Scalix have released a beta version of their connector software for the BlackBerry Enterprise Server solution. The Beta must be registered for before you will be able to download it, but registration is free and takes a few moments.

Prerequisites

• The Connector can be used with both BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES) and the BlackBerry Professional Software (BPS), but both must be version 4.1
• Only the Exchange version of BES / BPS is supported. NOT the Lotus Domino or Novell Groupwise versions
• Version 5.0 of the BES is not currently supported
• In order to use the Connector, you must be running version 11.4.4 of Scalix or later
• Naturally, BES/BPS are Microsoft Windows server products, and as such cannot be installed on the Scalix server itself, but must be run on separate servers running a Microsoft Windows Server operating system (Server 2000 or 2003 - BES/BPS 4.1 does not support Server 2008). These can be virtual machines if desired. Although not officially supported, for small deployments a copy of Windows XP might be considered instead as a cost-saving measure
• The BES/BPS machine will also require a copy of Microsoft Outlook 2007 installed

Supported Functionality

Scalix Connect for BES Beta 1 supports the following aspects of the Blackberry solution:

• Push delivery of email messages
• Support for email sub-folder synchronisation
• Attachment viewing
• View, Create, Edit, Delete Contacts/Calendar Items and Tasks in Primary Contacts Folder
• Participate in Meeting Scheduling
• Contact lookup in LDAP Directory / Scalix GAL

The following functionality is currently not available and will be added in a later release:

• View Availability
• Out Of Office

All of the features that are available in the BES/BPS solution independently of the email system are available, including the extensive device management capabilities of the BlackBerry product (when used in conjunction with the BlackBerry handheld device, rather than a BlackBerry Connect device)

For a detailed setup guide on how to install the Scalix server, read this article - http://blog.brightpointuk.co.uk/scalix

Preparing the Scalix server

Create a service account for the BesAdmin user

Log into the Scalix server as the root user. At the command prompt issue the following command:

./opt/scalix/bin/omaddu -n "BESAdmin/company" -p bbpassword -c mboxadmin besadmin

Where "company" is the name of the primary mailnode you specified during the installation of the Scalix server. To verify this value, enter a command of:

./opt/scalix/bin/omshowmn

You should receive a response of:

omaddu: The user was added successfully

The new user account will now be listed in the Scalix admin web interface:

Preparing the BES / BPS server

Install Microsoft Server 2000, Server 2003 or Windows XP.
Run Windows Update and install all available critical updates.
Install the Microsoft Exchange MAPI CDO package, available for download from the Microsoft web site - http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=E17E7F31-079A-4...

You can install the BlackBerry software as the local administrator on the server. If you choose to create a local service account for the installation, you will need to assign the user account local administrative rights and also 'log on as a service' rights on the server within the local security policy.

If the Windows server is not able to resolve the IP address of the Scalix server via DNS, enter an entry for the Scalix server manually within the machine's hosts file in \Windows\System32\Drivers\Etc

Install the BES / BPS 4.1.x software. You will need a valid SRP key and CAL key in order to install the software. This guide assumes, based on the fact that you've managed to install Scalix already, that you don't need hand-holding through the BES installation process!
When prompted, select the option to install MSDE locally, unless you do have and wish to use an external Microsoft SQL server to host the BlackBerry database.
You will be warned during the installation that Microsoft Exchange cannot be detected, ignore the warning and proceed with the installation.
When prompted to specify the details of the Exchange server and service account mailbox, leave the details blank and click OK to continue with the installation.

Install Outlook 2007

Launch the Services MMC snap-in and stop the BlackBerry Controller Service:

Install the Scalix BES Connector by running the MSI installation file:

Once complete, click Finish:

Open the Control Panel and double click the Mail icon. Click on the option to Show Profiles:

If shown, delete any available profiles.

Create a new profile and name it "BlackBerryServer". When prompted, select the option to create the profile manually.
Select Scalix Server as the type of account to create:

Enter the name or address of the Scalix server as well as the BESAdmin account details you specified earlier:

The following window will be displayed:

Repeat the same procedure, this time creating a new profile named "BlackBerryManager"

Now return to the Services MMC snap-in and restart the BlackBerry Controller Service.

Adding Users

Now you can launch the BlackBerry Manager application and add users as you would normally. Select the entry for the BES server from the left-hand navigation menu and click on the option to Add Users, the Scalix GAL will be displayed:

Add users as required. Once listed within the BlackBerry Manager, right click on a user's entry and select the entry to "Generate and Email Activation Password".

The user will now receive an email from the BESAdmin user containing a random password. On their BlackBerry handheld device they should browse to Options --> Advanced Options --> Enterprise Activation.
They will now need to enter the full email address as well as the password they have been issued by the BESAdmin user in the email they received earlier.
If prompted to enter details of an Activation Server, just leave the field blank.

Press the menu button and select the option to Activate. After a few minutes, provided that the SIM card in the device is correctly enabled for BlackBerry service, the device will be registered and will start to receive email, contacts and calendar information from the user's Scalix mailbox.

For detailed information on how the Enterprise Activation process works and how to troubleshoot it, read this article - http://blog.brightpointuk.co.uk/how-does-bes-wireless-activation-process...