3.8 Enabling Inbound E-Mail

You can configure your Novell Vibe site so that users can post comments by e-mailing them to the folder where they want to post the comment. In order to receive e-mail postings, folders must be properly configured, as described in Enabling Folders to Receive Entries through E-Mail in Managing Folders in the Novell Vibe OnPrem 3.1 User Guide. Also, users must know the e-mail address of the folder where they want to post their comment.

After installation, inbound e-mail can be disabled and enabled again on the Vibe site, as described in Disabling/Enabling Inbound E-Mail Postings in Site Setup in the Novell Vibe OnPrem 3.1 Administration Guide. However, you must configure inbound e-mail in the Vibe installation program.

3.8.1 Internal Mail Host for Inbound E-Mail

Inbound e-mail is disabled by default. When you enable it, the Vibe site starts an internal SMTP mail host to receive incoming messages and post them to the folders associated with the e-mail addresses to which the messages are addressed. By default, the internal SMTP mail host uses port 2525, so that it does not conflict with another mail host that might be running on the Vibe server.

BASIC VIBE INSTALLATION SUMMARY SHEET

Under Inbound E-Mail Configuration, mark whether or not you want users to be able to post to the Vibe site from their e-mail clients.

3.8.2 Inbound E-Mail Port Number

Selecting the port number for the Vibe internal SMTP mail host presents the same issue that needs to be dealt with for the HTTP port numbers, as described in HTTP/HTTPS Ports. You might want to configure the Vibe internal SMTP mail host to use the standard SMTP port of 25. How you handle the issue depends on whether you are installing on Linux or on Windows.

Linux:

Keep the default port number (2525) in the Vibe Installation program, then complete the steps in Section 4.1.5, Setting Up Port Forwarding so that requests incoming on port 25 are forwarded to port 2525.

Windows:

Specify port 25 for incoming e-mail in the Vibe Installation program.

BASIC VIBE INSTALLATION SUMMARY SHEET

Under Inbound E-Mail Configuration, specify the port number for the Vibe internal SMTP host to listen on.

3.8.3 Inbound E-Mail IP Address

If you want to install Vibe on a server where an SMTP mail host is already running, you can do so if the server has multiple IP addresses. The existing SMTP mail host can use port 25 on one IP address and Vibe can use port 25 on another IP address. During installation, you need to specify an IP address only if the server has multiple IP addresses and you want Vibe to bind to a specific IP address rather than all of them.

BASIC VIBE INSTALLATION SUMMARY SHEET

Under Inbound E-Mail Configuration, specify the IP address for the Vibe internal SMTP host to listen on, if you are installing Vibe on a server with multiple IP addresses and you want Vibe to bind to just one of them.

3.8.4 Inbound E-Mail Security

You can choose whether the Vibe internal mail host uses TLS (Transport Layer Security) when it communicates with other SMTP mail hosts. In order for TLS to function properly, you must have a certificate on the Vibe server, as described in Securing E-Mail Transfer in Site Security in the Novell Vibe OnPrem 3.1 Administration Guide. When an SMTP mail host queries the Vibe mail host, the Vibe mail host communicates its ability or inability to handle TLS. The other SMTP mail host then communicates appropriately, taking into account how the Vibe internal mail host is configured. The default is to use TLS, because this provides more secure communication between mail hosts.

BASIC VIBE INSTALLATION SUMMARY SHEET

Under Inbound E-Mail Configuration, mark whether or not you want the Vibe server to announce that it can use TLS.

You can install Vibe with Announce TLS selected, and then set up the certificate afterwards. However, if you select Announce TLS, inbound e-mail does not work until the certificate is available on the Vibe server.