Unison Administration Guide v 2.0 - August 2009

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UNISON 2009 Unison Technologies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Administration Guide


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UNISON Administration Guide 2

Contents

About this Guide ........................................................................................................................................12Main topics covered in this Guide .......................................................................................... 12Conventions: fonts and characters with special meaning ....................................................... 13

Chapter 1: Overview of Unison ........................................................................................................... 14Directory server ..................................................................................................................... 16Example 1: Unison Desktop client connects to Unison Server ................................................. 17Server components supporting e-mail.................................................................................... 17

Mail Transfer Agent .................................................................................................. 18Anti-Virus .................................................................................................................. 19Spam Filter ................................................................................................................ 19Mail server ................................................................................................................ 19Authorization server .................................................................................................. 20

Example 2: Sending and receiving e-mail messages ............................................................... 20Instant Messaging server ....................................................................................................... 22Example 3: Instant message and presence information exchange .......................................... 23Server components supporting VoIP telephony ...................................................................... 24

Phone Registrar ......................................................................................................... 24Call Router ................................................................................................................ 25AAA server ................................................................................................................ 26RTP proxy server ........................................................................................................ 26TFTP server ................................................................................................................27Voice Mail server ....................................................................................................... 27Media server ............................................................................................................. 27IVR server .................................................................................................................. 27

Example 4: Auto configuration of an IP phone ...................................................................... 28Example 5: IP phone registration on the Phone Registrar ....................................................... 29Example 6: Processing phone calls. Encrypted phone calls ..................................................... 30Example 7: Generating and delivering voice mail ................................................................... 34Example 8: Playing music on hold .......................................................................................... 35Example 9: Voice menu processing ........................................................................................ 36Calendar server .....................................................................................................................36Example 10: Calendar event processing ................................................................................. 37Unison Control Panel ............................................................................................................. 38Command server ................................................................................................................... 38


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Contents


Database server .....................................................................................................................39Unison Mobile Server ............................................................................................................ 39Unison License Server ............................................................................................................ 39Technical summary ................................................................................................................ 40

The ports used by Unison Desktop ............................................................................ 42Unison Server certificate ........................................................................................................ 43

Uploading a new certificate....................................................................................... 43Unison distribution ................................................................................................................ 44

Chapter 2: System requirements ......................................................................................................... 45Unison Server host and the network environment ................................................................. 45Unison Server administrators PC ........................................................................................... 47Unison users PC....................................................................................................................48Unison users IP phone .......................................................................................................... 48Unison users mobile phone .................................................................................................. 49

Chapter 3: Installing Unison Server ..................................................................................................... 50Copying the distribution archive onto the server host ............................................................ 51

Copying the distribution archive from a Linux or Mac OS X PC .................................. 52Copying the distribution archive from a Windows PC using PSCP.............................. 52

Logging on to the server host ................................................................................................ 54Logging on remotely using a Unix-based PC .............................................................. 54Logging on remotely using a Windows PC ................................................................ 55

Setting the access permissions for the distribution archive file ............................................... 56Running the archive file and setting the database administrators password .......................... 57Reinstalling or upgrading Unison Server ................................................................................ 60

Stopping the services pertaining to Unison Server ..................................................... 61Removing the Unison Server directories ..................................................................... 61Rebooting the Unison Server host ............................................................................. 62

Troubleshooting. Issues that must be resolved ....................................................................... 62SELinux is enabled ..................................................................................................... 62Insufficient user rights ............................................................................................... 63Insufficient disk space ............................................................................................... 63my.cnf exists ............................................................................................................. 63Unison Server ports are busy ..................................................................................... 63Domain name does not exist or is not valid or is not associated with any IP address ..... 64End User License Agreement has not been accepted ................................................. 64Another Unison Server version has been detected ..................................................... 64


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Contents


PSCP and PuTTY: SCP and SSH clients for Windows .............................................................. 65Downloading PSCP and PuTTY .............................................................................................. 65Opening a terminal window: additional remarks ................................................................... 65

Chapter 4: Basics of working with Unison Control Panel .................................................................. 67Registering Unison Server ...................................................................................................... 67Logging on to Unison Control Panel ...................................................................................... 68Overview of the workspace ................................................................................................... 69Visual hints in Unison Control Panel ...................................................................................... 70Default objects ......................................................................................................................71Inactive objects ...................................................................................................................... 71Units of measure for time and size, time format .................................................................... 72Selecting objects in tables ...................................................................................................... 72Using double-clicks to perform default actions ...................................................................... 72Sorting the information in tables ........................................................................................... 73Using Quick Search ............................................................................................................... 73

Searching in a whole table or list ............................................................................... 74Searching in one of the table columns ...................................................................... 74Displaying all table records after quick search ............................................................ 75

Using Advanced Search ......................................................................................................... 75Searching for objects ................................................................................................. 76

Displaying all table records after advanced search ..................................................... 77Hiding the Advanced Search pane ............................................................................. 77

Changing the logon name and the password ........................................................................ 77Logging off from Unison Control Panel ................................................................................. 78Resetting the password ......................................................................................................... 78Troubleshooting .................................................................................................................... 79

Inability to log on to Control Panel ............................................................................ 79Unison Control Panel cannot be accessed ................................................................. 79Unison Control Panel does not perform as expected ................................................. 81Display of mixed content in Microsoft Internet Explorer is not enabled ...................... 82Unison Server cannot connect to Unison License Server ............................................ 82License is invalid ........................................................................................................ 83

Chapter 5: Testing the installation ...................................................................................................... 84Chapter 6: Adding IP phones to the Unison network ........................................................................ 86

What should be specified on Unison Server? ......................................................................... 86What should be specified in the configuration of a phone? ................................................... 87Using Cisco IP phones ........................................................................................................... 88


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Contents


Chapter 7: Monitoring and controlling Unison Server ...................................................................... 90Managing services, Unison license, and server updates. Viewing system usage statistics ........... 90

Service and server basics ........................................................................................... 90License basics ............................................................................................................ 91Accessing the System Status page ............................................................................. 91Repairing a service .................................................................................................... 92Viewing servers of a service ....................................................................................... 92Getting information about buying a license............................................................... 92Changing a license .................................................................................................... 92Managing Unison Server updates: when are the update features available? .............. 93Viewing update details .............................................................................................. 93Postponing updates .................................................................................................. 94Downloading updates ............................................................................................... 94Installing updates ...................................................................................................... 94

Managing servers ..................................................................................................................94Server basics ............................................................................................................. 94Accessing the Servers page ....................................................................................... 97Adding or changing a note for a server ..................................................................... 97Viewing and modifying configuration information for a server .................................. 97Starting, restarting and stopping the servers ............................................................. 98

Monitoring the system .......................................................................................................... 99Monitoring basics ...................................................................................................... 99Accessing the System Monitoring page ................................................................... 100Viewing details ........................................................................................................100

Viewing statistical reports .................................................................................................... 100Accessing the Statistics page ................................................................................... 101Specifying a time period for statistical reports ......................................................... 101

Managing call history .......................................................................................................... 102Accessing the Call History page ............................................................................... 103Viewing call history records based on search conditions .......................................... 103Viewing all existing call history records .................................................................... 104Exporting call history records to the CSV format ..................................................... 104Specifying how long to keep the records in the call history log................................ 104

Viewing system logs ............................................................................................................ 105Accessing the System Logs page ............................................................................. 105Viewing log records based on search conditions ..................................................... 105


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Contents


Chapter 8: Populating Unison Server with data .............................................................................. 107Process overview .................................................................................................................107Managing organization settings .......................................................................................... 108

Departments basics ................................................................................................. 108Default settings basics ............................................................................................. 109Accessing the Settings page .................................................................................... 110Creating a new department .................................................................................... 110Deleting departments.............................................................................................. 111Changing default settings ....................................................................................... 111Defining what the system should do when Unison Server updates become available ....... 115Specifying proxy settings ......................................................................................... 116

Managing e-mail domains ................................................................................................... 117Domain basics ......................................................................................................... 117Accessing the Domains page ................................................................................... 118Creating a new domain........................................................................................... 119Editing the properties of an existing domain ........................................................... 119Deactivating domains .............................................................................................. 120Activating domains ................................................................................................. 120Deleting domains .................................................................................................... 120

Assigning the default domain to the organization or a department ......................... 120

Managing mailboxes ........................................................................................................... 121Mailbox basics ......................................................................................................... 121Accessing the Mailboxes page ................................................................................. 122Editing the properties of a mailbox .......................................................................... 122

Managing incoming call providers and outgoing call providers ............................................ 124Call providers basics ................................................................................................ 124About number translation rules ............................................................................... 127About selecting outgoing call providers ................................................................... 129Accessing the Incoming Call Providers and Outgoing Call Providers pages .............. 130Creating providers of the incoming and outgoing calls ............................................ 130Editing the properties of incoming and outgoing call providers ............................... 132Making an outgoing call provider the default one ................................................... 132Deleting incoming and outgoing call providers ........................................................ 133Deactivating incoming and outgoing call providers ................................................. 134Activating incoming and outgoing call providers ..................................................... 134


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Contents


Managing dial plans ............................................................................................................ 134Dial plan basics ....................................................................................................... 134Accessing the Dial Plans page ................................................................................. 135Creating a new dial plan ......................................................................................... 135Editing a dial plan ................................................................................................... 136Making a dial plan the default one .......................................................................... 136Deleting dial plans ...................................................................................................136

Managing phone numbers .................................................................................................. 136Phone number basics .............................................................................................. 136Accessing the Phone Numbers page ........................................................................ 138Creating phone numbers ........................................................................................ 138Editing a phone number.......................................................................................... 139Editing ranges of phone numbers ........................................................................... 139Deleting phone numbers ......................................................................................... 140Deleting a range of phone numbers ........................................................................ 140Deactivating phone numbers .................................................................................. 141Activating phone numbers ...................................................................................... 141

Managing extensions ..........................................................................................................141Extension basics ...................................................................................................... 141Accessing the Extensions page ................................................................................ 143

Creating extensions ................................................................................................. 143Editing extensions ................................................................................................... 144Deleting extensions ................................................................................................. 145Deactivating extensions ........................................................................................... 145Activating extensions .............................................................................................. 145Defining extension length ....................................................................................... 145

Managing phone devices ..................................................................................................... 146Device basics ...........................................................................................................146Accessing the Phone Devices page .......................................................................... 148Creating a new device............................................................................................. 148Editing the properties of a device ............................................................................ 149Deleting devices ...................................................................................................... 150Deactivating devices ................................................................................................ 150Activating devices ................................................................................................... 150

Managing hunt groups ........................................................................................................ 150Hunt group basics ................................................................................................... 150Accessing the Hunt Groups page ............................................................................ 153


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Contents


Creating a hunt group ............................................................................................ 153Editing the properties of a hunt group .................................................................... 155Managing hunt group members ............................................................................. 156Deactivating and activating hunt groups ................................................................. 159Deleting hunt groups .............................................................................................. 160

Managing voice menus ....................................................................................................... 160Voice menu basics ...................................................................................................161Accessing the Voice Menus page ............................................................................ 165Overview of the Main menu .................................................................................... 165Assigning external phone numbers to the Main menu ............................................ 166Accessing the voice mail management menu from the Main menu ......................... 166Managing sounds ................................................................................................... 167Creating a root voice menu ..................................................................................... 169Overview of working with voice menus ................................................................... 172Creating, editing, and deleting actions .................................................................... 173Creating and deleting nodes ................................................................................... 174Navigating in voice menus ...................................................................................... 176Editing node properties ........................................................................................... 177Deactivating voice menu entry points ...................................................................... 178Activating voice menu entry points ......................................................................... 178

Deleting voice menu hierarchies .............................................................................. 178Configuring entry points ......................................................................................... 179Using the Admin Menu to edit voice menus by phone ............................................ 185Configuring access to the Admin Menu .................................................................. 186

Managing Music on Hold .................................................................................................... 187Music on Hold basics ............................................................................................... 187Accessing the Music on Hold page .......................................................................... 187Adding a sound track .............................................................................................. 187Changing position of a sound track ........................................................................ 188Editing the properties of a sound track .................................................................... 188Deactivating and activating sound tracks ................................................................. 189Deleting sound tracks.............................................................................................. 190

Managing user accounts ..................................................................................................... 190User account basics ................................................................................................. 190About general information in user accounts ............................................................ 191About user permissions ........................................................................................... 192About e-mail settings .............................................................................................. 193


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Contents


About phone settings .............................................................................................. 193About ACD rules, ACD modes and a phone for outgoing calls ................................ 195About blocked callers and anonymous calls............................................................. 197About contact information in user accounts ............................................................ 197Accessing the User Accounts page .......................................................................... 198Creating a new user account .................................................................................. 198Editing a user account ............................................................................................. 204Changing the department for a user account .......................................................... 206Specifying phones, phone numbers, and extensions ................................................ 208Switching ACD modes and specifying ACD rules ..................................................... 214Managing the list of blocked callers ........................................................................ 219Configuring the users membership in hunt groups ................................................. 220Managing the users personal information and picture gallery ................................. 221Deactivating and activating user accounts ............................................................... 222Deleting user accounts ............................................................................................ 223

Managing address books ..................................................................................................... 223Address books basics .............................................................................................. 224Accessing the Address Books pages ........................................................................ 226Creating an organization address book ................................................................... 226Creating a department book ................................................................................... 226

Editing address books ............................................................................................. 227Assigning address book administrators .................................................................... 228Creating and editing contacts ................................................................................. 228Creating distribution lists and specifying distribution list administrators ................... 230Editing distribution lists ........................................................................................... 232Deleting address books ........................................................................................... 232

Chapter 9: Importing data from legacy systems .............................................................................. 233Importing data from Microsoft Exchange Server .................................................................. 233

Preparing for data import: specifying users .............................................................. 233Command-line syntax ............................................................................................. 234Accessing the import_exchange help ...................................................................... 235Importing data ........................................................................................................ 235

Importing data from Google Apps ....................................................................................... 236Preparing for data import: specifying users .............................................................. 236Command-line syntax ............................................................................................. 236Accessing the import_google help .......................................................................... 237Importing data ........................................................................................................ 238


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Contents


Importing data from an IMAP mail server ............................................................................ 238Preparing for data import: specifying users .............................................................. 238Command-line syntax ............................................................................................. 239Accessing the import_imap help ............................................................................. 240Importing data ........................................................................................................ 240

Chapter 10: Backing up and restoring data ........................................................................................ 241Backup and restore basics ................................................................................................... 241Backing up and restoring data using Control Panel .............................................................. 242

Accessing the Backup and Restore page .................................................................. 242Specifying general backup settings .......................................................................... 242Scheduling automatic backups ................................................................................ 243Starting a backup manually ..................................................................................... 243Adding or changing a note for a backup ................................................................. 244Restoring data from a backup ................................................................................. 244Deleting backups .................................................................................................... 244

Backing up and restoring data using command-line utilities ................................................ 244Location of the utilities and command-line syntax ................................................... 245Backup location and names .................................................................................... 245Accessing the backup and restore help ................................................................... 246Backing up the data ................................................................................................ 246Restoring the data from a backup ........................................................................... 247Controlling backups depending on free memory space ........................................... 247Copying or moving backups .................................................................................... 248

Chapter 11: Migrating data from older to newer versions of Unison Server .................................. 249Command-line syntax for running the migrate utility ........................................................... 249Accessing the migrate help .................................................................................................. 249Creating a data dump ......................................................................................................... 250Creating a data dump for Unison Server 1.0 or 1.1 ............................................................. 251Restoring data using a data dump ....................................................................................... 251

Chapter 12: Working with Unison Desktop on Windows ................................................................. 252Installing Unison Desktop .................................................................................................... 252Starting Unison Desktop ...................................................................................................... 254Setting up a proxy server in Unison Desktop ........................................................................ 254Accessing Unison Desktop Help ........................................................................................... 254


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Contents


Chapter 13: Working with Unison Call Manager ............................................................................... 255Installing Unison Call Manager ............................................................................................ 255Starting Unison Call Manager .............................................................................................. 256Accessing Unison Call Manager Help ................................................................................... 257

Chapter 14: Working with Unison Desktop on Linux ........................................................................ 258Installing Unison Desktop on Linux ...................................................................................... 258Starting Unison Desktop on Linux ........................................................................................ 259Setting up a proxy server in Unison Desktop on Linux .......................................................... 259Accessing Unison Desktop Help on Linux ............................................................................. 259

Chapter 15: Working with the Unison mobile synchronization service ........................................... 260Working with Unison Mobile Server .................................................................................... 260

Unison Mobile Server distribution ............................................................................ 260Installation prerequisites and system requirements .................................................. 260Installing Unison Mobile Server ............................................................................... 261Working with the Mobile Server log ........................................................................ 262Disabling Unison Mobile Server ............................................................................... 262Enabling Unison Mobile Server ................................................................................ 263Removing Unison Mobile Server .............................................................................. 264Restarting the httpd service after uploading a new license ...................................... 264Troubleshooting ...................................................................................................... 265

Working with mobile devices and client applications ........................................................... 266Supported devices and client applications ............................................................... 266Dealing with a self-signed server certificate ............................................................. 266Configuring synchronization settings ...................................................................... 269

Glossary ...........................................................................................................................................271Appendix: Copyright information ..................................................................................................... 278

Open source licenses ...........................................................................................................281


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About this Guide

This Guide is intended for administrators of Unison, a unified communications system by Unison

Technologies, Inc.

The document focuses mainly on the topics related to installing, operating and maintaining Unison

server software. Information is also provided concerning administration of the Unison client

software as well as associated hardware such as fixed IP phones.

Main topics covered in this Guide

Chapter 1: Overview of Unison is an introduction to Unison. It discusses the main Unison server

components and gives examples of how those components interact with each other in typical

situations. The chapter also contains a technical summary for Unison server components a useful

source of reference for configuring the network environment in which Unison Server operates.

Chapter 2:System requirementscontains requirements for the hardware devices that can be used in

Unison as well as the requirements for the network environment and configuration that have to be

satisfied for Unison to run properly.

Chapter 3:Installing Unison Serverprovides instructions related to the installation of Unison Server.

Chapter 4:Basics of working with Unison Control Panelis an overview of Unison Control Panel, the

administrators instrument for managing every aspect of Unison Servers operation.

Chapter 5:Testing the installationcontains an outline of the procedure that you can use to startbuilding the Unison network for your organization and check its basic functionality.

Chapter 6: Adding IP phones to the Unison network is a brief overview of configuration tasks

performed on the server and the client sides when adding phones to the Unison network.

Chapter 7:Monitoring and controlling Unison Serverdiscusses Unison Control Panel features that

you can use for monitoring and controlling Unison Servers operation.

Chapter 8: Populating Unison Server with datadescribes the information objects defining Unison

Server behavior and the ways to create and manage those objects.

Chapter 9: Importing data from legacy systems discusses Unison command-line utilities for

importing data from other systems such as Microsoft Exchange Server and Google Apps.

Chapter 10:Backing up and restoring datadescribes ways to back up and restore the Unison Server data.

Chapter 11:Migrating data from older to newer versions of Unison Serverdiscusses the command-

line utility programmigrate intended for migrating the Unison Server data from older to newer

versions of Unison Server.

Chapter 12: Working with Unison Desktop on Windows contains the instructions related toinstallation of the Unison Desktop client on Windows.


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Chapter 1: Overview of UnisonUnison is a unified communications system based on client-server architecture.

Built around Unison Server, the system can be accessed by a wide variety of hardware devices

including personal computers and phones as well as pocket PCs, PDAs and smart phones (see

Figure 11).

Unisonnetwork

Otherpersonalphoneorcellphone

Smartphone

PDAorPocketPC

IP(e.g.Cisco)phone

UnisonServer

UnisonDesktopclient

UnisonDesktopandUnisonCallManager

clients

Figure 11: TheUnison network can be accessed by PCs with Unison Desktop and Unison Call Manager installed as well as

IP and other phones. Mobile devices such as pocket PCs, PDAs and smart phones can also be used in the Unison network.

The Unison software includes Unison Server for Linux and Unison Desktop clients for Windows

and for Linux. Unison Server and Unison Desktop can interact with each other over any IP-based

network.

With this software installed, the users can exchange electronic and voice mail, instant messages,

presence information and phone calls, and manage and share personal information such as events

and contacts. Sophisticated automatic call distribution (ACD) and interactive voice response (IVR)

rules can be implemented.

Fixed IP phones can be added to the Unison network with minimal configuration effort.

Unison Call Manager, a client application for Windows, allows Unison users designated as hunt

group administrators to log on to Unison Server to monitor and manage the calls coming in to thehunt groups.


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Chapter 1: Overview of Unison


Installation of an optional server component, Unison Mobile Server, adds the ability to synchronize

mailboxes, calendar and contact information between various mobile devices and Unison Server.

Unison Control Panel, which can be accessed using a Web browser, provides Unison

administrators with the possibility to monitor and control Unison Server as well as manage the

information necessary for Unison operation.

Summing up, Unison provides the following services to end users:

E-mail Messaging VoIP telephony

Calendar

Unison ServerClient software and devices

Directory

server

SMTP, IMAP

XMPP

UMSCTL

CalDAV

LDAP

InstantMessaging server

Unison Desktopclient

IP phone

Web browser

E-mail

server components

VoIP telephony

server components

HTTPS

SIP, RTP

Calendar

server

HTTP server

Software component or hardware deviceWeb browser

HTTPS Communication link and protocol name

Unison

Control Panel

Figure 12: Unison client software and devices, main server components and communication protocols

The messaging and calendar services are in one-to-one relation with Unison server components (see

Figure 12): there is one server, the Instant Messaging server, that is responsible for messaging, and


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there is one server component, the Calendar server, that is in charge of the calendar service 1. As

for e-mail and VoIP telephony, there is a set of server components collaborating with each other to

support the services.

There are also server components which are not directly related to provision of services to end users,

but that play an important part in the system. One of the examples is the Directory server which is

responsible for authentication and authorization of Unison users and supplying the Unison Desktop

client with the information necessary for connecting to all other server components.

One of the applications on Unison Server is intended for Unison administrators. This application is

called Unison Control Panel. It can be accessed by means of a Web browser using HTTPS, the secure

version of HTTP.

In the following sections of this chapter the main server components are described in more detail.

Examples are provided illustrating how those components interact with each other in various typical

situations.

Directory server

The Directory server manages all aspects of authentication and authorization of Unison Desktop

client users. It also acts as a configuration server, providing Unison Desktop clients with the

information necessary for establishing the connection with all other Unison servers.

At the request of the Mail Transfer Agent (see Mail Transfer Agent on page 18) it supplies the e-

mail routing information, translating mailing list data and mailbox aliases into exact e-mail

addresses.

The Directory server communicates with Unison Desktop client and other Unison servers using

LDAP. When serving its clients requests, the Directory server stores and retrieves the data from the

Unison database.

The Directory server interacts with the database via the Database server. To communicate with the

Database server, the Directory server uses SQL.

The default Directory server ports are 389, 636 and 9001 (TCP).

1 At the level of Unison Server, the calendar service is independent of all other services. Thats why it is possible to say that

the calendar service is supported by only one server, the Calendar server. In Unison Desktop, however, the calendar is

integrated with e-mail. The Unison Desktop client automatically generates e-mail messages to exchange information betweenparticipants of collective events (such as meetings) set up in the Unison Desktop calendar. In this sense the calendar service is

dependant on the e-mail service. For more information, see Example 10: Calendar event processing on page 37.


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Example 1: Unison Desktop client connects to Unison Server

When the Unison Desktop client is started, it attempts to establish a connection with the Unison

Directory server. To be authenticated, the Unison Desktop client sends the users account name and

the password associated with this account to the Directory server.

The Directory server checks the account name and the password received from the Unison Desktop

client against those stored in the Unison database. (The data from the database is retrieved by the

Directory server via the Database server.)

If the account name or password is not valid, the connection request is refused. Otherwise, a

communication session between the Unison Desktop client and Unison Server is established.

To communicate, the Unison Desktop client and the Directory server use LDAP.

The Unison Desktop client keeps a constant connection with the Directory server unless the user

terminates the communication session by quitting Unison Desktop. If the connection for some

reason is lost, the Unison Desktop client will keep trying to restore the connection.

Once the connection to the Directory server is a success, the Unison Desktop client asks the

Directory server for the connection parameters and access credentials for all services (servers) that

the Unison user intends to use. The Directory server checks the users authorization and sends the

requested data to the Unison Desktop client. (The data is retrieved by the Directory server from the

Unison database via the Database server.)

For services (servers) that the user is not authorized to use, the connection parameters and access

credentials are not sent.

On receiving the data from the Directory server, the Unison Desktop client connects to all

appropriate servers and synchronizes its state with that of the servers (downloads new e-mail

messages and calendar events, updates address books, and so on). Unison Messenger connects to

the Instant Messaging server, downloads the contact list, and updates the presence and user status

information.

Then, to stay synchronized, the Unison Desktop client periodically sends update requests to Unison

Server. The Unison Desktop Unison Server session continues until the Unison user decides to

terminate it, for example, by quitting Unison Desktop.

Server components supporting e-mail

The following server components support e-mail in Unison (see Figure 13 on page 18):

Mail Transfer Agent Anti-Virus Spam Filter Mail server Authorization server


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Authorization

server

Mail

server

Directory

server

LMTP

IMAP

LDAP

Mail TransferAgent

Unison

database

Unison Desktop

client

SQL

Unison Server

SMTPLDAP

DNS

SMTP

External

DNS server

External mail

transfer agent

Database

server

Software componentAnti-Virus Communication link and protocol nameHTTPS

Anti-

Virus

Spam

Filter

Figure 13: Unison server components supporting e-mail and their interactions with each other, Unison Desktop client and

external e-mail and DNS servers

Mail Transfer Agent

The Mail Transfer Agent (MTA) is responsible for routing and delivering e-mail.

The Unison Mail Transfer Agent uses SMTP for interacting with the Unison Desktop client (for

sending e-mail from the client) and other MTAs in external domains. For communication with

external DNS name servers the MTA uses DNS protocols.

Its worth mentioning that the Unison MTA does not interact with users mailboxes directly. Whenready to deliver an e-mail message, it asks the Unison Mail server to place the message in the

appropriate mailbox or mailboxes.

The MTA communicates with the Mail server using LMTP and acts as an LMTP client for the Mail

server.

In exceptional situations instead of delivering an e-mail message to the addressees mailbox the

MTA may return the message to the sender. This, for example, may happen when the recipient of

the message cannot be identified or when the message size exceeds the free space in the recipients

mailbox.

The default Unison MTA ports are 25, 465, 587, 2525, and 10025 (TCP).


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Anti-Virus

Anti-Virus checks files attached to all incoming e-mail messages for presence of harmful programs

(viruses).

When Anti-Virus detects a virus, it places the corresponding e-mail message along with all itsattachments into a special type of storage and generates a service e-mail addressed to the Unison

administrator notifying him or her of the situation. This service e-mail is then passed to the Unison

MTA for delivery.

The effectiveness of Anti-Virus to a great extent depends on the anti-virus databases being used. As

new viruses become known, these databases are expanded. On Unison Server, the anti-virus

databases are updated automatically once every twenty-four hours.

To download updated versions of anti-virus databases, Unison Anti-Virus uses port 80 (TCP).

Spam Filter

The Spam Filter is used to detect unwanted e-mail messages (known as spam). All incoming e-mail

messages that managed to pass through Anti-Virus are analyzed by the Spam Filter.

If the message is found to be a spam message, the Spam Filter adds a special mark to the message

header.

The Spam Filter used in Unison implements the self-learning Bayes algorithm which initially was

developed for the purposes of text classification.

The default Spam Filter ports are 10024 and 10026 (TCP).

Mail server

The Mail server is responsible for storing incoming e-mail messages on Unison Server at the request

of the Unison Mail Transfer Agent and retrieving e-mail at the request of the Unison Desktop client.

The server uses LMTP for communication with the MTA and IMAP for communication with the

Unison Desktop client.

The Mail server does not create the mailboxes in which it stores the e-mail but uses the existingones. The mailboxes are created and deleted by the Unison Command server, see Command

server on page 38.

To authenticate the clients attempting to establish a connection, the Mail server queries the

Authorization server, which passes the Mail servers request to the Directory server.

The Mail server supports Sieve, the scripting language used to describe mail distribution rules.

The Mail server collaborates with the Unison Instant Messaging server when notifying the Unison

Desktop client of new e-mail. When a new e-mail message is received and stored on the Mail server,

the Mail server informs the Instant Messaging server of this fact. The Instant Messaging server in its

turn generates and sends a corresponding notification to the Unison Desktop client.


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The Mail server and the Instant Messaging server exchange information using UMSCTL, an internal

Unison protocol.

The Mail server can encrypt all incoming e-mail messages prior to storing them in the file system of

Unison Server. The decision whether e-mail should be stored in the encrypted form is made when

installing Unison Server (see steps 7 and 8 of the procedure described in Running the archive file

and setting the database administrators password on page 57). Enabling or disabling e-mail

encryption at a later time is not possible.

The default Mail server ports are 24, 143, 993, 3905 and 9001 (TCP). The Sieve scripts are

exchanged with the Unison Desktop client over port 2000 (TCP).

Authorization server

The Authorization server intermediates interaction between the Mail server and the Directory server

when the Mail server asks the Directory server to provide information for authentication of an e-mailclient. The Mail server requests this information when the client attempts to connect to the Mail

server (such as when the Unison Desktop client starts up).

The Authorization server in Unison implements the so-called Simple Authentication and Security

Layer (SASL) making access to e-mail more secure.

Example 2: Sending and receiving e-mail messages

An e-mail transfer is initiated when a Unison Desktop client user creates an e-mail message,

specifies one or more recipients and then instructs Unison Desktop to send the message (for

example, by clicking the Send button).

The Unison Desktop client does not keep a constant connection with the Unison Mail Transfer

Agent. The connection is established for a short period of time when an e-mail message is sent. The

connection is terminated as soon as the message is accepted by the MTA or even earlier if the

Unison Desktop client acting on behalf of the user fails to pass the corresponding authentication or

authorization check.

Using SMTP, the Unison Desktop client sends the message to the Unison Mail Transfer Agent. (The

Unison Desktop client knows from its configuration that the outgoing mail messages are to be sent

to the Unison MTA.)

To confirm the users identity and check his or her authorization, the MTA sends the corresponding

request to theUnison Directory server using LDAP. The Directory server translates this request into

SQL and passes it to the Database server. The Database server retrieves the requested data from the

Unison database and passes it to the Directory server. Based on this data, the Directory server

performs the user authentication and authorization checks.

If the users identity and the right to send e-mail are confirmed, the MTA accepts the message.

Otherwise, the connection with the message originator is terminated.

If the message was accepted, the MTA requests the message delivery rules from the Directory server

(using LDAP). The message addressees may be specified implicitly, in the form of a distribution list,


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or referenced by aliases. In such cases the Directory server translates the distribution list information

and aliases into addresses corresponding to the real names of the mailboxes1 on the Unison Mail

server. The Directory server retrieves the necessary information from the Unison database via the

Database server.

The Directory server sends the requested information to the MTA (using LDAP).

If the message is to be routed to one or more Unison users mailboxes, the MTA using LMTP asks

the Mail server to store the messages and the Mail server does so.

For messages that are to be routed to external destinations, the MTA looks up the destination

domain names in the Domain Name System to find the mail exchange servers accepting messages

for those domains. The DNS servers from destination domains respond with MX records listing the

mail exchange servers accepting the e-mail. The MTA then sends the messages to corresponding

SMTP servers. On receiving the messages, the SMTP servers deliver them to recipients mailboxes.

When a message from an external domain arrives, the MTA, as always, requests the delivery rules

from the Directory server (the senders authentication is not performed in this case).

Once those rules are received, the message is processed by Anti-Virus and then by the Spam Filter.

If Anti-Virus detects a virus, it places the corresponding e-mail message along with all its

attachments into a special type of storage and notifies the Unison administrator of the situation by

e-mail. Messages containing infected files never reach their intended recipients.

If the message is found to be a spam message, the Spam Filter adds a special mark to the message

header. As a rule, the Spam Filter just adds the text ***SPAM*** in front of the original message

subject. If no particular mail distribution rule is specified for messages whose subject starts with

***SPAM***, such messages are stored in the recipients mailbox in the folder Junk E-mail.

Once the message has been processed by Anti-Virus and the Spam Filter, the MTA asks the Mail

server to store the message in the corresponding mailbox or mailboxes.

As soon as a new e-mail message is stored on the Mail server, the Mail server informs the Instant

Messaging server of this fact. The Instant Messaging server in its turn generates and sends a

corresponding notification to the Unison Desktop client.

From time to time the Unison Desktop client sends update requests to the Unison Mail server using

IMAP. As a result, the state of the users local mailbox is synchronized with that on the server: all

new e-mail messages are downloaded to the Unison users PC. (The Unison Desktop connection

with the Mail server, once established, is kept alive until the Unison user terminates the session, for

example, by quitting Unison Desktop. If the connection with the Mail server for some reason is lost,

the Unison Desktop client will try to restore it.)

1

Each mailbox corresponds to a directory in the file system, which has the same name as the local part of the users e-mailaddress. For example, Unison user John Smith might have an e-mail address [email protected]. In that case his

mailbox on the server would be a directory named jsmith.


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Instant Messaging server

The Instant Messaging server (see Figure 14) is responsible for sharing the presence and user status

information as well as near-real-time message exchange between users of Unison, external XMPP-

based and other messaging networks (MSN1 and ICQ).

Unison Desktop

client

External ICQ

server

External XMPP

(Jabber) server

External MSN

server

Unison Server

Instant

Messaging server

ICQ

gateway

MSN

gateway

XMPP XMPP

MSN

ICQ

Software componentICQ gateway Communication link and protocol nameXMPP

Figure 14: The Unison Instant Messaging server and its interaction with the Unison Desktop client and external messaging

servers

The Unison Desktop client communicates with the Instant Messaging server using XMPP.

The Instant Messaging server includes MSN and ICQ Gateways, special-purpose services whose

primary function is to translate XMPP into the protocols used by MSN and ICQ as well as to translate

the return data back into XMPP.

In Unison, the Instant Messaging server also takes part in notifying the Unison Desktop client of new

e-mail arrival. When a new e-mail message is received and stored on the Unison Mail server, the

Mail server informs the Instant Messaging server. The Instant Messaging server in its turn generates

and sends a corresponding notification to the Unison Desktop client.

The Instant Messaging server and the Mail server exchange information using UMSCTL, an internal

Unison protocol.

The default Instant Messaging server ports are 4369, 5222, 5223, 5269, and 5280 (TCP).

The default MSN Gateway ports are 443, 5348 and 8010 (TCP). The default ICQ Gateway port is

5347 (TCP).

1 MSN is the same as Windows Live Messenger.


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Example 3: Instant message and presence information exchange

A message exchange (or a chat) is initiated when a Unison Desktop client user selects a person he or

she wants to chat with, types a message and then sends it. The Unison Desktop client generates a

request to deliver the message to the specified recipient. This request is sent to the Unison Instant

Messaging server for processing using XMPP.

User authentication in this case is not performed: the users identity and authorization check is

performed only once when the communication session between the Unison Messenger and the

Instant Messaging server is established (when the Unison Desktop client starts up). After that, the

Unison Messenger keeps a constant connection with the Instant Messaging server and user

authentication is not needed.

On receiving the request, the Instant Messaging server analyzes the message destination and routes

the message appropriately:

A message addressed to a Unison Messenger user in the internal Unison domain is delivered tothat users PC (if the user is not currently online, the message is stored on the server for later

delivery).

A message addressed to an XMPP client user in an external domain is passed to an XMPPserver responsible for delivery of the message in the corresponding domain.

A message addressed to a Windows Messenger (MSN) or ICQ user goes to the Unison MSN orICQ gateway. The gateway then passes the message to an appropriate (external) MSN or ICQ

server. (To MSN and ICQ servers, the MSN and ICQ gateways are ordinary clients. That is, the

servers never know that the corresponding messages come from an XMPP network, and

they process those messages as if they were issued by native clients on the MSN and ICQ

networks.)

When the recipient gets the message and sends a reply, the reply message travels along the same

route in the reverse direction.

Presence information is sent by the Unison Messenger client to the Instant Messaging server

automatically, first when a Unison Desktop client user goes online (that is, when the UnisonDesktop client connects to Unison Server), and then at regular intervals until the Unison Desktop

client user quits Unison Desktop or goes offline.

Presence information is exchanged similarly to how ordinary messages are exchanged. The main

difference is that the recipient of the presence message, normally, is not specified. Consequently,

as soon as the Instant Messaging server gets the presence message from the Unison Messenger, it

delivers this message to all interested parties (to all users who have the message initiator in their

contact lists).


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Server components supporting VoIP telephony

The following Unison server components directly or indirectly support VoIP telephony (see Figure 15

on page 25):

Phone Registrar Call Router AAA (Authentication, Authorization and Accounting) server RTP proxy server TFTP server Voice Mail server Media server IVR server

Phone Registrar

The Phone Registrar is a SIP proxy server which acts as an intermediary between SIP clients (IP

phones) and the Call Router (a SIP router). It is responsible for initiating a (SIP) call on behalf of the

client device and connecting a calling device to a device being called at the request of the Call

Router.

The Phone Registrar stores the mappings of SIP account names (VoIP device IDs or DIDs) onto

corresponding IP addresses and ports and uses this information when connecting callers. In SIP

terms, the Phone Registrar performs the functions of a SIP registrar and location service.

Its worth noting that the location (registration) information used by the Phone Registrar is stored in

random access memory (RAM) and thus is volatile and not persistent. When the Phone Registrar is

stopped, this information is lost. However, when the Phone Registrar is started again, the location

information is recovered very soon, because the SIP client devices remaining online send this

information to the Phone Registrar at regular intervals, see Example 5: IP phone registration on thePhone Registrar on page 29.

The Phone Registrar is a stateless proxy server and is totally unaware of a call state. After connecting

a caller, it immediately forgets about the call. By doing so, the Phone Registrar can handle heavy SIP

traffic and, consequently, large volumes of subscribers.

To authenticate the client devices requesting registration, the Phone Registrar interacts with the

AAA server using the RADIUS protocol.

In addition to SIP, the Phone Registrar also supports SIPS, the secure version of the protocol.

The default Phone Registrar ports are 5060 (UDP), 5060 (TCP), and 5061 (TCP).


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SIPUMSCTL

SIP

RTP

SIP

SIP

IMAP

RTP

RTPCTL

Mail

server

LDAP

SQLto Database server

Directory

server

RTP

SQL

Media server

SIPRTP

Call termination

providers gateway

IP phone

Unison Desktopclient

to IVR server

to Voice Mail server

to Directory server

Unison database

TFTP

server

TFTPRADIUS

SQL

AAA

server

Unison Server

Device or software componentMail server Communication link and protocol nameSIP

Phone

Registrar

SIP



RTP

RTP

Voice Mail

server

Call origination

providers gateway

RTP

proxy server

IVR

server

Call

Router

Database

server

RADIUS

Figure 15: Unison server components supporting VoIP telephony and their interactions with each other, the Unison

Desktop client and IP phones, and gateways of external outgoing (call termination) and incoming (call origination) call

providers

Call Router

The Call Router is responsible for routing SIP calls to the appropriate destinations.

The Call Router acts as both a user agent server and user agent client. As a server, it receives and

processes SIP requests. To find out how requests should be answered, it acts as a user agent clientand generates SIP requests itself.


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Unlike the Phone Registrar (a SIP proxy server) which is stateless, the Call Router keeps the call state

and is responsible for handling all SIP signaling from call initiation up to its completion.

To interact with the Phone Registrar, the Call Router uses SIP. The routing information is requested

from the AAA server over the RADIUS protocol. The Call Router also supports UMSCTL, an internal

protocol used by the Unison Desktop client for getting the information about a call state and

controlling the call from the Unison Desktop client user interface.

The Call Router communicates with RTP proxy using RTPCTL, an internal Unison protocol.

The default Call Router port is 1024 (UDP).

AAA server

The AAA server, among other things, performs the function of Automatic Call Distributor (ACD). It

is responsible for implementing the ACD rules and providing the Call Router with the call routing

information, according to the ACD rules. It has access to the lists of extensions, phone numbers and

VoIP devices (IP phones) owned by registered Unison users and is capable of retrieving this

information from the Unison database at the Call Routers request.

The AAA server can also access the information related to SIP account names (VoIP device IDs or

DIDs) and corresponding passwords, so it is capable of authenticating any IP phone attempting to

register itself in the system.

In addition to supporting VoIP telephony, the AAA server also keeps track of the instant messaging

service usage (who went online and when, who started or completed a chat, and so on).

The AAA server does not interact with the Unison database directly, but via the Database server.

The requests coming from the Phone Registrar and Call Router are translated by the AAA server into

SQL requests sent to the Database server. The data retrieved by the Database server from Unison

database and returned to the AAA server is then converted to the format appropriate for the Phone

Registrar and the Call Router.

The default AAA server ports are 1812 and 1813 (UDP).

RTP proxy server

The RTP (Real-time Transport Protocol) proxy server handles the exchange of media streams

between phone devices after media session establishment and thus supports phone conversations.

The servers main purpose is to ensure that RTP packets reliably traverse NATs. The servers

secondary purpose is to provide the ability to record phone conversations at a central location and

keep an archive of those recordings.

In addition to RTP, the proxy server also supports SRTP, the secure version of the protocol, and is

capable of encrypting and decrypting voice data flows.

The RTP proxy server uses ports 3500065000 (UDP). The port assignments are performed

dynamically.


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TFTP server

The TFTP (Trivial File Transfer Protocol) server is used for auto configuration of SIP interfaces of IP

phones supporting TFTP (such as Cisco IP Phones 7940 and 7960).

The default TFTP server port is 69 (UDP).

Voice Mail server

Generally, the Voice Mail server is responsible for generating and delivering voice mail. When a

Unison user does not answer a phone call, the Voice Mail server:

Answers the call on behalf of the user. Plays a prerecorded sound file asking the caller to leave a message. Records the message. Generates an e-mail and attaches the recorded message to it as a sound file. Passes this e-mail to the Mail server for delivery.The Voice Mail server also handles all interaction with Unison users when they call the Voice Mail

server in order to access their voice mail over the phone.

The Voice Mail server acts as a communication endpoint device using SIP and RTP for data

exchange. The information about Unison users is exchanged with the Directory server using LDAP.

Interaction with the Mail server is based on IMAP.

The server supports the following codecs: G711ULAW, G711ALAW, and GSM.

The default Voice Mail server port is 5080 (UDP).

Media server

The Media server is responsible for playing music (sound files) to participants of phone conversations

whose calls are placed on hold.

For data exchange, the Media server uses RTP.

The server supports the following codecs: G711ULAW, G711ALAW, and GSM.

The Media server does not use any external ports to listen on. In communications with the RTP

proxy server, it uses the so-called local socket corresponding to a certain file name in the local file

system.

IVR server

The IVR server is responsible for all interactions with a caller in cases when the called numbers or

extensions are associated with voice menus defined in the system. The corresponding phone

numbers and extensions are referred to as voice menu entry points.


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A voice menu is a set of options a caller can choose from by pressing numeric keys on his or her

phone. Each voice menu, generally, is a node in some hierarchically organized tree-like structure of

voice menus. A node may or may not be associated with a phone number or extension.

Every node (each voice menu) is always associated with a number of sound files that are played by

the server one after another when the caller goes to this node. The sound files will normally contain

instructions for a caller explaining what options he or she can use and how these options can be

accessed. (Those options as a rule are associated with pressing certain numeric keys on the callers

phone.)

For each node a timeout is defined. If after listening to the sound files a caller does not push any

number during a certain period of time, the timeout event occurs and the server performs an action

specified for this event.

If the timeout occurs or the caller presses a number associated with some action, the IVR server can:

Redirect the call to a specified phone number, extension or a hunt group. Switch to another voice menu within the same hierarchy (tree) of voice menus. Play the sound files associated with the voice menu once again. Return to the previous menu. Hang up.

The IVR server interacts with the following Unison server components: the Call Router, the Databaseserver, and the RTP proxy server.

When communicating with the Call Router, the IVR server uses SIP. The requests sent to the

Database server are SQL requests. The media streams are passed to the caller through the RTP proxy

server according to RTP.

The IVR server supports the following codecs: G711ULAW, G711ALAW, and GSM.

The default IVR server port is 5090 (UDP).

Example 4: Auto configuration of an IP phone

On reboot, the DHCP client of an IP phone (if enabled) sends a broadcast query requesting the

necessary information from a DHCP server1.

The DHCP server manages a pool of IP addresses and information about client configuration

parameters such as the default gateway, the domain name, the DNS servers, and so on. Upon

receipt of the request the server assigns the phone an IP address, a lease (the period of time for

1 DHCP server is not part of Unison. It may be part of the network environment in which Unison operates.


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which the IP assignment is valid), and other TCP/IP configuration parameters, such as the subnet

mask and the default gateway. Some DHCP servers would also send to the phone the IP address of

the TFTP server where SIP configuration files for phones are stored.

On receiving those parameters, the phone reconfigures its network settings.

If there is no DHCP server on the network to which the phone is connected or the DHCP client on

the phone is disabled, all the network configuration parameters that may be supplied by the DHCP

server should be entered into the configuration of each phone manually.

Next, the phone requests the SIP configuration information from the Unison TFTP server.

Technically, what is requested from the TFTP server is a (text) file having the same name as the

phones MAC address. (The corresponding file is generated on the TFTP server by the Unison

Command server when the record for the corresponding device is created in the Unison database

via Unison Control Panel and the phones MAC address is specified.)

The information sent to the phone by the TFTP server includes: the phones SIP logon name (the

device ID equal to the local part of the phones SIP address) and password, the SIP proxy servers

(Unison Phone Registrars) IP address and port, as well as information about the phones owner,

extension and external phone number (if any).

If the phone fails to receive the configuration information from the TFTP server (for example, the

server may not be working or there may not be a file on the server with a name corresponding to

the phones MAC address), and in the phone configuration there is no earlier version of SIP

configuration parameters, the phone will keep sending requests to the TFTP server.

If the phone cannot get the SIP configuration parameters from the TFTP server, they should be

entered into the phone configuration manually.

Once IP and SIP configuration parameters in the phone configuration are properly set, it will register

itself on the SIP proxy server (Unison Phone Registrar) and become fully functional.

Example 5: IP phone registration on the Phone Registrar

An IP phone registers itself on the Phone Registrar when connected to the LAN and powered up.

The same thing happens each time when the phone is rebooted1.

In operation, registration requests are sent by the phone to the Phone Registrar at more or less

regular intervals, because registration has a limited period of validity. For SIP this period normally

averages to a couple of minutes.

To be able to register itself, the phone must have a SIP account in the system: each time the phone

requests registration it must supply a valid account name (device ID) and a password.

1 To be able to register itself on the Phone Registrar, an IP phone must have IP and SIP interface parameters properly set in its

configuration.


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To authenticate the phone, the Phone Registrar sends credentials received from the phone to the

AAA server for validation. The AAA server checks the received credentials against those stored in

the Unison database. (The AAA server retrieves the necessary data from the Unison database via the

Database server.)

Once the identity of the phone is confirmed, the Phone Registrar accepts the location information

provided by the phone. The location information, basically, is a mapping of the phones SIP account

name (device ID) into its IP address and SIP port. The location information received from phones

serves as a basis for the location service provided by the Phone Registrar.

Its worth noting that the location information on the Phone Registrar is not persistent. That is, it is

totally lost when the Phone Registrar is restarted. (This is perceived by Unison users as temporary

inability to use the phones.) However, since client devices send location information regularly (in

registration requests), the data required for provision of location service is quickly recovered by the

Phone Registrar.

Example 6: Processing phone calls. Encrypted phone calls

A Unison user can initiate a phone call by using either his or her IP phone or the Remote Call

Control (RCC) module of the Unison Desktop client. In these two cases calls are processed in a

different way.

Processing a call initiated by an IP phone

A Unison user initiates a phone call by dialing an extension or phone number on his or her IP phone.

As a result, the IP phone generates a corresponding SIP request which is then sent to the Phone

Registrar acting in this case as a SIP proxy server.

The Phone Registrar passes the call to the Call Router, whose task is to route the call to the phone

associated with the extension or phone number being called.

The Call Router generates and sends a request for routing information to the AAA server.

(Information between the Call Router and AAA server is exchanged according to the RADIUS

protocol.) Based on the extension or phone number that was called and the routing rules 1 existing

in the system, the AAA server sends the requested information to the Call Router. (The AAA server

retrieves all the necessary information from the Unison database via the Database server using SQL.)

The information sent to the Call Router always includes the next hop destination represented by a

corresponding IP address and port. For external phone numbers that are not owned by register

Documents

Unison Administration Guide v 2.0 - August 2009