MTA

Level 1

The Message Transfer Agent interface integrates into the process of the actual GroupWise agent, adding the anti-malware scanner into the normal processes of the MTA. GWAVA utilizes the GWMTAVS virus scanning API provided by Novell. To utilize this API, GWAVA invokes the virus scanning switches in the MTA startup file, calling first GWMTAVS, which then loads the GWAVA MTA interface. Each file passing through the MTA is handed to the GWMTAVS and then the GWAVA MTA interface, which scans the message, reporting to the GroupWise MTA if the message should be blocked or is clean, and can be passed through to the rest of the system. Clean messages are passed through the system as normal, with no alterations to the file.

Because of the nature of the API and the loading process, there is an order to starting and stopping the GroupWise MTA and GWAVA with a MTA interface. Because it is called during start and not controlled by the MTA on shutdown, the GWAVA interface is the first started, and the last stopped in order to prevent the GroupWise MTA from failing to start or stop. The order to start a GroupWise MTA with an attached GWAVA MTA interface is, first to start GWAVA, and then start the MTA. To shutdown the MTA and GWAVA, first stop the MTA, then shutdown GWAVA.