The history of Nokia's Intellisync Mobile Suite product is a long and complicated one. Even to do this day if I say 'Intellisync' to someone, they are often reminded of the PDA synchronisation software developed by PumaTech, which was an ActiveSync-like application for EPOC devices. Do not be confused.
The Intellisync Mobile Suite was formerly developed by a company named Intellisync, before they were purchased by Nokia a few years ago. Prior to being developed by Intellisync, the product was developed (and named) by a company called Synchrologic, before being bought by Intellisync. It was this company that also developed the Pumatech software, but it was in no way related to their remote email / device management solution.
Intellisync has long been the leader of the remote email and device management pack. It is a little known fact that whilst RIM manufacture Blackberry handsets, they actually paid Intellisync to develop the BES software for them - I don't know what the situation is now that Intellisync is owned by Nokia, but the more eagle-eyed of you administrators may have noticed a RIM tab within the properties of the Intellisync Server Administration Console: this is because the server can indeed be used with RIM Blackberry devices, unfortunately you need a special license key to unlock this functionality which the odds of you getting are slim (I've never managed to get one anyway).
The release of updates to the product, as this blog will attest, is frequent. However, while most of my posts refer to the updates that have been released and the new functionality included, I thought with this release it may be an idea to recap, and list all of the functionality.....as it's pretty impressive!
Before I can do that, a little more history is required.
The Intellisync Mobile Suite product is so called because it actually comprises 4 products:
· Wireless Email
· File Sync
· Data Sync
· Systems Management
Each product is modular, meaning that each module can be used independently of the others. The Wireless Email component enables remote wireless full PIM synchronisation with Microsoft Exchange, Lotus Domino or Novell Groupwise from a Windows, Windows Mobile, Palm, Symbian, Java or BREW-based device. The File Sync component enables the synchronisation of files (documents and applications) with client devices. The Data Sync component enables remote synchronisation with SQL, Oracle or other database back-end infrastructure. The Systems Management component enables full remote device management, including inventory collection, remote device wipe, password enforcement, hardware control, etc.
Until being purchased by Nokia, Intellisync Mobile Suite could only be installed on a Windows Server-based platform. The installer would install all components, but which of those components you has access to was determined by your installation license key.
Nokia's numbering scheme for this product has, to my mind, become a little confused this year. This is not helped by the fact that the product has effectively been split into Windows and Linux-based versions.
There is a reason for this: Nokia had their own device management product, which was Linux-based, called Nokia Device Manager. This was developed for the Nokia Comunicator range of devices and offered a limited range of features, but which was OMADM compliant (had the ability to provision device settings via the SS7 GSM control channel via control SMS messages). There was a lot of good stuff in this product that Nokia wanted to keep, but saw a very good product in Intellisync also, so they bought Intellisync, and ported the Systems Management component of the product (which was Windows based) to Linux. They then set about combining the functionality of the Nokia product and the Intellisync product into one single offering. However whilst doing this, they have also continued developing the rest of the 3 components, which are still Windows-based.
With me so far?
So currently we have Intellisync 9.0, which is Windows-based and offers the full range of functionality, and also Intellisync 9.1 which is Linux-based, and only offers the device management functionality.
It is important to note that the 9.1 Linux release is “multi-tenant” capable, so clearly designed to manage the devices of multiple user groups (those groups not necessarily being within the same company).
Despite the new 9.x version numbers, both 9.0 for Windows and 9.1 or Linux are listed by Nokia as being maintenance releases for the 8.x of the releases for both Windows and Linux.
Confused! .com
In this post I will list all of the features available in both versions currently. Please note that this list is by no means exhaustive – I merely thought it would be wise to include the most impressive features of the solution, which are numerous. In a future post I will seek to align these capabilities with the competition in a matrix-style chart.
Client devices
· Windows
· Windows Mobile
· Symbian
· Palm
· Java
· BREW
Wireless Email
· Support for Microsoft Exchange, Lotus Domino, Novell Groupwise, LDAP / POP / IMAP Servers
· True IP push of mailbox data
· SMS “wake-up” support for offline clients
· Global Address List sync support
· Synchronisation support for Inbox, Outbox, Sent Items, Drafts, Tasks, Notes, Contacts and Calendar folders
· Support for configuration of attachment size limits, and allowed attachment file types
· Support for filtering of pushed data based on sender, recipient, urgency status
· Web-based access to PIM data
File Sync
· Inventory collection capability of client devices – hardware and software assets
· Push or synchronisation of applications, documents, patches, or indeed any digital file to client device
· Support for VBScript-based intelligence, allowing for if, and, or level script execution
· Device-level or file-level device backup
· Intranet or other web site client packaging capability for offline on-device viewing
Systems Management
· OTA client installation support (support for SMS trigger)
· Remote device wipe – capability to specify full hard reset, PIM data deletion or specific file deletion, based on entry of correct password or administrative command
· Password enforcement policy – ability to force users to use passwords on their device
· Remote Control of devices via web browser
· Remote uninstallation of undesired applications
· Remote disabling of client hardware elements – Bluetooth, WiFi, IR, SD memory, USB Modem, SMS functionality
· Phone number “whitelisting”
· OMA DM support for Nokia VoIP, VPN, Security device settings
Data Sync
This aspect of the solution’s capability is beyond the scope of this article
Profiles
All of the above settings can be defined on a per-user or a per-group basis by the administrator.
For more detailed information, read the following articles in the Forum:
Intellisync Administrator Guide (Windows)
http://forum.devicewire.com/forums/thread/545.aspx
Intellisync Administrator Guide (Linux)
http://forum.devicewire.com/forums/thread/669.aspx
The key improvements that have been included in the 9.1 release of the Linux version of the device management application, which I have not listed above, are for the Windows Mobile platform.
Ability to configure Server ActiveSync settings on Windows Mobile-based PDAs:
Within the list of device management Publications available for Pocket PC and Smartphone devices (Asset Collection, Backup, Software Install) is a new option for Device Configuration, with sub-options for Server ActiveSync and Generic.
Selecting Server ActiveSync enables the administrator to enter details of Exchange Server address, domain, username, password, Email, Contact, Calendar and Task settings:
Once published on the server and the relevant users or groups or subscribed, synchronising with the server from the client device will configure a server activesync connection automatically.
The 'Generic' option is even more powerful: this allows the administrator to send raw XML code to the client device, and have it 'parsed' by the Intellisync client:
This means that it is possible to remotely add registry entries to the Windows Mobile device, and as some of you will be aware, EVERYTHING is configured on Windows Mobile devices via the registry: GPRS/3G connection settings, WiFi access points, etc etc.
For example, the following XML code:
<wap-provisioningdoc>
<nocharacteristic type="CM_Networks" />
<nocharacteristic type="CM_GPRSEntries" />
<nocharacteristic type="CM_ProxyEntries" />
<characteristic type="CM_Networks">
<characteristic type="Contract MMS">
<parm name="DestId" value="{F750E26F-81D9-4379-8567-318C129CA736}" />
</characteristic>
<characteristic type="Contract Internet">
<parm name="DestId" value="{FF445A54-ADF8-4fab-86B7-E31482BEE8BE}" />
</characteristic><characteristic type="Contract WAP">
<parm name="DestId" value="{B8D6BA64-F7BB-47be-BC57-4D882CA709C2}" />
</characteristic><characteristic type="My Work Network">
<parm name="DestId" value="{18AD9FBD-F716-ACB6-FD8A-1965DB95B814}" />
</characteristic>
<characteristic type="Work">
<parm name="DestId" value="{A1182988-0D73-439E-87AD-2A5B369F808B}" />
</characteristic>
<characteristic type="Secure WAP Network">
<parm name="DestId" value="{F28D1F74-72BE-4394-A4A7-4E296219390C}" />
</characteristic>
<characteristic type="The WAP Network">
<parm name="DestId" value="{7022E968-5A97-4051-BC1C-C578E2FBA5D9}" />
</characteristic>
<characteristic type="The Internet">
<parm name="DestId" value="{436EF144-B4FB-4863-A041-8F905A62C572}" />
</characteristic>
</characteristic>
<characteristic type="CM_GPRSEntries">
<characteristic type="MMS">
<parm name="DestId" value="{F750E26F-81D9-4379-8567-318C129CA736}" />
<parm name="Enabled" value="1" />
<parm name="UserName" value="wap" />
<parm name="Password" value="wap" />
<parm name="Domain" value="" />
<characteristic type="DevSpecificCellular">
<parm name="BearerInfoValid" value="1" />
<parm name="GPRSInfoValid" value="1" />
<parm name="GPRSInfoProtocolType" value="2" />
<parm name="GPRSInfoL2ProtocolType" value="PPP" />
<parm name="GPRSInfoAccessPointName" value="wap.vodafone.co.uk" />
<parm name="GPRSInfoDataCompression" value="1" />
<parm name="GPRSInfoHeaderCompression" value="1" />
</characteristic>
</characteristic>
<characteristic type="Contract Internet">
<parm name="DestId" value="{FF445A54-ADF8-4fab-86B7-E31482BEE8BE}" />
<parm name="AlwaysOn" value="1" />
<parm name="Enabled" value="1" />
<parm name="UserName" value="web" />
<parm name="Password" value="web" />
<parm name="Domain" value="" />
<characteristic type="DevSpecificCellular">
<parm name="BearerInfoValid" value="1" />
<parm name="GPRSInfoValid" value="1" />
<parm name="GPRSInfoProtocolType" value="2" />
<parm name="GPRSInfoL2ProtocolType" value="PPP" />
<parm name="GPRSInfoAccessPointName" value="internet" />
<parm name="GPRSInfoDataCompression" value="1" />
<parm name="GPRSInfoHeaderCompression" value="1" />
</characteristic>
</characteristic><characteristic type="Contract WAP">
<parm name="DestId" value="{B8D6BA64-F7BB-47be-BC57-4D882CA709C2}" />
<parm name="Enabled" value="1" />
<parm name="UserName" value="wap" />
<parm name="Password" value="wap" />
<parm name="Domain" value="" />
<characteristic type="DevSpecificCellular">
<parm name="BearerInfoValid" value="1" />
<parm name="GPRSInfoValid" value="1" />
<parm name="GPRSInfoProtocolType" value="2" />
<parm name="GPRSInfoL2ProtocolType" value="PPP" />
<parm name="GPRSInfoAccessPointName" value="wap.vodafone.co.uk" />
<parm name="GPRSInfoDataCompression" value="1" />
<parm name="GPRSInfoHeaderCompression" value="1" />
</characteristic>
</characteristic>
</characteristic>
<characteristic type="CM_ProxyEntries">
<characteristic type="NULL-HTTP-{FF445A54-ADF8-4fab-86B7-E31482BEE8BE}">
<parm name="SrcId" value="{FF445A54-ADF8-4fab-86B7-E31482BEE8BE}" />
<parm name="DestId" value="{436EF144-B4FB-4863-A041-8F905A62C572}" />
<parm name="Proxy" value="" />
<parm name="Type" value="0" />
<parm name="Enable" value="1" />
</characteristic>
<characteristic type="null-corp-{FF445A54-ADF8-4fab-86B7-E31482BEE8BE}">
<parm name="SrcId" value="{FF445A54-ADF8-4fab-86B7-E31482BEE8BE}" />
<parm name="DestId" value="{A1182988-0D73-439E-87AD-2A5B369F808B}" />
<parm name="Type" value="0" />
<parm name="Enable" value="1" />
</characteristic>
<characteristic type="WAP-{B8D6BA64-F7BB-47be-BC57-4D882CA709C2}">
<parm name="SrcId" value="{B8D6BA64-F7BB-47be-BC57-4D882CA709C2}" />
<parm name="DestId" value="{7022E968-5A97-4051-BC1C-C578E2FBA5D9}" />
<parm name="Proxy" value="212.183.137.012:8799" />
<parm name="Enable" value="1" />
<parm name="Type" value="1" />
</characteristic>
<characteristic type="WAP-secure-{B8D6BA64-F7BB-47be-BC57-4D882CA709C2}">
<parm name="SrcId" value="{B8D6BA64-F7BB-47be-BC57-4D882CA709C2}" />
<parm name="DestId" value="{F28D1F74-72BE-4394-A4A7-4E296219390C}" />
<parm name="Proxy" value="212.183.137.012:8799" />
<parm name="Enable" value="1" />
<parm name="Type" value="1" />
</characteristic>
</characteristic>
<characteristic type="CM_Planner">
<nocharacteristic type="PreferredConnections" />
<characteristic type="PreferredConnections">
<parm name="{436EF144-B4FB-4863-A041-8F905A62C572}" value="Contract Internet" /><parm name="{7022E968-5A97-4051-BC1C-C578E2FBA5D9}" value="Contract WAP" />
<parm name="{F28D1F74-72BE-4394-A4A7-4E296219390C}" value="Contract WAP" />
</characteristic>
</characteristic>
<characteristic type="Registry">
<characteristic type="HKLM\SOFTWARE\ArcSoft\ArcSoft MMS UA\Config\UI">
<parm name="ConnectviaMatchById" value="1" datatype="integer" />
</characteristic>
<characteristic type="HKLM\Software\ArcSoft\ArcSoft MMS UA\Config\mm1\MMSCSetting\SampleMMSC">
<parm name="WAP1DefaultSize" value="102400" datatype="integer" />
<parm name="WAP2DefaultSize" value="307200" datatype="integer" />
<parm name="ConnectionVia" value="{F750E26F-81D9-4379-8567-318C129CA736}" datatype="string" />
<parm name="Name" value="Contract MMS" datatype="string" />
<parm name="Gateway" value="212.183.137.012" datatype="string" />
<parm name="MmscURI" value="http://mms.vodafone.co.uk/servlets/mms" datatype="string" />
<parm name="GatewayPort" value="8799" datatype="integer" />
<parm name="SendDefault" value="307200" datatype="integer" />
<parm name="RecvDefault" value="512000" datatype="integer" />
<parm name="WAPType" value="1" datatype="integer" />
</characteristic>
<characteristic type="HKLM\Software\ArcSoft\ArcSoft MMS UA\Config\mm1">
<parm name="DefaultSetting" datatype="string" value="SampleMMSC" />
<parm name="TotalSettings" value="1" datatype="integer" />
</characteristic>
<characteristic type="HKLM\Software\ArcSoft\ArcSoft MMS UA\Config\UI\SizeLimit">
<parm name="SendCount" value="3" datatype="integer" />
<parm name="SendLimit1" value="30720" datatype="integer" />
<parm name="SendLimit2" value="102400" datatype="integer" />
<parm name="SendLimit3" value="307200" datatype="integer" />
</characteristic>
<characteristic type="HKCU\Software\Windows\CurrentVersion\5.0\Internet Settings">
<parm name="EnableAutoDetect" value="1" datatype="integer" />
</characteristic>
<characteristic type="HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\AboutURLs">
<parm name="home" value="http://live.vodafone.com" datatype="string" />
</characteristic>
</characteristic>
</wap-provisioningdoc>
Sets up a device for Vodafone UK MMS service.
Once you know the correct registry keys to configure, virtually any aspect of a device's configuration can be set via XML. A full explanation of this process is available in the Microsoft product documentation for Windows Mobile, available here:
ftp://ca:welcome@ftp.hughsymons.com/Hugh%20Symons%20Telecom%20-%20Reseller%20Area/Microsoft/Windows%20Mobile/Crossbow_Documentation_Oct2006.chm
This then, renders the device management solution very powerful indeed. It is always a mystery to me that considering Microsoft develop the client operating system, they are not able to offer this sort of functionality themselves, but both Exchange 2007 and System Center Mobile Device Manager 2008 are nowhere near being able to offer this level of capability.
In my last blog post on this subject I included the release notes for the version 9.1, which included a section on Wireless Email. I noted that I was curious to see how Nokia had managed to include this functionality in the Linux-based version of the software. It transpires that the wireless email funcitonality that has been included is only for use with an IMAP or Novell Groupwise server:
Inside sources tell me that a fully functional release of Intellisync, including all of the functionality in both the Windows and Linux versions (including full Exchange wireless email support as well as the OMADM capability for Symbian handsets) will be available in version 10 of the software, which will be Windows-based only.
But you didn't hear that from me!