2.10 Archiving GroupWise

Setting up the GroupWise Module

The GroupWise module page opens first with the Core Settings.

Set Storage Flags Section

If you have Retention Services enabled, which we highly recommend, you should keep the Retention and/or Purge flags updated, depending on what you are using. Generally, you would use the Retention flag for Retain and the Purge flag for your backup software, such as GroupWise Disaster Recovery.

You would enable Retention Services in GroupWise Administration under Domain or Post Office. Then in Client Options, Integrations, Retention, and Enable Message Retention Service.

This would be used in conjunction with a Trusted App Key which the GroupWise module needs for the SOAP tab.

The Send Method lets you send GroupWise items to an external system using FTP or SMTP. In most cases this should be disabled so that items are archived in Retain. To select the SMTP Forwarding or FTP features, you must first add and configure them in the Module Forwarding Tab on the Server Configuration page, otherwise the drop-down list is empty.

Using Active Directory Authentication

Before you use Active Directory Authentication, you must have LDAP Authentication configured in GroupWise and configure Retain to use Active Directory Authentication:

Profile Functions

The Profile Functions tell the Retain Server what to do with the mail it archives from the GroupWise system. If Archiving is not enabled, mail will not be archived by any Retain jobs using this profile.

Stubbing

Before enabling stubbing, make sure you understand the way stubbing works and how that will work in your system, because, once enabled, the stubbing process cannot be reversed. Stubbing, which requires GroupWise 8.02HP1 or above, allows Retain to replace archived messages and items in the GroupWise Post office with ‘stubs’ that link back to the full message or item in the Retain Archive. End users should not notice a difference as they have transparent access to the stubbed item through the GroupWise Post office, if they only use the client. The stub behaves much like the native item is still in the GroupWise system.

Stubbing cannot be reversed.

Plan your system and understand the positive and negative sides to Stubbing before you continue. To use stubbing, it is strongly recommended that the GroupWise system be at least 8.02HP1. Previous versions of GroupWise do not contain critical stability fixes.

Why you might want to implement stubbing (Pros):

Why stubbing may not work for your system (Cons):

Determine the correct option for your system. If you wish to enable Stubbing, you need to install and configure the Stubbing Server as well. Refer to the install guide for your specific OS and the Stubbing Server sections. Stubbing can only be active for items which have been archived by Retain.

Calendar Items should not be stubbed unless necessary, as this can cause erratic behavior if archived items are rescheduled. If you wish to only stub large items in your Post Office, you may set a size threshold. Any item larger than the specified size will be stubbed. If this option is not set, all messages will be stubbed, regardless of size.

Archive Mark

Some users may opt to use the Archive Mark in GroupWise for messages that have been archived by Retain. The archive mark is a custom flag and may be modified, therefore is not secure and should not be used for compliance. Archive Mark slightly degrades job performance. Check the check box to enable Archive Mark for the selected profile.

When the Archive Mark is active, Retain creates a custom column for mail, called “RetainArchived” which users and administrators may add to their GroupWise clients to view mail which has been archived. The “RetainArchived” column indicates an archived mail item by displaying a ‘1’ in the message row, while remaining blank when the message is not archived.

To add the column, in the client: highlight desired mailbox or folder, right-click on columns header, select More Columns, select RetainArchived, and select Add.

Messaging System Deletion

Retain can delete items from GroupWise after they have been archived by enabling "Delete archived messages from messaging system".

However, it is recommended that the messaging system do the deletion rather than Retain.

Set how far back the messages will be kept by entering a reasonable number. like 90, of "Keep x number of days in messaging system". The amount of time to keep messages is specified in days. The recommended setting depends on the archiving scheme in the system.

For example, if messages are to persist in the system for 30 days, then the system deletion setting should be set to ‘30’ and enabled.

A setting of ‘0’ will remove messages from the system as soon as they are archived. Be sure to configure the system before enabling the setting in the profile.

Date Range to Scan

The Date Range determines which message items are collected, depending on the date of the message.

New Items: All items that have not been archived by Retain since the last time the job ran.

All Items in Mailbox: All items in the mailbox starting from 1/1/1970, duplicates will be processed but not stored if they already exist in the Retain archive.

Number of day before job start date and newer: Only items from the relative number of days from the time the job began will be archived. E.g. messages that came into the email system 7 days ago or less.

Number of days from job start date and older: Only items previous to the relative number of days from the time the job began will be archived. E.g. messages that came into the email system 7 days ago or more.

Specify custom date range: Only items between two absolute dates will be dredged.

Specify custom date range relative to job start: Only items between two relative dates will be dredged. E.g. messages that came into the email system between 7 and 5 days ago.

About GroupWise’s Purge and Retention Flags

The Purge, and Retention flags perform similar functions. The Purge and Retention flags are stored internally in the GroupWise post office on a per-mailbox basis. The Retain Server also keeps its own timestamp flag internally in the Retain configuration database.

Each can be thought of as simply a “time stamp” indicating the last time data was retrieved by a third-party application. There are a few subtle differences between the three flags, which are discussed below.

The Purge flag was introduced by Novell in GroupWise version 6.0.

With Purge enabled in GroupWise:

Because makers of retention and compliance software wanted a flag of their own, one that wasn't shared with the backup software Purge flag, the Retention flag was introduced by Novell in GroupWise 6.5.1.

In almost all respects, the Retention flag is identical in purpose and function to the Purge flag. Like the Purge flag, it is stored internally, and is primarily used to prevent premature deletion, and to skip previously stored messages. In fact, these are so identical in purpose, in theory virtually all backup software could switch to using the Retention flag, and all Retention software to the Purge flag, and you'd notice almost no difference. The primary difference is simply it's a different value, used by different vendors.

There are some small distinctions:

Most customers using Retain will want to use the Retention flag. It's logical and consistent to do so, and avoids conflict with backup software. It is recommended that you use this flag unless there is a compelling reason not to. A few possibilities are discussed below.

Retain can use the Purge and Retention flags.

Setting up Purge and Retention flags in GroupWise

It is highly recommended that Message Retention Service is enabled, so users cannot delete items before the item is archived.

In GroupWise Administration, go to the Domain or Post Office you wish to enable Retention on.

In GroupWise 8 through 2012 enable by highlighting the GroupWise system, domain, post office, or user object and selecting Tools | GroupWise System Operations | Retention Services.

Store/index Internet Headers

This option tells Retain to store the headers in the SQL database. In order to use the header search option in the search interface you must have this option selected. To save disk space and still satisfy storage compliance, select this option and select “Don’t store the mime.822 attachments”. All other parts of the MIME file are already being archived, so if you store and index the Internet Header, you will already be archiving all information required.

Include Routing Properties

Routing Properties are kept in the MIME.822 file, if you are not storing that file, and are required to store the routing properties of the message then enable this option.

Disabled/Expired Users

This option tells Retain how to react to a disabled or expired user in GroupWise. Be default, Retain will Ignore a disabled mailbox and continue to the next mailbox. The Warn option will show a warning in the logs and the Reporting and Monitoring Server reports. The Error option will show an error in the log, will send an error email, if the job is configured to send error messages, and be shown in the Reporting and Monitoring Server reports.

A special log file can be created in the logs location.

Advanced GroupWise Disaster Recovery Settings