Configuring Other Users IMAP folders

If NAMESPACE support is enabled on the server, in addition to displaying the current user's primary personal mail folders, an IMAP client displays the personal namespaces of other users who have explicitly granted access to their personal mail files to the currently authenticated user.

About this task

The default configuration for the Other Users namespace on the server will support most installations. If necessary you can customize the Other Users namespace on the server, by doing the following:

  • Changing the default folder prefix
  • Changing the default domain delimiter the IMAP service uses to display user mail file names
  • Specifying IMAP users who can change unread marks for other users

Changing the default folder prefix

About this task

To enable IMAP users to view other personal mail files to which they have access, the IMAP service maintains a virtual list, or collection, of those mail files on the server whose owners have granted access privileges to one or more secondary users. This collection of other users' mail files represents the hierarchy, in addition to a user's own mail folders hierarchy and the hierarchy of publicly-accessible mail files, in which a message may exist.

Specifying IMAP users who can change other users unread marks

About this task

By default, the only user allowed to change unread marks in a mail file is the IBM® Notes® user with primary access to the file. If a secondary user accesses the mail file, any documents opened are marked as read for the secondary user, but not for the primary user. This is similar to what happens in a discussion database, where multiple users can read documents and each maintain their own set of unread marks.

Some organizations employ third-party messaging services that run in conjunction with the IBM Domino® IMAP service to provide users with alternate means for accessing their mail files. For example, a unified messaging service might connect to the IMAP service to access the Domino mail server, acting, in effect, as an IMAP client. Users connecting to the third-party service can open, read, send, and forward mail. To ensure that the unread marks in users' mail files are properly maintained, the third-party service must have the ability to change unread marks on the user's behalf, as if it were the mail file owner.

To provide a third-party application with access to a mail file, at minimum, the mail file ACL must grant the application Designer access.

To configure IMAP support for access to Other Users' folders

Procedure

  1. Make sure you already have a Configuration Settings document for the server(s) to be configured.
  2. From the Domino Administrator, click the Configuration tab and expand the Messaging section.
  3. Click Configurations.
  4. Select the Configuration Settings document for the mail server or servers you want to administer, and click Edit Configuration.
  5. Click the IMAP > Public and Other Users' Folders tab.
  6. In the Other Users' Folders section, complete the following fields and then click Save & Close.
    Table 1. Other Users' Folders options
    Field Enter
    Other users folder prefix The name of the virtual root folder which contains Notes mail databases whose owners delegated access to other users. When an IMAP client connects to the server it displays the other users folders to whom the user has access as subfolders of this folder.

    Unless you have a specific reason to change the folder prefix, accept the default name to ensure IMAP clients can access other users' folders on the server.
    Other users domain delimiter The character that Domino uses to separate the common name, organizational unit(s), and organization name in Notes hierarchical names when displaying the user's mail file to an IMAP client as part of the Other users folder list. The default is forward slash ( / ). For IMAP clients that cannot display hierarchical names that contain the default separator character, specify a different character, for instance a dot ( . ) or vertical bar character ( | ).

    For example, if you enter the pipe character, Domino sends the mail folder of a user named Jada Mendez/Sales/Renovations to IMAP clients as Jada Mendez|Sales|Renovations.
    IMAP users who can change other users unread marks The fully-qualified Notes names of users who are permitted to change the unread status of messages in other users' mail files. You can also enter the name of a Notes group.
    The change takes effect after the next IMAP service update. You can restart the IMAP service to force an immediate update to the IMAP service configuration.
  7. To provide other another user with access to a personal mail file, instruct the mail file owner to delegate access from a Notes client.

Results

To provide IMAP users with access to other users' mail files, you must use a Notes client or IBM iNotes® client to delegate mail file access. It is not sufficient to add the names of users to the ACL of the mail file.