>SULLIVAN / UNIX, 01 ([log in to unmask])
>
>Just wondering how one does "directory syncronization"
>when using OpenDesk.  The idea is to have the same distribution
>lists as another site.  The odds of the other site having OpenDesk
>is negligible.  Interex uses OpenMail as the Internet transport,
>but the directory syncronization feature is a purchasable addon,
>and our directory isn't in OpenMail anyway, so I haven't tried
>this out.
>
>Any ideas?
 
We use the "sequenced directory updates" to keep all 32 Desk hosts
"synchronized".   The only time it doesn't work is if a site's database
is/gets full, they will not get the updates unless we know their
database was full* and resend it.  We run DBGeneral on them every night
to prevent this.
 
* We log on using a client with a find/search tool and search for the
phrase "DATA BASE FULL" from the returned messages.
 
For non-Desk mail systems, the administrator adds these to the Desk
directory using a batch job  (for 9000s we have a script to convert the
/etc/passwd file to a Desk "add a user" batch file, other sites are
working on ones for MS Mail, cc:Mail,etc..)   This site then uses the
sequenced directory updates to send it to all the other sites.
 
We also make the Desk directory available for non-Desk users by
downloading the directory information using Data Express, reformatting
it so all addresses are in Internet format and making this data
available to users via the WWW.
 
You can probably do something with downloading the directory to do
synchronization with non-Desk systems.
 
Not sure if any of this helps.
 
- Chris Rice
CTC