dummy run

[madivad]

I have thought about using zimbra for a while and think I might give it a run. I have my main web/domain name on one server hosted remotely and run my mail server locally.

I just have two initial questions:

1) I have read everywhere in relation to zimbra needing a valid dns entry to install. Well, my FQDN does point to the web server, and mail.FQDN points to my home ip address, but as far as the installed network in the server is concerned, it only sees the ip addresses of 127.0.0.1 and 192.168.1.10. Should I run a domain name server on the server box itself? I am behind a smoothwall firewall, and I am supposing (as I type this) I could set up a static DNS entry in smoothwall for zimbra to see. Is this what is meant to be done?

2) using mail.FQDN.com will give the user an awkward logon name, how do you actually go about making their logon only user@FQDN.com?

I know these may be basic questions, but google has not been my friend on this occasion.

[ewilen]

1) Might want to have a look at these wiki pages:

Incoming Mail Problems - Zimbra :: Wiki
Split DNS - Zimbra :: Wiki

OTOH if you can set up port forwarding you might be able to just use that. E.g. Firewall / NAT

2) You can configure domains within the Zimbra server. See p. 63 of the Zimbra OS Admin Guide.

[madivad]

Great, thanks for the guide.

Took me about 30 secs to realise I'd downloaded the Network Edition guide, but once I got the right one it seems to be answering my questions.

I've updated my firewall, is there a way to test what it was looking for during installation? I'm happy to uninstall and do it again, but if there's a quicker way...

[ewilen]

Ah, sorry if I misdirected you slightly. I'm working off a test install of NE; I wasn't sure if there were two separate guides.

Anyway, I think it either finds what it needs vis à vis DNS, or it fails to install, so if you've gotten to the end of the installer you should be in pretty good shape. Do have a look at the Firewall/NAT thread (and maybe google or search the forum if you need more info) because you may need port forwarding on a bunch of ports, to support external connections. Or (another way) some NATs have a "default server" feature that just lets you pick one internal IP as the target of all inbound requests.

Also, not clear which approach you took, but even if port forwarding/"default server" is working for you, you still might want to do a split DNS as I believe it will tell traffic that's internal to your network to take a more direct route.

I'm not personally familiar with Smoothwall (looks nifty, though) so I don't know how much more I can help you.

[madivad]

It's all good so far, when it came to finding what it needed to install, it asks the question "do you want to change your entry" (or words similar), and in the end I just said no.

When it comes to ports, I have no issues there, I already run a mail server, just thought it was time to upgrade to a new one with bells and whistles. So at the end of the day, I only have to change the IP address of the mail server in the firewall and all existing ports will simply switch over.

re split DNS, yeah, I have to look closer at this, as I'm not sure if it's something that is already (in one way or another) already incorporated inside smoothwall - this will take some more investigation. No point in reinventing the wheel.

Anyway, thanks for your input, sometimes it just takes a little nudge to get me going in the right area.

Still not sure exactly on the
mail.mydomain.com
and
mydomain.com
issue that may arise from having the mydomain.com web server hosted elsewhere (and hence 'A' records for the DNS pointed elsewhere), and the mail server here and using just mydomain.com and any clashes that may result.

I'll keep reading...

[ewilen]

For the last you need an mx record for mydomain.com in DNS that points to your mail server's FQDN, and then you configure the mydomain.com on the mail server, and you should be good to go.

[madivad]

cool - that's exactly what I have

Thanks