Windows installation

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This document describes how to install MailWasher Server on Windows systems running Exchange Server.

1. Supported platforms

2. Installation overview

3. Running the MailWasher Server installer

3.1 Starting and stopping the MailWasher Server services manually

4. Configuring MailWasher Server using the web interface

5. Installing the mail conduit

5.1 The mail conduit for Microsoft Exchange Server

5.1.1 Uninstalling the Exchange mail conduit

1. Supported platforms

MailWasher Server integrates into your existing mail server using a program called a mail conduit, which is specific to the mail server software. MailWasher Server supports both Microsoft Exchange Server 2000 and Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 on Windows, and runs on the 32 bit versions of both Microsoft Windows 2000 Server and Microsoft Windows 2003 Server. To inquire about support for other platforms, please contact Firetrust.

This document assumes that Windows Server is installed and configured, and that Exchange is installed and configured to receive mail.

2. Installation overview

MailWasher Server consists of three programs:

1.	Mail Processing Daemon (MPD). A service that provides the core junk mail filtering for MailWasher Server.

2.	MailWasher Server Web Interface (MWI). A service with a built-in HTTP server that provides the web interface used by administrators to configure and maintain the system, and by end users to access their quarantined email.

3.	The mail conduit for your mail server, which checks each incoming message against the Mail Processing Daemon, and then accepts, blocks, or bounces the message. The Exchange mail conduit is a DLL that provides a COM interface which is called by Exchange.

The Mail Processing Daemon and the MailWasher Server Web Interface run under the standard LocalSystem account. The Exchange mail conduit runs in the context of your Exchange service, which is itself usually run under the LocalSystem account also.

On Windows, MailWasher Server stores all files in it's own directory, selected during installation. The following files are stored in this directory:

1.	The executables and supporting files are installed in this configurable location, by default a MailWasher Server directory under your server's Program Files folder. These files total around 10MB, and do not change once the product has been installed.

The runtime databases are stored in a data subdirectory. These files are initially less than a megabyte, however they will expand as the amount of quarantined email stored by the system increases. The space required depends on the volume of mail processed by your system and the MailWasher Server configuration options set, but as a guide we recommend that the partition hosting this directory have at least 100MB available.

3.	The service HTTP access logs are stored in a log subdirectory.

The database and log subdirectories must be writeable by the MailWasher Server services; since these services run under the LocalSystem account, which does not have permission to access the network, MailWasher Server can only be installed to directories stored on local hard drives.

MailWasher Server stores only the settings necessary to get the MailWasher Server daemons started in the Registry; all other options are configured using the web interface and stored in the database. The registry entries are created by the MailWasher Server installer and should not normally be edited manually.

The MailWasher Server installation process has three stages:

1.	Running the MailWasher Server installer. Installing the program files, setting up the runtime directories, and starting the MailWasher Server services.

2.	Configuring MailWasher Server using the web interface.

3.	Installing the Exchange mail conduit.

3. Running the MailWasher Server installer

MailWasher Server is distributed as an executable installer. Download the Windows installer from http://sourceforge.net/projects/mailwasher/, and run it. You must be logged in as a user who is a member of the Administrators group.

The installer runs through the following steps:

1.	Selecting the target directory. You will be prompted to choose the directory to install the product to. The default is a MailWasher Server directory under your server's Program Files folder. MailWasher Server must always be installed in its own directory, and cannot be installed to a network drive.

2.	Configuring the MailWasher Server Web Interface. The network address and port that the web interface binds to are configurable. By default, the web interface binds to all network interfaces, on port 4044, but both settings can be changed if desired.

For example, if the users of the web interface will always access it from an internal LAN, you may prefer to have the web interface bind only to the LAN address, so that it cannot be accessed from the Internet.

To have the web interface bind to:

•	all interfaces, leave the Address drop-down on the default selection, (all network interfaces on the server); to have it bind to any other interface, select the interface from the drop-down list.

•	port 4044, leave the Port field with the default value, 4044; to have it bind to any other port, enter it instead.

3.	Registering the services. The installer will then register up the two services, setting them to be automatically started when the server boots and stopped when the system shuts down.

Starting the services. The installer then asks if the services should be started so that you can configure MailWasher Server (remember that the mail conduit has not yet been installed, so MailWasher Server is not yet filtering your email). To have the services started now, answer Yes. Otherwise, answer No, and see the instructions below to start the services manually.

3.1 Starting and stopping the MailWasher Server services manually

The MailWasher Server installer registers both the Mail Processing Daemon and the MailWasher Server Web Interface as Windows Services.

Complete the following steps to start MailWasher Server manually:

Step	Action
1	Open the Control Panel from the Start menu on your server.
2	Open the Administrative Tools folder.
3	Open the Services tool.
4	Select the first MailWasher Server service, the MailWasher Server Mail Processing Daemon.
5	Click Start on the Action menu.
6	Select the second MailWasher Server service, the MailWasher Server Web Interface Daemon.
7	Click Start on the Action menu.

To manually stop MailWasher Server, repeat the process above but click Stop instead of Start.

Note: You should rarely need to start or stop MailWasher Server itself; if you want to prevent MailWasher Server from processing your mail, you should instead change the configuration options, or, to remove it from the mail processing loop completely, turn off the Exchange mail conduit.

4. Configuring MailWasher Server using the web interface

The MailWasher Server services have now been started, and the product can now be configured using the web interface wizard. Open your web browser and go to the address and port you specified during the installer - for example http://your server's name:4044/. The setup wizard helps you create an administrator account, configure MailWasher Server, and test that it can successfully connect to the FirstAlert! service (unless FirstAlert! access is disabled).

5. Installing the mail conduit

The mail conduits are software components which check each incoming message against the Mail Processing Daemon, and then accepts, blocks, or bounces the message. Each mail conduit is specific to a particular MTA.

5.1 The mail conduit for Microsoft Exchange Server

Before installing the Microsoft Exchange Server mail conduit, first check that you have successfully installed MailWasher Server, that both services have been started, and that you have configured the product using the web interface.

To install the Exchange mail conduit, select the Install the Microsoft Exchange mail conduit link in the MailWasher Server group on the Start menu.

5.1.1 Uninstalling the Exchange mail conduit

To uninstall the Exchange mail conduit, select the Uninstall the Microsoft Exchange mail conduit link in the MailWasher Server group on the Start menu.

You will be prompted to confirm that you wish to uninstall the mail conduit. Click Yes to continue.