Zimbra as internal mailserver with external pop3 retrieval

[samuelier]

I'm new to Zimbra, and I'm a bit unsure about this setup I'd like to do (to replace an Exchange server):

Lan -- Fw -- Router -- Isp/Dns/Pop3

Lan has a W2k Pdc with a domain called "company", (will have) a standalone Ubuntu server for Zimbra; Fw is a Linux box with IpCop and OpenVpn.
Clients in the Lan point to the Pdc for Dns resolving, as it's mandatory for Active Directory.
The company has a domain companyname.com registered to an Isp/Host, that handles the mail, and the Dns too (but they're completely manageable).
Zimbra will basically have to retrieve mails from individual external pop3 accounts, and make them available to users, but handle internal mails (though they'll look like @externaldomain.com).
That is.. it won't act as a "full" mailserver.
I know it'd be easier to just point the Isp Dns mail records to the Zimbra server, but I'd prefer to setup the server this way, "invisible" to the Internet, as it is now with Exchange..
Every installation guide I've seen deals with Zimbra as a "real" mailserver, so.. what should I do differently? Should I use the internal W2k domain name to setup Zimbra? Should I configure Zimbra with the "external" domain name and pretend it's visible from the outside? Should I just point the clients to it using the internal Ip, not to mess with W2k Dns tables?
If a user a@companyname.it writes to b@companyname.it, Zimbra will route the mail internally, or will send it all the way out to the Internet and then retrieve it from the Pop3, since that domain is different from the Lan domain?

I hope I wasn't too confusing in this post.. feel free to ask any questions. Thanks for your time.

--
Samuel

[phoenix]

Welcome to the forums.

Zimbra will do what you want fairly easily with the following provisos: the pop3 on Zimbra doesn't get mail on schedule (yet, there is an RFE in and it'll be in it shortly) you need to hit the 'get mail' button; you will need to set-up internal DNS A & MX records; you can set Zimbra to relay thorugh your ISP or deliver directly (I'd recommend direct delivery as it's more reliable). That's about all I can think of for the moment, I'm sure other will chime in with their suggestions.

[tsoul]

Originally Posted by phoenix

Welcome to the forums.

Zimbra will do what you want fairly easily with the following provisos: the pop3 on Zimbra doesn't get mail on schedule (yet, there is an RFE in and it'll be in it shortly) you need to hit the 'get mail' button; you will need to set-up internal DNS A & MX records; you can set Zimbra to relay thorugh your ISP or deliver directly (I'd recommend direct delivery as it's more reliable). That's about all I can think of for the moment, I'm sure other will chime in with their suggestions.

I have the same setup as described before but what I'm stuck with is how do I get my internal mail witin .local domain to deliver onto my external domain.co.uk, at the moment I am able to send out emails everywhere except my own domain.co.uk as it only seems to circulate internally never living zimbra server.. Any ideas ?

[DeJuan N. Onley]

Originally Posted by phoenix

Zimbra will do what you want fairly easily with the following provisos: the pop3 on Zimbra doesn't get mail on schedule (yet, there is an RFE in and it'll be in it shortly) you need to hit the 'get mail' button...

Sorry to resurrect an old thread here, but I notice this was stated nearly three years ago. I am running the latest Zimbra release and I notice you still have to hit 'get mail' to retrieve external mail. I'm sure many people have complained about this and mine is just one more voice, but this is a very serious problem for many of us. Is there an easy workaround (instructions would be welcome)?

[phoenix]

Originally Posted by DeJuan N. Onley

Sorry to resurrect an old thread here, but I notice this was stated nearly three years ago. I am running the latest Zimbra release and I notice you still have to hit 'get mail' to retrieve external mail. I'm sure many people have complained about this and mine is just one more voice, but this is a very serious problem for many of us. Is there an easy workaround (instructions would be welcome)?

You don't have to keep hitting the 'get mail' button, Zimbra will fetch mail on a schedule. Search the forums some more and you'll find details of what you need to check for this configuration.

[maxxer]

Originally Posted by tsoul

I have the same setup as described before but what I'm stuck with is how do I get my internal mail witin .local domain to deliver onto my external domain.co.uk, at the moment I am able to send out emails everywhere except my own domain.co.uk as it only seems to circulate internally never living zimbra server.. Any ideas ?

check the "Split domain" page on the wiki

[pinoy_steal]

Hi, Can I use zimbra for internal mail server only with POP3 external account. But zimbra internal server send messages to internet directly without isp relay. How I can achieve this setup. Thanks

[dalmate]

Originally Posted by pinoy_steal

Hi, Can I use zimbra for internal mail server only with POP3 external account. But zimbra internal server send messages to internet directly without isp relay. How I can achieve this setup. Thanks

You can do that.
Zimbra can be configured to POP3 mails from an other mail server.
But I don't understand why you install zimbra as an internal server while want to send out mail directly from zimbra. So complex

[pinoy_steal]

@dalmate

We have external mail that hosted on our isp. But it is limited.. It means we have only 10 email on our isp then we have 70 user on our company. I setup zimbra as internal mail server only then relay all external mail tru isp smtp. But my problem are our isp sometimes are not stable. They conducting several maintenance without advising us. As a result we can't send external mail. My objective to resolve this issue are we host our own smtp to send external email then I use POP3 external account on zimbra to manually get email on our ISP.

May I know how I can do this Sir.. Thanks in advance.

[maxxer]

Originally Posted by pinoy_steal

But my problem are our isp sometimes are not stable. They conducting several maintenance without advising us. As a result we can't send external mail. My objective to resolve this issue are we host our own smtp to send external email then I use POP3 external account on zimbra to manually get email on our ISP.

May I know how I can do this Sir.. Thanks in advance.

you can poll mail using fetchmail, and if your ip is not blacklisted you can consider delivering directly.
if you can't do that, buy a cheap domain (here you can get a one for ~12€) and relay via that domain, using smtp auth.