Configure the Mailbox Browser Interface (MBI)

The Mailbox Browser Interface (MBI) is a Web application that can reside inside your secure network or in the DMZ of your company network.

About this task

To run the MBI inside your secure network, you must create an HTTP Server adapter configuration (named MBI HTTP Server adapter) to enable clients on the same network as the application to access the Mailbox Browser Interface.

To run the MBI in a DMZ, an HTTP Server adapter must be configured that uses a remote perimeter server.

Incoming URL requests are passed from the HTTP Server adapter, which runs preconfigured business processes. These business processes use a variety of Mailbox services and return results to the browser that the original request came from.

After a Perimeter Server has been configured in the application, its name is available to the HTTP Server adapter configuration, in the Perimeter Server Name list on the HTTP Connection Properties page.

To configure the MBI to run in the DMZ:

1. Set up a perimeter server in the DMZ.
2. Configure a new Perimeter Server in the application.

   The port specified in the Perimeter Server configuration must not be the HTTP listen port (to which trading partners are expected to connect), which is specified in a subsequent stage.

3. Ensure that the remote perimeter server is running.
4. Create an MBI HTTP Server adapter configuration.
   1. From the Administration menu, select Deployment > Services > Configuration.
   2. In the Service Name field, enter HTTP Server and click Go!
   3. On the Search Results page, find the entry that corresponds to the HTTP Server adapter and click Copy.
   4. Name the adapter MBI HTTP Server and click Next.
   5. For the HTTP Listen Port, specify the port that the HTTP client (typically the trading partner) is expected to connect to. This port must not be used by a different application on the computer that the remote perimeter server is installed on. No two HTTP Server adapter configurations can listen on the same port on the same remote perimeter server computer.
   6. From the Perimeter Server Name list, select the name of the Perimeter Server (previously configured) that corresponds to the specific remote perimeter server to be used. The name is in the format node & name, where name is what you specified. Click Save.
   7. On the Confirm page, verify that all parameters are as specified. Ensure the Enable Service for Business Process check box is selected.
   8. Click Finish.
5. If you have access to the computer on which the remote perimeter server is running, log in to that computer and run the following command:

   netstat -an | grep <httpListenPort>

   where <httpListenPort> is the port previously specified. If a row is found that reads LISTEN, the HTTP Server adapter is ready to handle requests from external clients.

6. Verify that the HTTP Server adapter is listening and that the Mailbox Browser Interface is configured correctly by pointing an HTTP browser to the following URL:

   http://<host>:<httpListenPort>/mailbox

   where <host> is the IP address or host name of the computer where the remote perimeter server is running and <httpListenPort> is the port previously specified. A dialog opens, requesting the user name and password to use with the Mailbox Browser Interface. If instead the browser encounters an error, verify that <httpListenPort> is being listened on. If it is listening, verify that some other application has not reserved this port. To do this, disable the HTTP Server adapter and verify that this port is not being listened on. If it is, find the application that has the port bound and shut it down. Alternately, select a different HTTP Listen Port and try again.