Hi,
I'm in the process of trying to convince my organization to move from an
exchange server, to a samba solution, while retaining their original windows
environments, including Outlook clients.
I thought I had all my issues covered, and suddenly I'm facing a show
stopper.
it turns out that a lot of my users "documentation" has been stored on
"public
folders" on the former exchange server, in "pst" format.
The clients are all Outlook clients.
I did some investigation on pst files on a samba share.
If I move the "pst" files to a linux smb share, then the pst file can
be
accessed *BUT* only by one user at a time. I am told that in the windows
exchange environment, multiple users could open up a pst folder on the exchange
server simultaneously. (never having been an outlook user, I'm unfamiliar w/
this particular aspect of windows).
from a bit googling, it seems that "pst" files are essentially
"mailbox
databases", which can include things in addition to mails.
I have also seen some solutions (for a full client conversion from windows),
that involved creation of an imap folder, and then dragging the pst to the imap
folder, letting windows convert from one folder to the other, but the issue
I'm
facing here is that it will still be the case that more than one user will want
to access these folder(s) concurrently. I guess (not sure, haven't tried) I
can
share an imap mailbox with more than one concurrent user, but is this really
the best solution ? (note that the client will remain as a windows outlook
client!)
I rather suspect that this issue has likely come up before, but as I say,
I've
never user outlook before, and am totally unfamiliar w/ an exchange server, so
I'm kind of in the dark about what it is that I'm looking for.
I'll be quite grateful for any tips/hints, pointers, urls, even into the
archives (I've d/l'ed the samba archives, but it is huge, and I
don't really
know what it is I am looking for :(
thanks in advance, and best regards,
-Greg Hosler
----------------------------------
E-Mail: Gregory Hosler <gregory.hosler@accessgate.com.sg>
Date: 20-Feb-03
Time: 13:07:10
If each of us have one object, and we exchange them,
then each of us still has one object.
If each of us have one idea, and we exchange them,
then each of us now has two ideas.
----------------------------------
On Thu, 2003-02-20 at 16:18, Gregory Hosler wrote:> Hi, > > I'm in the process of trying to convince my organization to move from an > exchange server, to a samba solution, while retaining their original windows > environments, including Outlook clients. > > I thought I had all my issues covered, and suddenly I'm facing a show stopper. > > it turns out that a lot of my users "documentation" has been stored on "public > folders" on the former exchange server, in "pst" format. > > The clients are all Outlook clients. > > I did some investigation on pst files on a samba share. > > If I move the "pst" files to a linux smb share, then the pst file can be > accessed *BUT* only by one user at a time. I am told that in the windows > exchange environment, multiple users could open up a pst folder on the exchange > server simultaneously. (never having been an outlook user, I'm unfamiliar w/ > this particular aspect of windows). > > from a bit googling, it seems that "pst" files are essentially "mailbox > databases", which can include things in addition to mails. > > I have also seen some solutions (for a full client conversion from windows), > that involved creation of an imap folder, and then dragging the pst to the imap > folder, letting windows convert from one folder to the other, but the issue I'm > facing here is that it will still be the case that more than one user will want > to access these folder(s) concurrently. I guess (not sure, haven't tried) I can > share an imap mailbox with more than one concurrent user, but is this really > the best solution ? (note that the client will remain as a windows outlook > client!) > > I rather suspect that this issue has likely come up before, but as I say, I've > never user outlook before, and am totally unfamiliar w/ an exchange server, so > I'm kind of in the dark about what it is that I'm looking for. > > I'll be quite grateful for any tips/hints, pointers, urls, even into the > archives (I've d/l'ed the samba archives, but it is huge, and I don't really > know what it is I am looking for :( > > thanks in advance, and best regards, > > -Greg Hosler > > ---------------------------------- > E-Mail: Gregory Hosler <gregory.hosler@accessgate.com.sg> > Date: 20-Feb-03 > Time: 13:07:10 > > If each of us have one object, and we exchange them, > then each of us still has one object. > If each of us have one idea, and we exchange them, > then each of us now has two ideas. > > ----------------------------------I just did something similar to this - but ended up exporting the data from PST files to the Samba Server as it was running IMAP as a server service - it was long and drawn out, but after getting all the crap from heaps of different PST's copied up there, it works like a charm - minus having to have MS Exchange around - all the users connect to a "public" account and can view/change/move/add stuff as they wish - although in a limited tree fashion as you can't add subdirectories under folders - but that's alright. Much easier to clean with an antivirus package as well. -- Thu, 20 Feb 2003 16:45:01 +1100 4:45pm up 1 day, 5:28, 5 users, load average: 0.46, 0.27, 0.20 ------------------------------------------------------------------ | __ __ | kuhn media australia | | / ,, /| |'-. | http://kma.0catch.com | | .\__/ || | | |=================================| | _ / `._ \|_|_.-' | stephen kuhn | | | / \__.`=._) (_ | email: skuhn@telpacific.com.au | | |/ ._/ |"""""""""| | email: stephen.kuhn@gmx.net | | |'. `\ | | | icq: 5483808 | | ;"""/ / | | | | | smk ) /_/| |.-------.| | mobile: 0410-728-389 | | ' `-`' " " | Berkeley, New South Wales, AU | ------------------------------------------------------------------ linux user:267497 * RH 8.0 * PC/Mac/Linux/Networking/Consulting ------------------------------------------------------------------ On this morning in August when I was 13, my mother sent us out pick tomatoes. Back in April I'd have killed for a fresh tomato, but in August they are no more rare or wonderful than rocks. So I picked up one and threw it at a crab apple tree, where it made a good *splat*, and then threw a tomato at my brother. He whipped one back at me. We ducked down by the vines, heaving tomatoes at each other. My sister, who was a good person, said, "You're going to get it." She bent over and kept on picking. What a target! She was 17, a girl with big hips, and bending over, she looked like the side of a barn. I picked up a tomato so big it sat on the ground. It looked like it had sat there a week. The underside was brown, small white worms lived in it, and it was very juicy. I stood up and took aim, and went into the windup, when my mother at the kitchen window called my name in a sharp voice. I had to decide quickly. I decided. A rotten Big Boy hitting the target is a memorable sound, like a fat man doing a belly-flop. With a whoop and a yell the tomatoee came after faster than I knew she could run, and grabbed my shirt and was about to brain me when Mother called her name in a sharp voice. And my sister, who was a good person, obeyed and let go -- and burst into tears. I guess she knew that the pleasure of obedience is pretty thin compared with the pleasure of hearing a rotten tomato hit someone in the rear end. -- Garrison Keillor, "Lake Wobegon Days"
On Thu, 2003-02-20 at 00:18, Gregory Hosler wrote:> it turns out that a lot of my users "documentation" has been stored on "public > folders" on the former exchange server, in "pst" format.AFAIK, Exchange server uses the Jet database engine to store information. Pst files are only for local access and not generally shared.> If I move the "pst" files to a linux smb share, then the pst file can be > accessed *BUT* only by one user at a time.The same is true if you access the pst from a real Windows share. It's not a Samba issue.> I am told that in the windows > exchange environment, multiple users could open up a pst folder on the exchange > server simultaneously. (never having been an outlook user, I'm unfamiliar w/ > this particular aspect of windows).It's not an aspect of Windows, and it's not a pst file that is invloved. Exchange is a groupware application that is handling it all and the data is not in the pst format.> from a bit googling, it seems that "pst" files are essentially "mailbox > databases", which can include things in addition to mails.As well as can Exchange Server data stores. Contacts, tasks, calendars, notes, etc. but unlike a local pst shared access is possible, as well as a robust security policy.> I have also seen some solutions (for a full client conversion from windows), > that involved creation of an imap folder, and then dragging the pst to the imap > folder, letting windows convert from one folder to the other, but the issue I'm > facing here is that it will still be the case that more than one user will want > to access these folder(s) concurrently. I guess (not sure, haven't tried) I can > share an imap mailbox with more than one concurrent user, but is this really > the best solution ? (note that the client will remain as a windows outlook > client!)If it's only email information than an IMAP box will do fine, especially one that allows for shared mailboxes. The problem with moving from an Exchange environment usually goes beyond just mail (at least IME) and can make a move quite difficult.> I rather suspect that this issue has likely come up before, but as I say, I've > never user outlook before, and am totally unfamiliar w/ an exchange server, so > I'm kind of in the dark about what it is that I'm looking for.Again Exchange is a database driven groupware server, and Outlook is its full featured client. Like Lotus Domino and Notes it's not so easy to replace. These specialty servers with their respective clients are pretty slick and do a lot more than just email.> I'll be quite grateful for any tips/hints, pointers, urls, even into the > archives (I've d/l'ed the samba archives, but it is huge, and I don't really > know what it is I am looking for :(Sounds like you're looking for the Holy Grail<g>. As freeware it doesn't exist that I know of - yet - although I think it would be the killer application that would put open source "over the top" in small businesses. Commercially you might find it at http://www.bynari.net/, at http://www.samsungcontact.com/, or at http://lotus.com/products/r5web.nsf/webhome/nr5serverhp-new. Also take a peek at http://www.phprojekt.com/ for a free web based app. If a centralized email store is good enough only the Cyrus IMAP server - http://asg.web.cmu.edu/cyrus/, will provide the kind of capabilities and performance your users are used to. Courier IMAP - http://www.inter7.com/courierimap/ is, IMO, useable but not on the performance level of Cyrus and Exchange.
Gregory,
Are you saying that people have copied .pst (personal folder) files into the
Public Folders of the Exchange Server? This seems a bit strange to me. What
advantage does this provide? Why not just have the data directly in a Public
Folder? We're moving to Samsung Contact (aka HP OpenMail) on linux as a
replacement for Exchange. Check it out here:
www.samsungcontact.com
--
Christopher Barry
Manager of Information Systems
InfiniCon Systems
http://www.infiniconsys.com
-----Original Message-----
From: Gregory Hosler [mailto:gregory.hosler@accessgate.com.sg]
Sent: Thursday, February 20, 2003 12:19 AM
To: samba@lists.samba.org
Subject: [Samba] accessing outlook pst files w/ samba
Hi,
I'm in the process of trying to convince my organization to move from an
exchange server, to a samba solution, while retaining their original windows
environments, including Outlook clients.
I thought I had all my issues covered, and suddenly I'm facing a show
stopper.
it turns out that a lot of my users "documentation" has been stored on
"public
folders" on the former exchange server, in "pst" format.
The clients are all Outlook clients.
I did some investigation on pst files on a samba share.
If I move the "pst" files to a linux smb share, then the pst file can
be
accessed *BUT* only by one user at a time. I am told that in the windows
exchange environment, multiple users could open up a pst folder on the exchange
server simultaneously. (never having been an outlook user, I'm unfamiliar w/
this particular aspect of windows).
from a bit googling, it seems that "pst" files are essentially
"mailbox
databases", which can include things in addition to mails.
I have also seen some solutions (for a full client conversion from windows),
that involved creation of an imap folder, and then dragging the pst to the imap
folder, letting windows convert from one folder to the other, but the issue
I'm
facing here is that it will still be the case that more than one user will want
to access these folder(s) concurrently. I guess (not sure, haven't tried) I
can
share an imap mailbox with more than one concurrent user, but is this really
the best solution ? (note that the client will remain as a windows outlook
client!)
I rather suspect that this issue has likely come up before, but as I say,
I've
never user outlook before, and am totally unfamiliar w/ an exchange server, so
I'm kind of in the dark about what it is that I'm looking for.
I'll be quite grateful for any tips/hints, pointers, urls, even into the
archives (I've d/l'ed the samba archives, but it is huge, and I
don't really
know what it is I am looking for :(
thanks in advance, and best regards,
-Greg Hosler
----------------------------------
E-Mail: Gregory Hosler <gregory.hosler@accessgate.com.sg>
Date: 20-Feb-03
Time: 13:07:10
If each of us have one object, and we exchange them,
then each of us still has one object.
If each of us have one idea, and we exchange them,
then each of us now has two ideas.
----------------------------------
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