[quentin]

I think I have a successfull BES 4.3.1 installation running. I am now trying to test Enterprise Activation.

My BES server exists on a private LAN, but has Internet access (through a router). When I run Start -> Programs -> Blackberry Enterprise Server -> Blackberry Server Configuration, I am able to successfully test the network connection on the BlackBerry Router tab.

Attempting to connect to :
srp.ca.blackberry.net (206.51.26.33), port 3101
Successful
Attempting to connect to :
srp.ca.blackberry.net (204.187.87.33), port 3101
Successful

My Active Directory and Exchange 2003 servers are also located on my private LAN. I never bothered setting up the correct ports to allow my users to recieve email from the Internet. This is a test environment that I only ever use internally. I do not have a registered domain to use, so my environment uses fakedomain.com internally.

My question: Because my users end up having fake email addresses (such as ), these users will never see the Activation Email in their inbox from RIM. Are users required to be able to recieve emails over the internet in order for Enterprise Activation to work? (Yes, I understand that even if I get Activation to work, subsequent emails will not arrive on the Blackberry device and I am OK with that!) I am only interesting in understanding how Activation works at this time.

Here is what Ive done: Currently when I add a user to BES using BlackBerry Manager, the user sits in an Initializing state. I then right-click my user to set an Activation password of 1234. Then on my blackberry device, I try an Enterprise Activation and give my email address of and Activation password of 1234. My Blackberry device will try to Activate... and even retry... but it never succeeds.

I do not understand what to look for in my log files, but I found this in BLACKBERRY_MAGT_02_20070918_0001.txt:

{billybob@fakedomain.com} Still handled by desktop
[30160] (09/18 14:44:54.754):{0x1E34} {billybob@fakedomain.com} GetDeviceId() did not return a PIN, PIN currently is not set for this user.
[40371] (09/18 14:44:54.754):{0x1E34} {billybob@fakedomain.com} UserControl::HandleDatabaseChange - CalSyncState is empty
[40442] (09/18 14:44:54.754):{0x1E34} User settings: email=billybob@fakedomain.com, routing=billybob@fakedomain.com, service=, device=, calendar=0, MDS=1, userOTAFM=0, incradle=0, SMIME=0, sentItems=0, dir=billybob, server=EXCH

Does my environment need to be setup so that my users can recieve email from any internet address? If no, what might I be doing wrong?

[x14]

Has the wireless account been provision a corporate BlackBerry data plan?

[penguin3107]

Originally Posted by quentin

I never bothered setting up the correct ports to allow my users to recieve email from the Internet. This is a test environment that I only ever use internally. I do not have a registered domain to use, so my environment uses fakedomain.com internally.

My question: Because my users end up having fake email addresses (such as ), these users will never see the Activation Email in their inbox from RIM. Are users required to be able to recieve emails over the internet in order for Enterprise Activation to work?

Yes, this is a major problem.
Activation will require a real, working e-mail address for the user.
Your users must be able to receive an e-mail activation messgae (with a .dat attachment) directly from RIM. BES will process that activation email and proceed to activate the device.
You cannot do a wireless Enterprise Activation with a "fake" email address.

[x14]

Originally Posted by penguin3107

Yes, this is a major problem.
Activation will require a real, working e-mail address for the user.
Your users must be able to receive an e-mail activation messgae (with a .dat attachment) directly from RIM. BES will process that activation email and proceed to activate the device.
You cannot do a wireless Enterprise Activation with a "fake" email address.

Didn't read the part about fake email address..

Yeah, you need a legit email address.

[quentin]

Originally Posted by penguin3107

Yes, this is a major problem.
Activation will require a real, working e-mail address for the user.
Your users must be able to receive an e-mail activation messgae (with a .dat attachment) directly from RIM. BES will process that activation email and proceed to activate the device.
You cannot do a wireless Enterprise Activation with a "fake" email address.

Thanks for the quick response penguin!

If I give my Exchange server a real IP address, and then test to ensure I can send email to ess, could I do an Enterprise Activation this way? ie: use an Activation Email address of billybob@24.222.55.55 ?

[quentin]

Originally Posted by x14

Has the wireless account been provision a corporate BlackBerry data plan?

Just to answer this question, yes the RIM 7280 has an Enterprise Activation plan.

[penguin3107]

I don't think that will work. Since it's only a dev server, you might as well try it.
I think one of the requirements for BES activation is a legitimate e-mail domain, not an IP address.

[hdawg]

I unfortunately think that might work ... as long as the etp message reaches the mailbox in an untarnished state it should activate; disgusting though. (However I don't know if RIM requires a DNS name.)

I actived by activating with the email address (which forwards a copy all email to ).

[quentin]

Thank you for the responses.

Does anyone know if there is a technical document that covers all of the details on Enterprise Activation? I have more questions today that have been bothering me.

1) Specifically, I want to know what BES does when you add a user, and it sits in the "Initializing" state. Does the BES server transmit any information to the RIM data servers? If so, what type of information?

2) When a user attempts an Enterprsie Activation on their Blackberry handheld device, an email address and activation code is sent through the cellular network, to RIM's data center. Ive also read that RIM sends an email to the email address specified which contains details about the RIM device. What happens if the email address specified in Enterprise Activation is a forwarding email address, and forwards all messages to multiple email addresses? For example, if I typed in an email address of , but Ive configured my gmail account to foward all messages to 2 other addresses, say and . Now, lets say companyX.com and companyZ.com are two totally different companies and both run BES servers. Will my blackberry device be synchronized with 2 seperate BES/Exchange accounts?

[penguin3107]

1) No, nothing gets transmitted to RIM. Device state will remain 'initializing' until a device initiates an Enterprise Activation for that profile.

2) You can't have 1 device configured on more than 1 BES. Something will go wrong somewhere, for sure. I would imagine if you did what you are asking about, a worm hole might open up and suck all of humanity into another dimension.

[hdawg]

Identifying and troubleshooting enterprise activation issues
What is the enterprise activation process