Hi All,
Since the new Blackberry Z10 now speaks Activesync one can connect it to GroupWise via the Data Synchronizer. It's a supported device.
There is also a new BES10 that provides additional features and security above what the Data Synchonizer delivers.
Unfortunately the BES10 (currently) requires Active Directory to add/manage users, and not all sites have AD.
There is discussions at RIM to support LDAP, and these requests could be funneled to the RIM presenter from Brainshare: Slav Koziarski, Enterprise Product Manager (email is FirstInitialLastname at Rim.com) for escalation.
However, until they adjust their service to support LDAP, it is possible, (but not necessarily supported) to install DSfW* to provide the needed AD support.
First attempts were unsuccessful, but additional work with RIM support yielded an email with additional tips.
Please try these additional steps and reply to this post with your success.
Hopefully together we can get this working.
Andreas
EMAIL FROM RIM SUPPORT:
We have determined the following steps can be used to allow BlackBerry Device Service to be hosted in a *Novell Domain Services for Windows environment.
Although Novell Domain Services for Windows is not an officially supported environment for BlackBerry Device Service, DSfW was found to be a valid workaround to provide Microsoft Active Directory functionality and allow BlackBerry Device Service to be installed and used in non AD environments.
Resolution
These are the attributes BlackBerry Device Service looks for, they need to exist and be populated with the appropriate information.
The following AD user object attributes are required by default, however, these can map each of these to fields of their choice in BlackBerry Administration Service if they are available in other AD fields:
displayName Users display name
mail - contains the email address
samAccountName - Username
These attributes are also required but are system-generated by AD
distinguishedName
objectGUID
Domain Services for Windows is able to provide these attributes.
Workaround
To allow BlackBerry Device Service to be installed and used to manage users and BlackBerry smartphones, the following steps and requirements allows BlackBerry Device Service to use the emulated Active Directory services.
Prerequisites
An installed, tested and functioning Domain Services for Windows connected to the eDirectory service hosting the BlackBerry enabled accounts. Please see Novell documentation for consideration, planning, installing and testing DSfW.
Installation Considerations
Install the server to host the BlackBerry Device Service and join it to the DSfW domain as a member server, log onto the server as domain administrator to confirm Active Directory integration and functionality. Ensure that the member server uses the Novell DNS service on the DSfW host server.
The following methods are suggested for adding the displayName attribute as DSfW does not add this by default, this step will be required for each user to be added to the BlackBerry Device Service. If the account has an email address defined, the mail attribute will be present, the samAccountName is also present by default, only the displayName needs to be added manually.
Select One Method:
1. Using Novell iManager, open the properties for the account and under the General tab, select Other. Move displayName from Unvalued Attributes to Valued Attributes. Highlight displayName and click Edit. Click the plus sign and add a value to the attribute, this will be the name as it appears in the BlackBerry Administration Service web console.
2. Using Novell ConsoleOne, open the properties for the account to be added to the BlackBerry Device Service. Open the Other tab, click on Add. Scroll and select displayName and click OK. Click the button with 3 dots and enter the name as you want it to appear in the web console for the BlackBerry Device Service.
3. Using a Windows computer with Remote Server Administration Tools (Windows 2008) or the AdminPak Tools (Windows 2003 and earlier), accounts can be modified or created in DSfW and these Microsoft tools will add and populate the Display Name attribute.
Using these steps and suggested configuration, the best results were obtained using the Domain Administrator account to install the BlackBerry Device Service.
During installation, select BlackBerry Administration Service for the administration account rather than Active Directory, if Active Directory is selected, it may produce an error involving a missing Global Catalog server, this can be ignored and BlackBerry Administration Service account will be the only choice. You will be able to add an Active Directory enabled account as an administrative account after installation completes and the services are running.
Once logged into the BlackBerry Administration Service console, clicking on Create a User and then initiating the search, your qualifying accounts will be seen in the result set. Before actually adding a user account, please follow the BlackBerry Device Service - Administration Guide to prepare the service to host and manage the BlackBerry enabled accounts.
Please review this information, you may see occasional errors when implemented, especially around Global Catalog servers, but these can be ignored for now, I will continue investigating the Global Catalog issue, however, the steps above and configuration suggestions will allow BlackBerry Device Service to be used in non Microsoft AD environments. If you have any questions please ask away, please remember this is an workaround only until we are able to provide a supported solution for non AD environments.
Best regards,
Dave
Since the new Blackberry Z10 now speaks Activesync one can connect it to GroupWise via the Data Synchronizer. It's a supported device.
There is also a new BES10 that provides additional features and security above what the Data Synchonizer delivers.
Unfortunately the BES10 (currently) requires Active Directory to add/manage users, and not all sites have AD.
There is discussions at RIM to support LDAP, and these requests could be funneled to the RIM presenter from Brainshare: Slav Koziarski, Enterprise Product Manager (email is FirstInitialLastname at Rim.com) for escalation.
However, until they adjust their service to support LDAP, it is possible, (but not necessarily supported) to install DSfW* to provide the needed AD support.
First attempts were unsuccessful, but additional work with RIM support yielded an email with additional tips.
Please try these additional steps and reply to this post with your success.
Hopefully together we can get this working.
Andreas
EMAIL FROM RIM SUPPORT:
We have determined the following steps can be used to allow BlackBerry Device Service to be hosted in a *Novell Domain Services for Windows environment.
Although Novell Domain Services for Windows is not an officially supported environment for BlackBerry Device Service, DSfW was found to be a valid workaround to provide Microsoft Active Directory functionality and allow BlackBerry Device Service to be installed and used in non AD environments.
Resolution
These are the attributes BlackBerry Device Service looks for, they need to exist and be populated with the appropriate information.
The following AD user object attributes are required by default, however, these can map each of these to fields of their choice in BlackBerry Administration Service if they are available in other AD fields:
displayName Users display name
mail - contains the email address
samAccountName - Username
These attributes are also required but are system-generated by AD
distinguishedName
objectGUID
Domain Services for Windows is able to provide these attributes.
Workaround
To allow BlackBerry Device Service to be installed and used to manage users and BlackBerry smartphones, the following steps and requirements allows BlackBerry Device Service to use the emulated Active Directory services.
Prerequisites
An installed, tested and functioning Domain Services for Windows connected to the eDirectory service hosting the BlackBerry enabled accounts. Please see Novell documentation for consideration, planning, installing and testing DSfW.
Installation Considerations
Install the server to host the BlackBerry Device Service and join it to the DSfW domain as a member server, log onto the server as domain administrator to confirm Active Directory integration and functionality. Ensure that the member server uses the Novell DNS service on the DSfW host server.
The following methods are suggested for adding the displayName attribute as DSfW does not add this by default, this step will be required for each user to be added to the BlackBerry Device Service. If the account has an email address defined, the mail attribute will be present, the samAccountName is also present by default, only the displayName needs to be added manually.
Select One Method:
1. Using Novell iManager, open the properties for the account and under the General tab, select Other. Move displayName from Unvalued Attributes to Valued Attributes. Highlight displayName and click Edit. Click the plus sign and add a value to the attribute, this will be the name as it appears in the BlackBerry Administration Service web console.
2. Using Novell ConsoleOne, open the properties for the account to be added to the BlackBerry Device Service. Open the Other tab, click on Add. Scroll and select displayName and click OK. Click the button with 3 dots and enter the name as you want it to appear in the web console for the BlackBerry Device Service.
3. Using a Windows computer with Remote Server Administration Tools (Windows 2008) or the AdminPak Tools (Windows 2003 and earlier), accounts can be modified or created in DSfW and these Microsoft tools will add and populate the Display Name attribute.
Using these steps and suggested configuration, the best results were obtained using the Domain Administrator account to install the BlackBerry Device Service.
During installation, select BlackBerry Administration Service for the administration account rather than Active Directory, if Active Directory is selected, it may produce an error involving a missing Global Catalog server, this can be ignored and BlackBerry Administration Service account will be the only choice. You will be able to add an Active Directory enabled account as an administrative account after installation completes and the services are running.
Once logged into the BlackBerry Administration Service console, clicking on Create a User and then initiating the search, your qualifying accounts will be seen in the result set. Before actually adding a user account, please follow the BlackBerry Device Service - Administration Guide to prepare the service to host and manage the BlackBerry enabled accounts.
Please review this information, you may see occasional errors when implemented, especially around Global Catalog servers, but these can be ignored for now, I will continue investigating the Global Catalog issue, however, the steps above and configuration suggestions will allow BlackBerry Device Service to be used in non Microsoft AD environments. If you have any questions please ask away, please remember this is an workaround only until we are able to provide a supported solution for non AD environments.
Best regards,
Dave