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February 2020 Zeta Alliance Weekly Call Summaries

Posted: Tue Feb 04, 2020 8:30 pm
by rleiker
Hello Zimbra Community,

Here is a summary of this week’s conference call. A few brief reminders: February 4, 2020 Conference Call Summary

Barry de Graaff’s New Role With Synacor
Barry shared some details about his new role at Synacor with everyone on the call. Barry is now a Channel Evangelist at Synacor (https://www.linkedin.com/in/barry-de-graaff-964b382a) and is focused on helping to grow everyone’s Zimbra businesses. He is currently working on a number of Zimlet development projects and plans to begin publishing how-to articles and tips for the community about lesser known features in the Zimbra product, based on real-world usage. He will also be filling several of the roles done by Jorge de la Cruz during his earlier tenure with Synacor. Barry intends to provide Synacor with feedback from the community using Synacor’s internal channels in an effort to continuously improve the Zimbra product.

Windows Outlook Client Sending Issue
David M. reported an issue experienced by one of his Windows Outlook client customers where they cannot send attachments larger than about 6 MB in size via ActiveSync. This is occurring between ZCS 8.8.12 and Office 365 (Outlook 19). David said that mailbox.log shows no indication of a message being sent, but he does see the sending attempt in sync.log. Each attempt by the client to send ultimately fails with a Java stack trace similar to: “Exception: java.lang.ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException: Index 4194304 out of bounds for length 4194304”. On the client’s side, Outlook silently fails sending the message with no errors being displayed, and the message does not appear in the Sent folder. David asked for ideas from those on the call as to what should be checked. Cine suggested trying to send the same message & attachment from a mobile device via ActiveSync. John H. suggested trying to send from a different version of the Windows Outlook client, to see if it is specific to the Outlook version being used, as well as enabling client-side debug logging in Outlook so the log can be analyzed by Zimbra Support.

Review Of Last Week’s Call Topics
No updates were reported for last week’s topics.

Re: February 2020 Zeta Alliance Weekly Call Summaries

Posted: Wed Feb 05, 2020 1:13 am
by JDunphy
Thanks Randy. These call summaries are very much appreciated.

PS. That is fantastic news with regard to Synacor giving Barry the Channel Evangelist role. I look forward to seeing some of his how-to articles.

Re: February 2020 Zeta Alliance Weekly Call Summaries

Posted: Tue Feb 11, 2020 8:49 pm
by rleiker
You're welcome JDunphy. Thanks for sharing your feedback. I'm glad to hear the call summaries have been helpful.

Re: February 2020 Zeta Alliance Weekly Call Summaries

Posted: Tue Feb 11, 2020 8:55 pm
by rleiker
Hello Zimbra Community,

Here is a summary of this week’s conference call. A few brief reminders: February 11, 2020 Conference Call Summary

Synacor and Qumu Merger
Mark S. reported that Synacor and Qumu have announced a merger that is expected to close mid-2020. Qumu provides enterprise video communications. Himesh Bhise will continue as the CEO of Synacor. Vern Hanzlik, who is currently CEO of Qumu, will become Synacor’s Chief Revenue Officer. Each company’s customer bases do not appear to overlap as they currently serve different markets. Synacor tentatively plans to embed the Qumu video conferencing product within Zimbra. It is unclear how this may impact Zimbra Connect. Noah P. asked if Mark thought this might cause Synacor to lose focus on improving the core Zimbra product, as happened with earlier mergers (Telligent, VMware, and Yahoo). Mark expressed the opinion that he felt this was a complementary acquisition that would likely be a good fit for Zimbra. The press release about the merger is available at: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/ ... bal-Leader

Introduction of IM Mail
Leonardo Valença introduced an enterprise instant messaging product called IM Mail, which started in 2015. Leonardo explained that it is estimated that 95% of people use personal IM apps for work. His company’s product aims to address the security and compliance needs for messaging within enterprises. IM Mail operates as a freemium product with a paid monthly subscription option. A Zimlet for IM Mail is available at: https://zimbra.org/extend/items/view/im ... for-zimbra . The IM Mail company web site is: https://immail.ca and a slide deck is available at: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dG-6Rh ... RsaHW/view . Features included in the product:
  • Manage employee messaging access
  • Create messaging groups
  • Search and organize messaging history
  • Video conferencing
  • File sharing
Proposal To Add Support for ARC in Zimbra
Mark S. suggested that Zimbra add support for ARC (https://arc-spec.org/), which is described in RFC 8617. ARC (Authenticated Received Chain) is designed to address an issue that occurs when forwarding a DKIM signed email, where the recipient of the forwarded email will no longer be able to validate the DKIM hash in the message, since the message content will have been modified from the original version of the sender’s message. This invalidates the DKIM hash in the original sender’s message. Gmail & Microsoft currently support ARC on their email SaaS platforms. Mark said that he has opened enhancement request ZRFE-374 with Zimbra and encourages everyone to add their support to this enhancement request.

Mark S. & Barry D. discussed why the milter feature in Zimbra is disabled by default, since it is a crucial feature for managing access to distribution lists. John H. said this was a decision made back when VMware owned Zimbra. If a Zimbra admin enables the milter within their Zimbra install, this implementation (https://github.com/fastmail/authentication_milter) can be used to add support for ARC to Zimbra, however this implementation is not officially supported by Synacor.

Proposal To Add Support for "Email Received From External Source" Warning
Mark S. reported that he also encourages support for Zimbra enhancement request ZRFE-258 to add a "message received from external source" warning to the subject and/or first line of an email message, when a message originates from outside of an organization’s mail server, as a counter-measure to phishing and social engineering attacks. Several on the call expressed the concern that mailbox users may be tempted to ignore this warning perhaps due to being in a hurry to complete a task, from a lack of training, or not understanding the warning. It was mentioned that other email SaaS platforms currently support this feature and that it would be beneficial for Zimbra to support it too at least for feature parity purposes between platforms. Noah P. said that he supports implementation of this feature, but expressed that it is important that Zimbra makes this configurable so that Zimbra administrators can select how the warning appears and under which contexts.

FIPS Compliance in Zimbra
Mark S. asked if Zimbra might add FIPS (Federal Information Processing Standards) compliance in the near future, since the embedded OpenSSL version has been upgraded to 1.0.2t-fips in Zimbra 8.8.15 Patch 6. John H. said that he is not currently aware of plans to support FIPS in Zimbra, but suggested reaching out to product management at Zimbra to discuss the possible inclusion of official FIPS support.

Re: February 2020 Zeta Alliance Weekly Call Summaries

Posted: Tue Feb 18, 2020 10:46 pm
by rleiker
Hello Zimbra Community,

Here is a summary of this week’s conference call. A few brief reminders: February 18, 2020 Conference Call Summary

8.8.15 Patch 7 Is Now Available
Cine reported that the new patch includes 2 security patches, a variety of fixes, and a new version of the Zimbra Docs Server. In this patch, Zimbra Connect data has been migrated out of the Zimbra MariaDB to an HSQL instance. For more details, refer to: https://wiki.zimbra.com/wiki/Zimbra_Releases/8.8.15/P7

Zimbra Drive
Noah P. asked if anyone had recommendations for client apps that could be used with Zimbra Drive. Cine said that no client apps are currently available for Zimbra Drive, as it is intended to be a replacement for Zimbra Briefcase. Cine also said there is a tool available (https://zimbra.github.io/adminguide/lat ... _migration) to migrate Briefcase data for each user mailbox to Zimbra Drive, which supports the use of Zimbra HSM, making its storage more flexible than Briefcase. Zimbra Drive also supports setting a separate quota for uploading large user files, as compared to a lower quota that can be independently set for uploading attachments for email messages.

Zimbra Drive Compared To Zimbra Open Drive
There was a discussion about the differences between Zimbra Drive and Zimbra Open Drive. Cine said that Zimbra Drive is currently the focus of development, but that Zimbra Open Drive remains available too. Zimbra Open Drive relies on storing files on a separate Nextcloud/ownCloud server, while Zimbra Drive use the same storage space as the Zimbra mailbox store. While Zimbra Drive does not have a client app available, Zimbra Open Drive can be used with any of the available Nextcloud/ownCloud apps for Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, and iOS. Randy L. mentioned that many other WebDAV client apps can be used with Open Drive too. Noah P. reported that he had some limited success in the past using a WebDAV client app with Zimbra Briefcase in the past, but that it was often too unreliable for production purposes. Zimbra Drive has no WebDAV support. Additionally Zimbra Docs Server is designed to only work with Zimbra Drive. It was also mentioned that the Zimbra product page for Zimbra Drive (https://www.zimbra.com/email-server-sof ... bra-drive/) incorrectly says that it supports “a complete file sync” between devices, when in fact this feature is not available.

Upcoming New In Mail Zimlet Version
Leo V., who presented the IM Mail service in last week’s call, said that a new version of the IM Mail Zimlet (https://zimbra.org/extend/items/view/im ... for-zimbra) is expected to be released next week. The next version will include new features for video conferencing and task management.

Synacor and Qumu Merger
Marc G. asked for the thoughts of everyone on the call about the Qumu & Synacor merger. Randy L. said he was cautiously optimistic about the merger and hoped that Zimbra would be able to continue making good progress on improving the core Zimbra product, while avoiding the risks of becoming distracted with the merger, as was observed during the earlier Telligent, VMware, and Yahoo mergers. John H. said that the Qumu merger brings added capabilities to Synacor as a whole, and not just Zimbra. He also said that while there are some overlapping resources in HR and IT, that the combined companies are expected to help Synacor gain additional economies of scale.

Zimbra 9
Noah P. asked about the future Zimbra road map for both Zimbra 9 and Zimbra X. Zimbra 9 will have a new integration with Zoom, Slack, and Dropbox, along with a new React-based UI, and a new Zimlet UI. Like Zimbra 8, version 9 will continue to support on-premise deployments of Zimbra. The Zimbra 9 back-end uses the same back-end as Zimbra 8 and is about 85% the same codebase. The new React-based UI, which was originally intended to launch with Zimbra X, was added to Zimbra 9 to make it available for Zimbra administrators to roll out sooner, as compared to waiting for Zimbra X. The React UI is currently targeted for improving the experience for end users, while the administrative Zimbra UI remains the same as found in version 8. More information about Zimbra X’s new back-end, which relies on containers for micro-segmentation of Zimbra services, will be forthcoming at a future date.

Re: February 2020 Zeta Alliance Weekly Call Summaries

Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2020 1:40 am
by L. Mark Stone
Hi Randy,

Thanks so much for summarizing and sorry I couldn't make today's call (was on the road traveling...).

Question about Zimbra Drive... There is a ZeXtras Drive app in the iOS App Store. I downloaded and installed it, and it seems to work just fine with Zimbra Drive (meaning, NOT Open Drive). Wouldn't this be considered a "client app"?

Maybe I'm missing context, not having been on this week's call...

All the best,
Mark

Re: February 2020 Zeta Alliance Weekly Call Summaries

Posted: Wed Feb 26, 2020 5:13 pm
by rleiker
Hi Mark,

Cine did mention the Zextras Drive app on the Feb. 18th call, but asked that it be excluded from the call summary. He didn't elaborate on his reasons why, but I'm taking a guess it had something to do with a non-compete agreement that Zextras has with Synacor.

I'm in agreement with many of the Zimbra partners who expressed concerns on the Feb. 25th call about the lack of an official Zimbra client app for file synchronization with Zimbra Drive. Cine wasn't clear about the future of the Zextras Drive app in the app stores, so I don't know if that will eventually become the official client app for use with Zimbra Drive or not. It might be a good topic to bring up with Cine on the next call to get more clarification.

Re: February 2020 Zeta Alliance Weekly Call Summaries

Posted: Wed Feb 26, 2020 5:17 pm
by rleiker
Hello Zimbra Community,

Here is a summary of this week’s conference call. A few brief reminders: February 25, 2020 Conference Call Summary

Upgrading Zimbra 9 and Zimbra X Zimlets
Mark S. asked if resources were available to help Zimlet developers begin preparing existing Zimlet projects for compatibility with Zimbra 9 and Zimbra X. John E. said that a new SDK for Zimbra 9 Zimlets is expected to be available soon. In the interim, John suggested referring to the Zimlet CLI tool available at: https://github.com/Zimbra/zimlet-cli with documentation at https://github.com/Zimbra/zimlet-cli/wiki

New Zimlets For Zimbra 9
John E. reported that Zimlet integrations for Zoom, Dropbox, and Slack are expected to launch when Zimbra 9 becomes generally available. He also said that 36 new Zimlets in total for Zimbra 9 are expected to be released during 2020, but a timeline for when these Zimlets will be released is not currently available. John said that Zimbra is working to understand from partners and customers which Zimlet integrations are priorities, and this will set the timeline for when each Zimlet is released. He also suggested that Zimbra partners reach out to their regional Zimbra managers to provide Zimbra with feedback about which integrations they would like to see released first. Noah P. suggested prioritizing public calendar scheduling and CRM integrations. A video is currently available that demos the new Slack & Dropbox integrations in Zimbra 9: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykQbaSB ... e=youtu.be

Third party Zimlets for Zimbra 9
Marc G. asked if third party Zimlets will continue to be allowed in Zimbra 9, as they have been in earlier Zimbra versions. John E. confirmed third party Zimlet integrations will continue to be available in Zimbra 9 and also explained that, every component in the new Zimbra 9 and Zimbra X UI (Mail, Calendar, Contacts, etc.) is now a Zimlet with no separate back-end components.

Zimbra Drive and Zimbra Docs Feedback
Marc G. suggested that it would be helpful if Zimbra could prioritize integrating a file synchronization feature in to Zimra Drive so that client-side apps can synchronize with Zimbra Drive. This would be similar to what Nextcloud/ownCloud offers with their WebDAV-based client-side apps for use with Zimbra Open Drive. Noah P. reported that he has had a tough time getting customers to adopt Zimbra Drive since it lacks a client-side file synchronization option and is essentially a closed silo of data. Mark S. said that his customers are continuing to use Zimbra Open Drive for its role-based permissions on folders. Marc G. pointed out that data sovereignty is important in Europe and having the ability to control where data is stored is a key benefit that Zimbra Drive could provide to partners and customers, which would be a big win for Zimbra. Randy L. said that Zimbra Docs also holds a lot of potential, but is likewise limited in that it can only store documents in Zimbra Drive, which cannot be synchronized with client-side apps. This is in comparison to what Dropbox provides with its Office-like app suite, where documents are available on any device for synchronization. John E. said that he will share all of this feedback with the Zimbra product team.

Zimbra 8.8.15 Patch 7 Feedback
Mark S. asked if anyone has experienced issues who installed 8.8.15 P7. No issues were reported by those on the call that had installed Patch 7. Similarly, no one on the call had come across complaints in the Zimbra Forum related to Patch 7.

Follow-Up of Past Call Topics
In the February 4th call, David M. had reported an issue where customers could not send email messages containing attachments larger than 6 MB from email client apps using ActiveSync with Zimbra 8.8.12. David reported in today’s call that this issue has been resolved with the 8.8.15 P7 update.

In the January 28th call, Mark S. reported a Zimbra forum posting ( viewtopic.php?f=15&t=67633&p=295515&hil ... on#p295515) advising that a Microsoft required security change in the March 2020 Windows Update may break AD integration with Zimbra. John H. said that Zimbra is currently testing this Microsoft change to determine what changes, if any, will be needed within Zimbra.

Upcoming Partner Call/Webinar and Zimbra Cloud Suite
John E. reported that a partner conference call/webinar is being planned soon that will discuss Zimbra 9 and the Zimbra Cloud Suite. Cloud Suite is an experiment by the Zimbra development and product teams to work out issues around self-service support by Zimbra customers, but it will not be a service that rolls out for direct to customer sales. Cloud Suite will be based on Zimbra X and is expected to be sold solely through partners. Several partners on the call expressed concerns that Cloud Suite would put Zimbra in to direct competition with Zimbra BSPs selling the same on-premises product. John E. clarified that this is not Synacor’s intent, but rather Cloud Suite is targeted at service providers who have very large Zimbra deployments and want a Synacor managed email hosting service. There was quite a bit of skepticism by those on the call and John E. promised that Synacor would provide greater clarification on how Cloud Suite will operate during the upcoming partner call/webinar.

Re: February 2020 Zeta Alliance Weekly Call Summaries

Posted: Thu Mar 19, 2020 11:13 pm
by davidkillingsworth
When do you expect Zimbra 9?

Re: February 2020 Zeta Alliance Weekly Call Summaries

Posted: Fri Mar 20, 2020 11:58 pm
by rleiker
davidkillingsworth wrote:When do you expect Zimbra 9?
Synacor is keeping the exact date confidential, but I think it is safe to say that it is likely upcoming in the next several weeks.