Installing Zimbra Email 8.6 on CentOS 7

coliver

I always liked Zimbra and could never understand why people would use Exchange over it. The web interface was amazing in 2010 when I was running it personally.

scottalanmiller

@coliver said in Installing Zimbra Email 8.6 on CentOS 7:

I always liked Zimbra and could never understand why people would use Exchange over it. The web interface was amazing in 2010 when I was running it personally.

Even more dramatic going back to like 2007 or earlier.

scottalanmiller

Download link for 8.7.1:

https://files.zimbra.com/downloads/8.7.1_GA/zcs-8.7.1_GA_1670.RHEL7_64.20161025045328.tgz

NetworkNerd

@coliver said in Installing Zimbra Email 8.6 on CentOS 7:

I always liked Zimbra and could never understand why people would use Exchange over it. The web interface was amazing in 2010 when I was running it personally.

Zimbra's web GUI is amazing. I remember when we looked at going Zimbra over Exchange 2010. I had built a test VM to give it a proof of concept with a different e-mail domain. Though people liked it, they couldn't accept the death of Outlook. I was shot down by management and forced to go to Exchange 2010. There's no doubt it was great experience rolling out Exchange 2010 for the organization, but I sometimes wonder how things would be different to this day had we gone with Zimbra.

scottalanmiller

@NetworkNerd said in Installing Zimbra Email 8.6 on CentOS 7:

@coliver said in Installing Zimbra Email 8.6 on CentOS 7:

I always liked Zimbra and could never understand why people would use Exchange over it. The web interface was amazing in 2010 when I was running it personally.

Zimbra's web GUI is amazing. I remember when we looked at going Zimbra over Exchange 2010. I had built a test VM to give it a proof of concept with a different e-mail domain. Though people liked it, they couldn't accept the death of Outlook. I was shot down by management and forced to go to Exchange 2010. There's no doubt it was great experience rolling out Exchange 2010 for the organization, but I sometimes wonder how things would be different to this day had we gone with Zimbra.

You should have just connected Outlook to Zimbra and not even mentioned that it wasn't Exchange

NetworkNerd

@scottalanmiller said in Installing Zimbra Email 8.6 on CentOS 7:

@NetworkNerd said in Installing Zimbra Email 8.6 on CentOS 7:

@coliver said in Installing Zimbra Email 8.6 on CentOS 7:

I always liked Zimbra and could never understand why people would use Exchange over it. The web interface was amazing in 2010 when I was running it personally.

Zimbra's web GUI is amazing. I remember when we looked at going Zimbra over Exchange 2010. I had built a test VM to give it a proof of concept with a different e-mail domain. Though people liked it, they couldn't accept the death of Outlook. I was shot down by management and forced to go to Exchange 2010. There's no doubt it was great experience rolling out Exchange 2010 for the organization, but I sometimes wonder how things would be different to this day had we gone with Zimbra.

You should have just connected Outlook to Zimbra and not even mentioned that it wasn't Exchange

Their Outlook connector at the time didn't seem to sync properly with both Outlook and mobile devices. It didn't, at least, during my demo with the CEO.

StrongBad

What's new in the latest version?

scottalanmiller

@StrongBad said in Installing Zimbra Email 8.6 on CentOS 7:

What's new in the latest version?

Mostly stuff for the commercial customers:

Focusing on security and privacy while continuing our dedication to our open source community

BUFFALO – July 13, 2016 – Synacor, Inc. (Nasdaq:SYNC), the trusted multiscreen technology and monetization partner for video, internet and communications providers, device manufacturers and enterprises, today announced the latest product release—Zimbra Collaboration 8.7—by Zimbra, the world’s leading open source-based email and collaboration software. Zimbra Collaboration 8.7 is specifically enhanced for global enterprises and service providers, including Two-Factor Authentication (2FA), a new Zimbra Packaging System, SSL Server Name Identification (SNI), and Zimbra Postscreen, and all delivering a low total cost of ownership (TCO).
For Enterprise Customers, Zimbra 8.7 delivers enhanced security and a lower TCO

2FA offers enterprises enhanced user-account security
Postscreen offers enterprise customers enhanced anti-spam capabilities and reduced infrastructure overhead required for SMTP processes
SSL SNI allows enterprises to cost-effectively deliver domain specific SSL certificates

For Service Providers, Zimbra 8.7 delivers streamlined deployment, product differentiation, and reduced TCO

New packaging repository improves the ability for service providers to patch third-party packages without having to upgrade an entire installation
2FA offers service providers competitive differentiation in the marketplace
Postscreen offers service providers enhanced anti-spam capabilities and reduced infrastructure overhead required for SMTP processes
SSL SNI allows service providers to cost-effectively deliver domain specific SSL certificates

Customers already upgrading to Zimbra 8.7

Customers are eager to upgrade and take advantage of the 2600+ enhancements and bug-fixes delivered in 8.7
New packaging repository gives customers rapid and painless patching of third-party packages

“Zimbra Collaboration 8.7, the highly anticipated new Release of Zimbra, is here. The focus of our latest release is security, privacy and reliability specifically geared to our enterprise and service provider customers, and also continuing our dedication to our Open Source Community,”said Brent Rhymes, EVP, Enterprise Sales & Marketing, Synacor.

“To help our customers and partners better meet critical security needs, Zimbra invested serious development time into a 2FA feature, as well as a new packaging system that helps in the security and administration of Zimbra Collaboration. We also are debuting postscreen functionality and SSL SNI, features that will appeal to hosting providers.”

Key Enhancements offered in Zimbra Collaboration 8.7

The security of each individual user is a prerequisite in most enterprises. Zimbra Collaboration 8.7 includes a native 2FA feature that doesn’t require a plugin at the server or user level, and works with the most well know OTP mobile applications. With 2FA, two components are required to log into an email account—something the user knows: a password, user ID, etc., and something the user possesses: a smartphone or USB-key.

With the new packaging system in Zimbra Collaboration 8.7, applying security patches and Zimbra updates are easier than ever before. When a new vulnerability arises, it’s simple updating of individual Zimbra components instead of the entire Zimbra package (typically a full upgrade).

Zimbra Collaboration 8.7 comes with postscreen at the MTA-level. The postscreen daemon provides additional protection against mail server overload. By keeping spambots away, postscreen leaves more SMTP server processes available for legitimate clients and delays the onset of server overload conditions.

Customers and Business Service Providers (BSP) hosting multiple Zimbra domains now have official support for Multiple SSL domains on a single server (SNI) for HTTPS connections. With 8.7 it is now possible to publish multiple SSL Certificates using one single IPv4.

dafyre

Is the Outlook / Activesync stuff free in Zimbra, or is that part of the commercial offering?

scottalanmiller

@dafyre said in Installing Zimbra Email 8.6 on CentOS 7:

Is the Outlook / Activesync stuff free in Zimbra, or is that part of the commercial offering?

Zimbra only offers it commercially. But Kopano makes a free component that you can use with Zimbra or Kopano. So ActiveSync, in theory, is free with Zimbra, just not free IN Zimbra.

NetworkNerd

@scottalanmiller said in Installing Zimbra Email 8.6 on CentOS 7:

@dafyre said in Installing Zimbra Email 8.6 on CentOS 7:

Is the Outlook / Activesync stuff free in Zimbra, or is that part of the commercial offering?

Zimbra only offers it commercially. But Kopano makes a free component that you can use with Zimbra or Kopano. So ActiveSync, in theory, is free with Zimbra, just not free IN Zimbra.

Back in the days when we were doing a Zimbra proof of concept, someone told me about Zextras. It looks like they have some very neat bolt-ons for Zimbra Open Source Edition - https://www.zextras.com/. All of the features you see are licensed based on the number of mailboxes you have.

jt1001001

Did I miss something? When did Synacor acquire Zimbra??

scottalanmiller

@jt1001001 said in Installing Zimbra Email 8.6 on CentOS 7:

Did I miss something? When did Synacor acquire Zimbra??

Quite some time ago, I think. Few years if I recall.

scottalanmiller

Zimbra was initially developed by LiquidSys, which changed their name to Zimbra, Inc. on 26 July 2005. The Zimbra Collaboration Suite was first released in 2005. The company was subsequently purchased by Yahoo on September 17, 2007, and later sold to VMware on January 12, 2010. In July 2013, it was sold by VMware to Telligent Systems which changed its name to Zimbra, Inc. in September 2013. It was then acquired by Synacor Inc on 18 August 2015.

scottalanmiller

We've been running Zimbra since pre-Yahoo days.

vhinzsanchez

@StuartJordan
Zimbra has been and is still great. The one con I can think of one the OSE version does not have a built-in capability for backup...though there's a lot of scripts available. Those can also be found on their wiki or forum.

I have also been told that they have removed the built-in chat...and the Zextras chat as well (though I'm still debating this with the vendor I am speaking with as there are still pointers regarding its availability).

Below is the link for the comparison:
https://files.zimbra.com/public/collateral/Zimbra Collaboration Product Edition Comparison.pdf

scottalanmiller

@vhinzsanchez they removed the chat LONG ago. But it is easy to replace with OpenFire if you want the old style, or Rocket.Chat if you want something more modern.

scottalanmiller

@vhinzsanchez said in Installing Zimbra Email 8.6 on CentOS 7:

@StuartJordan
Zimbra has been and is still great. The one con I can think of one the OSE version does not have a built-in capability for backup...though there's a lot of scripts available.

Lacks AD integration (we don't use AD, so we don't care)
Lacks ActiveSync natively

vhinzsanchez

@scottalanmiller
In version 7, you can enable it. However, in my version 8 test, I previously installed successfully the Zextras trial which includes the chat module. It did not expire when the trial does.

Zextras Suite Brochure

Page 24
The Zextras Chat module is included in Zextras Suite 100% free of charge!

Zextras Suite Chat

Chat and Videochat: 100% Free of charge
The Zextras Chat module is included in Zextras Suite 100% free of charge! The Zextras Chat Zimlet allows your users to communicate within the Zimbra Web Client, while desktop and mobile clients can connect via XMPP.

ZxChat

Is this free?

Yes, it is and it will always be! ZeXtras Chat is a free module of ZeXtras Suite, and will be functional even if your ZeXtras Suite trial is expired or if you don't have a valid ZeXtras Suite License installed.

ZxChat FAQ

Is ZeXtras Chat free?
Yes!

I've also previously setup OpenFire/Spark bundle in my previous employer. Though it never saw the light of approval.

Regarding AD integration, I'm not sure I understand it though. I have successfully provisioned a server which can look-up the account password in AD, though its a separate account (manual creation of account--separate from AD), the password is the same as Zimbra looks it up. Lock the account up and the user can not log into Zimbra as well.

scottalanmiller

Latest version for release...

https://files.zimbra.com/downloads/8.8.6_GA/zcs-8.8.6_GA_1906.RHEL7_64.20171130041047.tgz