Speaking of email... continued background book stuff

Hey everybody,

Speaking of the VMs and configuring them for the book, there is a pretty big shortcoming to using server 2008 R2 as the OS for the VMs-- No email services.  Yup, Server 2003 (and 2003 R2) had built-in SMTP and POP3 capabilities in the form of IIS and a POP3 service that could be enabled.


But with 2008 R2, POP3 support is no longer available. (you've gotta love upgrades that are not an improvement...)  Also, let's not forget, a built in email client isn't even supported in Windows 7...



Except I need to be able to demonstrate (and screenshot) alerts and incoming email (and if I do DMS, I need to be able to demo email there as well).  What will I do?

Well, I rebel against using anything that costs extra money on these little VMs.  They're just for demo purposes, so I don't want to pay for a full email server package when, after the book is done, the VMs are likely to be shutdown and archived, and not used again.  Not to mention that I won't really be sending email to anyone from the VMs, heck most of the accounts I create there won't be sending email either.  And let's not forget that, as a frugal admin, I already paid for a server.  I hesitate to spend more money after that, that's one of the reason's I like SharePoint Foundation (or WSS).


You might think that, because I do have TechNet and MSDN subscriptions, I could install Exchange on one of the VMs as well.  That would give me an email server.  But have you tried to conserve resources on a laptop running VMs and use Exchange on one of them?  Can you imagine how long it takes to start or shutdown a VM running Exchange? Not to mention the fact that, if I included any email server configuration, I'd be implying to the readers that Exchange might be required.  Which is exactly not what I want to do.


So, no Exchange. 

So, should I roll back to Server 2003?  Can't.  SPF will only install on Server 2008 or higher.  That means, exploring other options.

Free options.  Options that take very, very little storage space, RAM, or processor resources. And, they have to be easy to implement and manage-- because I don't have time to waste learning a one time, one use product.

I started with hMail Server (http://www.hmailserver.com/).  It didn't work on my DC1 VM no matter what I tried.  I'm sure it was just a little configuration glitch that, if I'd had time, I could have fixed.  But, it just wasted too much of my time-- so hMail Server was out.

Then I tried SmarterMail, by smartertools (http://www.smartertools.com/).  It installed easily, was super easy to set up (once I figured out the obscure configuration button to add users), and it worked flawlessly.  No tweaking, no learning curve, no lengthy configuration, no fiddly install requirements.

But, poor SmarterMail is a memory hog.  It just kept taking more and more RAM for a server that was to be the leanest of the bunch, the domain controller.

So SmarterMail had to go too.

And then I stumbled up MailEnable, (http://www.mailenable.com/standard_edition.asp).  This little program does require some fiddly pre-install steps.  It was written more for 2003 than 2008 or later, so you have to add web server role, IIS 6 compatibility, and asp.net support, just to install properly, but that's it.

Once you have it up, it works.  It has a webmail interface that actually functions (well after I removed then reinstalled the webmail bits, a single button click btw, from the default web site in IIS, and then rebooted the server), and it even support Active Directory.

Yeah, it actually supports AD authentication and accounts.  Most of those free mail server say they do, but don't really work that smoothly with AD.  But imagine my surprise when it did actually create a new user in AD based on a user account that was created in the MailEnable admin console.  I was stunned, but there you go.

And best yet, MailEnable is taking up very little RAM or hard drive space so far.  So I think I found a winner.

And because you're reading this blog, and you're getting the behind the scenes info about the making of the Mastering SharePoint Foundation 2010 book, even if no screenshots are ever done of the email server on DC1, you will know that, in the background, the author was using MailEnable to do the email for the book. And if anything looks funny, you'll know why. ; P

Oh, and speaking of the screenshots for the book.  Anything email related will, more often than not, be shot from the client machine.  So what am I going to use for an email client if I like free things that don't take up many resources?

If you thought I was going to do live mail, well, you're out of luck.  Thunderbird?  Good idea, but it can be slow, clunky, and a bit of a resource hog for just getting and receiving a little email.

Now, a lot you know that I've been using portable apps (http://portableapps.com/) since I started working with Windows 7 and Server 2008 R2.  Money's tight, so I had to make do with everything on one laptop.  That means that the machine I'm using for beta testing, presentations, and writing the book are all one machine.  If you've been reading my server edition blog, you know that my laptop is running Windows 7 with a 2008 R2 vhd boot. I'm actually writing this blog entry from the 2008 R2 vhd boot.  As a matter of fact, I'm spending most of my time on the 2008 R2 partition because it's where all my hyper-v VMs are.

But, that vhd has only about 25GB of storage.  That plus the fact that I need that OS to run lean, so all resources go to my VMs, means you can see why I am reluctant to install anything on the OS itself.

Therefore, to have my favorite amenities while I'm logged into the 2008 R2 VHD, I'd have to find them among the portable apps.  That and I need them to be free, of course.

To that end I'm running VLC and XMplay for my audio and video needs (and using my fave, Audacity, for recordings, portable version of course).  I can also run Firefox portable as well, but I've already got IE on the image, so it's not really a requirement.  I just use it for some sites and downloads.  I'm using Xnews for NNTP newsreading, but I'm not really crazy about it.  Using Lightscreen for screenshots-- that'll work until I actually have to edit them, then I'll probably have to install Snagit or something. Filezilla for FTPing files to and from the publisher for the book. Infrarecorder for burning DVDs (not super crazy about it), Foxit reader for PDFs, and pidgin for IMs (on the very rare occasion I use IM). I'm also experimenting with Open Office portable (particularly Writer) for writing the book.  Wiley has some OO templates that I could use, to avoid installing big, bloated, slow Word, but I am spoiled by some of the nice extras Word offers.  Darn you Word! ; P

I am using Thunderbird for email, portable version of course.  I was also using the calendaring and task support features (task integrated with remember the milk) in Thunderbird, but Thunderbird really, really, really lagged with the add-ons, so I just use it for email and a few newsgroups.  Instead, for calendar and tasks I use Rainlendar2.  It's a little quirky, but I really like the skins, countdowns, and weather widget.  I'll try to post screenshots of my desktop so you can see it-- very HUD (heads up display). All these apps are conveniently used from my portable apps popup menu, nice feature that.

Of course, that brings me back to trying to find a free, skinny email client for my Windows 7 VM for the book.  As you know, I've been using Thunderbird (version 3, still in beta but pretty sweet), and I've been trying to find something better than Thunderbird for simple email that is fast, dependable, and portable.  So far, my two big contenders are i.scribe (otherwise known as Scribe) and sylpheed. And honestly, I prefer iscribe, with it's pared down simplicity, but that's just personal preference.  But both are less heavy and slow than Thunderbird.

So the W7Client VM used for the book will probably have email screenshots from i.scribe. 

And now you know, and you know why.

A bit of an insider's view of the making of the Mastering SharePoint Foundation 2010 book. Just so you know.

Darned docx and other trials and tribulations...

I have been doing a lot of beta testing in an attempt to get on top of the new OS versions coming out (Windows 7 and Server 2008 R2). I am going to have to do a lot of work in them once they release, so I felt it important to work on the different features while they were in beta, so if I needed support there'd be lots of it.

And I know that once WSS goes into beta, I will be very distracted with testing that and no longer spending time on the OS's.

When I beta test an OS, I spend a lot of time building various iterations of virtual machines containing different types of installs and configurations. Also, I tend to spend a lot of time on the desktop of said OS, installing things, doing work, trying to see what works, what breaks, and what's significantly changed.

This also means that, while I am on these desktops, life goes on. I get emails with attachments, read the newsgroups, etc.

But, because those test machines, no matter what I do on them, can be wiped at any time and reloaded, I need to avoid installing anything that takes a lot of time, or requires a lot of licensing.

This means that I tend to avoid installing Office, because of the need to activate. Even Word Viewer is rather annoying because I have to install it, then the darned file converter-- and still it can't seem to open all docx files cleanly.

So what happens when I am working on one of those test machines and I receive an email with a docx attachment?

Well, I can pay for, download, and install a docx converter. That works pretty well. But that means that the file is now a .doc file, and I can't save it as a docx file to send it back (like the case of an application-- in docx of course-- that I had to fill out and send back, pronto).

I tried open office, I tried star office, abiword, and google apps. No such luck.

Then I stumbled upon a simple online word processor that I'd tested years and years ago, along side Writely (which was bought by Google)-- Zoho Writer.

Simple, innocent Zoho Writer, not fast, not elegant, can easily open and save docx files without fuss. Yes, some of the formatting is lost, but most of it, the parts that count, stay.

So if you absolutely, positively have to open that file and read it (and even edit it) right away-- then zoho writer (http://www.zohowriter.com/) might be the choice for you.

((and it's also nice because I don't need to install anything, anywhere. it's all online, so if I can activate the machine, I can read those pesky attachments))

It's those little things we find that become the most useful. Especially if those things are free, which zohowriter is.

Speaking of free, and things that can be installed easily on machines that may be wiped and reinstalled at will-- I also have been messing with portable apps (http://portableapps.com/). I've known about them for a while, but really didn't get into them that much because I often work with virtual machines that don't support removable USB drives and the like. But Windows 7 has driven me to it.

I am not really against IE8, but it is really, really slow to download anything. And, in their infinite wisdom, MS has removed the built-in email, calendar, and newsgroups client from Windows 7. So if I want to have those things to use, I am encouraged to install Windows Live, which I really don't like.

So Windows 7 doesn't have email, calendar, contacts, or newsgroups capability. And IE8 is an okay browser, but really bites for download management.

What's a grrl to do?

Why download the portableapps suite of course. It contains, among other things, a portable version of Abiword (a simple word processor), Mozilla Firefox (which has a download manager), Thunderbird (email), Sunbird (calendar), as well as a Sumatra the PDF reader, Clamwin (a simple antivirus program- no realtime protection though), CoolPlayer + (a media player), and even some games.

The point of portable apps is they are to be installed and run from an external drive or USB stick. That way you can save stuff, pop out the stick (or detach the drive), go to the next machine, and use it from there. Nothing left behind on the other machine except the portableapps menu app.

You can also add a bunch of other apps to the menu for your use-- all open source of course. I personally love and use Audacity, as well as VLC media player. There are literally dozens of useful, small, free apps that you can have access to at a moments notice from any machine running Windows.

For those of you who work with VMs that don't support USB devices, I just created a vhd file as a "second drive." I add it to the machine I need for, and remove it when I am done. Then, if I need it for a different machine, I add it before booting up. I can't hot swap, it's true, but it still works as far as not losing anything. Just remember to save files to the portable apps drive, not to the local "My Documents" (why is the "My" back with Windows 7? Who wanted that?). That way they go with you to the other machine when you move the drive.

Now I know that none of this has anything directly to do with WSS, but they're still nifty things that I thought I might share, for those of you who might find them handy.