Replacing Microsoft Exchange Server with an open source alternative
Zimbra is the first enterprise-grade open source alternative for Microsoft Exchange Server. Read on to find out how to set up your own open source collaboration and email server and finally wave goodbye to Microsoft Exchange…
Note that if you are not using eth0 as the network device name, you should replace it with the correct network device name.
3. Set up the DNS client:
We will be configuring our Zimbra system to also act as a DNS server.
@config file: /etc/resolv.conf
nameserver 192.168.1.32
At this point, the internet connection will be lost on your system as we have yet to configure the DNS server.
4. Apply the changes:
$ sudo /etc/init.d/networking restart
*Reconfiguring network interfaces… [OK]
Run the following command to verify the network settings:
$ ifconfig
Configure the hostname
Chances are that you have already set up a hostname for your system. But for a correct Zimbra setup we will need a fully qualified hostname. Let’s set it up now. Edit the following files:
@config_file:/etc/hostname
ludzserver Add the following lines @config_file:/etc/resolv.conf 127.0.0.1 localhost.localdomain localhost 192.168.1.32 ludzserver.lud.com ludzserver
Restart the system to apply the changes.
Setting up the DNS Server
Setting up the DNS Server correctly is a crucial step in ensuring a proper Zimbra Server installation.
Setting up the DNS forward address: This will enable the communication between the DNS server and the ISP’s DNS.
@config_file:/etc/bind/named.conf.options
options {
directory “/var/cache/bind”;
query-source address * port 53;
forwarders {
8.8.8.8;
};
auth-nxdomain no; # conform to RFC1035
};
Restart the DNS server. Now you should be able to connect to the internet.
$ /etc/init.d/bind9 restart
Set up the internal zone:
Let’s set up our internal network DNS zone. Append the following lines:
@config_file:/etc/bind/named.conf.local
zone “lud.com” {
type master;
file “/etc/bind/db.lud.com”;
};
zone “1.168.192.in-addr.arpa” {
type master;
file “/etc/bind/db.1.168.192”;
};
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Actually, Zimbra is FAR from the first and certainly not the best for Enterprise users — try Open-Xchange
This article reads like an advertisement for Zimbra, which isn’t really open source; it’s more “open core.” If you want it to do anything useful you have to buy the expensive version.
True open source enthusiasts would be better suited trying out Citadel [http://www.citadel.org] which is end-to-end GPL3 code and does most of the same Exchange-replacement things (and some useful Sharepoint-replacement things as well).
Actually, this quote is wrong:
“Like many other open source packages (such as Red Hat ), Zimbra also maintains commercial versions of its software with extra features such as Microsoft Outlook support, iPhone sync support, clustering and high-availability support, and technical support. ”
As someone above said Zimbra is Open Core not true Open Source. Redhat charges for services such as support, but you can download the source code with no features held back. (This is how CentOS can exist).
In contrast, Zimbra offers a “dumbed down” version for free then a paid version with extra features.
Therefore Zimbra is not like Red Hat Linux at all. This should be changed to
“Like many other open core packages (such as Alfresco), Zimbra also maintains commercial versions of its software with extra features such as Microsoft Outlook support, iPhone sync support, clustering and high-availability support, and technical support. “
Yup, this is an add for Zimbra. A better option is Egroupware. It has it’s issues, but it is enterprise ready and has some great features – not QUITE as polished, but pretty nice for a totally free app.
Why did you reboot the system during the BIND setup? Bind doesn’t do anything that requires a reboot.
E-Groupware has a 30 day trial version…how is that open source
Horde is a truly open source mailing and collaboration system…configuration is a bit of a challenge
@joe Open-xchange is not an exchange replacement as a matter of fact it is not an email system at all, it is only a groupware where you need to integrate separate email system ….
though it is intuitive interface is worth the try