Microsoft KB Archive/99465

= Mac RSC: MM0741: Configuring the Remote Server Connection =

Article ID: 99465

Article Last Modified on 10/30/2006

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Mail Client 3.5 for Macintosh

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This article was previously published under Q99465



SUMMARY
The Application Note titled &quot;Configuring the Remote Server Connection,&quot; MM0741, describes how to configure the Microsoft Mail Remote Server Connection to automatically connect and exchange information between two servers. The Remote Server Connection requires AppleTalk Remote Access to establish communications through modems and phone lines.

To obtain this Application Note, contact Microsoft Product Support Services.

You can find MM0741.EXE, a self-extracting file, on the following services:


 * Microsoft's World Wide Web Site on the Internet

On the www.microsoft.com home page, click the Support icon.

Click Knowledge Base, and select the product.

Enter kbfile MM0741.EXE, and click GO!

Open the article, and click the button to download the file.
 * Internet (anonymous FTP)

ftp ftp.microsoft.com

Change to the Softlib/Mslfiles folder.

Get MM0741.EXE
 * The Microsoft Network

On the Edit menu, click Go To, and then click Other Location.

Type mssupport.

Double-click the MS Software Library icon.

Find the appropriate product area.

Locate and Download MM0741.EXE.

For additional information about downloading, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

119591 How to Obtain Microsoft Support Files from Online Services



MORE INFORMATION
The following is the text of the Application Note.

NOTE: The printed Application Note contains graphics to help you understand many of the concepts discussed below. ====================================================================== Microsoft(R) Product Support Services Application Note (Text File) MM0741: CONFIGURING THE REMOTE SERVER CONNECTION

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The following information applies to Microsoft Mail for Macintosh, version 3.1.


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 * Copyright 1993 Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved.        |
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INTRODUCTION

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This document describes how to configure the Microsoft Mail Remote Server Connection to automatically connect and exchange information between two servers. The Remote Server Connection requires AppleTalk(R) Remote Access to establish communications through modems and phone lines. At each specified connect time, the Remote Server Connection initiates a remote connection between the two servers via AppleTalk Remote Access. Once a connection is made, mail and other server data are transferred between the servers based on the message routing configuration. Therefore, to successfully use the Remote Server Connection program, you must first configure AppleTalk Remote Access and message routing.

PLANNING ROUTING

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To configure the Remote Server Connection, you must first plan routing and set site names. To create a bridge between two sites, you must designate a bridge server at each site. Because the server you select will carry additional network traffic and will have AppleTalk Remote Access installed on it, you may want to choose a faster server or a server with fewer mail users. You also need to determine which server will be the &quot;calling server&quot; and which will act as the &quot;answering server&quot;. To configure the servers to dial each other, each server will act as both a calling server and an answering server.

As an example, all the servers in Seattle could be in a distinct mail site named &quot;Seattle,&quot; while the servers in Minneapolis could be in a site named &quot;Minneapolis.&quot; Servers that share the same site name and same site password will automatically exchange user lists, mail, and general server messages. For two site names to communicate, message routing must be configured between the two sites.

To place these servers in their logical site names, perform the following steps:

1. From any Microsoft Mail workstation, sign in as the network manager to the server you are adding to a site.

2. Run the Mail Network Admin program.

3. From the Admin menu, choose Set Site Name. A dialog box will appear.

4. In the Site Name box, type the name for the site.

5. In the Password box, type the password to be used by all the servers in the site. This step is optional.

6. Choose the Update button.

7. Repeat steps 3-6 for each server you want to include in the site.

Important: All servers in a particular site must have the same site name and password.

DESIGNATING BRIDGEHEAD AND COMMUNICATION SERVERS

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When communicating between two mail sites, one server from each site will be responsible for all modem communication and message routing. This designated server is known as a &quot;bridgehead&quot; server and is responsible for passing all messages from one site to another. You should choose a server that has more processing power available or fewer users defined to compensate for the additional processing the server will need to do.

The server you select will be responsible for both message routing and communications using the Remote Server Connection program. After you configure message routing (as discussed in a later section), all other servers will automatically be configured to send information to the bridgehead for processing.

As an example, the MIS server can act as the bridgehead for the Seattle site, and the Field Sales server can act as the bridgehead for the Minneapolis site. These two mail servers will have AppleTalk Remote Access and Remote Server Connection installed on them.

Because both the MIS server and the Field Sales server are bridgeheads, they will pass any data from other servers in their common site to the bridgehead at the other site. That is, both the Corporate Marketing server and the R & D server will pass all information destined for servers at the Minneapolis site to the MIS server. The MIS server will then route all information over the asynchronous connection to the Field Sales server. The Field Sales will, in-turn, pass any information to the Field Marketing server.

Message routing configuration will be covered later in this document. To correctly configure routing, the two servers must exchange some basic information. The following section explains how to enable this exchange to take place.

INSTALLING APPLETALK REMOTE ACCESS

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The Remote Server Connection relies on AppleTalk Remote Access (ARA) to establish a remote AppleTalk connection. Pages 4 and 5 of the &quot;AppleTalk Remote Access User's Guide&quot; outline how to install ARA. You must install the ARA software on both the calling server and the answering server.

Setting Up Remote Access to Answer Calls (Answering Server) ---

Before your Macintosh can answer calls, you need to connect your computer to an appropriate modem. For more information on modems, see Appendix A of the &quot;AppleTalk Remote Access User's Guide&quot;. Once you've properly connected the modem and installed the Remote Access software, configure the software to answer calls:

1. Run the Remote Access program.

2. From the Setup menu, choose Remote Access Setup. This opens the Remote Access Setup control panel.

3. From the Modem pop-up menu, choose your modem type.

4. From the Port pop-up menu, choose the port to which your modem is  connected.

5. Select the Answer Calls check box.

6. The Remote Server Connection will only stay connected as long as is  necessary to transfer mail and other information; therefore, you do   not need to set a time in the Maximum Connection Time: Minutes box.

7. In the Allow Access To field, select This Macintosh Only. This is  the recommended setting.

Setting Up Remote Access to Make Calls (Calling Server) ---

Before you can make a call with Remote Access, you need to do the following:

1. Install the Remote Access software. Follow the installation procedures in the &quot;Introduction&quot; section of the &quot;AppleTalk Remote Access User's Guide&quot;.

2. Connect a modem to your Macintosh and configure ARA for your machine. Refer to steps 1-4 in the &quot;Setting Up Remote Access to  Answer Calls&quot; section above.

3. The Macintosh you are calling must have your name and password configured in order to answer your call. Ensure that an account was set correctly by the computer's owner and that you enter matching information when you call. To answer your call, the Macintosh you are calling does not need the Remote Access program open; however, the other Macintosh and its modem must be turned on.

4. Obtain the telephone number of the modem connected to the Macintosh you want to call.

5. Create a connection document, following the instructions in the &quot;Creating a Connection Document&quot; section below.

Creating a Connection Document --

The information ARA and the Remote Server Connection need to access another Macintosh is stored in a &quot;connection document&quot;.

1. Run the Remote Server Connection program. After the program has loaded, choose Quit from the File menu. This step creates a default folder that will be used later.

2. Run the Remote Access program. A new untitled connection document appears. You can also create a new untitled connection document by  choosing New from the File menu if the program is running already.

3. Under Connect As, select the Registered User option.

4. Type in the name and password of a user who has been defined on the answering server. (To register a user on the answering server,  choose Users & Groups from the Remote Access Setup menu.)

5. Type the phone number of the answering server. A comma designates a  pause. You can use dashes for readability, but the program doesn't  require them.

6. Select the Save My Password check box.

7. From the File menu, choose Save to save the connection document.

Important: The name of your connection document must be identical to the Mail site you are calling, NOT the Mail server you are connecting to.

8. Save the connection document in System Folder:Preferences:MS Mail Remote Sites.

ESTABLISHING COMMUNICATION BETWEEN THE PAIR OF SERVERS

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Once you have created and saved your connection document, select the Connect button to establish communication between the two servers. Depending on the size of the two networks, it may take at least fifteen minutes before the two servers &quot;discover&quot; each other. Once the servers are communicating, create a routing bridge so the servers can exchange information.

CONFIGURING MESSAGE ROUTING

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For servers in different sites to communicate, it is necessary to configure routing. A routing bridge is bi-directional: a bridge does not exist until each site has configured a Mail server as a bridge server to a Mail server at the other site. To configure routing between the two remote servers, perform the following steps:

1. From any Microsoft Mail workstation, sign in as the network manager to the server you are adding the bridge to.

2. Run the Mail Network Admin program.

3. From the Admin menu, choose Configure Routing. The Site-To- Site Routing dialog box appears.

The From field displays the name of the server you are signed in to    and its site name.

The To list contains the names of the sites the server can be    bridged to. The list includes all the sites it has detected directly and all the sites it can bridge to indirectly through another site. If the remote site and server name do not appear in    this list, leave the remote connection up for a few more minutes for the site to be &quot;discovered.&quot;

4. From the To list, select the name of the site you want to    bridge the server to.

5. Choose the Bridged To Server pop-up menu to display a list of    servers in the site you have selected.

6. From the Bridged To Server list, choose the server at the other site that your server will bridge to.

7. Select the desired options for importing and exporting user lists.

8. Choose the Update button.

9. To complete the bridge, the network manager for the other site should follow these steps to establish routing to your site. If you know the network manager's name and password, you can sign in to the remote server while ARA is still connected.

10. Return to the ARA program and disconnect from the remote site.

RUNNING THE REMOTE SERVER CONNECTION

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After you use ARA to configure the remote connection and you establish a routing bridge, use the Remote Server Connection software to schedule and automate the connection times.

With the Remote Server Connection program, you can choose what hours and days of the week to connect, or you can choose to connect whenever there is urgent or outgoing mail. You can also temporarily disable the connection settings without erasing any of the previously scheduled times and days.

Important: To communicate with another server, you must first run the Remote Server Connection program on the calling server. To make sure the Remote Server Connection is running every time you start the calling server, create an alias for the Remote Server Connection program and place it in the Start Up Items folder in the calling server's System Folder.

CONFIGURING THE REMOTE SERVER CONNECTION PROGRAM

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1. Copy the Remote Server Connection program from the Microsoft Mail Extras disk to the server Macintosh.

2. On the server, run the Remote Server Connection program. Microsoft Mail displays the Remote Server Connection dialog box, which lists connection details and call status.

Next Connection Shows when and where the server will make its next scheduled remote connection.

Current Connection Displays information about a remote connection during the connection; when the remote connection is disconnected, the information is cleared from this box.

Status Log Displays messages that record the activity of the remote server connection. You can cut, copy, and paste messages from the Status Log box into a document and view them in a word processor.

The status messages are also automatically copied and appended to the MS Mail Call Log file in the MS Mail Remote Sites folder. This log file can be opened and printed using any word processing program.

To set Remote Server Connection times

1. On the calling server, log in as the network manager.

2. Run the Remote Server Connection program.

3. From the Administration menu, choose Connection Times. You can also set connection times with the Network Administrator application, by choosing the Connection Times command from the Admin menu.

Important: If the Connection Times menu option is unavailable, the account you are signed into is not the network manager's.

4. In the Connection Documents list, select the name of the Mail site you want to call.

5. Select the boxes and options that correspond to the times or  conditions when you want to make the remote access connection:

- Selecting &quot;If There Is Urgent Mail&quot; makes the connection if any outgoing mail marked as Urgent is received by the server.

- Selecting &quot;If There Is Outgoing Mail&quot; makes the connection if any outgoing mail is received by the server.

6. Choose the Update button.

The Remote Server Connection has now been configured and your mail servers will connect and exchange information at the times specified.

COMMON PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS

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The following describes specific problems, possible causes, and their solutions.

- &quot;Time out value exceeded&quot; error in Session Log.

Possible Cause: ARA on the answering server has been configured to allow access to the entire network.

Open the Remote Access Setup Control Panel and change the setting to Allow Access To This Macintosh Only. For more information, see the &quot;Setting Up Remote Access to Answer Calls&quot; section above.

- &quot;Can't find site &quot; error in Session Log.

Below is an example of the Session Log when this error occurs:

Connected to zone ZONE A           Scanning for site A            Transferring data to site A            Can't find site A            Performing full zone scan ...

Possible Cause: The ARA connection document has been named after the server you are calling. However, the document should correspond to the mail site.

Rename the connection document in System Folder:Preferences:MS Mail Remote Sites. For more information, see the &quot;Creating a      Connection Document&quot; section above.

When the entry &quot;Transferring data to site A&quot; appears in the log, it means that the Remote Server Connection has told the local server to begin transferring mail to the other site. If      the local server can't find the bridge server on the other site, it returns the &quot;Can't find site A&quot; error to the Remote Server Connection.

Additional Possible Cause: The AppleTalk network is poorly terminated.

Check both sides of the LocalTalk network for correct termination.

- Mail servers connect but no mail or data is transferred, although the status window reflects that data was transferred.

Possible Cause: You are using Microsoft Mail Server version 3.1.

There are some problems with the original Mail 3.1 release where remote servers connect but do not exchange any data. This problem is corrected in the 3.1a release of the Microsoft Mail Server. To obtain the latest version of the mail server, contact Microsoft Inside Sales at (800) 227-4679.

- Mail server dials continuously.

Possible Cause: Urgent mail has been sent and you are using Microsoft Mail Server version 3.1.

There are some problems with the original Mail 3.1 release where remote servers attempt to process urgent mail and dial continuously. The servers connect, but the message is not transmitted due to the problem explained above. Mail therefore continues to attempt to send the message. This is corrected in      the 3.1a release of the Microsoft Mail Server. To obtain the latest version of the mail server, contact Microsoft Inside Sales at (800) 227-4679.

- There are no connection documents listed in the configuration dialog box of the Remote Server Connection (RSC).

Possible Cause: The RSC program has not been quit from since the ARA document was saved to the MS Mail Remote sites folder.

Quit the RSC program and re-open.

Additional query words: 3.10 wga appnotes Appnote SoftLib

Keywords: KB99465

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