IBM WebSphere Adapter for Email (Version 6.0.2)
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Release notes
This document contains release notes for version 6.0.2 of the Adapter for Email.
Description
Supported hardware and software
Important installation information
Updates, limitations, and known
problems
IBM Software Support
Description
The IBM(R) WebSphere(R) Adapter for Email provides bidirectional integration to systems using exchange of e-mail messages within e-mail systems. The adapter connects Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition (J2EE) components running on WebSphere Process Server or WebSphere Enterprise Service Bus with one or more mail servers. It provides a means for the J2EE component and the mail server to interact.
This JCA adapter includes the following features. The adapter:
- Polls a poll folder in a mailbox for new e-mail messages to deliver to the configured endpoint.
- Supports IMAP, POP3 protocols for inbound processing (polling).
- Provides the ability to create a new e-mail message and send it to specified recipients and outbound support for the SMTP protocol.
- Provides data transformation support for mail content and attachements during inbound and outbound processing, and for both structured and unstructured definitions
- Provides for polling of multiple mailboxes simultaneously.
- The adapter supports filtering of e-mail events using search criteria.
- Provides mail archiving on a local system. Archive file names can be configured to give contextual information of the content of an e-mail message.
- The adapter supports delivery of the same event to multiple endpoint applications.
- Resource adapter monitoring enables the monitoring of the execution of an instance of the adapter.
- First failure data capture (FFDC) provides an automated snapshot of the system environment when an unexpected internal error occurs.
- The
adapter trace parser plug-in can be downloaded and installed in WebSphere Integration Developer
to parse and convert the trace files that are in a proprietary format to the common base event (CBE) format. The parser can be used to correlate the log and trace files of an adapter
- The adapter supports uninterrupted polling by default, and, if configured to do so, can stop polling when an event-processing exception occurs.
- The adapter is supported in a clustered environment to ensure high availability.
- The adapter can filter events based on the event timestamp.
- The adapter tries to reestablish the EIS connection when a connection-specific error
occurs related to the inbound connection to the EIS.
- The adapter supports common event persistence.
- Support for data transformation
- The event persistence mechanism is implemented using EventStoreWithXid interface.
For more information about the complete WebSphere Adapter portfolio, visit: http://www.ibm.com/software/integration/wbiadapters
Announcement letter
Refer to the WebSphere Adapters, version 6.0.2, announcement letter
for the following types of information:
- Detailed product description, including a description of new function
- Product-positioning statement
- Packaging and ordering details
- International compatibility information
Supported hardware and software
For software requirements, see WebSphere Adapters software requirements.
For hardware requirements, see WebSphere Adapters hardware requirements.
Important installation information
Refer to the following Web sites for installation and configuration information
for WebSphere Adapter for Email:
Updates, limitations, and
known problems
Updates, limitations, and known problems about Adapter for Email, version 6.0.2, are documented in the form of technotes on the IBM Software Support Web site at http://www.ibm.com/software/integration/wbiadapters/support.
As limitations and problems are discovered and resolved, the IBM Software
Support team updates the knowledge base. By searching the knowledge base,
you can quickly find workarounds or solutions to problems that you experience.
The following link launches a customized query of the live Support knowledge
base. To create your own query, go to the Advanced
search page on the IBM Software Support Web site:
View technotes for Adapter for Email
IBM Software Support
IBM Software Support provides support for WebSphere Adapters either online or by phone. Before contacting IBM Software Support, you can take steps to dramatically increase support responsiveness.
Installing or upgrading IBM Support Assistant
IBM Support
Assistant (ISA) is a free, local software serviceability workbench that helps
you resolve questions and problems with IBM software products. Install plug-ins
for the products you have installed. It provides quick access to support-related
information along with serviceability tools for problem determination. Installing
and upgrading it is simple and straightforward.
IBM Support Assistant
provides the following services:
- Symptom-based data collection
- Access to IBM support
information, IBM newsgroups,
and other resources through a federated search interface (one search, multiple
resources)
- Easy access to IBM educational materials
- Easy access to IBM product home pages, product support pages, and product
forums or newsgroups through convenient links
- A tools framework and update manager to easily update and install ISA
plug-ins and tools
- Fast resolution of problem management records through electronic submission
of critical system data to IBM
It is recommended that you install IBM Support Assistant, version 3.0.1, to get support for a broad range of IBM solutions.
To
install and upgrade IBM Support Assistant, use the following procedure.
- Go to the IBM Support Assistant Web page at:
http://www.ibm.com/software/support/isa/
- Follow the directions on the Web page to download ISA version 3.0,
and then to extract, install, and use the tool.
- Start ISA.
- Open the Updater component.
- On the Upgrades tab, upgrade ISA to version
3.0.1 or later.
- On the New Products and Tools tab, install
the plug-ins for your adapter. Select the plug-in for your adapter
from the list for the WebSphere(R) brand. There is an optional language
pack plug-in for each adapter, which enables you to see adapter-specific information
in languages other than English.
Submitting a problem report using IBM Support Assistant
You can use the Service option available in the ISA V.3.0.x to collect data from the system and log problem reports with IBM.
Follow these steps:
- Make sure you have installed the
ISA V3.0-compatible plugins and features for the adapter using the Updater option.
- Click Service > Collect Data > adapter_name
- Provide the installation folder where the adapter logs are created.
- Click Collect. The tool collects all files ending with .cfg, .log, .txt, and .trc
from the folder specified in step 3, and create an archive.
- Log a problem report using the Log into ESR option and generate a service request (SR).
You can attach the log archive when generating the SR.
Contacting IBM Software Support
If you think your problem is defect-related, IBM Software Support
provides assistance. Before contacting IBM Software Support, your company must
have an active IBM software
maintenance contract, and you must be authorized to submit problems to IBM.
The type of software maintenance contract that you need depends on the type
of product you have:
- For IBM distributed
software products (including, but not limited to, Tivoli(R), Lotus(R), and Rational(R) products, as well as DB2(R) and WebSphere products
that run on Windows(R), Linux(R), or UNIX(R) operating systems), you must be enrolled
in Passport
Advantage(R). You can enroll in one of the following ways:
Online - Go to the Passport
Advantage Web page (http://www-306.ibm.com/software/support/pa.html), and click How to Enroll.
By phone - For the phone number to call in your country, go to the contacts page
of the IBM Software
Support Handbook on the Web (http://techsupport.services.ibm.com/guides/contacts.html), and click the name of your geographic region.
- For IBM eServerTM software
products (including, but not limited to, DB2 and WebSphere products that run in zSeries(R), pSeries(R),
and iSeriesTM environments),
you can purchase a software maintenance agreement by working directly with
an IBM sales
representative or an IBM Business Partner. For more information about support
for eServer software
products, go to the IBM Technical Support Advantage Web page (http://www-03.ibm.com/servers/eserver/techsupport.html).
If you are not sure what type of software maintenance contract
you need, call 1-800-IBMSERV (1-800-426-7378) in the United States or, from
other countries, go to the contacts page of the IBM Software Support Handbook on the Web
(http://techsupport.services.ibm.com/guides/contacts.html), and click the name of your geographic region for
phone numbers of people who provide support for your location.
The IBM Software Support Handbook contains detailed information about
the service and support of your IBM products. Read the handbook at http://techsupport.services.ibm.com/guides/handbook.html.
To
contact IBM Software Support, use the following procedure:
- Describe your problem and gather background information. When explaining a problem to an IBM support specialist, be as specific as
possible. Include all relevant background information so that IBM specialists
can help you solve the problem efficiently. To save time, know the answers
to these questions:
- What software versions were you running when the problem occurred? Include
the version of the operating system as well as related products.
- Has the problem happened before, or is this an isolated problem?
- What steps led to the failure?
- Can the problem be re-created? If so, what steps led to the failure?
- Have any changes been made to the system such as to the hardware, operating
system, networking software, and so on?
- Are you currently using a workaround for this problem? If so, be prepared
to explain it when you report the problem.
- Do you have logs, traces, and messages that are related to the problem
symptoms? IBM Software
Support is likely to ask for this information.
- Determine the business impact of your problem. When
you report a problem to IBM, you will be asked to supply a severity level. Therefore,
you need to understand and assess the business impact of the problem you are
reporting. Use the criteria described in the following table.
Severity |
Description |
1 |
critical business impact: You are
unable to use the program, resulting in a critical impact on operations. This
condition requires an immediate solution. |
2 |
Significant business impact: The
program is usable, but it is severely limited. |
3 |
Some business impact: The program is
usable, but less significant features (not critical to operations) are
unavailable. |
4 |
Minimal business impact: The problem
causes little impact on operations, or a reasonable circumvention to the problem
was implemented. |
- Submit your problem to IBM Software Support. You can
submit your problem in the following ways:
If the problem you submit is for an unreported software defect or
for missing or inaccurate documentation, IBM Software Support creates an Authorized
Program Analysis Report (APAR). The APAR describes the problem in detail and tracks its
resolution.
Whenever possible, IBM Software Support provides a workaround for you to
implement until the APAR is resolved and a fix is delivered. IBM publishes
resolved APARs on the IBM product support Web pages daily, so that other users
who experience the same problem can benefit from the same resolution.