5 Configuring Email

5.1.1 Overview of Oracle Email Target Types

Oracle Email has several protocols and there are distinct services and servers for each type of protocol:

• IMAP

• SMTP Inbound

• SMTP Outbound

• POP

• Webmail

An Oracle Email server refers to a specific process running on a specific host. As a result, the up or down metric for a server indicates whether or not the process is running. An Oracle Email service refers to the service provided by a collection of processes. For a service, the up or down metric indicates whether or not a user can make use of that service.

These Oracle Email services and servers are often spread over hosts and databases. You create the targets as follows:

• One service target for each logical service

• One server target for each instance of a server running on a host

• One mail store target for each repository

As a result, Grid Control provides the following target types to help you manage your Email installations:

• IMAP Server

• SMTP IN Server

• SMTP OUT Server

• POP Server

• IMAP Service

• SMTP IN Service

• SMTP OUT Service

• POP Service

• Web Application for WebMail Service

• Mailstore

• OID Client

5.1.2 Checklist Before Configuring Grid Control for Oracle Email Monitoring

Based on the target types described above, it is critical to have knowledge of the details of your Email configuration before attempting to setup the email targets and group target. Here is a checklist of information that must be gathered before the following setup is done:

• Location of all mail stores

• Names for email services

• Test users for each email service

• Location of each protocol server

• Locations where beacons for Webmail must be established

• LDAP info for the OID Client target setup

5.1.3 Enabling Oracle Email Monitoring

Oracle Email monitoring is enabled by default when you first install and configure Oracle Collaboration Suite. When Email monitoring is enabled, monitoring data is collected in the es_perf schema.

See also "Mail Statistics Schema" in the chapter "Charting and Monitoring" of Oracle Email Administrator's Guide for Oracle Collaboration Suite Release 2 at:

http://www.oracle.com/technology/documentation/collab.html

Email monitoring must be enabled before you add or configure the Oracle Email targets. You can confirm that Oracle Email monitoring is enabled, or you can disable Oracle Email monitoring by setting the Statistics Collection Interval. When the interval is set to zero (0), monitoring is disabled.

You can set the Statistics Collection Interval once for all service targets, or you can set a different interval for each Oracle Email service type.

The following sections describe two ways to set the Statistics Collection Interval:

• Using Enterprise Manager Web Site to Set the Statistics Collection Interval

• Using Oracle Internet Directory Commands to Set the Statistics Collection Interval

5.1.4 Saving Oracle Email Monitoring Data in a Common Data Store

By default, each Oracle Collaboration Suite middle-tier installation saves its monitoring data in its own mail store database. However, if you are managing mulitple Oracle Collaboration Suite installations, you may want to save all your Oracle Email monitoring data in a common database so all the monitoring statistics will be available from one location. Consolidating the data in one location will reduce the amount of work required to maintain, purge, and analyze the data.

To configure each Oracle Collaboration Suite middle-tier component to point to the same location for its monitoring data, use the Oracle Internet Directory commands to modify the orclMailAdminStoreDN parameter of the mailProcessConfig object in the directory.

As a result, each middle-tier instance should point to a common information store under the following directory hierarchy:

'cn=MailStores,cn=um_system,cn=EmailServerContainer,cn=Products,cn=OracleContext'

See also "Mail Statistics Schema" in the "Charting and Monitoring" chapter of Oracle Email Administrator's Guide for Oracle Collaboration Suite Release 2 at:

http://www.oracle.com/technology/documentation/collab.html

5.1.5 Identifying Oracle Email Hosts and Databases

Before you begin creating the Oracle Email targets, you should have a complete list of the hosts and the databases where your Oracle Email components reside. For example, you should know the system identifier (SID) and password for each database.

The following sections describe how you can obtain this information using the Oracle Internet Directory for your Oracle Collaboration Suite installations:

• Identifying the Oracle Email Component Hosts

• Identifying the Oracle Email Mail Stores

• Identifying the Connection String for an Oracle Email Mail Store

$PROMPT> ldapsearch -h<oid_host> -p<oid_port> -Dcn=orcladmin -wwelcome1 
-b 'cn=Computers,cn=OracleContext' 'objectclass=orclMailProcessConf' orclmailinstanceid

$PROMPT> ldapsearch -has15.acme.com -p4032 -Dcn=orcladmin -wx9djiks189
-b 'cn=Computers,cn=OracleContext' 'objectclass=orclMailProcessConf' orclmailinstanceid

$PROMPT> ldapsearch -has15.acme.com -p4032 -Dcn=orcladmin -wwelcome1 
-b 'cn=Computers,cn=OracleContext' 'objectclass=orclMailProcessConf'
orclmailinstanceid

cn=mailProcessConfig,cn=EMailServer,cn=v2mid,cn=as16.acme.com,cn=Computers,cn=OracleContext
 
cn=as16.acme.com:UM_SYSTEM:smtp_in,cn=mailProcessConfig,cn=eMailServer,cn=v2mid,cn=as16.acme.com,cn=Computers,cn=OracleContext
orclmailinstanceid=0
 
cn=as16.acme.com:UM_SYSTEM:smtp_out,cn=mailProcessConfig,cn=eMailServer,cn=v2mid,cn=as16.acme.com,cn=Computers,cn=OracleContext
orclmailinstanceid=0
.
.
.
cn=as16.acme.com:um_system:imap:107341703136712833,cn=as16.acme.com:UM_SYSTEM:imap,cn=mailProcessConfig,cn=eMailServer,cn=v2mid,cn=as16.acme.com,cn=Computers,cn=OracleContext
orclmailinstanceid=107341703136712833
 
cn=as16.acme.com:um_system:smtp_in:107341704879993654,cn=as16.acme.com:UM_SYSTEM:smtp_in,cn=mailProcessConfig,cn=eMailServer,cn=v2mid,cn=as16.acme.com,cn=Computers,cn=OracleContext
orclmailinstanceid=107341704879993654
 
cn=as16.acme.com:um_system:smtp_out:107341706569741957,cn=as16.acme.com:UM_SYSTEM:smtp_out,cn=mailProcessConfig,cn=eMailServer,cn=v2mid,cn=as16.acme.com,cn=Computers,cn=OracleContext
orclmailinstanceid=107341706569741957
 
cn=as16.acme.com:um_system:gc:107341708222696477,cn=as16.acme.com:UM_SYSTEM:gc,cn=mailProcessConfig,cn=eMailServer,cn=v2mid,cn=as16.acme.com,cn=Computers,cn=OracleContext
orclmailinstanceid=107341708222696477
.
.
.
$PROMPT> 

$PROMPT> ldapsearch -h<oid_host> -p<oid_port> -Dcn=orcladmin -w<orcladmin_pwd> 
-b 'cn=EMailServerContainer,cn=Products,cn=OracleContext' 'objectclass=orclMailStores'

$PROMPT> ldapsearch -hmgthost42.acme.com -p3060 -Dcn=orcladmin -wx9djiksl89
-b 'cn=EMailServerContainer,cn=Products,cn=OracleContext'
'objectclass=orclMailStores'

$PROMPT> ldapsearch -has15.acme.com -p4032 -Dcn=orcladmin
-wwelcome1 -b 'cn=EMailServerContainer,cn=Products,cn=OracleContext'
'objectclass=orclMailStores'

cn=v2store.acme.com,cn=mailstores,cn=UM_SYSTEM,cn=EMailServerContainer,cn=Products,cn=OracleContext
cn=v2store.acme.com
objectclass=orclMailStores
objectclass=top
orcldbdistinguishedname=cn=v2store,cn=OracleContext
orclmailstoreport=1521
orclmailstoresid=v2store
orclmailstoreusername=es_mail
orclpasswordattribute=welcome1
x121address=db04.acme.com
$PROMPT>

$PROMPT> ldapsearch -has15.acme.com -p4032 -Dcn=orcladmi
n -wwelcome1 -b 'cn=v2store,cn=OracleContext' -s base 'objectclass=*'

cn=v2store,cn=OracleContext
cn=v2store
objectclass=top
objectclass=orclService
objectclass=orclDBServer
objectclass=orclDBServer_92
objectclass=orclapplicationentity
orclaci=access to entry by group="cn=OracleDBAdmins,cn=v2store,cn=OracleContext"(browse, add, delete) 
orclaci=access to attr=(*) by group="cn=OracleDBAdmins,cn=v2store,cn=OracleContext" (compare, search, read, selfwrite, write) 
orcldbglobalname=v2store.acme.com
orclentrylevelaci=access to entry by group="cn=OracleNetAdmins,cn=OracleContext" (add) 
orclnetdescname=000:cn=DESCRIPTION_0
orclnetdescstring=(DESCRIPTION=(ADDRESS_LIST=(ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=TCP)
(HOST=db04.acme.com)(PORT=1521)))(CONNECT_DATA=(SERVICE_NAME=v2store.acme.com)))
orcloraclehome=/private/oracle/ocsv2recut/v2store
orclservicetype=DB
orclsid=v2store
orclsystemname=db04.us.oracle
orclversion=92000
$PROMPT> 

5.2.1 Summary of the Oracle Email Server Target Types

To monitor your Oracle Email server targets, you must create one server target for each host where a protocol server runs. For example, create one SMTP IN Server target for each host where the SMTP IN Server runs.

Grid Control provides the following Oracle Email server target types:

• SMTP_IN

• SMTP_OUT

• IMAP

• POP

You should configure one target for each server instance.

5.2.2 Using the Grid Control to Create the Oracle Email Server Targets

To create the Email server targets:

1. In Grid Control, navigate to the home page for the Oracle Management Agent that was installed on the Email server host. Use these steps to navigate to the appropriate Agent home page:

   1. Click Setup at the top of any Grid Control page.

   2. Click Agents in the Overview of Setup page subtab.

   3. In the Agents table on the Agents page, click the link for the Management Agent for the Email server host.

2. In the Monitored Targets section of the page, select one of the Email server target types from the Add box, then click Go.

   The available Email server target types include:

   • E-Mail IMAP Server

   • E-Mail SMTP Inbound Server

   • E-Mail SMTP Outbound Server

   • E-Mail POP Server

   Grid Control displays the property page for the selected server target type. Provide the required information, described in Table 5-1, Table 5-2, Table 5-3, and Table 5-4.

3. Click OK to create the target.

5.2.3 Summary of the IMAP Server Target Properties

Table 5-1 provides a summary of the properties you must provide when creating an IMAP Server target.

OCS_HOME/network/admin/listener.ora

@ (DESCRIPTION = (ADDRESS = (PROTOCOL = TCP) (HOST = imaphost1.acme.com) (PORT = 143)) (PRESENTATION = IMAP))

5.2.4 Summary of the SMTP IN Server Target Properties

Table 5-2 provides a summary of the properties you must provide when creating an SMTP IN Server target.

5.2.5 Summary of the SMTP OUT Server Target Properties

Table 5-3 provides a summary of the properties you must provide when creating an SMTP OUT Server target.

5.2.6 Summary of the POP Server Target Properties

Table 5-4 provides a summary of the properties you must provide when creating an POP Server target.

5.3.1 About the Oracle Email Service Targets

The service targets monitor the Email services and simulate an end-user accessing the services. Thus, it is most beneficial to locate these targets close to where the user community using the services resides. It is also possible to create multiple targets for each service in order to measure responsiveness from multiple geographical locations.

One Service target must be created for each service type. For example, an SMTP IN Service is implemented over four hosts; however, only one target is needed to monitor the overall service.

Regarding the WebMail Service, the same guidelines apply. However, for WebMail, we will use Enterprise Manager's Application Service Level Management capabilities to monitor WebMail.

Grid Control includes the following Email service types: SMTP_IN, SMTP_OUT, IMAP, POP. To configure service monitoring you should configure targets at points in the network close to the user communities accessing Email. Thus, having an SMTP_IN service monitoring target type in a few key geographical locations is necessary to get an overall perspective on the SMTP_IN monitoring. The naming convention suggested is to use: SMTP_IN_SERVICE_<mailstore>_<Location of observation>, for example SMTP_IN_SERVICE_EMEA_LONDONFor WebMail monitoring, you need to create a Web Application target and record an availability transaction for WebMail. This transaction must be run from beacons in key geographical locations that represent user communities.

5.3.2 Using Grid Control to Create the Oracle Email Service Targets

You can use Grid Control to create a generic service for these Email services:

• IMAP Service

• SMTP Service

• POP Service

• NNTP Service

To create a generic service for each of these Email services:

1. In Grid Control, click the Targets tab, then click the Services subtab.

2. Choose Generic Service in the Add box, then click Go to display the generic service creation tool. Click Help on any page in the generic service creation tool for more information about the information to enter on the page.

3. On the Create Generic Service: Availability page, choose Service Test for the Define availability based on field.

4. On the Create Generic Service: Service Test page, choose the appropriate test type. In other words, choose IMAP for an IMAP Service, SMTP for an SMTP service, POP for a POP service, or NNTP for an NNTP Service. Specify the correct values for the test properties for that service type. Then continue through the rest of the pages in the generic service creation tool to create the service.

For more information about the test properties to specify when you create a generic service for the IMAP service, SMTP service, POP service, and NNTP service, see Table 5-5, Table 5-6, Table 5-7, and Table 5-8.

5.3.3 Summary of the IMAP Service Test Properties

Table 5-5 provides a summary of the test properties you must provide when creating a generic service for an IMAP service.

5.3.4 Summary of the SMTP Service Test Properties

Table 5-6 provides a summary of the test properties you must provide when creating a generic service for an SMTP service.

5.3.5 Summary of the POP Service Test Properties

Table 5-7 provides a summary of the test properties you must provide when creating a generic service for a POP service.

5.3.6 Summary of the NNTP Service Test Properties

Table 5-8 provides a summary of the test properties you must provide when creating a generic service for an NNTP service.

5.8.1 Changing the Status of a Mail Listener on UNIX to Up

To change the status for Mail listeners on the UNIX operating system to Up in Grid Control, follow these steps:

1. Use the Net Merge utility to modify the listener.ora file to create one or more TCP addresses for the same listener without the presentation, that is, add the following to the end of the description list:

   (description=(address=(protocol=tcp)(port=<any_available_port_above_1024>)(host=127.0.0.1)))

   Note that the port can be any port above 1024 that is available on the system for the listener, such as 1522 or 1526, but it has to be different than the one with presentation. Make sure that the port you choose is not being used by any other listener running on the system, otherwise the tnslsnr command described later in this section will fail.

2. Restart the Mail listener by performing the following steps:

   1. Log in as root.

   2. Check if sendmail is running by using this command:

      ps -ef | grep sendmail

      If it is running, kill the process.

   3. Execute the following command, where userid is the UNIX account that owns the Oracle software:

      id userid

   4. Issue the following command, where listener_es is the name of the Mail listener:

      tnslsnr listener_es <uid_value> -group <gid_value>

      
      

      Note: The Mail listener cannot be started using lsnrctl from a user shell. Since it has to listen on ports below 1024, it has to be started by the superuser on UNIX operating systems. When restarting the Mail listener following the listener.ora change, you should use the same command, with the same command line arguments, as was used to start it up initially.

      
      

3. In Grid Control, navigate to the All Targets page and and select the listener_es target that shows a status of Down.

4. Click Configure. On the Monitoring Configuration page, change the Machine name property to 127.0.0.1 and change the Port number property to the port number used in the new TCP address without presentation.

5.8.2 Changing the Status of a Mail Listener on Windows to Up

To change the status for Mail listeners on the Windows operating system to Up in Grid Control, follow these steps:

1. In Grid Control, navigate to the All Targets page and select the listener_es target that shows a status of Down.

2. Click Configure. On the Monitoring Configuration page, make sure that the Port number property is set to the port number corresponding to the port number used in the new TCP address without presentation (that is, the port number corresponding to the entry in listener.ora which has HOST=127.0.0.1).

5.9.1 Executing the es_perf_purge PL/SQL Procedure

The first step in purging data from the mail store database is to run the es_perf_purge PL/SQL procedure shown in Example 5-4.

To run the procedure:

1. Create a new file containing the PL/SQL code shown in Example 5-4.

2. Save the file using the following suggested path and file name in the Oracle Home for your mail store database:

   $ORACLE_HOME/bin/es_perf_purge.sql
   
   

3. Use SQL*Plus to connect to the mail store database as the es_mail user:

   $PROMPT> cd $ORACLE_HOME/bin/sqlplus
   SQL> connect <username> AS es_mail
   
   

4. Execute the PL/SQL procedure:

   SQL> @es_perf_purge.sql
   
   

5. Quit SQL*Plus:

   SQL> quit
   

CREATE OR REPLACE PROCEDURE es_perf_purge(cutoff IN NUMBER) AS
  sample_index INTEGER;
  computed_tstamp DATE := SYSDATE;
BEGIN
 
  -- Use this procedure to purge the oldest "cutoff" days worth of data.
  -- So if the value of 7 is passed for "cutoff" in this procedure, then
  -- the oldest 7 days worth of data will be deleted.
  -- If the oldest 14 days worth of data needs to be purged, pass in 14
  -- for "cutoff" in this procedure ...
  -- NOTE: If the value of cutoff is large, this procedure takes a long time
  --       to complete. To delete all the data from the tables - es_perf_sample
  --       and es_perf_timestamp, use the following sql commands:
  --       %SQL> TRUNCATE TABLE es_perf_sample;
  --       %SQL> TRUNCATE TABLE es_perf_timestamp;
  --       %SQL> COMMIT;
  --       This is a faster way of deleting all the data in the es_perf_sample
  --       and es_perf_timestamp tables. Use the above "TRUNCATE" sql
  --       statements only if there is no need for the data in these tables.
 
  -- first determine the timestamp based on cutoff number of days
  BEGIN
    SELECT MIN(timestamp) + cutoff
      INTO computed_tstamp
      FROM es_perf_timestamp;
 
    EXCEPTION
      WHEN OTHERS THEN
        computed_tstamp := SYSDATE;
  END;

  -- now use the value of computed timestamp to delete data from
  -- es_perf_sample and es_perf_timestamp
 
  -- delete data from es_perf_sample
  FOR record IN
    (
      SELECT timestamp_id
        FROM es_perf_timestamp
       WHERE timestamp <= computed_tstamp
    )
  LOOP
    DELETE
      FROM es_perf_sample
     WHERE timestamp_id = record.timestamp_id;
  END LOOP;
 
  -- delete data from es_perf_timestamp
  DELETE
    FROM es_perf_timestamp
   WHERE timestamp <= computed_tstamp;
 
  COMMIT;
END; 

5.9.2 Using the Grid Control Job System to Automatically Purge the Mail Store

After you initially run the es_perf_purge PL/SQL procedure, you can configure the Grid Control Job system to automatically perform the purge operation on a regular basis.

To create a Grid Control job to perform this action:

1. From the Grid Control Home page, click the Jobs tab.

2. From the Results section of the page, select SQL Script from the Create Job box.

   Grid Control displays the Create 'SQL Script' Job page.

3. Enter a name and a description of the job in the Name and Description fields.

4. Enter the following in the SQL Script field:

   EXEC es_perf_purge( <number_of_days> );
   
   

   For example, to delete the past seven days of monitoring data, enter the following:

   EXEC es_perf_purge ( 7 );
   
   

5. In the Databases section of the page, click Add.

   Grid Control displays the Add Targets page.

6. Click Search to display a list of all available databases; or, enter the name of a specific mail store database and then click Search.

7. Select the mail store database you want to purge and click Add.

   Grid Control returns you to the Create 'SQL Script' Job page; the mail store database you selected appears in the list of databases against which the job will be run.

8. Provide the required host and database credentials.

   Optionally, use your preferred credentials to define the connection to the mail store database.

   
   

   See Also: "About Preferred Credentials" in the Grid Control online help

   
   

9. Click Schedule to determine when the job will be run.

   For example, you can schedule the job to run once a week, or every day. Click Help for information on defining a schedule for a job.

10. Click Submit or Submit and Save.

    
    

    See Also: "About Jobs" in the Grid Control online help

    
    

5.9.3 Deleting All Monitoring Data from the Mail Store

Purging monitoring data from the Oracle Email mail store can take a long time to complete. Alternatively, you can delete all the monitoring data from the es_perf tables using the SQL TRUNCATE command.

To remove all the existing monitoring data from the mail store database:

1. Connect to the mail store database as the es_perf user, using SQL*Plus:

   $ORACLE_HOME/bin/sqlplus
   SQL> connect <username> AS es_mail
   
   

2. Execute the following SQL commands:

   SQL> TRUNCATE TABLE es_perf_sample;
   SQL> TRUNCATE TABLE es_perf_timestamp;
   
   

3. Quit SQL*Plus:

   SQL> quit