Installation successes and failures

Running our Appliance (ZCA), ZCS on VMware, or any other virtual machine software? Post your thoughts here.
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mikalg
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Joined: Sat Sep 13, 2014 3:07 am

Installation successes and failures

Post by mikalg »

documentation for the current download vmware zimbra appliance is lacking. for example the wiki states that the user name and password is created while setting up the appliance. This is not the case. searching for the setup page (as the vmware installation/running the vm results in NO requests whatsoever) states that the user name is zimbra, and password is created when you set up the vm. another source states user name is root, and password is zimbra. yet another source states that the user name is vmware, and the password is zimbra. In actuality (as I had to GUESS: root as user, and vmware as password).
I was able to run the vm using vmware player v5.x.... good news as a test of the vm is easily made.
I have NOT received a single trial code. I did request them from the zimbra site using different email addresses several times over the last 5 days. Still have not received even a "junk" email from zimbra at all... let alone the trial license file mentioned in the documentation (such as it is).


Recently, I attempted to access the live DEMO of zimbra from their site. Only to be met with an error 500 java after their god-awful captcha implementation. I even attempted from several browsers and machines with the same result!
Wow! Is any of this Zimbra going to work? There is an apparent issue with the team that is responsible for these demos and trial "systems". My good 'ol fashioned exchange server is looking to be my solution for another decade. A real shame... looked promising from all of the printed material! :)

thus far, my conclusion based upon the experience so far:
support is very lacking in the initial "purchase/trial" stage of a Zimbra client looking to purchase after a good test of the software.
The test has proven impossible so far, since I cannot receive a code (which by the way some sources say a 15 day trial WITHOUT a code online!) Bad planning on the initial trial vm appliance. Someone needs to pay attention and make this info correct ans accessible! So.. as a do it yourself-er I have been misinformed as to the user pass, and method of the VM access/setup, as well as the initial licensing/codes.
I find this disturbing. I would expect the best support before the sale. Since I am having such a difficult time (someone is having a difficult time getting the instructions correct and up to date) I would not be surprised others are as well.
My experience thus far is mediocre on the initial support/trial side. The product itself is proving to be a great solution for us I think. I worry about future support as a result of the apparent mis-communication in the vm ware trial appliance. I am thinking I should look over this situation much closer due to this. I am much less excited about the prospect of a purchase as a result.
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pup_seba
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Installation successes and failures

Post by pup_seba »

Hi,
Please note that the appliance is no longer supported as it was a VMware implementation of a Zimbra NE over a linux machine adapted with VMware studio. As you may know, Zimbra is an independent company now (it was bought from VMware by Telligent and now Telligent is rebranded Zimbra). So, it may be there some broken links still out there...internet is very big :)
Regarding to the support, well it all depends on the severity of the case. I would love to say that I was always happy with zimbra support but this is not the case...maybe because I'm way too exigent but I realise that NONE of the companies provide a 100% succesfull service in terms of pre-sales and post-sales. This could also be a normal thing to expect I guess. The good thing is that in general terms and after years working with this solution, I'm more than satisfied with the support I received. You can expect extremedely fast answers (as fast as a 5 minute call from support) when (if) your platform is down or you have a major outage, but don't expect 2hs. answer if no major outage is there.
Part of your appliance pre-sales experience could be caused for the reasons I explained before:

1) Support would surely prioritize paying people over testing/not-licensed enviroments...which I think is reasonable. This "I would expect the best support before the sale" would be pretty unfair I think and kind of a lie (is better not promise anything and then deliver, than "selling" and once you bought, don't answer you as support is occupied trying to sale more...)

2) You will get no support nor license for a no longer existent product as the Zimbra appliance
Zimbra works extremedily well, but you need to be familiar with the product as it is very powerfull. The guides now are pretty well, don't do like me when trying to play "man of the house" with the IKEA furniture and read the instructions :)
This are some links you may find usefull:
To get a trial:

Zimbra - Products: Network Edition Server Trial License Key
To get the binaries:

Network Edition Downloads: Enterprise Messaging and Collaboration Software by Zimbra
To get the documentation:

Documentation for the Zimbra Collaboration Suite; open source email, contacts, and group calendaring

Documentation for the Zimbra Collaboration Server; open source email, contacts, and group calendaring
Hope your experience with Zimbra and its support will get to be AT LEAST as good as mine :)
Regards,

Sebas
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