openSUSE as Windows Domain and Mail Server

I want to use an openSUSE 12.x machine as a domain and mail server for ±15 Windows workstations. It must fetch mail from the ISP drop box (SMTP) and make it available for the workstations (POP).
Will Yast2 Mail do this or is there another, preferred?, mail server for openSuse?

On 2012-05-16 15:46, stefaug wrote:
>
> I want to use an openSUSE 12.x machine as a domain and mail server for
> ±15 Windows workstations. It must fetch mail from the ISP drop box
> (SMTP) and make it available for the workstations (POP).
> Will Yast2 Mail do this or is there another, preferred?, mail server
> for openSuse?

YaST mail is not a mail server, it just configures the mailserver: ie,
postfix, and fetchmail. IIRC it does not configure a pop/imap server. I’m
unsure about drop boxes via smtp.


Cheers / Saludos,

Carlos E. R.
(from 11.4 x86_64 “Celadon” at Telcontar)

Maybe OpenXchange will serve your needs as a mail server.

You’re asking a 2 part question

Domain Controller - Without a Windows box as at least the first DC in your Domain, the best you’ll likely be able to setup is something on Samba and OpenLDAP. It’ll perform most of the security and resource directory services similar to AD but you won’t have any of the services supporting configuration and maintenance of the Desktops in your Domain. I’ve heard some people use OpenLDAP as secondary DCs but I haven’t yet gotten around to actually exploring it.

Mail Server - If you’re looking to replace Exchange, then you should first take a look at what your Users are doing. If they’re doing “only” email, the SMTP/POP/IMAP might be OK, and there are a variety of mailservers that run on Linux which can do that… But, if your Users are doing a lot more like Collaboration (Calendar, IM, Offline Folders and Exchange folders) then ordinary mailservers would be insufficient. You’ll have to take a look at various (there are a few) mailservers that advertise themselves as being Exchange replacements, but YMMV. Also, consider whether your Users will want to continue using the Outlook mail client, for real Power Users it’s hard to replace (and Users often use Outlook with non-MS mail systems). Also, consider how important Domain Security integration is for you… typical POP mailservers don’t implement Domain Security by default… your Users may have to login to your mailserver separately from their initial Network login.

HTH,
TS

Hi,
Thanks for the advice.
Lets concentrate on the mail first:
The clients use Outlook but no collaboration.
I had a look at Mail Servers (hence the lengthy time lapse) and the following two looks like they might fit the requirements best out of those that I found:
Zimbra and Apache James. Any comments or other suggestions?

Our company uses Zimbra (Open Source Edition) for email and calendaring. We’ve had no issues with connectivity or availability.I prefer using the web client to the desktop client, but that’s just personal preference. It is similar to accessing via OWA with MS-Exchange.

Thanks Deano,
Busy downloading and will test☺

If you’re considering zimbra, another supposed “drop in Exchange replacement” I’ve used is Scalix. I built awhile back when openSUSE was officially supported (last I checked isn’t currently). Regardless whether officially supported or not, it wasn’t that difficult to install on openSUSE and ran like a champ.

Also supports a special Outlook connector, web client similar to OWA, most Exchange features. IMO should be OK for a smaller network like what you describe, I’d hesitate to deploy to a large client deployment

HTH,
TS