[hcheun]

Hey guys

Just wanted to make this post to get in touch with some of you guys who have similar setups we have here. We're on Blackberry Enterprise Server 4.1 with Groupwise 6.5 API mode and wondered if anyone else has the same setup. My boss wanted me to get in touch with other companies just to ask about how their setups are doing and also maybe share qualms and problems we had!

Since there isn't as much of these setups as the other "exchange" enviroments , i thought it would be great to make a small network of BES/Novell shops so we can share, as we all know, it's sometimes tough to get our crackberry's to work with Groupwise servers!

If anyone wants to share, or network with me, just send me a msg and I'll reply back with my info and we can definitely share and maybe brainstorm a thing or two about BES and Novell Groupwise.

BTW if you're curious where i work, i work with the Getty Foundation; a large Museum foundation in Los Angeles; and hey maybe some of you admins help us out enough and create a good relation, i can give you a tour and show you around the place!

[EAndresen]

I have that set up but i upgraded to 4.2 and im on GW 7.0 but I still use the 6.5 API. What issues are you having?

[jcrawfor]

Sure...

I am using:
BES 4.1.3.16
GroupWise 7.0.2 HP2
GW API (gwcma1.dll) 6.57.0

We currently have 29 active users (we have two positions open so we will be back at 31). Most of the handhelds are Verizon 8830's using a 4.2.x variant.

We are using a single Windows 2003 server with MSDE.

We have been using Blackberry's and GroupWise since the original 4.0 release of BES for GroupWise. We were actually one of the beta sites on the Novell side.

Over the past three years (I think) we have had a few issues. Lately, it has been pretty smooth sailing. I have three pretty big complaints right now...

1. GW system address book contacts should be updated when they are updated in the system address book (they should not create new contacts when copied to personal address books - Novell problem)
2. Enable multiple GW address books to sync to Blackberry handheld
3. Do not tie Top Secret sync to server and handheld software version (I have a 4.1 server and a bunch of 4.2 handhelds).

Jeff Crawford

[hcheun]

Originally Posted by EAndresen

I have that set up but i upgraded to 4.2 and im on GW 7.0 but I still use the 6.5 API. What issues are you having?

We got a pretty long laundry list of some issues. Right now we have some issues with our calendars not properly syncing and reconciling (especially the ones that are reoccurring made from a different user on GW) , editing the primary email to a different address ; which on GW doesn't delete the old email, but instead keeps it still as the current email and then adds the change as a separate email address. Those are just a few.

Also, version 4.2? Do you mean the BES being 4.2? I'm kind of confused because the only recent version i found was 4.1.4 which we are on. If it is, could i ask what are the key differences with that 4.2 version? and how you were able to obtain and get that version?

We're right now doing this as a pilot and my director wants to get this off the ground ASAP and she wants to put an approval on. Any help would be excellent.

Thanks!

[jcrawfor]

Hmmm... The most recent version of the BES for GW is 4.1 SP3 HP4. Where did you find SP4?

I am sorry to hear about your problems. If you would like you could send me an email to jcrawfor at gmail dot com and we could work together via email or phone...

Many of my users have people who proxy into their calendar using the cross-platform or Windows client and enter appointments (including myself). We have not had any system wide issues with this. There have been a few occasions were a phone would randomly stop syncing. These are usually device related. Sometimes a simple Assign Handheld from within the Manager fixes it. Sometimes I find that a Service Book (Desktop[*]) has gone missing and a simple Resend Service Books work. Sometimes I have to wipe the phone and reload the handheld software.

Can you clarify your issue with a changing email address...?

It terms of the email messages not deleted this could be the garbage collector or whatever they call it.

On your server, there are a number of great logs that may help you with issues like these. Look in %PROGRAMFILES%\Research In Motion\Blackberry Enterprise Server\Logs\ (I install my BES server software to a logical drive other than C). The logs will be organized by date. Basically, the most important log is servername_GWCO_date_number.txt. This is the GW Connector log. In here you will find all of the actions the GW Connector service has taken.

I hope this helps,
Jeff

[rkhan2000]

We are running BES 4.1.0.40 on Windows 2003 SP1 with Groupwise 7. We have about 40 devices registered on the box (mix of 8700s and 8300s). Things generally run smoothly unless :

1. BES Server needs to be rebooted (for any reason - patching, power failure, bluescreen etc).

2. New OTA (over the air) activation needs to be done.

Issue #1 is very common for us - and I still haven't got the grips of finding out where to look and find out what happens after a reboot and why it takes hours and hours before e-mails start flowing to the devices again.

Issue #2 is also quite common - activating a new device is another tedious process. With the old 8700s, I got around the problem by doing wired activations but with the new 8800s and 8300s, I can't do that with the current version of BES (4.1.0.40). OTA activation is so incredibly unreliable and time consuming. On some occasions I have spents days just to activate one device - in between server reboots.

I have heard the SP1 upgrade is worth it and would fix a lot of these issues. I am tempted to upgrade but right now we have all senior management registered on the single BES server. If the upgrade fails - I am ! I guess, I need to take some precautionary measures and do the upgrade as soon as possible

It will be good to keep in touch - thanks for your message.

[hcheun]

Originally Posted by rkhan2000

We are running BES 4.1.0.40 on Windows 2003 SP1 with Groupwise 7. We have about 40 devices registered on the box (mix of 8700s and 8300s). Things generally run smoothly unless :

1. BES Server needs to be rebooted (for any reason - patching, power failure, bluescreen etc).

2. New OTA (over the air) activation needs to be done.

Issue #1 is very common for us - and I still haven't got the grips of finding out where to look and find out what happens after a reboot and why it takes hours and hours before e-mails start flowing to the devices again.

Issue #2 is also quite common - activating a new device is another tedious process. With the old 8700s, I got around the problem by doing wired activations but with the new 8800s and 8300s, I can't do that with the current version of BES (4.1.0.40). OTA activation is so incredibly unreliable and time consuming. On some occasions I have spents days just to activate one device - in between server reboots.

I have heard the SP1 upgrade is worth it and would fix a lot of these issues. I am tempted to upgrade but right now we have all senior management registered on the single BES server. If the upgrade fails - I am ! I guess, I need to take some precautionary measures and do the upgrade as soon as possible

It will be good to keep in touch - thanks for your message.

Hey Rkhan

Yes, we are running service pack 3 , hotfix 4 on ours 4.1.3 hotfix 4 and we have no issues with OTA. In fact that's how we are having our users activate their blackberries when they receive it. We haven't ran into a reboot for a while now as well.

definitely look at the release notes to see if there are any problems on bb's site. the Knowledgebase has alot of stuff that i think addresses the issues.

As for any upgrade, just make sure you backup anything and have everyone aware that there's downtime. We just applied our recent hotfix 4 at night and everything went smooth.

if you would like, i would be happy to help you in anyway as so with anyone else here in the forum. Just send me a message to get my info, and I'll be happy to answer anything for you! I want to establish this BES/GW group so we can collaborate together to get some of these issues worked on!

[rkhan2000]

Originally Posted by hcheun

Hey Rkhan

Yes, we are running service pack 3 , hotfix 4 on ours 4.1.3 hotfix 4 and we have no issues with OTA. In fact that's how we are having our users activate their blackberries when they receive it. We haven't ran into a reboot for a while now as well.

definitely look at the release notes to see if there are any problems on bb's site. the Knowledgebase has alot of stuff that i think addresses the issues.

As for any upgrade, just make sure you backup anything and have everyone aware that there's downtime. We just applied our recent hotfix 4 at night and everything went smooth.

if you would like, i would be happy to help you in anyway as so with anyone else here in the forum. Just send me a message to get my info, and I'll be happy to answer anything for you! I want to establish this BES/GW group so we can collaborate together to get some of these issues worked on!

Thanks again for your message. I think setting up the BES/GW group would be very beneficial for all of us and the community - there are not that many BES/GW installations around

I am looking at starting the ground-work for the BES upgrade and am researching what precautions I need to take. I will try and document my entire process/experiences and post it so that it will be helpful for others who are in a similar fix.

I was hoping to move my existing BES server which hosts the BES and MSSQL Server to a new more powerful machine. I intended to do the hardware and software upgrade in one great leap -

If you have any specific links/references that you could forward me, they would be a great help.

Best regards.

[mullet4evr]

I know this thread is a little old, but I was interested in it and wanted to get in touch with ya'll. Please message me.

Thanks!

[ELBeast]

Hey I'd be interested...

[earny99]

I'd be interested too.

[blueshockeynut]

Count me in as well.

[patticg]

I'm interested in connecting with other BES w/GW. I am new to BES and we are currently having an issue trying to add users, but the GW system address book does not show up on the add users screen. Can anyone help?

[Scrumpty]

I would be interested in this. Groupwise and BES Admin seem to be a rare breed.

[housej55]

I would be interested too !

Hopefully the original poster will come back and check this

[dlanham]

Currently using Netware 6.5 with GroupWise7 and BES 4.1.6.15.

[kthompso]

If I can offer any help I would be glad to.
GW 7.03 HP1 across six BES 4.1.6 MR2 servers. We have 1945 BB users currently. All different models, multiple carriers.

[erjmesa]

I am using NW 6.5 with Groupwise 7 and BES 4.1.4. I would be interested networking to discuss issues.