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Installing the Internet Mail Service

To set up the Internet Mail Service for the minimum configuration requirements, use the following list of procedures in the order in which they appear.

Task Description
Installing and configuring Transport Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP). Install Windows NT TCP/IP, and specify the host
and domain name. If DNS will be used, enter the IP address of the DNS servers.
Adding the Internet Mail Service computer to DNS. If using DNS, add the host name, domain name and IP address to the DNS serving the Internet Mail Service computer.
Updating the Hosts file when not using DNS. If not using DNS, use the Hosts file to specify the host name and IP address of the hosts to which the Internet Mail Service will forward mail.
Verifying the site address. From the Configuration container in the Administrator window, select Site Addressing.
Running the Internet Mail wizard to install the Internet Mail Service. From the Connections container in the Administrator program, choose File, New Other, and Internet Mail Service.
Testing the connection. Test the connection to ensure that the Internet Mail Service is configured correctly.

Note   When changes are made to the Internet Mail Service, you must stop the Internet Mail Service and then restart it for the changes to take effect.

Installing and Configuring TCP/IP

The Internet Mail Service uses Windows NT TCP/IP for its transport protocol. To use the Internet Mail Service, you must install Windows NT TCP/IP and specify the host name and domain name.

  1. Select the Network icon in Control Panel.
  2. Select the Protocols tab, choose TCP/IP Protocol, and then choose Properties.
  3. Select the DNS tab.
  4. Type the host name of the computer and the domain name where it resides. These elements create the fully qualified domain name (FQDN). You must associate the FQDN with the Internet Mail Service using an A record either in DNS or in the Hosts files of hosts that will connect to this Internet Mail Service.
  5. If you are using DNS, type the IP address of one or more DNS servers in the DNS Service Search Order box. These are the DNS servers the Internet Mail Service queries to resolve domain names for outbound mail. Register the Internet Mail Service either with a DNS or in the Hosts file of an SMTP host.
    6. If DNS is not used, see "Updating the Hosts File When Not Using DNS" later in this chapter.

For information about installing TCP/IP, see your Microsoft Windows NT documentation.

Adding the Internet Mail Service Computer to DNS

You may have access to DNS through your Internet provider, or someone in your organization may be responsible for maintaining the DNS. This section will help you understand DNS terminology and how it is used with Microsoft Exchange Server.

You should be familiar with the following DNS terms:

A (address) records   Contain the IP address and the FQDN of a computer, so the address in a message can be resolved and the message can be sent to the correct host. For example, if the host name in the TCP/IP configuration is imshost, the domain name in the TCP/IP configuration is company.com, and the IP address is 123.45.67.89, the A record in DNS would be:

imshost.company.com. IN A 123.45.67.89

MX (mail exchanger) records   Used to point to one or more computers that will process mail for an organization or site. If the Microsoft Exchange Server SMTP site address is different from the host and domain name configured in TCP/IP, an MX record should be used to associate the address with an A record. For example, if the Microsoft Exchange Server site address is exchange.company.com, and the TCP/IP configuration specifies a host name of imshost and a domain name of company.com, the MX record would be:

exchange.company.com. IN MX 10 imshost.company.com.

Note   Using both an A record and an MX record can result in faster name resolution.

 

For more information about DNS, see Microsoft Exchange Server Concepts and Planning, your DNS administrator, Internet provider, or DNS documentation.

Updating the Hosts File When Not Using DNS

If you are not using DNS, you must use the local Hosts file to specify the IP address and the domain name of all hosts to which the Internet Mail Service will transfer messages. In addition, you must add the domain name and IP address of the Internet Mail Service computer to the Hosts file of all SMTP servers that will deliver mail to the Internet Mail Service. If the SMTP servers delivering mail to the Internet Mail Service are using DNS and the Internet Mail Service computer has entries in available DNS servers, the Hosts file does not need to be updated on those servers.

If you do not use DNS, use the Connections property page to list the hosts to
which the Internet Mail Service will forward mail. The host names listed in the Connections property page must be listed in the Hosts file of the computer running the Internet Mail Service, unless you have listed hosts by IP address.

The Hosts file is located in the Winnt\System32\Drivers\Etc directory.
The following is a sample entry in a Hosts file:

123.45.67.123 sales.fab.com
  1. Add the IP address and the host and domain names to the local Hosts file.
  2. Notify any SMTP hosts that will be forwarding mail to the Internet Mail Service so the Internet Mail Service host name, domain name, and IP address can be added to the SMTP Hosts file or to DNS.

Testing the Connection

When you finish configuring the Internet Mail Service and have started the service, you should test its operation before beginning general message transfer.

  1. Send a message from your site to an SMTP server using an e-mail client.
  2. Verify that the message arrives at the recipient's mailbox on the SMTP server.
  3. Have someone send a message to your site from the SMTP server or reply to a message sent from you.
  4. Verify that the message arrives.

If the message is delayed or does not arrive, see Microsoft Exchange Server Maintenance and Troubleshooting.