Access Google Premier Apps email from Android 2.1 via Exchange ActiveSync

With Android 2.1's native support for the Exchange ActiveSync protocol it is possible to access Google Premier Apps email using ActiveSync rather than IMAP, providing push delivery of messages to your device.

If it isn't already, enable the option to allow Google Sync in the properties of your Google Domain:

On the Android device, create a new email account and enter in your email address and password:

Tap Next, you will be prompted to specify the type of email account:

Select Exchange:

Enter in your full Google Domain email address and password. In the server field enter in "m.google.com"
Select the option to use SSL. Tap Next:

Select how you want messages to be delivered, and specify how far back into the past you want to synchronise mail. Tap Next:

Enter in a name for the email account as well as your name. Tap Finish. Mail will now be synced to the handset:

NOTE - you may have to send yourself an email to force email synchronisation. Once done, new mails will be received automatically.

Addendum

The ability to access your GMail from an Android device is not limited to Premier Apps accounts.
If you enter a valid "@googlemail.com" email address into the Android email wizard, it will automatically determine that IMAP should be used. However if you enter a fictitious email address of, say, "a@a.com", you will have the option of selecting Exchange as the account type. You may then enter your googlemail email address and password, as well as "m.google.com" as the Exchange server address.

Google Apps Device Policy for Android

Google have released a new version of their Google Apps Policy tool to the Android Market for devices running Android 2.2 and later. When used with a Google Apps for Business domain account, it allows administrators to enforce usage policies on user devices including:

• Enforce password usage
• Enforce password length
• Enforce password complexity
• Enforce password expiration
• Enforce password history
• Enforce password attempts
• Enforce on-device encryption
• Disable camera
• Disable synchronisation when roaming

Administrators can also remotely wipe devices from the user's settings page from their web browser:

This level of device management has been available to Google Apps administrators for a while, but together with this release, Google have also made it possible for admins to specify that only devices which can adhere to usage policy can access a Google Apps domain:

The Domain Apps Policy tool is available for download from the Market here - https://market.android.com/details?id=com.google.android.apps.enterprise...

NOTE - while administrators have been able to enforce data encryption on devices previously, this has only applied to devices that support on-device encryption. If the "Restrict" option is selected and data encryption is required, currently only Android 3.0 devices support encryption and as such enabling this feature for Android devices will render clients running Android 2.x unable to access Google Sync.

Once installed, you will be prompted to specify which Google account the tool is to be used with, and you will be prompted to accept the policies that will be enforced:

Google Apps for Business Contact Lookup for Android

Google have released a new application to the Android Market for Google Business Apps users. Available free, the tool allows users to search for the contact details of anyone within their Google Apps organisation and call, send them an email or instant chat message directly from the search results page.

The tool is available to download here - https://market.android.com/details?id=com.google.android.apps.enterprise...

Once installed, multiple Google Apps accounts can be added:

When adding an account, you will need to confirm that the application can have permission to search contact information:

and you can then search for full or partial contact names:

and message returned search results via email or Google Talk:

Contact information will only be returned if the user has selected the option within the Google Apps account to share their contact information, and the user has completed their contact details (which in this example I have not):

Google Apps for Business adds My Devices for Android

Together with the Google Apps contact lookup tool and the new version of the Google Apps device policy tool, Google have also released a new feature for users of a Google Apps for Business domain account: My Devices.

Requiring Android 2.2 or later, and also requiring that you have the latest version of the Google Apps Device Policy tool installed (available here - https://market.android.com/details?id=com.google.android.apps.enterprise...), the service is accessed from your web browser and allows you to:

• remotely locate your phone on a map if it has been lost or stolen
• remotely lock the device (if the device needs to be wiped you should contact your administrator)
• remotely reset your device PIN

  

• cause the device to ring, helping you to find your device if it is nearby but misplaced. This feature will work even if the device has been set to silent mode

  

The My Devices web site is accessible here - https://www.google.com/apps/mydevices

Google Cloud Connect for Microsoft Office

Google have launched a plug-in for Microsoft Office (2003, 2007 & 2010) which enables you to save your Office documents directly to your Google Docs account. Once saved, you can then choose to share your documents with others by adding them as an approved editor and sending them a direct link. Others can then download the document and work on it on their PC, saving changes back to your Google Docs account, which can then be viewed on your PC. Documents can be accessed from mobile devices as well as desktops and laptops.
This effectively provides a collaborative working solution for businesses and individuals without any need to deploy a Microsoft SharePoint solution or similar collaborative working product.

Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents are all supported, and revisions of all documents are all saved in your Google Docs account automatically. Should two or more users edit the same area of document at the same time, each person's revisions can be chosen or rejected.

Installation is quick and simple, a plug-in for Microsoft Office can be downloaded here (http://tools.google.com/dlpage/cloudconnect). Once installed, a new toolbar is added to Office which will prompt you for your Google account login details when run for the first time:

Enter in your details:

and confirm that you wish to add the PC as an authorised device to access your Google account:

You can then choose whether to synchronise documents automatically each time you save them, or manually by clicking a Sync button:

Documents can then be saved to your Google Docs account at the click of a button:

Documents can be shared with others by entering their name, if a member of the same Google Apps organisation (groups are also supported), or their email address:

The below video provides an overview of the features available:

Google Cloud Print (Beta)

Google has launched a new service, still in beta, enabling users to send print jobs from their iOS or Android powered device to a remote printer over the air.
The system currently only works on Windows, requires the latest beta version of the Google Chrome 9 web browser and obviously requires that your PC and printer be powered on.

Once you have the latest version of Chrome installed, within the "Under The Hood" Settings menu you will see a new option to Sign into Google Cloud Print:

which when clicked will prompt you to enter your Google account details:

Once signed in your account has been activated:

You can then manage your print settings:

to view shared printer and print job status:

From your mobile device, you can access your Google Mail or Google Docs account and print email messages, DOC and PDF files by selecting the Print menu. A list of shared printers will be displayed:

You can read more on the Google Mobile Blog - http://googlemobile.blogspot.com/2011/01/cloud-printing-on-go.html

Google adds Android device management features to Google Apps

Google have added a number of new device management features to the Premier Apps service, enabling administrators who have decided to run their email infrastructure from Google's cloud to enforce device usage policies onto devices as well as remotely lock and wipe them. The list of features includes the ability to:

• Remotely wipe all data from lost or stolen mobile devices
• Lock idle devices after a period of inactivity
• Require a device password on each phone
• Set minimum lengths for more secure passwords
• Require passwords to include letters and numbers

The new features appear in the Mobile section of the Apps Control Panel:

In order to apply these policies to an Android device running 2.2, you will first need to download the Google Apps Device Policy application from the Android Market.

You can read the official press release here - http://googlemobile.blogspot.com/2010/10/bring-your-phone-to-work-day-ma...

Google adds more Android device management features to Google Apps

In addition to Google Apps' existing device management features, Google has added a number of new tools for administrators.

In addition to being able to define a password usage policy, including password complexity, password history, number of permitted attempts, automatic device wiping and automatic device lock:

As well as the ability to enforce on-device data encryption, disallow use of the camera and disallow data synchronisation while roaming:

Administrators can now define these policies on a per-group basis rather than a one-size-fits-all policy for the whole organisation.

Administrators can also now view at-a-glance a list of all devices that are connected to the organisation's mail instance and can revoke access or wipe devices on an individual basis as required:

Finally administrators can also now view reports on the number of devices connecting to the organisation broken down by platform:

Google announce Google Wallet

Google have begun releasing details on their new Google Wallet application for Android, a service for NFC (Near Field Communications)-enabled Android-powered Smartphones that will enable you to securely store credit card, store card and loyalty card information directly on your handheld and use it to pay for items at participating shops and pay points.

You can read more on the Google Wallet web site - http://www.google.com/wallet/

Google brings mobile document editing to Android and iOS

Google will shortly be rolling out the ability to edit documents stored in a Google Docs account (http://docs.google.com) online directly from an Android device (running Android 2.2 or later) or an iOS device (an iPhone or an iPad running OS 3.x or later).

It has long been possible to view Google Docs files, but the ability to edit documents on the fly will be attractive to prosumers who currently need to purchase an application such as Dataviz's Documents To Go in order to be able to edit documents on Android.

Google opens all services to Premier Apps users

Google have made the decision to offer their entire range of online services to Google Apps users: the paid for Apps service that is. Whilst these applications are available to anyone to use anyway, what this means is that businesses who already use Google for their email, for example, can now offer a wider range of services to their employees under the control of the company administrator. Services include Google Voice (in the US), Google Talk (for instant messaging), Google Reader, Blogger, YouTube, Google Maps and much much more.

On a simple level this will allow the company to create all users a Google Reader account and pre-subscribe them to must-read RSS news feeds.

Google Apps is now a very powerful business tool indeed...provided you're happy moving your entire business infrastructure into the cloud.

You can read the official news release here - http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/11/ten-times-more-applications-for-g...

Google unveil Google+

Google have unveiled their latest attempt at launching a social network service. Buzz failed to catch on, Wave never got off the ground, now we have Google +.

Comprised of Google Circles, Google Sparks, Google Hangouts and Google + Mobile, as well as the existing Google "Plus One" button, the service will naturally be available on Android as well as your web browser.

Google Circles allows you to create groups of friends and share messages and status updates, allocating different permissions to each group.

Google Sparks allows you to subscribe to areas of specific interest, be it cars, shoes, music whatever and have content delivered to you and share opinions with other fellow enthusiasts.

Google Hangouts is an extension of Google Circles and lets you interact with your friends live via multi-party video conferencing.

Google + Mobile allows you to upload photos from your phone to an online photo album as well as share instant chat with your Circle groups using the "Huddle" feature.

The Google + client is available for download from the Android Market now, but the service is currently only available by invitation only.

Installing the Google Apps Connector for BlackBerry Enterprise Server 4

The Google Apps Connector for BES is a free application that enables you to integrate a BES server with the Premier or Education Google Apps services, enabling push-based bi-directional synchronisation of Email, Contacts and Calendar data between your Google mailbox and a BlackBerry smartphone.

NOTE this article was written using version 2 of the Google Apps Connector. For information on version 3 of the Apps Connector read this article - http://blog.brightpointuk.co.uk/installing-google-apps-connector-blackbe...

Features

• Push email delivery
• Read / delete synchronisation
• Folder / label synchronisation
• Global Address lookup
• Calendar synchronisation
• Contacts synchronisation
• Hosting support - support multiple Google Apps domains on a single BES

Requirements

Currently only BES 4.1.6 Maintenance Release 8 or later (NOT BES 5) or BlackBerry Professional Software (BPS) 4.1 SP4B (NOT BES Express) are supported.

The BES software itself requires Server 2003 to run on (either 32 or 64 bit).

Outlook 2007 needs to be installed onto the BES server as well as the Microsoft Exchange MAPI CDO component package.

Approximately 500MB of disk space should be available on the server per BlackBerry user account.

More information can be found on the Google web site - http://www.google.com/support/a/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=154346

It is important to note that Google already offer a number of ways of accessing the data stored in your Google account from your BlackBerry handheld, so deploying a BES to access your account from a BlackBerry handheld may not be necessary depending on your requirements.
If you are a BIS BlackBerry user (the BlackBerry Internet Service), then it is already possible to add your GMail account to your existing BIS profile as an additional IMAP email account, and the Google Sync for BlackBerry application enables the synchronisation of contacts and calendar information over the air.
BES users can also use the Google Sync application for contacts and calendar synchronisation - which provides 2-way synchronisation rather than the 1-way synchronisation offered by the BES Connector.
BES users can also configure GMail access on handhelds by installing the Gmail for Mobile application onto the device, which provides a separate email client rather than the default BlackBerry Inbox. The Gmail for Mobile client provides additional functionality over the default Inbox application, such as the ability to view mail by label and by conversation, the ability to archive mail and the ability to access mail older than 30 days.
The BES (and BES Connector) would be suitable if you require a central device management capability, wish to use the native BlackBerry device client software and require push-based email synchronisation. The BES Connector could be used to provide email synchronisation functionality, and the Google Sync application could be used concurrently to provide bi-directional synchronisation of contacts and calendar information. NOTE - if you choose to use this deployment scenario then contact and calendar sync should be DISABLED on the BES Connector otherwise you may end up with duplicate information.

Architecture

The Google Apps Connector works by storing a copy of the user's Google mailbox locally on the BES server in a PST file, or Personal STore file - the same format used by Outlook Archive files. By default, the last 1000 emails are downloaded per user as well as all contacts and calendar information. The Google documentation therefore advises to allow 500MB of disk space per user on the BES. This behaviour is deliberate and has been written this way to ensure that users handheld still 'believe' they are synchronising successfully in the event that the connector between the BES and the Google Apps service fails.
This architecture therefore requires that a number of additional applications be installed on the BES, before the Google Connector software is installed, including:

• Microsoft Outlook 2007
• Microsoft Exchange Server MAPI and Collaboration Data Objects 1.2.1

Depending on the number of users you will be deploying on the BES, you may require a separate database server. By default, the BES installation will install a copy of MSDE locally, the Microsoft SQL Desktop Engine. This is sufficient for up to approximately 500 users, for larger deployments a separate SQL Server 2000 or 2005 installation should be considered.

Unlike the typical BES deployment, where the mail server is stored locally and the BES only requires outbound Internet access on port 3101 (to access RIM's network infrastructure), the BES also requires outbound access to Google's servers on port 443.

Installation

As with a normal BES installation, you must create a user account in the Google Domain to act as a service account. This should not be an administrator account, just a regular user.

Install the Exchange MAPI CDO 1.2.1 package

On the server that is to host the BES software, log in with an administrative account. NOTE - unlike a BES for Exchange installation, the server does not necessarily need to be part of a domain.
Install the MAPI CDO package, this is available for download HERE

Install BlackBerry Enterprise Server 4.1.6

Launch the BES installer:

Select your region and read the license agreement. Select the option to accept if you agree to the terms and conditions. Click Next:

Select the option to install the BlackBerry Enterprise Server. Select None for the Collaboration service option. Click Next:

Accept the license agreement for the Apache license agreement. Click Next:

Verify that no errors are listed in the preinstallation checklist. Click Next:

Enter in the password for the administrative account. Click Next:

Depending on whether or not you are using a separate SQL database server, select the appropriate option. In this example I am allowing the wizard to install a local copy of SQL automatically. Click Next:

Verify your installation selections and click Next. The required program files will now be copied to the PC. Once complete you will be prompted to restart the server.

Once restarted, the installer will resume automatically:

Verify the database server details - if using a local SQL installation these fields will be completed already. Click Next:

Enter in your BES Client Access License (CAL). Click Next:

Verify that the BES server has outbound access to the Internet on TCP port 3101. Click Next:

Enter your SRP ID and authentication key. Click Next:

You will be prompted to enter in the details of the Exchange server (as this is a BES for Exchange installation wizard), ignore this step by simply entering in NA in the Exchange server field. Click OK:

Click Next:

Click Next again:

Click Next:

If your BES requires a proxy server to access the Internet, enter in the required settings and click Next:

Select the option to Start Services and click Next. Verify that all services start successfully and click Finish when complete.

Now update the BES installation to the latest Maintenance Release.

Install Outlook 2007

Now install Microsoft Outlook 2007, including any available updates.

Configure the Google Domain

Before you can install the Google Apps Connector, there are a number of settings that need to be applied to the Google domain within the web administration dashboard.

• Enable the OAuth Consumer Key
• Generate an OAuth Consumer Secret
• Enable Two-Legged OAuth access control

Enable the Provisioning API within the Users & Groups settings (required for GAL generation):

Finally enable the Google Apps Sync in the email settings:

Install the Google Apps Connector for BES

The Google Apps Connector for BES is a free download from the Google web site, available here - https://tools.google.com/dlpage/appsconnector

Before installing the Connector, stop the BlackBerry Controller and BlackBerry Dispatcher services on the BES server. To do this, click on Start and select Run. Type in "services.msc" and press Enter. Right click on the BlackBerry Controller and BlackBerry Dispatcher services and select Stop.

Run the Apps Connector Installer:

Select the option to define File Locations:

Adjust the locations as desired, PST files stored in the Cache may wish to be stored on a D drive rather than the C drive. Click Save:

You will be prompted to confirm the changes, click Yes:

Click OK. Click on the Profiles button:

Enter in the email address of the service account you created earlier, as well as the domain name and the OAuth Consumer Secret generated earlier in the Google Domain admin dashboard. Click Create:

You will be prompted to confirm the settings, click Yes.

Click OK.

Configure the Global Address List

On the BES server, browse to "C:\Program Files \ Google \ Google Apps Sync"
Run the file StaticGALGenerator.exe

Enter in the email address and password of an administrative account in the Google domain. Click Sign In.
An XML-based address list wil be generated automatically in the same directory, in a folder called whatever your Google domain is called.
Copy these files to whatever location you specified earlier in the File Locations settings, by default this will be "C:\Program Files \ Google \ Google Apps Sync \ GAL". Create the directory if it is not present.

Add users to the BES

Restart the BlackBerry Controller and BlackBerry Dispatcher services.
launch the BlackBerry Manager application.
Select the option to add a user. If all has gone well, you should be displayed a list of your Google Domain users:

Add the required user(s). You can now use the BlackBerry Enterprise Activation feature to provision user BlackBerry smartphones over the air.
Right click on the user account and select the option to either "Generate and Email activation password" or "Set activation password".
You can now specify a password to use, or have a randomly-generated password emailed to the user automatically.
The user can then browse to Options --> Advanced Options --> Enterprise Activation on their device, enter in their full email address as well as the activation password. After a few moments the device will be activated and mailbox data will begin to synchronise.

Installing the Google Apps Connector for BlackBerry Enterprise Server 5

The Google Apps Connector for BES is a free application that enables you to integrate a BES server with the Premier or Education Google Apps services, enabling push-based bi-directional synchronisation of Email, Contacts and Calendar data between your Google mailbox and a BlackBerry smartphone.

I have detailed in a previous article how to install the Google Apps Connector for BES 4, using version 2 of the Connector.
Now in version 3, the Google Apps Connector now supports BlackBerry Enterprise Server 5 and BlackBerry Enterprise Server Express.

Features

• Push email delivery
• Read / delete synchronisation
• Folder / label synchronisation (including Sent Items)
• Global Address lookup
• Calendar synchronisation
• Contacts synchronisation
• Hosting support - support multiple Google Apps domains on a single BES
• BlackBerry device management and policy enforcement

Architecture

The Google Apps Connector works by storing a copy of the user's Google mailbox locally on the BES server in a PST file, or Personal STore file - the same format used by Outlook Archive files. By default, the last 1000 emails are downloaded per user as well as all contacts and calendar information. The Google documentation therefore advises to allow 1GB of disk space per user on the BES. This behaviour is deliberate and has been written this way to ensure that users handheld still 'believe' they are synchronising successfully in the event that the connector between the BES and the Google Apps service fails.
This architecture therefore requires Outlook 2007 Service Pack 2 be installed onto the server that will host the BES, before the BES software is installed. I will run through the installation procedure in a moment.

Depending on the number of users you will be deploying on the BES, you may require a separate database server. By default, the BES installation will install a copy of MSDE locally, the Microsoft SQL Desktop Engine. This is sufficient for up to approximately 500 users, for larger deployments a separate SQL Server 2000 or 2005 installation should be considered.

Unlike the typical BES deployment, where the mail server is stored locally and the BES only requires outbound Internet access on port 3101 (to access RIM's network infrastructure), the BES also requires outbound access to Google's servers on port 443.

Considerations

It is important to note that Google already offer a number of ways of accessing the data stored in your Google account from your BlackBerry handheld, so deploying a BES to access your account from a BlackBerry handheld may not be necessary depending on your requirements.
If you are a BIS BlackBerry user (the BlackBerry Internet Service), then it is already possible to add your GMail account to your existing BIS profile as an additional IMAP email account, and the Google Sync for BlackBerry application enables the synchronisation of contacts and calendar information over the air.
BES users can also use the Google Sync application for contacts and calendar synchronisation.
BES users can also configure GMail access on handhelds by installing the Gmail for Mobile application onto the device, which provides a separate email client rather than the default BlackBerry Inbox. The Gmail for Mobile client provides additional functionality over the default Inbox application, such the ability to access mail older than 30 days.
The BES (and BES Connector) would be suitable if you require a central device management capability, wish to use the native BlackBerry device client software and require push-based email synchronisation. The BES Connector could be used to provide email synchronisation functionality, and the Google Sync application could be used concurrently to provide bi-directional synchronisation of contacts and calendar information. NOTE - if you choose to use this deployment scenario then contact and calendar sync should be DISABLED on the BES Connector otherwise you may end up with duplicate information.

Limitations

• 24 hour GAL updates: new users can take up to 24 hours before they are visible in the Global Address List.
• Only events in your primary calendar are synchronised. Multiple calendars are not supported.
• Only contacts within the "My Contacts" label within GMail are synchronised,
• Updates to contacts can take up to 5 minutes to synchronise.
• Notes and Tasks are not synchronised.
• Remote search only searches messages received within the last 30 days.
• Changing the status of an email older than 30 days will not be synchronised to GMail.
• Do not install the Google Sync software on a BlackBerry device that is activated using the BES Connector: doing so may result in duplicated information.
• Changes made within the BlackBerry Desktop Manager software will not be pushed to devices.

Requirements

The Google Apps Connector for BlackBerry Enterprise Server version 3 is compatible with BlackBerry Enterprise Server version 4.1.7 Maintenance Release 3, or version 5.0.2 (version 5 with Service Pack 2).

Windows Server 2003 SP2 or Server 2008 SP2 can be used on the server hosting the BES software.

Outlook 2007 SP2 needs to be installed onto the server that will host the BES.

Approximately 1GB of disk space should be available on the server per BlackBerry user.

The BES server will require outbound access to the Internet on ports TCP 3101 and 443.

The server hosting the BES software needs to be a member of an Active Directory domain (it may even be a domain controller itself).

A separate user account will need to be created in your Google Apps environment to be used as a courier account for the synchronisation of all users' mailboxes. This should not be an administrative account in the Google domain, and this user account will not be able to be BlackBerry-enabled itself.

Within the Google Apps environment, the following will need to be enabled:

• Two-legged OAuth
• Google Provisioning API
• Google Apps Sync email service

You should also read the requirements document for the BlackBerry Enterprise Server software itself, specifically the Microsoft SQL Server requirements depending on the number of users you plan to deploy.

The Windows Search software should NOT be installed on the server hosting the BES software, or should be disabled if already installed.

Configuring the Google Apps domain

Enable Two-legged OAuth authentication

Log into the administration pages for your Google Apps domain. Select Advanced Tools and then Manage OAuth domain key.
Enable OAuth, generating a consumer secret key. Make a note of this key.
Tick the option to Allow access to all APIs in the Two-legged OAuth access control section as shown below:

Enable the Google Apps Connector for your users

Within the domain administration pages, browse to Service Settings --> Email Settings and ensure that the option to Enable Google Apps Sync and Google Apps Connector for my users is ticked:

Enable the Google Provisioning API

Within the domain administration pages, browse to Domain Settings --> User Settings, and ensure that the Enable Provisioning API is ticked:

Installation

Add the Server to a domain

Add the server that is to host the BES software to an Active Directory domain. The BES server may be a domain controller itself for smaller deployments.
Log into the server as a domain user with local administrative rights on the server.

Install Windows Updates

It is recommended to run Windows Update and install all available high priority updates.
The Windows Search feature should NOT be installed onto the server, or should be disabled.
The latest Daylight Savings Time update should be installed (which it will be automatically as part of Windows Update). Details on this update are available here - http://support.microsoft.com/kb/979306/

Install Outlook 2007 Service Pack 2

Ensure that Microsoft Outlook 2007 is installed onto the BES and then upgraded to Service Pack 2.

Install the Google Apps Connector

Download version 3 of the Google Apps Connector from - https://tools.google.com/dlpage/appsconnector

Once installed, launch it from the Start Menu and enter the required settings:

Set the desired locations for the user mailbox stores.

Enter the connection details for your Google Apps domain in the Profiles section:

Enter in the email address of the service account created for the BES software.
Enter in the OAuth Consumer key - this is normally the name of your domain.

Enter in the OAuth Consumer Secret which was generated earlier.

Install the BlackBerry Enterprise Server

Launch the installer for the BES software, you will be prompted to select your desired installation language:

You will be prompted to confirm that the user account you are currently logged in as is indeed the correct user that should be used to install, and then run, the BlackBerry software:

You will be prompted to select your country and to accept the terms and conditions of the license agreement:

You will be prompted to create a new database for the BES to store its configuration settings in, or to use an existing database. For new installations, select the option to create a new database:

You will be prompted to select which components of the BES solution you want to install:

You will now be presented with a list of prerequisite checks. Ensure that all requirements are met. You will receive warnings about missing CDO and MAPI components, these warnings can be ignored at this stage:

When you continue you will receive a further warning about missing required components:

Select the option to Ignore the warning and continue. If the user account used to log into the server is a member of the Domain Administrators group you will receive a further warning. This would be an issue if the server was being deployed against a Microsoft Exchange server, but as we are accessing a Google Domain account instead, this warning can also be ignored:

Select Yes to continue. You will be prompted to specify whether you wish to install a copy of SQL Server Express on the BES itself, or to use an existing SQL server. Review the requirements of your deployment, in this article I shall install SQL Express locally:

You will be prompted to enter the password for the user account used to log into the server, and to enter a name for the BES server. This is separate from the machine name of the server and is used to identify the BlackBerry Enterprise Server instance within the BlackBerry Administration interface:

Review your installation options and click Install to begin the installation:

The required components will now be installed, this may take a few minutes:

When complete, you will be prompted to restart the server:

Once rebooted and logged back in the installation will resume automatically. You will be prompted to enter the details of the SQL Server and the name of the configuration database. If using a local SQL Express installation, leave the values at their default:

You will be prompted to create the new database:

You will be notified when the database has been created:

You will be prompted to enter in the Client Access License and the SRP information. You should have received this information via email when you registered for the software download with RIM:

Verify that the server is able to connect to the RIM infrastructure and authenticate:

You will be prompted to enter in a name for the web administration interface and enter in a password for the SSL certificate that will be generated automatically to secure the web site:

You will be prompted to enter the details of the active directory account that will be used to access the web administration interface using active directory credentials. This is a required step but in this type of deployment you will most likely use BlackBerry authentication instead which will be configured in a moment. In this installation I entered the same domain administrator account details used to install the software:

Here you can specify whether to use Active Directory or BlackBerry authentication to access the web administration interface. I recommend using BlackBerry authentication, this ensures that you are still able to access the BES administration pages even in the event of a problem with Active Directory:

Enter in a password for the default admin user account. The installation is now complete. Select the option to Start Services and verify that all of the BlackBerry services start successfully:

Once all services have started click Next. You will presented with the shortcut details of the server's web interface:

Click Finish to complete the installation and close the installer.

The BlackBerry Administration web interface can now be launched from the Start Menu, you may want to add an icon for this on the desktop. You will be warned that the certificate is not trusted by the browser:

Select the option to continue anyway. Add the web site to the browser's Trusted Sites zone:

and install the site certificate to the Trusted Root Certification Authority container:

You may now log into the BlackBerry Administration interface. Set the "Login Using" field to use BlackBerry authentication. Remember that the user name is "admin" and the password you entered during the installation:

The web interface will be displayed:

You can now select the option to Create a user:

Selecting Search will display all available users in your Google Apps domain:

Select the option to create a user with an activation password:

You can now enter an activation password for the user:

Alternatively you can choose to have an activation password generated automatically and emailed to the user. Once the user has their activation password they can run through the Enterprise Activation wizard on their BlackBerry handheld.

Alternatively devices can be activated locally on the BES via USB.

For more information on activating devices and troubleshooting the activation process, read the BlackBerry Enterprise Server section of the blog - http://blog.brightpointuk.co.uk/blackberry-enterprise-server

So I decided to set up a Google Premier Edition service

I have posted several times about the features offered by the Premier version of the Google Apps service, which offers additional services over and above the free to use consumer offering, and decided to see what all the fuss was about. How easy is it to move your email domain to the "Google Cloud"?
In this article I will look at the mobility features offered by Google's solution, and how these are configured on a variety of client devices, both static and mobile.
It is beyond the scope of this article to go into detail about directory services, spam filtering, account delegation and all the other aspects that an administrator should look into when considering deploying an email solution.

Features

Features available include:

• 25GB user mailbox storage
• Web-based access to email
• Support for Microsoft Outlook on desktops
• POP & IMAP access to email
• Support for Exchange ActiveSync on Windows Mobile and iPhone devices
• Gmail client available for Symbian and BlackBerry as well as a variety of other platforms
• Support for BlackBerry Internet Service access (BIS)
• Support for BlackBerry Enterprise Server integration (BES)

I will look at how all of these features are configured.

Registration

A 30-day free trial of the service is available. This does require a valid credit card, but no deduction is made from your card unless you fail to cancel the service within those 30 days, at which point you will be billed at £33 per user account per year (at the time of writing).
A trial can be registered for on the Google Apps web site - http://www.google.com/apps/intl/en-GB/business/features.html

For the purposes of this trial, I registered the snappily-titled domain 'jamesliddiard.co.uk'

When creating your Google Premier trial, you will be prompted to enter the domain that you wish to use for the trial:

You will also be prompted to specify how many user accounts should be provisioned:

And then be asked to enter payment details (which at this stage is only to verify valid billing details):

You will then be prompted to enter the details of an administrative account:

To prove that you do have access to the domain that you are requesting be managed, you will be asked to performed a test exercise:

In this case I opted to create a CNAME alias for the jamesliddiard.co.uk domain:

The requested alias was then created on my DNS server:

Having left sufficient time for the DNS change to take effect, Google then verifies that the CNAME alias exists.

Your account is now created - it's really that simple!

To configure mail delivery for your domain, MX records will need to be created / amended on your DNS server:

ASPMX.L.GOOGLE.COM. 1
ALT1.ASPMX.L.GOOGLE.COM. 5
ALT2.ASPMX.L.GOOGLE.COM. 5
ASPMX2.GOOGLEMAIL.COM. 10
ASPMX3.GOOGLEMAIL.COM. 10
ASPMX4.GOOGLEMAIL.COM. 10
ASPMX5.GOOGLEMAIL.COM. 10

Once made, you can verify the changes by performing an nslookup operation on the domain:

You can verify mail delivery by logging into the Google web site (http://www.googe.com/apps) using the administrative login specified earlier:

To use your own domain name for client access to the web interface, log into the admin dashboard and select the option to Change URL. You will be prompted to enter the A record you wish to use, and to add a CNAME DNS alias for 'ghs.google.com':

The same can be done or all other services: calendar, docs, video, etc.

Now your Google Premier service is configured, you can proceed with adding user accounts. Google offer a tool that allows you to replicate user accounts from your existing directory service, be it LDAP or Exchange GAL-based, but for the purposes of this article I have only registered a single user. You can read more information about the domain migration options available on the Google web site.

Google Desktop Apps

Once your domain has been configured, within the admin dashboard will be a link that you can distribute to your users:

Clicking on the link will automatically download and install the Google Chrome web browser to user PCs and create shortcuts on the desktop for Mail, Calendar and Docs access, pre-configured with the require domain details, requiring only that the user enter their username and password to connect:

Configuring Outlook access

There are 3 principal ways in which Outlook can be configured to access your Google service: via POP, via IMAP, or using Google's own AppSync application.
If you have the option, IMAP should always be considered in preference to POP as it supports folder management, but Google's preference is for you to use their AppSync client - which also has the benefit of allowing you to upload your existing local PST mailbox store to your Gmail client while still using your Outlook client - clever stuff.

Configuring IMAP access

Create a new Outlook Profile and select the option to create an IMAP-based email account:

Enter the following details:

• Incoming mail server: imap.gmail.com
• Outgoing mail server: smtp.gmail.com
• Username: (your email address)
• Password: (your password)

Click on the More Settings button and then on the Advanced tab:

Set the incoming port to 993 and select the option to use SSL encryption.
Set the outgoing port to 587 and select the option to use TLS encryption.

Click on the Outgoing Server tab:

Select the option to "use the same settings as my incoming mail server".

Click OK and complete the Profile creation wizard.

Configuring Google App Sync

In order to use the Google App Sync client, this feature must first be enabled within the admin dashboard:

The Google App Sync client application is a free download from the Google web site - https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gappssync

Select the link to download the application directly from within your web browser - for some reason on my test PC Internet Explorer 8 had issues with the download link so I used Google Chrome instead:

Once downloaded, the wizard will launch automatically and you will be prompted to enter your login information:

You will be prompted whether or not you want to use an existing PST file and whether or not you wish to import that information into your Google mailbox:

Setup is now complete:

When Outlook is next launched, a new Outlook profile will have been created (if one was present previously):

And your mailbox data will be synced automatically:

Should you want to create a new Outlook profile manually, select the option to create an 'Other' type of email account and select Google Outlook Service:

An icon for the Google App Sync will be added both to the System Tray and the Start Menu. From the Start Menu it is possible to create further accounts and also add delegated mailboxes:

Configuring Windows Mobile access

As with Outlook, access to your Gmail account can be configured via either POP or IMAP, but the Google Premier service also allows for the ActiveSync protocol to be used on both Windows Mobile and iPhone devices.

In order to make this feature available to your users, it will need to be enabled within the admin dashboard, under Email Settings:

Supported devices can also optionally be forced to require a password.

On the Windows Mobile device, select the option to create a new ActiveSync Exchange profile. Untick the option to ‘determine settings automatically’ if the option is available, the following screen will be displayed:

In the Server address field type in ‘m.google.com’ as shown above. Ensure that the option ‘This server requires an encrypted connection’ is ticked.

Tap Next, the following screen will be displayed:

Enter your username and password information.
Your username will be your email address.
Leave the domain field empty. If your device requires a domain to be entered, use ‘google’.

Tap Next, the following screen will be displayed:

Select the folders you wish to synchronise (note - tasks is not currently supported)

Tap Finish. Your device is now configured for Google Sync.

Newly available to the Google Premier Apps service is the ability to remotely wipe Windows Mobile devices from the Admin dashboard. When a user synchronises from a Windows Mobile device, that device will be listed in their User Account page:

Selecting the option to Wipe the device will cause the device to be hard reset the next time it attempts to synchronise:

Configuring the Nokia E & N Series

There are two ways to access GMail from a Nokia Symbian S60 device: using Google's own GMail client, or via IMAP. (Note - POP access is also possible, but if you have the option of using IMAP, you may as well)

GMail Client

Google's own client for the S60 platform can be downloaded to the device itself by browsing to m.google.com in the device's web browser:

Once installed, it will be listed in the Installations folder:

When launched, you will be prompted to enter your email address and password:

Once logged in your email will be synced automatically:

and you can perform mailbox actions directly from the client:

IMAP

Personally I find the GMail client on a small screen a bit "cluttered" and prefer to use IMAP, but that's just my own opinion. To add a new IMAP mailbox to a Nokia phone (in this example I am using my trusty E71), open the Messaging folder and select Options --> Settings --> Email:

Select the option to add a New Mailbox:

The Nokia Email wizard will launch automatically, select the option to Start it:

Allow the wizard to connect to the Internet:

Click Start to begin the wizard:

Enter your email address:

Enter your password:

The wizard will think it has determined the correct settings to use and ask whether you want to subscribe to the Nokia Messaging service. I chose not to:

Your new mailbox will now be listed:

Edit the properties of the new mailbox:

Edit the Connection Settings:

Edit the Incoming Server Settings:

Verify that the incoming server is set to 'imap.gmail.com' and select the Internet access point you want to use. Enter in your password. Verify that security is set to SSL.

Edit the Outgoing Server Settings:

On my E71 the wizard set the outgoing server to 'imap.gmail.com' - change it to 'smtp.gmail.com'.

Set the Security option to "StartTLS"

Set the Port to 587:

Your mail will now be synced to the device:

Configuring Mac OS

Because GMail supports the industry-standard IMAP protocol, then you are free to use virtually any email client you wish, but I shall look at how to configure both Mac OS' own Mail application as well as Microsoft's Entourage application for Mac OS.

Mac Mail

Launch the Mail application. If you have no mail accounts configured, the Add New Account wizard will launch automatically. To add a new account browse to Mail --> Preferences.

Enter in your name, email address and password:

Click Continue.

Enter a name for the mail account. Select IMAP as the account type.
Set the incoming mail server to "imap.gmail.com"
Enter your username (your email address) and password. Click Continue.

Set the outgoing mail server to 'smtp.gmail.com'.
Tick the option to use authentication and enter in the same username and password.
Click Continue:

Click Create. Your mail will now by synchronised:

Open the Preferences and select the option to Edit the SMTP Server List:

Set the SMTP port to 587:

Entourage

Create a new IMAP mail account within the Entourage Preferences:

Enter your Account ID (your email address) and password.
Set the IMAP server to "imap.gmail.com"
Click on the option to define advanced receiving options:

Tick the option to use a secure connection.

Click on the option to use advanced sending options:

Select the option to use a secure connection.
Set the SMTP port to 587
Select the option to use the same authentication settings as the incoming server.

Add the account, your mail will now be synchronised.

Configuring BlackBerry

BlackBerry smartphones can be configured to access your Google email account in a number of ways: BIS subscribers can add their email address via their operator's web portal and have the account settings determined automatically (http://blog.brightpointuk.co.uk/setting-new-blackberry-internet-service-...)
Or alternatively for BES users, a dedicated GMail client is available for download:

A BlackBerry Enterprise Server solution can also be deployed alongside a Google Apps Premier service to provide both push email functionality as well as comprehensive device management features. I have detailed this setup procedure in a separate article - http://blog.brightpointuk.co.uk/installing-google-apps-connector-blackbe...

Conclusion

Setting up a Google Premier account is simplicity itself, and access to your mail is possible from literally any client, be it via HTTP, POP, IMAP, ActiveSync or via Google's own AppSync protocols.

However, as with all cloud-based services, you are utterly at the mercy of third party infrastructure, and as you can see from Google's own status dashboard, their service experienced issues 2 days this week alone:

Addendum

Google's Premier Apps Service can also be integrated free of charge with the Postini anti-virus and anti-spam email filtering service.
The service is enabled within the Administration Dashboard and requires that you adjust your MX records, you will be sent an email with the correct details to use:

JAMESLIDDIARD.CO.UK.S200A1.PSMTP.COM
JAMESLIDDIARD.CO.UK.S200A2.PSMTP.COM
JAMESLIDDIARD.CO.UK.S200B1.PSMTP.COM
JAMESLIDDIARD.CO.UK.S200B2.PSMTP.COM

Within the Postini admin dashboard you can view details of any blocked emails either because of junk classification or suspected virus content:

And can configure whitelist and blacklist for individual senders and whole mail domains:

memeo Connect for Google Apps

memeo Connect (http://www.memeoconnect.com/) is a desktop application available for both Windows and Mac that enables you to synchronise your files with a Google Apps Premier account. Free to use for 30 days, the service then costs $9 per user per year.
Multiple computers can be kept in sync and uploading files is a simple matter of drag and drop.
You can view at a glance which files are shared, and which users have access to those files:

memeoConnect also adds an extra layer of functionality by allowing you to store multiple versions of files and instantly recall previous copies for change control purposes.

The following videos provide an introduction to the service: