: This manual super- sedes the server and scanning module Release Notes for MAILbus Monitor Version 2.1. Operating System & Version: OpenVMS VAX Version 6.2 and later, or OpenVMS Alpha Version 6.2 and later, or Digital UNIX Version 3.2 and later, or Windows NT V3.51 or later (on Intel or Alpha). Digital Equipment Corporation __________________________________________________________ The information in this document is subject to change without notice and should not be construed as a commitment by Digital Equipment Corporation. Digital Equipment Corporation assumes no responsibility for any errors that may appear in this document. Possession, use, dissemination, or duplication of the software described in this documentation is authorized only pursuant to a valid written license from Digital or the third-party owner of the software copyright. No responsibility is assumed for the use or reliability of software or equipment that is not supplied by Digital Equipment Corporation. Digital Equipment Corporation makes no representations that the interconnection of its products in the manner described in this document will not infringe existing or future patent rights, nor do the descriptions contained in this document imply the granting of licenses to make, use, or sell equipment or software in accordance with the description. © Digital Equipment Corporation 1997. All Rights Reserved. The following are trademarks of Digital Equipment Corporation: ALL-IN-1, DEC, DECnet, DECwindows, DIGITAL UNIX, MAILbus, MAILbus 400, MailWorks, Message Router, OpenVMS, VAX, VAXcluster, VMScluster, and the DIGITAL logo. The following are third-party trademarks: Intel is a registered trademark of Intel Corporation. Microsoft, Microsoft Exchange Server and MS-DOS area registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. Internet is a registered trademark of Internet, Inc. UNIX is a registered trademark in the United States and other countries, licensed exclusively by X/Open Company Ltd. X/Open is a trademark of the X/Open Company Ltd. This document was prepared using VAX DOCUMENT, Version 2.1. ________________________________________________________________ Contents Preface.................................................. v 1 The DIGITAL Enterprise Mail Monitor Server 1.1 New Features................................. 1-1 1.2 Changes Since MAILbus Monitor Version 2.1.... 1-2 1.2.1 Changes to the Server.................... 1-2 1.2.1.1 Server Log Now Cycles on OpenVMS AXP... 1-2 1.2.1.2 Server Startup Is Now a Detached Process................................ 1-2 1.2.1.3 Server Logs Password Failures.......... 1-2 1.2.2 Changes to the Scanning Modules.......... 1-2 1.2.2.1 Control Scanning Module Requires Password............................... 1-3 1.2.2.2 MB400 Scanning Module No Longer Scans for the rfc1006 Process................ 1-3 1.2.2.3 MB400 Scanning Module Has Improved Checks for the [Queue] Section......... 1-3 1.2.2.4 MB400 Scanning Module Checks the OpenVMS V6 and V7 MTA$SERVER and MTA$MTS Images......................... 1-3 1.2.2.5 X500 Scanning Module Provides Improved Handling of Information from a Remote DSA ................................... 1-3 1.2.2.6 X500 Scanning Module Checks for Either DSA$SERVER_MAIN_V6.EXE or DSA$SERVER_MAIN_V7.EXE ................ 1-3 1.2.2.7 All Scanning Module Configuration Files Updated................................ 1-4 iii 1.2.3 Installation Changes..................... 1-4 1.2.3.1 Installation Procedure Offers No Default Password....................... 1-4 1.2.3.2 New Minimum Versions Required.......... 1-4 1.3 Overview of New Modules...................... 1-4 1.3.1 The Control Module (CONTROL)............. 1-5 1.3.2 The PING Module.......................... 1-5 1.3.3 Exchange Server Scanning Module (XCH).... 1-5 1.3.4 Office Server Scanning Module (OFFSVR)... 1-6 1.4 Mail Monitor on Windows NT - Displaying Performance Data............................. 1-6 1.5 Installation Information..................... 1-6 1.5.1 Prerequisites............................ 1-6 1.6 Known Problems............................... 1-6 1.6.1 Server Community Is Not Implemented...... 1-6 1.6.2 UIC Format for NAMON$SERVER Not Checked.................................. 1-7 1.6.3 Full Scan Slow in Some Cases............. 1-7 1.6.4 Password for the Control Module Is Not Encrypted................................ 1-7 1.6.5 XCH Does Not Use NT Event Numbers as a Key for Its Scan......................... 1-7 1.6.6 Need for Reboot After PING Exits Ungracefully............................. 1-7 1.6.7 Recurrent Scan Failure on Large DECnet Event File............................... 1-8 1.6.8 "Send NT Message to Domain" Excludes Windows 95 Users......................... 1-8 1.6.9 AgeSeverity Problem in MB400 Module on OpenVMS Systems.......................... 1-9 iv ________________________________________________________________ Preface Purpose of this Document This manual describes these things: o New features o Problems resolved since MAILbus Monitor Version 2.1 o Known problems when using the DIGITAL Enterprise Mail Monitor server Intended Audience This guide is for system managers. Structure of this Document This guide contains one chapter. Associated Documents o DIGITAL Enterprise Mail Monitor Server Guide (one book) o DIGITAL Enterprise Mail Monitor: Installing on a Windows NT System (four-page card) o DIGITAL Enterprise Mail Monitor: Installing on a DIGITAL UNIX System (four-page card) o DIGITAL Enterprise Mail Monitor: Installing on an OpenVMS System (four-page card) v 1 ________________________________________________________________ The DIGITAL Enterprise Mail Monitor Server This chapter contains the following information: o New Features o Changes Since the MAILbus Monitor Version 2.1 o Overview of New Modules o Mail Monitor on Windows NT - Displaying Performance Data o Installation information o Known problems 1.1 New Features DIGITAL Enterprise Mail Monitor V3.0 is different from MAILbus Monitor in various ways: o There is a Windows NT server o There are several new scanning modules: - Management Control module (CONTROL) for Windows NT Systems - IP Ping Scanning Module (PING) for Windows NT Systems - Exchange Server Scanning Module (XCH) for Windows NT Systems - Office Server (OFFSVR) for OpenVMS Systems o The documentation set is simplified o There have been several licensing changes since MAILbus Monitor Version 2.1. See the installation cards for further details of the server licenses. The DIGITAL Enterprise Mail Monitor Server 1-1 The DIGITAL Enterprise Mail Monitor Server 1.1 New Features o The comments in the initialization files have been clarified and expanded. In a later release there will also be a client that runs on Windows NT, but for Version 3.0 it is necessary to use the Motif client. There is no license for the Motif client. 1.2 Changes Since MAILbus Monitor Version 2.1 This section documents features that have changed since the last release (MAILbus Monitor Version 2.1). 1.2.1 Changes to the Server This section deals with defects corrected in the server. 1.2.1.1 Server Log Now Cycles on OpenVMS AXP The server log did not cycle in the last release. This meant that the file grew bigger and bigger, and on OpenVMS AXP this caused a bug. Now the size of the log is controlled by your configuration setting. When the size reaches this maximum, new log entries are added starting at the beginning of the file, overwriting the earliest lines. 1.2.1.2 Server Startup Is Now a Detached Process On OpenVMS systems, the Mail Monitor now runs as a detached process with the name NAMON$SERVER. Before, the server was a job in the SYS$BATCH queue. 1.2.1.3 Server Logs Password Failures When an attempt to get access to the Control module fails, the Mail Monitor now reports the failure in the Control scanner log. 1.2.2 Changes to the Scanning Modules This section deals with changes to the new scanning modules. 1-2 The DIGITAL Enterprise Mail Monitor Server The DIGITAL Enterprise Mail Monitor Server 1.2 Changes Since MAILbus Monitor Version 2.1 1.2.2.1 Control Scanning Module Requires Password The Control module now requires a password. If you supply no password, the Control module is disabled. Use the [Password] section of the initialization file to add or modify the password. In addition, on Windows NT systems, you can specify a password during installation (see Section 1.2.3.1). 1.2.2.2 MB400 Scanning Module No Longer Scans for the rfc1006 Process On DIGITAL UNIX systems, the MB400 scanning module no longer checks whether the rfc1006 process exists. 1.2.2.3 MB400 Scanning Module Has Improved Checks for the [Queue] Section The MB400 scanning module now provides more sensitive and more configurable age-checking for MPDUs in the MTA queue. For details of these checks, see the DIGITAL Enterprise Mail Monitor Server Guide, Section 3.6.3.1 (for DIGITAL UNIX systems) or 3.7.5.1 (for OpenVMS systems). 1.2.2.4 MB400 Scanning Module Checks the OpenVMS V6 and V7 MTA$SERVER and MTA$MTS Images On an OpenVMS system, this scanning module used to check for the images MTA$SERVER.EXE and MTA$MTS.EXE (and report an error). The scanning module now checks for the MTA$SERVER_V6.EXE and MTA$MTS_V6.EXE or MTA$SERVER_V7.EXE and MTA$MTS_V7.EXE. 1.2.2.5 X500 Scanning Module Provides Improved Handling of Information from a Remote DSA For details of these changes, see DIGITAL Enterprise Mail Monitor Server Guide Section 3.6.3 (for DIGITAL UNIX systems) or 3.7.2 (for OpenVMS Systems). 1.2.2.6 X500 Scanning Module Checks for Either DSA$SERVER_MAIN_V6.EXE or DSA$SERVER_MAIN_V7.EXE On an OpenVMS system, this scanning module used to check for the image DSA$SERVER_MAIN.EXE (and report an error). The scanning module now checks for the appropriate image. The DIGITAL Enterprise Mail Monitor Server 1-3 The DIGITAL Enterprise Mail Monitor Server 1.2 Changes Since MAILbus Monitor Version 2.1 1.2.2.7 All Scanning Module Configuration Files Updated The configuration files for all scanning modules (including the templates for new OpenVMS and DIGITAL UNIX scanning module configuration files) have been updated to improve readability and correct typographical errors. Changes include both the order of sections and the expansion and clarification of comments. 1.2.3 Installation Changes This section deals with defects corrected in and about the installation process (not necessarily the procedure itself). 1.2.3.1 Installation Procedure Offers No Default Password If you did not supply a password for the Control module, MAILbus Monitor Version 2.1 assigned a default password. Now, if you do not specify a password, the Control module is disabled. On DIGITAL UNIX and OpenVMS systems, you must enable the Control module by editing the configuration file and adding a [Password] section, in this format: [Password] your-password On Windows NT systems, you can also edit the initializa- tion file. But the installation procedure for the Windows NT Mail Monitor server prompts for a password, so that the Control module is automatically enabled. 1.2.3.2 New Minimum Versions Required The operating system pre-requisites have changed. The new values are not checked by the installation procedure, so that it is now possible to install Mail Monitor on a platform on which it cannot run. See Section 1.5.1 for details. 1.3 Overview of New Modules The DIGITAL Enterprise Mail Monitor manual provides full instructions for configuring scanning modules. The rest of this section deals with each of the new modules. 1-4 The DIGITAL Enterprise Mail Monitor Server The DIGITAL Enterprise Mail Monitor Server 1.3 Overview of New Modules 1.3.1 The Control Module (CONTROL) This scanning module provides the user of a Windows NT system with the same facilities as users of MAILbus Monitor V2.0 or V2.1 already have. It allows you, from the Motif Client, to trigger actions on the system where the server runs. See Section 3.2 of DIGITAL Enterprise Mail Monitor Server Guide for intructions on adding commands to the Control module. 1.3.2 The PING Module The PING module lets you use the PING command to check whether the Mail Monitor server can reach other nodes. To add a node for scanning by the PING module, edit the initialization file and add a [Node nodename] section, with an Address entry in the format Address=IPaddress. Other optional parameters are explained in the DIGITAL Enterprise Mail Monitor Server Guide in these sections: For Windows NT systems Section 3.5.2 For DIGITAL UNIX systems Section 3.6.6 For OpenVMS systems Section 3.7.7 1.3.3 Exchange Server Scanning Module (XCH) Mail Monitor reports event log records for new events (since last the scan), and monitor records for events you specify in the initialization file. Getting Started In the initialization file, find the entry that you want to change and edit its value. Note that by default Mail Monitor monitors the process DXA (Directory Synchronization). If this is not running on your system, you can remove this process from Mail Monitor's checks by deleting these two entries from the initialization file: o Process dsa o NTService Microsoft Exchange Directory Synchronization For further details of configuring the XCH module, see Chapters 3 and 6 of the Mail Monitor manual. The DIGITAL Enterprise Mail Monitor Server 1-5 The DIGITAL Enterprise Mail Monitor Server 1.3 Overview of New Modules 1.3.4 Office Server Scanning Module (OFFSVR) OpenVMS systems can now run a scanning module that scans Office Server V4.0 and later. For full details of what the OFFSVR scanning module does, and how to configure it, refer to the DIGITAL Enterprise Mail Monitor Server Guide. 1.4 Mail Monitor on Windows NT - Displaying Performance Data The Motif Client does not automatically have the Perf Counter tool configured. To configure this tool for a Windows NT server, go to the Tools Panel. Select the File /Configure Tool... menu option and click the Default Tool... button. This does not destroy any new tools you have created, and automatically configures the Perf Counter tool. Note, however, that any customization you have made to existing tools will be lost. 1.5 Installation Information This section contains information on the installation. For more detailed information, see the installation card for your operating system. 1.5.1 Prerequisites To install the Mail Monitor server, you need one of the following: o An Alpha system running DIGITAL[TM] UNIX[R] Version 3.2D or later or OpenVMS[TM] Version 6.2 or later o A VAX[TM] system running OpenVMS Version 6.2 or later o A Windows NT System (Version 3.51 or later) running on either Intel or Alpha 1.6 Known Problems The following is a list of identified problems: 1.6.1 Server Community Is Not Implemented Server communities, a facility previously available on DIGITAL UNIX and OpenVMS systems, are not now possible on any platform, and there are no plans to change this in future releases. Instead, create a hierarchy of servers. 1-6 The DIGITAL Enterprise Mail Monitor Server The DIGITAL Enterprise Mail Monitor Server 1.6 Known Problems 1.6.2 UIC Format for NAMON$SERVER Not Checked On OpenVMS systems, the installation procedure prompts for a UIC for the NAMON$SERVER account, but does not check the format of the UIC that the user supplies. As a result, it is possible to specify a badly-formed UIC which causes a system crash later on in the installation. 1.6.3 Full Scan Slow in Some Cases In the case of some scanning modules, a full scan can take several minutes. For example, the MB400 scan can take ten minutes, while the user may want to check only the counters (which could be scanned in much less time, if it were possible to configure the extent of the scan). 1.6.4 Password for the Control Module Is Not Encrypted The password for the Control module is stored in plain text. To reduce this security risk, you should use your operating system's file protection mechanism. 1.6.5 XCH Does Not Use NT Event Numbers as a Key for Its Scan The XCH scanning module scans for NT events, but - although noting the number that Windows NT provides for each event and returning it in the Monitor record - the scanning module cannot scan for a particular event. Some scanning modules, running on OpenVMS or DIGITAL UNIX systems, can scan for particular DECnet-Plus events and assign different severities accordingly. 1.6.6 Need for Reboot After PING Exits Ungracefully If Mail Monitor server on a Windows NT system exits in an uncontrolled way while the PING scanning module is still running, it is necessary to reboot the system if you want to use the PING server again. The correct way to exit is to wait until any PING test is completed before stopping the server. This problem usually occurs infrequently, but it can arise in three cases: o The server happens to be shut down while the PING scanning module is running. The DIGITAL Enterprise Mail Monitor Server 1-7 The DIGITAL Enterprise Mail Monitor Server 1.6 Known Problems o The server happens to crash while the PING scanning module is running. o A PING scan lasts longer than the MaxRun time specified in the configuration file. Note, however, that most PING tests are complete very soon after they start; depending on the network, a PING test to any one host should not last long. So any of these cases is more likely to arise if the PING scanning module's initialization file has a long list of hosts to check. Workaround, to avoid rebooting your system Modify the service startup (using the Services option from the Control Panel) to use a privileged interactive account, so that you can stop any ping.exe process that is suspended. Note that this account must be both privileged and interactive; the default non-interactive system account, for example, does not offer this service. 1.6.7 Recurrent Scan Failure on Large DECnet Event File The DECnet Event File can be very large. While parsing the DECnet Event File, a scanning module may exceed the MaxRun value specified. When this happens, the server stops the scanning module before it finishes the scan; no results are transmitted. Subsequent scans will fail for the same reason. To avoid this, you must tune your system to have either a larger MaxRun or a smaller DECnet Event File. Workaround, to avoid tuning your system If you do not want to change the settings in your initialization files, you can work around this problem by deleting the DECnet Event File and then recreating an empty one. 1.6.8 "Send NT Message to Domain" Excludes Windows 95 Users When you use the service " Send NT Message to Users " the message is broadcast to NT users but not Windows 95 users in the same NT Domain. 1-8 The DIGITAL Enterprise Mail Monitor Server The DIGITAL Enterprise Mail Monitor Server 1.6 Known Problems 1.6.9 AgeSeverity Problem in MB400 Module on OpenVMS Systems The MB400 scanning module may not always report oldest message age correctly. If the MB400 scanning module reports the oldest MPDU with a negative age (in the Message Count field), you should edit its configuration file to change the following lines: AgeSeverity1=3 AgeSeverity2=4 Edit the error levels so that these two lines read as follows: AgeSeverity1=1 AgeSeverity2=1 The scanning module will still report the information, but Monitor Records will not be displayed as an error or fatal error (severity 3 or 4). The DIGITAL Enterprise Mail Monitor Server 1-9