This describes the format of the system parameter file in detail.This file contains those parameters that affect the operation of the system as a whole.
General Structure
The system parameter file is a flat text file that contains information on system-wide configuration parameters. A sample faximum.conf file appears below:
company-addr1 = "Building 17, Mail Stop 234"
company-addr2 = "1234 Anywhere Street"
company-addr3 = "Anytown, AB"
company-addr4 = "Canada, A1B 2C3"
company-name = "ACME Software Inc."
default-retry-delay = 5
default-retry-limit = 4
fms-banner = "ACME Software 1 234 567 8999 %c"
fms-config-directory = /etc/opt/faximum
fms-directory = /opt/faximum
fms-hostname = fax.company.com
fms-ip-addr = 0.0.0.0
font-server = fax.company.com:7100
resolution = standard
spool-directory = /var/opt/faximum
The parameters themselves are defined below (see "Parameters" on page 98). Note that some parameters are only used with FMS while some others are only used with the FMS+PLUS. Furthermore, some FMS parameters apply only to the SMTP Daemon configuration and some FMS parameters apply only to the Sendmail Delivery Agent configuration. Those below not marked are used in all configurations.
Location
The Faximum Messaging Server configuration file is always named /etc/opt/faximum/faximum.conf.
company-addr1..4
The four company address parameters are used to identify the company sending the fax on the cover sheet (see also company-name below). [Recommended]
company-name
This parameter is used to identify the company sending the fax on the cover sheet as well as on the top-of-page banner. Note that under US law it is mandatory that every fax identify the sender. See "Company Identification Parameters (FMS Only)" on page 47 for more information. [Recommended]
default-retry-delay, default-retry-limit
(FMS Only) These parameters control the retry strategy employed by the FMS scheduler when attempting to resend faxes that have failed. The delay is the minimum number of minutes before a failed fax is to retried and the limit is the maximum number of attempts that ought to be made. [Recommended]
Note that some countries (i.e. Germany) have laws that control the permitted settings of these parameters. Furthermore in these countries the modem may attempt to enforce these permitted settings which can cause the FMS system to malfunction if the FMS parameters conflict with the retry strategies permitted by the modem (and the law). This is not an issue in North America.
efg-account
(FMS+PLUS Only) This parameter specifies the default account to use for messages that do not specify an explicit account.
efg-class
(FMS+PLUS Only) This parameter specifies the default account to use for messages that do not specify an explicit account.
efg-style
(FMS+PLUS Only) This parameter specifies the default account to use for messages that do not specify an explicit account.
efg-debug
This parameter specifies if debug files are to be created when outbound messages are handled. These files are placed in the /tmp directory and have names starting with the string efg.dbg.
Example: efg-debug = yes
efg-priority
(FMS+PLUS Only) This parameter enables one to specify a correspondence between the priority of email messages (as specified by the Priority or X-Priority email header) and a Class of Service defined in the underlying Faximum fax server. For example, if your email client defines priorities as number (1, 2, 3, 4, and 5), the you might define this as
efg-priority[1] = Low
efg-priority[2] = Low
efg-priority[3] = Normal
efg-priority[4] = High
efg-priority[5] = High
Remember that the class names used on the right hand side must be defined in your Faximum PLUS or Client/Server system or else this will cause faxes to fail to be delivered.
efg-submitfax
(FMS+PLUS Only) The location of the submitfax API that is used to link the FMG with the underlying Faximum Fax Server. For example:
swiift-efg-submitfax = /opt/FAXclient/lbin/submitfax
efg-addr-params
If set to no disables the use of style= and other parameters within email addresses. [Optional]
efg-addrtype
Specifies the default value for the -t option to the swiiftefg program. Normally need not be set. [Optional]
efg-api
Specifies which of the two Faximum APIs the email/fax gateway is to use when passing requests to the fax server. Defaults to sendfax. With FMS+PLUS this parameter can be set to either sendfax or submitfax. [Optional]
efg-debug
If set to yes enables the creation of special trace files in the /tmp directory documenting the internal operation of the email/fax gateway. [Optional]
efg-notify
If set to no disables the sending of email to inform users of successful email/fax transmissions. Default is to send email. Note that email is always sent in case of a failure to deliver the message by fax. If this parameter is set to no it will be overriden (and email sent) if the return-receipt-to header is set in the email message. [Optional]
efg-priority[value].
(FMS+PLUS only) Most email clients permit the setting some indication of the priority of the message. The efg-priority parameter is used to map email priority values to Faximum PLUS classes of service. Unfortunately there is no standard for the values used in the Priority email header. Some use numbers (1 = highest priority, 5 = lowest) while others use strings (e.g. normal, urgent, bulk, etc.). You will find a default set of values in the faximum.conf file that ships with the FMS product. Users interested in exploting this feature will have to examine the headers generated by the email clients used by their users to see what values need to be configured. [Optional]
efg-submitfax-faxhost.
Specifies the domain name of the server running the server component of the Faximum Client/Server product. This parameter is only needed when using FMS on top of the Faximum Client/Server product.
fms-banner
(FMS Only) This defines the string that will appear at the top of every page that is faxed by the FMS. See "Top-of-Page Banner" on page 48.
fms-config-directory
This is the location of the FMS configuration files. By default this is /var/opt/faximum.
fms-coversheet
Specifies the default cover sheet to be used. With FMS+PLUS this can be overridden by the style= parameter. Defaults to ../coversheet/cover in the directory specified by the fms-config-directory parameter. [Optional]
fms-directory
This is the location of the FMS executable files (i.e. programs) and static data files. By default this is /opt/faximum.
fms-hostname
(FMS/SMTP Daemon Only) This is the network host name that is associated with the fms-ip-addr.
fms-ip-addr
(FMS/SMTP Daemon Only) This is the IP address that the Faximum Messaging Server will use for accepting email messages to be delivered by fax.
font-server
This defines the host and port number where FMS can contact an X11 Font Server. See "Company Identification Parameters (FMS Only)" on page 47. [Required only if using the X11 Font Server]
fms-submitfax.
This defines the path name of the submitfax utility. By default the FMS components look in the lib subdirectory of the FMS installation directory. [Optional]
resolution
(FMS Only) This defines the fax resolution that FMS will use when sending faxes. See "Fax Resolution" on page 47.
spool-directory
This is the location of the FMS temporary files.
This describes the contents of the fax line file(s) which describe the parameters associated with each fax phone line connected to (and under the control of) the Faximum Messaging Server.
General Structure
There are two types of fax line files: those that describe external Class 2/2.0 fax modems and those that describe Dialogic Gammalink boards.
Both types of fax devices require the following common set of parameters:
device-type = eia592
line-type = default
number-of-rings = 1
pulse-dial = no
tsi = "1 604 926 8182"
receive-only = no
External Class 2/2.0 fax modems require the following set of parameters:
class2-type = auto
data-receive = no
device = /dev/tty1a
fax-speed = 19200
modem-init-string = ATM0S0=0S7=45&D2&C1
speed = 19200
uucp-lock-file = /var/spool/uucp/LCK..tty1a
Dialogic Gammalink fax boards require the following set of parameters:
channel = 1
chassis = 0
Location
The fax line file(s) are located in the dev directory in the FMS configuration directory (which is /etc/opt/faximum by default). The fax line file(s) can be named anything but Faximum Software recommends that the first be called fax-line-1, the second fax-line-2, etc.
Parameters Common to Fax Modems and GammaLink Boards
device-type
This parameter indicates the type of fax device described by this fax line file. Currently supported values are eia592 for external Class 2/2.0 fax modems and gammalink for Dialogic GammaLink devices.
line-type
This parameter will be used in future releases for advanced fax scheduling purposes. In the current release this parameter must be set to default.
number-of-rings
This parameter specifies the number of rings that must be detected before an incoming call is answered.
pulse-dial
This specifies that the phone line associated with this fax device does not support tone (DTMF) dialling.
tsi
This specifies the tsi (transmitting station ID (tsi), otherwise known as the fax number to be associated with this device.
receive-only
This parameter allows you to specify that a line is to be used for inbound faxes only. (If you wish to specify that a line is for outbound use only merely configure your system not to start a faxgetty or faxlisten process on the line in question).
Parameters Used by Fax Modems (only)
class2-type
This parameter specifies which variation of the fax Class 2 or 2.0 standard this device supports.
data-receive
This parameter specifies if incoming data calls are to be permitted (and handled) on this line.
device
This specifies the name of the tty port being used to connect to the external fax modem.
fax-speed
This parameter specifies the baud rate to be used when communicating with the modem. Unless you really know what you are doing, do not change this parameter from the installation default of 19,200.
modem-init-string
This parameter specifies the modem initialisation string to be sent to the modem. Changing this parameter can cause the software to fail
speed
Unless otherwise instructed by Faximum Technical Support, this parameter ought to be set to the same value as the fax-speed parameter (see above).
uucp-lock-file
This parameters specifies the name of the UUCP lock file to use to avoid collisions in modem use between FMS and UUCP.
Parameters Used by GammaLink Boards (only)
channel
This specified the number of the channel this fax line file refers to (the first channel on a board is channel 1).
chassis
This specifies the number of the Dialogic Gammalink board to use (the first Gammalink board in the system is chassis 0).
This describes the types of email attachments that the FMS will accept and provides information to the FMS on how to convert attachments into a format that can be faxed.
In order to fully understand the structure of this file it would be useful to review the sections of the manual that describe the Windows File Conversion Daemon (WFCD) and SCO Merge (see "Files, Faxing" on page 48).
Normally it would not be necessary for the FMS administrator to change this file. Indeed, inappropriate changes can cause the FMS to fail to handle any messages at all.
General Structure
The mime types file is a flat text file that contains information used by the FMS to recognise the type of a file attached to an email message and to determine how (or even if) to process it. For example:
text * text * *
text/plain * text * *
text/x-vcard * ignore
text/html doc mswin @/var/tmp/fms_win95_heartbeat
Each line contains up to five fields. Continuation lines are not permitted. Fields may be separated by any number of white-space characters.
Field 1 - MIME Content Type
The first field is the mime type as reported by in the message itself. Trailing wildcards are permitted (e.g. text/*).
Field 2 - File Name Extension
The second field is the name of the file extension. It may be either the extension (without the .) or *.
When the SWIIFT EFG has an attachment to convert, it scans this file in order and takes the first line that matches the first two fields.
Field 3 - Processing Flag
Possible flag values:
ascii attachment is (will be) in ASCII format
error attachment cannot be handled, fail entire message
ignore attachment should not be handled, continue with warning
mswin attachment is in an MS Windows file format
pcl attachment is (will be) in PCL-5 format (see also below)
ps attachment is (will be) in PostScript format (see also below)
text attachment is (will be) in ASCII format
tiff attachment is (will be) in TIFF-F format
The difference between ascii and text is that an attachment of type ascii will be added to the fax as a separate attachment starting on a new page, while an attachment of type text will be included on the coversheet message in-line with other text components.
Use of the mswin, pcl, and ps flags requires that the appropriate conversion engine be installed. In particular, use of the mswin flag requires that SCO Merge and the Windows File Conversion Daemon be installed (see "Mechanism I - SCO Merge (SCO OpenServer/UnixWare only)" on page 49). The pcl and ps flags require the installation of a PCL and PostScript (respectively) conversion engine. These components are not part of FMS.
Field 4 - Conditional File (optional unless Field 5 is present)
This field provides a method by which the software can determine on the fly if this type of attachment can be handled. This field can either provide a filename (if not rooted then it is taken as relative to the fax software home directory). For example, if this field contains convert/pcl then this type of conversion will only be supported (attempted) if the file convert/pcl exists in the FMS home directory.
An alternate form of this field is to put an @ symbol in front of a rooted path name. In this case the file named is read to see if the file name extension is contained in the file. If it is not (or the file itself does not exist) then the conversion is failed. This method is used to communicate with the WFCD.
If the conversion fails, then the message as a whole will be rejected.
Field 5 - Conversion Command (optional)
If the fifth field (command) is blank, then it means that the attachment requires no additional processing before being included in the fax. If the field is not blank, then it must specify a shell command line that will convert the attachment into one of the supported file types, as specified by the third column (the flag value).
The shell environment variable $input will contain the name of the input file (to be converted) and $output will contain the name of the output file (to be created and to contain the results of the conversion).
Location
The mime types file is called mime-types and is stored in the configuration directory for the Faximum Messaging Server. The configuration directory is defined by the config-dir parameter in the /etc/faximum.conf file. The user can specify the directory to use during installation but by default the directory is /var/faximum.
This describes the format of the user parameter file in detail. The users file contains all of the information related to users who are authorised to use the FMS system.
NOTE: Faximum is currently exploring the use of LDAP and LDIF to provide FMS with the equivalent information to the users file. Any FMS customers who are running LDAP are invited to contact Faximum Software for current information on integrating FMS with LDAP.
General Structure
The user parameter file is a flat text file that contains information on every user authorised to use the Faximum Messaging Server. For each user there is a section that contains the user's "account name" (which must be unique) along with the parameters related to that user. For example:
[Jane]
delivery-email = jane.doe@company.com
delivery-program = ""
did = 1234
email-format = html
from-email = doe@mailserv.company.com
full-name = "Jane Doe"
ip-addr-range-lower = 204.174.2.1
ip-addr-range-upper = 204.174.2.254
mail-format = text
password =
privileges = admin,postmaster
Each section begins with the `[name]' line that provides the common name for this user. The sections for the different users are concatenated one after the other in the file.
Location
The user parameter file is called users and is stored in the configuration directory for the Faximum Messaging Server. The configuration directory is defined by the config-dir parameter in the /etc/opt/faximum/faximum.conf file. The user can specify the directory to use during installation but by default the directory is /etc/opt/faximum.
© 2001 Faximum Software Inc.