Most individuals that use their Blackberry in a small businesses environment would not buy Blackberry Enterprise Server for Exchange as it is simply too expensive and quite pointless for one or two users. Here is one method to bypass this and use the (UK) mobile phone providers Blackberry infrastructure and run it in conjunction with your Exchange system. (I'll also mention here that runPCrun can provide fully managed Microsoft Exchange hosting*  with the ability to add full "over the air" Blackberry synchronisation - starting at £10 p/mailbox/month, call us if you are interested in this.)

The main main advantages of the following set-up compared to just setting up standard POP3 collection are:-

• immediate (push) delivery of messages (rather that waiting for the Blackberry service to poll the POP3 provider)
• No need to open POP3 ports through your firewall
• Items sent via your Blackberry are kept in your Sent Items in Outlook/Exchange.

This is attained with a little bit of tweaking and performs very well, although (obviously) the calendar,notes and tasks are not synchronised over the Internet as with the full blown server. In a small company this is not an issue and the synchronisation can occur easily using the cradle.

What this method does in a nutshell - when an email is received, it is forwarded immediately to a mobile providers blackberry address. When a new mail or reply is sent from the Blackberry, it is sent masquerading as the Exchange email, and a copy is BCC'ed to the Exchange email address. This email is the sorted into the Sent Items folder using a server side rule.

The steps to attain this are thus:-

If you have a question or slight difficulty with Outlook Web Access then have a look at this handy guide - link below. (or print out and keep with you when travelling)

How to connect to Gmail/Googlemail via POP3 and IMAP using an email client. This information is easily available via the Gmail/Googlemail website, and is here really for our ease of access. :)

POP3

POP server: pop.gmail.com
Port: 995
Require SSL: Yes

User name: <your full Gmail/Googlemail email address>
Password: <your Gmail/Googlemail password>

• Go to https://digitalid.verisign.com/client/class1MS.htm in Internet Explorer.
• Fill in your first name, last name, email address and a simple memorable password (in the challenge phrase box)
• Select "I'd like to test drive a 60-day trial Digital ID for free"
• Scroll down and accept, check the details and agree.
• When the email from Verisign comes in, copy the Digital PIN and click on the link.
• Paste the Digital PIN into the new webpage and click "INSTALL", again Agree/say yes to the boxes it presents.
• Open Outlook , go to Tools > Options > Security and tick the checkbox for "Add Digital Signature to outgoing messages"
• Click OK.

Volia!

runPCrun Notes for Configuring Server and Outlook for RPC over HTTPS

First read these pages for full details.

• RPC over HTTPS by Simon Butler, Exchange MVP
• Outlookexchange.com - RPC over HTTP
• MS Exchange.org Tutorials - Troubleshooting RPC over HTTPS Part 1
• MS Exchange.org Tutorials - Troubleshooting RPC over HTTPS Part 2

Set up

You need: (assuming a single server setup)

1. Windows 2003 with SP1
2. Outlook 2003
3. Windows XP with SP2
• RPC over HTTP Proxy needs to be installed on the serverh
• Outlook Web Access needs to be working and tested
• The certificate on the server needs to be installed in Internet Explorer on the client if it a self created one We prefer to purchase a certificate.
  
• Make sure the name on the certificate is the same as the External User Name that you use later

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Rpc\RpcProxy Key:ValidPorts 

For the following where :-

• 'server' is the internal name for the server
• 'domain.local' is the internal domain name
• 'mail.external.com' is the external domain name as per the certificate

• Quick Tip:Use this tool to do this http://www.petri.co.il/software/rpcnofrontend.zip

server:100-5000;
server:6001-6002;
server:6004;
server.domain.local:6001-6002;
server.domain.local:6004;
mail.external.com:6001-6002;
mail.external.com:6004;

IIS RPC.dll

Configure the RPC virtual directory in Internet Information Services
After you configure the Exchange computer to use RPC over HTTP, you must configure the RPC virtual directory in Internet Information Services. To do this, follow these steps:
1.      Click Start, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager.
2.      Expand servername (local computer), expand Web Sites, expand Default Web Site, right-click Rpc, and then click Properties.
3.      Click the Directory Security tab, and then click Edit under Authentication and access control.
4.      Click to clear the Enable anonymous access check box.
5.      Click to select the Basic authentication (password is sent in clear text) check box.
You receive the following message:
The authentication option you have selected results in passwords being transmitted over the network without data encryption. Someone attempting to compromise your system security could use a protocol analyzer to examine user passwords during the authentication process. For more detail on user authentication, consult the online help. This warning does not apply to HTTPS(orSSL) connections.
Are you sure you want to continue?
Note In this error message, the word "HTTPS(orSSL)" is a misspelling for the words "HTTPS (or SSL)."
6.      Click Yes, and then click OK.
7.      Click Apply, and then click OK.
The RPC virtual directory is configured to use basic authentication. We recommend that you use SSL together with basic authentication. To enable SSL on the RPC virtual directory, you must obtain and publish a certificate. This procedure assumes that you have obtained and published certificate. To configure the RPC virtual directory to require SSL for all client-side connections, follow these steps:
1.      Click Start, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager.
2.      Expand Web Sites, expand Default Web Site, right-click Rpc, and then click Properties.
3.      Click the Directory Security tab, and then click Edit under Secure communications.
4.      Click to select the Require secure channel (SSL) check box and the Require 128-bit encryption check box.
Note We recommend that you click to select the Require 128-bit encryption check box. However, RPC over HTTP functions correctly even if you do not require 128-bit encryption.
5.      Click OK, click Apply, and then click OK.

Client Set Up

It is recommended to set the client up on the network;

1. In Outlook 2003, choose "Tools", "Email Accounts..."
2. Ensure that "View or Change existing email accounts" is selected and press Next.
3. With "Microsoft Exchange Server" highlighted, click Change.
4. In the bottom right corner locate and click "More Settings..."
5. Click on the "Connection" tab, and enable the option "Connect to my Exchange mailbox using HTTP"
6. Click on "Exchange Proxy Settings..."
7. Complete the options as required for the client.
   • Remember that the server name must match the certificate

     https://<external domain name>

Tick 'connect using SSL only' Tick 'Mutually authenticate...' The principal name for proxy server is msstd:"external domain name" (no quotes) Select Basic Proxy Authentication You can start Outlook using the /rpcdiag switch to checkhow it's communicating with the server.

If you need to configure Outlook when you are not on the domain, there are a couple more steps.

1. When you create the profile and after you have selected 'Exchange Server', type in the internal server name and the username but DO NOT select 'Check Name'

2. Select 'More Settings..' and wait until the 'unavailable' error message appears. Click OK and then Cancel on the next message.

Then complete the set up as before. You will be prompted to enter logon credentials. Use the form 'domain\username' and the password. The servername and username should now be underlined - simply click 'Next' and complete the wizard.

Troubleshooting

Gotcha - check that there are no IP addresses listed in deny access within RPCproxy.dll within IIS on the default website.
Gotcha - check the path of IIS RPC extentions - it must be c:\windows\system32\rpcproxy\rpcproxy.dll not c:\windows\systems32\rpcproxy.dll
How to Verify That RPC Proxy Server Extension Is Loading Properly

Settings that typical Outlook users want when moving to Thunderbird.

Tools > Options >Composition
Check Forward message Inline
Check Configure text format behaviour - send message in both plain and HTML

Install Quota extension
Install Add BCC button extension


Account settings > Server settings
Check for new messages every 2 minutes

> Composition and addressing
> Automatically quote orgininal message select "start my reply above original quote"

Offline & Disc space
> Check "Make messages in my Inbox available offline"

> Check "When I create new folders select them for offline use."

Junk mail controls
> Trust junk mail headers set by "spam assasin"

Set Signature.