What is GRAMMM?
Table of Contents
The relatively young company grammm would like to offer an alternative to Exchange Server with its product of the same name. The idea itself is not new, there have long been projects (such as Open-X-Change, Kopano or Zimbra) that position themselves as alternatives to Exchange Server. However, grammm ( g roupware a nd m uch m uch m ore) is the first open source project to offer an implementation of Outlook Anywhere (RPCoverHTTP) and MAPIoverHTTP. In theory, Outlook is supported as a native client, i.e. without plug-ins or detours via IMAP/SMTP.
Those are pretty ambitious goals, but the second point is really interesting: “Native interoperability with Microsoft Outlook”. A free Community Edition for a maximum of 5 users has recently been available for download. So I’ll just test it out, I’m actually very excited.
So this article contains my first steps with grammm. Current emotional state: I’m curious, but as a die-hard Exchange admin I feel like I’m about to do something forbidden.
installation
Installing grammm is very easy. There is a ready-to-download appliance that can be installed in just a few steps and minutes:
The installation of the Linux operating system is then reduced to a few steps, I use version 2021.02 for this test:
Quick Start
A short guide that can be used as a checklist for downloading, installing and starting the grommunio appliance.
- Download the installation image.
- Use the grommunio installation medium for the installation and the quick start of the configuration by going through the following chapters.
- Apply for or create SSL certificates for the secure, encrypted operation of the most important services.
- Create the appropriate DNS records with a reasonable configuration (A, MX, TXT and CNAME records).
- Configure the grommunio appliance by running grommunio-setup.
Minimum requirements
The following minimum requirements apply to the installation of grommunio (or the use of the grommunio appliance):
- Server or virtual machine (VMware, XEN or Hyper-V) with at least:
- 4 CPU cores
- 4 GB RAM
- Correctly configured DNS entries, at least 2, for example:
- autodiscover.example.com
- mail.example.com
- SSL certificate with all DNS names contained, alternatively wildcard certificate for the entire domain. (Let’s Encrypt can be created with grommunio-setup)
If you already have a certificate, it can be used, but it must be in PEM format, with a file containing the certificate chain and server certificate, and a separate key file.
Note
It is strongly recommended that you have correctly set the relevant autodiscover.example.com DNS entries, otherwise AutoDiscover cannot determine the server.
Optional requirements
- MX DNS records for the delivery of incoming emails.
- At the time the certificate is generated by Let’s Encrypt, port 80 must be accessible for all defined DNS entries.
Download & Installation Guide
- Download the installation image
- Load the image file for installation on the server on which grommunio is to be installed.
- Start the installer and select “Installation” at the boot prompt to install grommunio.
Important
Please note that the installer asks you to confirm the installation. Please note that this will overwrite and delete the installation target!
After installing the grommunio appliance, grommunio is ready for the setup.
Setup
After the installation and restart of the grommunio appliance, the server displays the grommunio cui (console user interface).
Important
The initial root password is not set (empty). When asked for the password, simply confirm with “Enter”.
To configure grommunio, please proceed as follows:
- Set a self-defined root password.
- Set an IP address, a host name and DNS server. If you are using DHCP (e.g. for test purposes – it is at least recommended to use static DHCP reservations because of the DNS entries), this part can be skipped.
- After this basic configuration has been carried out, grommunio-setup can be executed to take over the last steps.
- To start grommunio-setup, please use either the grommunio cui or any other terminal of the appliance.
Note
SSH is activated by default, so grommunio-setup can also be carried out via remote SSH.
Finally start grommunio-setup as user root and follow the instructions of the interactively requested information.
Firewall
For smooth operation, the grommunio appliance opens various ports so that clients can access it. Please note that the following ports are open by default:
- 25 (smtp)
- 80 (http)
- 110 (pop3)
- 143 (imap)
- 993 (imaps)
- 995 (pop3s)
- 8080 (admin)
Digital communication and collaboration at enterprise level
grammm efficiently summarizes all the requirements of modern, digital communication and collaboration. This includes the device and operating system-independent management of sensitive data such as e-mail, contacts, calendar, chat, video conference, file sharing and much more – in real time. With open source technology based on Linux, grammm is scalable and meets the highest security requirements. Due to its advanced architecture, grammm can be integrated into existing systems without much effort.
Emails, contacts, calendar in one platform
Increase your efficiency by managing email, contacts, calendar, tasks and much more with just one platform. With integrated enterprise-level Active Sync, your data is available on all devices in real time.
Work efficiently and increase productivity
Invite people to online conferences with grammm Meet directly from your calendar, share files of all kinds in grammm files and talk to your employees at the same time via grammm chat. Organize projects with shared folders and create schedules to see at a glance when your colleagues are free.
Enterprise-grade security
Secure communication and collaboration for your highest demands. You can sit back and relax knowing your sensitive information is protected with enterprise security. Manage all your devices with grammm Mobile Device Management. If, for example, a smartphone is lost or a colleague leaves the company, you can remove all data and disable all access at any time.
