8.3 Planning the GroupWise Agents

Use the GroupWise Agent Installation Worksheet to record your decisions about how to install the GroupWise agents. The topics in this section present the required information in a convenient planning sequence. The Installation Worksheet organizes the information in the order in which you need it during installation.

For additional assistance in planning your GroupWise installation, visit the GroupWise Best Practices.

IMPORTANT:If you plan to install the GroupWise agents in a clustered server environment, refer to the GroupWise 2012 Interoperability Guide as you plan your agent installation.

8.3.1 Selecting the Agent Platform

The MTA, POA, and DVA are available as Linux executables and Windows executables.

GROUPWISE AGENT INSTALLATION WORKSHEET

Under Agent Software Platform, mark whether you plan to install the agents on Linux or Windows. Review Section 8.2, Agent System Requirements to ensure that the specific server you have selected meets the listed requirements.

8.3.2 Selecting the Agent Installation Directory

The agent installation directory depends on the platform where you are installing the agents. Consider these platform-specific guidelines:

Linux:

The Linux agents are automatically installed to /opt/novell/groupwise/agents.

Windows:

The default installation directory is c:\Program Files\Novell\GroupWise Server\Agents. However, you can install the agents to any directory you want.

GROUPWISE AGENT INSTALLATION WORKSHEET

Under Installation Path, record the directory where you want to install the GroupWise agent software.

The MTA, the POA, and the DVA are installed to the specified directory.

8.3.3 Gathering Domain and Post Office Information

Record the following information about the domain and post office for which you are installing and setting up the GroupWise agents:

GROUPWISE AGENT INSTALLATION WORKSHEET

Under Domain Information, record the domain name and path to the domain directory for the new domain.

Under Post Office Information, record the post office name and path to the post office directory for the new post office.

The domain and post office must exist before you install the agents for them. If necessary, create the domain and post office that you are installing the agents for now. See following sections of the GroupWise 2012 Administration Guide for instructions:

8.3.4 Linux Installation Options: Automatic Startup, Document Viewer Agent Configuration, and Clustering

When you install the Linux GroupWise agents, the following options specific to Linux are available in the Installation program:

Automatic Startup

The Linux GroupWise agents are Run Control compliant. You can have the Installation program create symbolic links to the /etc/init.d/grpwise script in the rc3.d and rc5.d directories so that the agents load on restart into run level 3 or 5, depending on the configuration of your Linux system.

GROUPWISE AGENT INSTALLATION WORKSHEET

Under Agent Options, mark whether or not you want to configure the Linux server to start the GroupWise agents automatically.

Enable Document Viewer Agent

The Document Viewer Agent is configured for high availability independently from the POA and the MTA.

GROUPWISE AGENT INSTALLATION WORKSHEET

Under Agent Options, mark whether or not you want to configure the Linux Document Viewer gent to start automatically.

For more information, see Enabling the GroupWise High Availability Service for the Linux GroupWise Agents.

Clustering on Linux

On Linux, you can install the GroupWise agents on Novell Cluster Services. The Linux GroupWise Installation program provides a Configure GroupWise for Clustering option that simplifies the process of installing the Linux GroupWise agents on multiple nodes in the cluster.

GROUPWISE AGENT INSTALLATION WORKSHEET

Under Agent Options, mark whether you want to configure the Linux GroupWise agents for clustering using Novell Cluster Services. If you do, follow the installation instructions provided in Setting Up a Domain and a Post Office in a Linux Cluster in Novell Cluster Services on Linux in the GroupWise 2012 Interoperability Guide, rather than the installation instructions in this guide.

8.3.5 Windows Installation Options: SNMP Traps and Service versus Application

When you install the Windows agents, you have choices about how the agents interact with the Windows operating system.

SNMP Traps

If you want to use an SNMP manager program to monitor the agents, you must install some SNMP components along with the Windows agent software.

GROUPWISE AGENT INSTALLATION WORKSHEET

Under Agent Options, mark Install and Configure SNMP for GroupWise Agents if you want to use an SNMP manager program.

If this option is dimmed during installation, the SNMP service has not been enabled on the Windows server where you are installing the agents. If you want to monitor the agents from an SNMP management program, the SNMP service must be enabled so you can select this option. For instructions, see the following sections in the GroupWise 2012 Administration Guide:

NOTE:The Linux agents rely on operating system components for SNMP functionality and do not require this installation option.

Service versus Application

You can run the Windows MTA, POA, and DVA as Windows services or applications.

GROUPWISE AGENT INSTALLATION WORKSHEET

Under Windows Installation Options, mark whether you want to run the GroupWise agents as Windows services.

When you run the agents as Windows services, they must run under a specific user account. The user account you use depends on where the domain and post office directories are located:

  • When the domain and post office directories are located on the same server where you are installing the agents, the agents can run under the local system account and no password is required.

    When the agents run under the local system account, you can enable them to display the agent server consoles on the server desktop on Windows Server 2003. This interaction with the desktop is not available on Windows Server 2008 or later Windows versions.

  • When the domain and post office directories are located on a remote Windows server, you must specify a user with rights to access the domain and post office directories, along with the user’s associated password.

  • For the DVA, the user account depends on the location of the DVA home directory, as described in Setting the DVA Home Directory in Document Viewer Agent in the GroupWise 2012 Administration Guide.

IMPORTANT:For simplicity of agent administration, running the GroupWise agents as the Windows Administrator user is highly recommended.

As with all Windows services, you can start the agents manually or have them start automatically each time the Windows server restarts.

GROUPWISE AGENT INSTALLATION WORKSHEET

Under Windows Service Information, record the Windows user account that the agent services will run under, and if necessary, the password for the account. If you are using the local system account, indicate whether you want to allow the agent services to interact with the desktop to display the agent server consoles. Select whether you want the agent services to start automatically or manually.