ON 12/01/08, THIS PAGE'S CONTENT WILL BE REPLACED BY THE EPA SYSTEM ADMINISTRATOR'S MANUAL

Preparing for EPA Activation

NOTE! The software component and information structuring descriptions presented in the following sections are accurate insofar as their primary function, content and interactions are concerned. The low-level details provided herein are derived from ongoing operations with EPA subsets in a UNIX©/'sendmail' host environment. Of necessity, EPA Licensees' integration of the process will differ in product-dependent implementation details.

Activation preparation requires a varying amount of time and effort depending on the usage of the subject domain, the amount of domain-owner administration required and the number of EPA Preference Sets which must be created for existing domain mailboxes which will be EPA clients. Tasks include:

1. EPA Process Configuration
2. Domain Mailbox Data Collection
3. EPA Server Home Directory Assignment
4. EPA Server Home Initialization
5. EPA Mailroom Initialization
6. EPA Mailbox Initialization
7. EPA Start-Up Script Preparation

Following preparation, activation of the EPA installation is a mechanical procedure typically requiring 5 minutes or less.

Domain owners that supply e-mail services to independent clients are precluded from exercising any EPA-based control over a Client-Adminstered Mailbox ('CAM') by the terms of their EPA Licensing Agreement. In such a domain, client mailboxes and Domain Owner mailboxes can - at the option of the mailbox owner - be CAMs subject to the EPA process.

Domains which are used solely to supply e-mail services to owner-dependent parties can legally exercise total control of domain traffic. EPA Owner-Administered Mailboxes ('OAM's) provide the owner with the ability to completely control traffic while - as desired - providing the OAM users with varying degrees of autonomous preference control.

EPA Process Configuration

The EPA process consists of a single, complete set of components which are fully-capable of managing an organizational domain, an enterprise domain and a personally-owned domain. Configuring the process for operation in all domains is accomplished by disabling process components - all of which are initially enabled.

Thus, all domains' EPA process operating configuration is either the full or proper partial subset of the EPA process.

Following are the functional effects of component reconfiguration. Exact operational procedures to perform the required reconfiguration are defined by the manufacturer of the software.

• The Default Preference Set defines the mail processing criteria to be used when the EPA Mail Clerk cannot locate an EPA Mailbox whose username is identical to the relevant e-mail username.
  • If this component is enabled, no other EPA Mailbox need exist.
  • If this component is enabled, other EPA Mailboxes are processed according to their associated Preference Set.
  • If this component is enabled AND all Preference Categories are 'empty' (contain no criteria), all domain e-mail traffic NOT associated with an EPA Mailbox will be classified 'unwanted'.
  • Disabling this component causes EPA to ignore (exempt from processing) any e-mail whose relevant usernamer cannot be matched to that of an EPA Mailbox.
  • This component MUST be disabled if an ISP/ESP domain is being managed.
  • This component MAY be disabled if the domain owner requires EPA management of only certain username traffic.
• If a Preference Category is disabled, any criteria appearing in that Category in a Mailbox's Preference Set have no effect on the EPA classification process.
• If a Preference Category is enabled and no criteria are entered in that Category in a Mailbox's Preference Set, (an 'empty' Category), that Category's criteria have no effect on the EPA classification process.
• The System Administrator Names ('SAN') Preference Category is normally enabled in all domains because it allows information to be broadcast to all or subsets of EPA Mailboxes. It may be disabled in ISP/ESP domains if desired with corresponding loss of broadcast capability.
• The System Administrator Wanted ('SAW'), System Administrator Domains ('SAD') and New Correspondents ('NEW') System Administrator Preference Categories- are normally enabled in all except ISP/ESP domains - where they MUST be disabled.

Domain Mailbox Data Collection

Regardless of domain usage, the UserName and Account Home Path of every existing mailbox that will be able to apply some degree of autonomous control over an associated EPA Preference Set must be identified.

If the mail server host system requires all mailbox Usernames to be unique across all resident domains, the EPA Mailbox ID and e-mail Usernames are identical.

In a domain containing at least one CAM, only the domain-owner's CAMs (if any) are relevant.

Owner-administered domains need to identify ONLY those UserNames which will require an OAM after EPA installation. Regardless of the number of existing OAMs, only those of the System/Email Administrators are required.

Additionally, the URLs of current known, trusted correspondents will be required.

The requisite information must be collected for each EPA domain resident in the mail server

Information can be collected in file(s) and imported during EPA Preference Set creation.

EPA Server Home Directory Assignment

Installation begins with the assignment of a directory that EPA will use as its permanent base of operations within the mail server host system. To preserve and utilize existing mail server information structure and content, EPA maintains and accesses its' information via component directories. When all initialization is completed, the resultant information structure will look like this:

EPA Server Home Initialization

The EPA Server Home Directory provides software library storage and working data storage for all EPA operations which are not domain-specific or mailbox-specific.

After the Server Home is assigned, the installation download creates subsidiary directories and installs download content appropriately. In addition to executables for EPA Mail Clerks' and EPA Window Clerks' processes, utilities are provided to assist with the EPA initialization and maintenance processes.

Using the appropriate supplied utility, the Mailroom Directory is initialized to contain an entry for each EPA-filtered domain resident in the mail server. An entry contains the Domain Name and the (full path) location of the directory which has been selected to contain the domain's associated mailroom. This directory will be accessed by the Mail Clerk during initial receipt of an e-mail as well as during system boot for mail server operations startup purposes.

EPA Mailroom Initialization

The EPA Mailroom Directory provides software library storage and working data storage for all EPA operations which are not server-specific or mailbox-specific.

Using the appropriate supplied utility, the domain's Mailbox Directory is initialized to contain an entry for each EPA mailbox which will have an explicitly-associated Preference Set in the domain. An entry contains the EPA Mailbox ID and the (full path) location of the directory which has been selected to contain the mailbox's EPA records.

Additionally, each mailbox entry contains definition of the scope of autonomous Preference Set modification permitted to the mailbox user.

This directory will be accessed by the Mail Clerk during initial receipt of an e-mail and by the Window Clerk during Preference Set modification.

Because some EPA process software - such as the Window Clerk - may be domain-specific, the applicable software is stored in the Mailroom for subsequent use.

In the Mailroom Directory, the Mail Clerk maintains a Mail Traffic Log - 'MTL' - that records the processing of all domain e-mails received and transmitted. At a domain-specified interval, the current MTL is copied to the MTL Archive of the Mailroom and cleared for re-use. This process is continuously active to provide necessary traffic historical records.

Information stored as Mailroom Environmental Variables may include:

• Domain mailbox type - CAM-only or OAM-only
• Traffic Log archiving interval
• Path location of the Domain Default Preference Set (if any - OAM domains only)

EPA Mailbox Initialization

In a CAM-only domain, it is necessary only to execute the appropriate supplied utility to copy a set of EPA record skeletons into each mailbox listed in the Mailroom Mailbox Directory. Following this action, mailbox owners can utilize the EPA Window Clerk software to initialize their own mailboxes.

In a OAM-only domain, requisite initialization begins with the creation of the initial version of the Domain Default Preference Set (the 'DPPS') by a System/E-mail Administrator.

Depending on the domain's e-mail usage and volume, adequate control may a obtained with only the DDPS. In other cases, one or more additional OAMs may be required. As instances, within the domain:

• The e-mail address 'sales' could be either a Public preference entry or the Username of an OAM with delegated authority to administer all or a subset of the OAM's Preference Set.
• Individual users may have an OAM due to organizational-function-related issues with a limited range of Preference Set administration capabilities.

After the DDPS is named and assigned a domain mailbox, the EPA record skeletons are copied to the mailbox in preparation for defining the associated Preference Set. Using the Window Clerk software, the Administrator then:

1. Assigns an access permission password to the DDPS mailbox.
2. Enters the UserName(s) of all Administrator(s) as 'SANames' preferences.
3. Enters applicable UserName(s) 'New' preferences.
4. Enters applicable UserName(s) 'Public' preferences.
5. Enters the URL(s) and/or Domain Name(s)of 'Private' preferences.
6. Saves the DDPS.

Following DDPS creation, the Adminstrator must use the supplied utility to initialize any other OAMs in the domain. Thereafter, mailbox users can employ the EPA Window Clerk software to initialize their own mailboxes (to the extent they are authorized to do so).

EPA Start-Up Script Preparation

Whenever the host system is started, several actions must be performed to include the EPA process in the system for execution - including:

1. System resource reservation for exclusive or shared use
2. Maintence task scheduling.
3. Mail server software registration and linkage.
4. EPA Mail Clerk execution initiation.
5. Mail server software execution initiation.

Each of these actions will employ one or more host-system-defined processes. The host system typically provides a scripting facility to permit definition and execution of sequences of the requisite system functionality invocation.

The Adminstrator must use supplied utilities to create the requisite scripts and to insert them at appropriate points in the system startup sequence. (Consult the documentation supplied by the EPA Licensee for environment-specific recommendations and details.)