Hi LQ Member!

I have a basic knowledge of computers. Where I am no one uses Linux (Except for the ISPs on their servers, etc.) It is a total windows enviroment here.

My boss thinking I know everything about computers asked me to do something and I honestly don't know where to begin. All the PCs here have Windows XP and Microsoft Office 2000/2003 installed. Everyone uses either Outlook or Outlook Express to manage their e-mails.

The boss wants me to build a common address book where all Outlook users on our LAN can access at any time. This way we don't need to update everyone's address book on their machine, just keep all the addresses in a common address book and update this address book for everyone in the LAN to use. It is not possible to do this in Outlook. I know about Microsoft Exchange Server but have never used it and that way I will need lots of time to do it.

Is there a way I can do this task without having to install exchange server or a mail server on our LAN? Are there any softwares that I can simply install and be able to perform this task without the need of being a super expert? What are the Linux based solutions that I can apply?

Well, I hope I have explained the situation enough for someone kind enough to show me the way.

All the best LQ Members.

P.S. We have an old PC that I'm thinking of installing Linux on it. Can I try to use this as our e-mail server within our LAN or that way I will need to be an expert?

If you want to set up a shared address book for everyone on the network, then you probably want to look into LDAP. Here’s an old article that might help a little;

http://www.onlamp.com/pub/a/onlamp/2...7/ldap_ab.html

However, you’ll probably need to Google around a little to really get it working.

Once you get that working you could move into setting up a mail server.

Hope that helps.

Thanks Red. I'm looking into it will tell if it works

Sunguraaa.