Configuring Supportworks to Retrieve Address Lists from Microsoft Active Directory Services (ADS)

Applicable To:Supportworks ESP

If your Network Operating System (NOS) runs Microsoft Active Directory Services (ADS) and your e-mail system is based on Microsoft Exchange Server 2000 or Microsoft Exchange Server 2003, the e-mail addresses and display names are held in the Active Directory - as opposed to the Exchange database, which was the repository used in older versions of Microsoft Exchange (version 5.5, version 5.0 and version 4.0).

The Supportworks Global Address List can be automatically populated on a regular basis from the Active Directory records by configuring Supportworks in accordance with the instructions given in this document.

Note (a): This technique is valid only if you are using the Supportworks Internet Mail Connector (SMTP format e-mail). Neither the Supportworks Exchange Mail Connector (MAPI format) nor the Supportworks Notes Mail Connector (VIM format) is able to import from ADS.

Note (b): A better way of incorporating your customers' e-mail addresses into the Global Address List is by having Supportworks regularly import them from its customer database. This is normally set up by default. If this is not the case on your system, you can do it by selecting Start > All Programs > Supportworks Server > Supportworks Server Configuration > Messaging tab and selecting the "Import from Customer Database" option (as well as the "Build GAL" option, of course).

Stage 1: To Obtain the Required Environment Settings

This stage allows you to collect some crucial data from your system to use in the configuration. A standard Windows network is assumed.

1. On the computer running the Supportworks server, invoke a command window (Start > Run > cmd) and issue the command "Set". This should display the settings for all your current environment variables.
2. Record the setting for the variable "USERDNSDOMAIN". An example could be something like INTERNAL.HORNBILL.COM.
3. Also record the setting for the variable "LOGONSERVER" (ignoring the leading double backslashes). An example could be something like DOM1.

Stage 2: To Configure the Supportworks Server Settings

This stage consists of the steps required to configure an LDAP query that, when run, will search the specified part of the Active Directory on your network domain for the data you are interested in, and then import that data into a temporary file in Supportworks.

1. On the computer running the Supportworks server, select Start > Programs > Supportworks Server > Supportworks Server Configuration > Messaging tab.
2. Double-click on the Internet item in the Installed Mail Components area to display the Internet Mail Setup dialogue.
3. Select the LDAP tab.
4. Either double-click on an existing configured LDAP query instance if there is one you can modify, or click the Add button if you wish to create a new instance.
5. In the latter case, specify a name of your choice for the LDAP query instance you are about to create and click the OK button.

   File:FAQLdapserver1.png

6. In the LDAP Server field of the LDAP Connection tab, enter the value of the "LOGONSERVER" variable recorded earlier.
7. In the Port Number field, ensure that a value of 389 is set.
8. In the LDAP Version field, ensure that the option "Version 3" is selected.
9. In the Authentication field, ensure that the option "Windows NT Authentication" is selected.
10. Tick the option to "Login with username and password".
11. In the Username field, enter the domain and username for a Windows Domain account that has rights to access Windows ADS. This does not need to have a high level of privileges (for example, a level that has the rights to open the global address book in Microsoft Outlook will do). Obviously, using the details of an account where the password does not expire would be advantageous. The domain and username should be in the format: DOMAIN\Username.
12. Enter the password for the above account.
13. Select the LDAP Query tab.

    File:FAQLdapserver2.png

14. In the Search Root field, enter the components of the "USERDNSDOMAIN" variable recorded earlier in the following format (but in lower case):

    DC=comp1,DC=comp2,DC=comp3

    For example, if the "USERDNSDOMAIN" variable value collected was INTERNAL.HORNBILL.COM, the text to enter in the field would be:

    DC=internal,DC=hornbill,DC=com

    Note: This naming context (corresponding to the top level of the Active Directory domain) may already have been predefined. If so, you can simply click the browse button next to the Search Root field and select it from the Naming Context field at the top of the Browse LDAP Directory window that pops up.

15. If you are only interested in the details of a specific group of people within your domain, click the browse button next to the Search Root field and select, in the directory tree, the level below which the LDAP query is to search.
16. In the Query Filter field, enter the following exactly, including the round brackets:

    (dn=*)

17. In the Scope field, ensure that the option "Search object and all descendants" is selected.
18. Click the OK button.

The LDAP query settings are now configured.

Stage 3: To Test the LDAP Query

Once you have configured your LDAP query, you can run the process that imports the ADS data and then wait for the process that builds the Supportworks Global Address List from (among other sources) the acquired data.

You can import the ADS data by using a command window to run the Internet Mail Connector manually in the relevant mode. At the command prompt, navigate to "C:\Hornbill\Supportworks Server\bin" (or the equivalent folder on your server) and execute the following command:

SwInternetMC.exe -v -a

This should generate a temporary ASCII text file called "ldapimport.aip" in the delivery folder, whose path (normally C:\Hornbill\Supportworks Server\postbox\delivery) is defined on the Server Configuration utility's Messaging tab. It will contain all the display names and e-mail addresses (in Comma Separated Variables format) obtained from ADS.

The information in this file should be built automatically into the Supportworks Global Address List database table overnight by the server and therefore be accessible via any Supportworks client the next day.

Subsequently, the display names and e-mail addresses will be updated in Supportworks on a regular basis, starting each time with the automatic daily address-list importation carried out by the Internet Mail Connector via the Mail Scheduler, and completed at some point (usually during the night) by the Global Address List build.