Creating eGroups Manually

To use the manual method of the group support feature, you must configure your eGroups settings through a configuration file and then upload the file to your ZixGateway appliances.

Configuring the File

To configure the egroups.conf file manually:

1. Create a file in a text editor and name it egroups.conf.
2. Edit the file and add the email addresses and groups using the example below as a guide.
   Note: Use tabs between the columns.
   The group name can be any string. Avoid spaces and special characters.

Note: An email address can belong to only one group. Associating an email address with more than one group results in the final entry for that address being used, creating an unexpected result.

Uploading the File

To upload the egroups.conf file to your ZixGateway:

1. Log in to your ZixGateway system as zixadmin. You can use either the serial, the console (KVM), or an SSH connection.
2. On your ZixGateway system, key in the following change directory command:
   
   cd /zix/zixvpm/conf
3. Upload the egroups.conf file from your PC to the ZixGateway system.
   
   Example of uploading file with PuTTY:
   
   pscp <local file name> <putty session name>:/tmp
4. Move the uploaded file to the conf directory. Example:
   
   sudo mv /tmp/<local file name> egroups.conf
5. If the egroups.conf file was created on a Windows-based computer and uploaded to ZixGateway, run the following command to convert the file to Linux format:
   
   sudo dos2unix egroups.conf
6. Set permissions on the egroups.conf file by running the following command:
   
   sudo chmod 644 egroups.conf
7. Run the service restart command so that your changes will be applied:
   
   sudo service zixvpm restart

If you have multiple ZixGateway appliances, the egoups.conf file must be copied to the other servers. Repeat the steps above on each server. Every time you upload a revised egroups.conf file, you must complete all the steps, including changing permissions.

You now have to create egroup policies to finish the setup. See Creating eGroup Polices with ZixGateway Manager for more information.

Maintaining the File

From time to time, you may need to edit the egoups.conf file to add or remove addresses. To do this, edit the master egroups.conf file on your PC and upload the revised file to each ZixGateway appliance as described above.

If you are familiar with Unix and know how to use the VI editor, you can edit the egroups.conf files directly on each ZixGateway appliance.

Warning: Do not manually edit this file if you are using the LDAP Manager.