GroupWise Web (GWWEB) Best Practices

Applicable to GroupWise GWWEB versions 18.3, 18.4.x, 18.5, and 23.4

Versioning Notice: This document was initially written for GroupWise 18.3. With each subsequent release, some additional security features and/or requirements may have been introduced that add to the complexity of a GWWEB implementation. I have attempted to note the changes as needed.

Important GroupWise 18.5+ Note: Specific to GroupWise 18.5 and beyond, there is a situation with Certificates that relates to the encoding of the keyfile for the SSL certificate/keypair. If you are running any 3rd party certificates anywhere in GroupWise, please review this document to understand the issue and how to correct it if it applies to you: https://www.redjuju.com/groupwise-18-5-released. Note that you many need to go through and redo your private key files due to this issue, and this could impact your gwweb implementation as well since it has to interact with the DVA(s) and POA(s).

This is a comprehensive document that is evolving. This was written shortly after GroupWise 18.3 was released. It's accurate to the best of my knowledge and I update/correct it as needed. My goal is to offer information that goes far above and beyond what is included in the product documentation. This includes troubleshooting information as well as detail on what you should see when you have the system working correctly.

The following Operating Systems are supported for running Docker and GWWEB:

SLES 12
OES 2018 (Based on SLES 12)
SLES 15
OES 2023 (Based on SLES 15)

Note that there are many differences between SLES 12 and SLES 15. I do not reference SLES 12 at all in this document. My preference is to always use SLES 15. Also, worth noting: While it also may be possible to run GWWEB and Docker on a Windows platform, I do not cover that at all in this document. You will have a very difficult time finding support for GWWEB on Windows if you choose to go down that path.

GroupWise 18.3 was released in December 2020 as a milestone feature release of GroupWise. With this release, GroupWise introduces a completely new WebAccess experience called "GroupWise Web". This new application no longer uses Apache/Tomcat as the platform, and instead uses Docker Containers to run a self-contained WebAccess application. There are very few options and it doesn't take much to get going. However, in the normal fashion of GroupWise documentation, even if you RTFM, you'll be scratching your head a few times as you're working through things. I'm making the assumption that you've looked at the documentation that can be found here: https://support.microfocus.com/kb/doc.php?id=7022859

Although the general process of getting GroupWise Web up and running is fairly simple, there's a chance you could run into some problems or need further understanding of what's going on. I have color coordinated the different sections for clarity and split into the following general categories:

TLDR Version - Get up and running quick
Intro to Docker & Feature Parity
System Prerequisite How-To's
Firewall Requirements and How-To's
Full Installation Process
SSL Considerations
Troubleshooting

The End Result / What To Expect

Much of the GroupWise 23.4 release was rebranding GroupWise from Micro Focus to Opentext. With this release, any customization or site-specific branding that could have been done previously was no longer possible. Below is a screenshot of the GroupWise 23.4 GWWeb login screen. Although it does not mean everything is working perfectly, if you get this screen when connecting to GroupWise mail with an Internet browser, you can be confident that the new GroupWise Web application is running.

Too Long Didn't Read Version

This is the process from start to finish that is required to get the new GroupWise Web installed and configured. If everything works perfectly, this is all you need. If you're logged in as root, you do not need the sudo command.
Preparation
Create the folder /opt/novell/gw/certs
Copy your 3rd Party commercial certificates into /opt/novell/gw/certs
Rename your 3rd party certificate files to server.crt and server.key
Command Line Syntax
sudo zypper install docker 

sudo systemctl enable docker

sudo systemctl start docker

sudo docker run -it -v /opt/novell/gw:/config -e GWADMIN_SERVICE=admin@192.168.1.1:9710 -e GWSOAP_HOST_DEFAULT=192.168.1.2 mfgroupwise/web-config
sudo docker run -d --restart always -v /opt/novell/gw:/etc/nginx/gw --name gwweb -e FQDN=webmail.redjuju.com -e DNS_SERVER=192.168.1.5 -p 80:80 -p 443:443 -v /opt/novell/gw/certs:/certs -v /opt/novell/gw/logs/:/var/log/nginx/ -e GWSOAP_SSL_VERIFY=off mfgroupwise/web:latest
Notes
Note the following items that must be customized to your specific environment:
"admin" refers to your GroupWise Administrator user credential. It is not necessarily "admin".
The IP Address referenced with the GWADMIN_SERVICE directive should be the IP address of your GroupWise Administration service.
9710 Is the default GroupWise Admin port but could vary.
The GWSOAP_HOST_DEFAULT should reference the IP address of one of your GroupWise Post Office Agents. This may or may not be the same as your GroupWise Administration IP Address depending on your environment.
FQDN should be the full DNS name that users enter to connect to GroupWise Web from the Internet.
DNS_SERVER IP Address that docker will use for DNS Lookups.
-e GWSOAP_SSL_VERIFY=off directive added for GroupWise 18.4. The new certificate and security requirements always tend to fail if this is not included even if the certificates are working perfectly.

Working with Docker for GroupWise Web

I won't go into a ton of detail on Docker in general, but I will cover the basics for use in the GroupWise environment. Instead of installing an RPM module and configuring Apache and tomcat, Docker provides a prebuilt "image" that just runs. It works with a simple configuration file and minimal command-line options. Many applications are now being developed in this manner.

Helpful Docker commands:

Command	Purpose
zypper install docker	Installs the current Docker modules from the SUSE repositories
systemctl enable docker	Enables the Docker service to launch on system startup
systemctl disable docker	Prevents the Docker service from launching on system startup
systemctl start docker	Starts the Docker service
systemctl stop docker	Stops the Docker service
systemctl status docker	Shows the running status of the Docker service
docker image list	Lists the current Docker images
docker stop gwweb	Stops the GroupWise Web application within Docker. Docker remains running.
docker rm gwweb	Cleans up the GroupWise Web application from within Docker.
docker stop gwweb docker rm gwweb docker start gwweb	Generally used to stop, remove, and then start GroupWise Web. Use this if you need to stop GroupWise Web, make changes or troubleshoot, then start it again. If you have made changes to the "docker run" command line, you will need to follow this sequence.
docker restart gwweb	Restarts the GroupWise Web application container.
docker pull mfgroupwise/web	Downloads the latest version of GroupWise Web from the Micro Focus Docker repository
docker pull mfgroupwise/web-config	Downloads the web-config utility from the Micro Focus Docker repository

"Docker Run" command line switches for GroupWise Web

The command line required to launch GWWEB via Docker is quite complex. I have provided two tables. The first one explains the generic use of each relevant command line option. The second table outlines each of the options that are relevant/required for running GWWEB.

General "Docker Run" Command Line Options

A good reference for better understanding Docker Commands can be found on the Docker documentation that can be found here: https://docs.docker.com/engine/reference/commandline/run/

Syntax

docker run [OPTIONS] IMAGE [COMMAND] [ARG...]

Command	Purpose
-d (or --detach)	Run container in background and print container ID. This is a no brainer, it wouldn't make sense to not run it in the background.
-rm	Automatically remove the container when it exits.
--restart	Restart policy to apply to a container. Restart Always: Restart the container regardless of the exit status. When you specify always, the Docker daemon will try to restart the container indefinitely. The container will also always start on daemon startup, regardless of the current state of the container. (This is my preferred option) Examples: --restart always (preferred) --restart on-failure --restart unless-stopped --restart no (default)
--name	Assign a name to the container. Example: --name gwweb
-e (or --env)	Set environment variables Example: -e DNS_SERVER=192.168.0.1
-v	Bind mount a volume. When you use a bind mount, a file or directory on the host machine is mounted into a container. The file or directory is referenced by its absolute path on the host machine. The file or directory does not need to exist on the Docker host already. It is created on demand if it does not yet exist. Reference this link to understand this directive a little better: https://docs.docker.com/storage/bind-mounts/ In the case of GWWEB, many bind mounts are used that help define locations of log files, certificates, and custom images. Example: -v /opt/novell/gw/certs:/certs
-p	Publish a container's port(s) to the host. Example: -p 443:443
--add-host	Add a custom host-to-IP mapping (host:ip). Use this if you do not have accessible DNS for name resolution. This is similar to using a hosts file on a server. Example: --add-host gwpo.redjuju.com:192.168.185.13

"Docker Run" command line switches for GroupWise Web

The directives below are each of the actual directives needed to launch GWWEB via the Docker Run command.

Command	Purpose
-d	Run the GWWEB application container in the background and displays the container ID on the screen when launched.
-rm (Use either -rm or --restart always, you cannot use both)	This directive will run the GWWEB app but remove the container when docker is stopped. It's more tedious, and I do not prefer it in most cases. When docker restarts, you will have to manually run the Docker Run command to get GWWEB working again.
--restart always (Use either -rm or --restart always, you cannot use both)	I prefer this directive because it will cause the GWWEB app to always run even after the docker service is restarted or if the server itself is restarted.
-v /opt/novell/gw:/etc/nginx/gw	There are several configuration files in the /opt/novell/gw folder that define connectivity to your Post Offices and DVA's. This directive does a "bind mount" and puts the files into the GWWEB container, giving GWWEB the ability to read these configuration files needed to connect to GroupWise.
--name gwweb	This names the docker container. When starting, stopping, or removing the app, you reference this name. docker stop gwweb (stops the gwweb container) docker rm gwweb (deletes the gwweb container)
-e FQDN=webmail.yourserver.com	Specifies the FQDN name of your server. The name in this directive should generally be resolvable from the public Internet (unless you only allow GWWEB from inside your organization. In that case you would still assign a FQDN that is resolvable from inside your organization).
-e DNS_SERVER=192.168.0.1	Docker does not have the ability to use your system defined DNS resolvers. Therefore you must define the DNS server that Docker will use when performing DNS lookups. Note that the DNS server you select needs to be able to resolve the FQDN of your GroupWise Post Offices and DVAs. This doesn't matter as much if you use IP Addresses for them, however the best practice from a security and certificate standpoint is to use FQDN ever since GroupWise 18.4.0.
-p 443:443	This command tells the GWWEB container to publish/map port 443 in the container to the hosts secure https port 443.
-p 80:80	This command tells the GWWEB container to publish/map port 80 in the container to the hosts non secure http port 80.
-v /opt/novell/gw/certs:/certs	This tells Docker to use certificates when loading the application. It loads them from the folder listed, which is /opt/novell/gw/certs. I always use this directive, even though the documentation makes it sound more optional. It doesn't even seem practical to try to run GWWEB in a non-secure mode without certificates.
-e GWSOAP_SSL_VERIFY=off	I have found that I generally need this statement with any GW 18.4.x version. Without it, Docker can fail to connect to your Post Office(s) due to various problems it detects with the certificates. I struggle with this even if the certificates are perfectly valid. I do not know what triggers a failure, so using this has become a standard directive in most instances of GWWEB that I deploy.
-v /opt/novell/gw/logs/:/var/log/nginx/	This tells Docker to log the GWWEB application in the /opt/novell/gw/logs/ folder.
-v /opt/gwweb/gwlogo.svg:/app/assets/img/app-logo.svg	This instructs Docker to load a custom SVG file in place of the default one. The default image is the Blue Square with the white envelope above and to the left of the login prompt. Reference the section about customizing the login screen for more details on this option.
-v /opt/gwweb/graphic.jpg:/app/assets/img/login_image.jpg	This instructs Docker to load a custom Graphic image in the background in place of the default one. The default image is the image of 5 people putting their fists together at a table. It is placed in roughly the right 55% of the screen. Reference the section about customizing the login screen for more details on this option.
mfgroupwise/web:latest	This should ALWAYS be the last item on the line. It instructs docker what image you are actually running. This "image" is the GWWEB program code that runs inside the Docker Container. In most cases, "mfgroupwise/web:latest" is the correct version. This could vary for a couple reasons: If you have loaded in a pre-release version and want to run it. If you have loaded a version from downloadable media (rather than the docker repositories) and need to reference the build number. If you're using something other than the latest, you would replace "latest" with the build number that you installed.

Feature Parity GroupWise WebAccess vs GroupWise Web

It is important to understand that full feature parity does not exist between GroupWise WebAccess 18.2.1 and GroupWise Web. The initial 18.3 was severely lacking, but it has improved dramatically. Reference the "What's New" section of the GroupWise 18 release notes for details on improvements that have been made with each subsequent release. https://www.novell.com/documentation/groupwise18/gw18_readme/data/gw18_readme.html#whats_new

As a point of reference, it would seem pertinent to note that the GroupWise developers promised feature parity between the GroupWise Client and GroupWise WebAccess for years, but never fully achieved this even with GroupWise 18.2.1. Now with GroupWise Web replacing GroupWise WebAccess, it could be argued that feature parity has gone backward.

Suggestions for how you might handle concerns about missing features:

Install the latest available GroupWise WEB version. There are generally no reasons to run older versions, and it has improved dramatically. Continue to update it as new versions are released.
Continue running GroupWise WebAccess and do not upgrade until more features have been built into GroupWise Web. The older GroupWise WebAccess will continue to function, it is not mandatory to upgrade it to continue to use it. Note that you may get pushback from Micro Focus support if you open a support ticket, and it's unlikely any bug fixes will be provided.
Run the GroupWise 18.2.1 WebAccess simultaneously alongside GroupWise Web (using different servers)

My personal opinion of GWWEB:

I was not a fan of GWWEB when it was first released. It was very buggy, and severely lacking in features. However, as the product has matured, it has come a long way. I find that GWWEB is now much easier to use than the old WebAccess, and in fact, I don't even like to use the old version anymore. It's too clunky and hard to navigate. I generally recommend that customers start using GWWEB rather than try to continue with the old WebAccess version. While it is drastically different and takes some getting used to, the streamlined simplistic design and improved functionality is a tremendous improvement.

Prerequisites and System Requirements

It's easy to skim over the system requirements and assume everything is set correctly in your existing GroupWise environment. If you do this with GroupWise Web, you will be in for some challenges. Please review the system requirements and confirm that you meet each requirement.

In summary, the requirements are as follows:

Docker 19.03.5 or later on any Docker supported platform.
GroupWise 18.3 or later system.
GroupWise POA with SOAP enabled. SOAP must have SSL enabled.
GroupWise DVA with SSL enabled. ** This is likely going to be where you have issues **
(Optional) TLS certificates for GroupWise Web.

I have provided detailed notes on how to ensure that your system is configured to meet these requirements below.

Docker 19.03.5 or later on any Docker supported platform.

Note about Multi-Server environments: In a multi-server GroupWise environment, the Docker requirement is only necessary for the actual server running the GroupWise Web application. Docker does not need to be installed on any other server.

To identify the Docker version, use this command at the Linux command line:

rpm -qa|grep docker

This should produce a list of all RPM's that contain the text "docker", and one of them will show the version number. In the results below from my fully patched SLES15 SP2 system, the version of Docker is 19.03.11.

mhcfs02:/ # rpm -qa|grep docker
docker-runc-1.0.0rc10+gitr3981_dc9208a3303f-6.38.2.x86_64
docker-bash-completion-19.03.11_ce-6.34.2.noarch
docker-19.03.11_ce-6.34.2.x86_64
docker-libnetwork-0.7.0.1+gitr2902_153d0769a118-4.21.2.x86_64

NOTE: If no results are returned, Docker is not installed at all. This is normal if it's a new install. The instructions for installing and enabling Docker are further below in this same document.

GroupWise 18.3 or later system.

To ensure your system is running GroupWise 18.3 or later, use this command at the Linux command line on all servers that are running GroupWise Agents (Post Offices and/or Domains):

rpm -qa|grep groupwise-server

This should produce the rpm module that is installed for the GroupWise software. The resulting output should show you the GroupWise version you are running as shown below:

mhcfs02:/ # rpm -qa|grep groupwise-server
groupwise-server-18.3.0-137352.x86_64

A couple points of clarification for this requirement.

There's an entire best practice process for a GroupWise 18.3 or GroupWise 18.4 system upgrade and it's not included in this document. However, the general recommendation is that the GroupWise WebAccess or GroupWise Web application should be upgraded/installed after all domains and all post offices have been upgraded.
In a multi-server GroupWise system, if GroupWise Web will be running on it's own separate and/or dedicated server, you likely do not and will not have the "groupwise-server" modules installed on that server. Check the versions on the servers that are actually running GroupWise agents.

GroupWise POA with SOAP enabled. SOAP must have SSL enabled.

It's very likely you meet this requirement already. But you should confirm the configuration anyway. Points to consider:

SOAP needs to be enabled on ALL Post Office Agents.
Enabling SSL on the SOAP protocol on your Post Offices is all or nothing. Meaning it's either enabled for ALL applications that use it or it's not enabled. You cannot mix and match between enabled and not enabled. For example, you cannot have SSL enabled on SOAP for use by GroupWise Web if GroupWise Mobility is set to use SOAP via non-SSL.
To my previous point, If you do not use SSL for soap, you MUST configure and enable it in order for GroupWise Web to function. You must ALSO consider all other applications that may use SOAP. For any application in your organization that connects to GroupWise via SOAP, you MUST enable SSL on the SOAP protocol. Some applications that use SOAP: Legacy GroupWise WebAccess, GroupWise Mobility Service, and the new GroupWise Web application.

Generally speaking, you can confirm that SOAP is configured to use SSL by looking at the running configuration on each Post Office agent. You do this in the POA Web Console that can be launched from the GroupWise Administration page.

GroupWise POA Configuration Settings

Internet Protocol Agent Settings:
IMAP Agent:	Enabled
IMAP Port for Incoming IMAP requests:	143 (Default)
IMAP over SSL:	Enabled
IMAP SSL Agent:	Enabled
IMAP SSL Port for Incoming IMAP requests:	993 (Default)
IMAP Read Limit:	4000
IMAP Read New:	Enabled
SOAP Agent:	Enabled
SOAP Port for Incoming SOAP requests:	7191
SOAP Proxy Port:	7191
SOAP over SSL:	Enabled
SOAP Redirection Table:	Show

If you find that SSL is not enabled on the SOAP protocol, you will need to install a certificate/key pair on each Post Office agent and enable SSL for SOAP on the agent configuration. SSL configuration is out of the scope of this document.

GroupWise DVA with SSL enabled

When SSL is not enabled on the DVA, GroupWise Web will function but you won't be able to view PDF or other docs from within the GroupWise Web application.

Things to understand about the GroupWise DVA:

The GroupWise DVA is what allows you to view PDF, DOC, and Image files from within GroupWise.
Each Post Office generally has its own DVA. (This is not absolutely always true)
The GroupWise DVA is not enabled for SSL by default.
All DVA's in your entire GroupWise system need to have SSL enabled.
The GroupWise Administration Console makes you think you're enabling SSL on the DVA but it's not actually doing what you think. More on this below in step 1 of the DVA required configuration.

If this requirement is not met, you'll experience the two things below.

When SSL is not enabled on the GroupWise DVA, you will receive an error that states "Unable to view attachment" as shown below.

When SSL is not enabled on the GroupWise DVA, you will see the following in the Docker log files when you experience this error.

2021/01/05 08:43:41 [error] 16#16: *43 SSL_do_handshake() failed (SSL: error:1408F10B:SSL routines:ssl3_get_record:wrong version number) while SSL handshaking to upstream, client: 172.17.0.1, server: webmail.redjuju.com, request: "POST /dva HTTP/1.1", upstream: "https://192.168.0.147:8301/dva", host: "webmail.redjuju.com", referrer: "https://webmail.redjuju.com/gw/mailbox/default"

Refer to the Troubleshooting/Log Files section below for information on how to configure and view the log files.

The SSL Certificates used by the DVA can be the same as the ones your GroupWise Agents use, but it is not required. Furthermore, it's adequate to use Self Signed certificates. You can also use 3rd party commercial certificates, and it could technically use the same certificate as what you use for your HTTPS Web interface. The distinction needs to be made that the DVA and other GroupWise agents require a password on the private key, but your HTTPS Web interface does not use a password on the private key.

How to configure the GroupWise DVA with SSL Enabled

This four-step process enables the GroupWise DVA with SSL using a self-signed certificate:

1) Tell the POA's to connect to the DVA's via SSL

On the DVA configuration in the GroupWise Administration console, check the box that says "Enable SSL". This tells the Post Office to use SSL when connecting to the DVA. It does not actually configure the DVA with SSL.

Note: It's very confusing, and I don't like the behavior. The dialog makes you believe that you are enabling SSL on the DVA, when in fact you are not. You're only telling the Post Office to use SSL when connecting to the DVA. The checkbox does nothing to actually configure SSL on the DVA. You will need to follow the remaining steps to actually enable SSL on the DVA.

2) Creating the Certificate

Creating the certificates can be accomplished entirely from a SLES 15 Linux command line. The filenames I use are dva.crt, dva.key, and dva.crt. The dva.nopass.key in the first step named "dva.nopass.key" for clarity that it does not have a password at that step.

I like to ensure that I'm in a folder that I have created just for certificates so that I do not get them confused with any other files or certificates.

Create CSR File and Private Key
This command will create the necessary Certificate Signing Request (CSR) and also generate the necessary Private Key file. Note that in this step, the private key file does not contain a password.

openssl req -newkey rsa:2048 -nodes -keyout dva.nopass.key -out dva.csr

Assign a password to the private key

This command will assign a password to the key file you just created. You will be prompted to enter the password.

openssl rsa -in dva.nopass.key -des3 -out dva.des3.key

Sign the CSR and creates the certificate file

This command will sign the certificate and write it to file. When completed, you should find a "dva.crt" file in the same folder.

openssl x509 -in dva.csr -out dva.crt -req -signkey dva.des3.key -days 3650

3) Configure the DVA Startup File

The DVA Startup file now must be configured to load the certificate and key file. The DVA Startup file is called "gwdva.dva" and is located in the /opt/novell/groupwise/agents/share folder.

Use your favorite text editor to modify the gwdva.dva file. Locate the section titled "Enable SSL for Https" and add the following four (4) lines to it:

−-httpssl
−-sslCert /opt/iso/certificates/dva.crt
−-sslKey /opt/iso/certificates/dva.des3.key
−-sslKeyPassword $q~Nk:_@@cSxk{3ptCALhlHfc

Ensure that you put your own Key File password, not the one shown above.
The Password is in clear text. I am unaware of a way to change this.
Ensure that the path/filenames specify the correct location of the certificate and key file.

Syntax and Location of the DVA Startup File varies on Windows Server. Additionally, openssl is a Linux command line tool. In order the create the certificates as outlined above, it is perfectly acceptable to create them on the Linux server and then copy them to your Windows server.

Windows

C:\Program Files\Micro Focus\GroupWise Server\Agents\gwdva.dva
/httpssl-
/sslcert-
/sslkey-
/sslkeypassword-