Prior to running the PMDF-FAX configuration utility you must have installed PMDF-MTA with PMDF-FAX support and have configured PMDF-MTA. Refer to Chapters 1, 2, 3, and 4 if you have not already installed and configured PMDF.

Before running the PMDF-FAX configuration utility, determine the answers to these questions which the configuration utility will ask you.

1. Your domain name root. Most sites base the domain names for their systems on a common root. For example, all systems at the Example Corporation have domain names ending in ".EXAMPLE.COM". This information is mostly used to provide reasonable defaults for subsequent questions.
   
2. A domain name to be used when mailing plain ASCII messages to the FAX modem. This should typically be a name such as "TEXT-FAX.EXAMPLE.COM".
   
3. A domain name to be used when mailing PostScript messages to the FAX modem. This should typically be a name such as "PS-FAX.EXAMPLE.COM".
   
4. The type of FAX modem which you will be using.
   
5. The device name (or a logical name that points at the actual device) the FAX modem will be attached to. If a device name is supplied, then be sure to include the colon (for example, TTA2:). To handle a pool of FAX modems, use a logical search list (multiple equivalence logical names). When using a FAX modem connected to a terminal server port, as with the DCE FaxBox/30, always use a logical name since the physical device name (e.g., LTA1134:) can change every time the OpenVMS system or terminal server is rebooted. Most sites typically use the logical name PMDF_FAX_MODEM. Whatever the logical name used, the logical must be defined system-wide at system startup and point to the LTAnnnn: device created with LATCP and associated with the port on the terminal server to which the FAX modem is physically cabled.
   
6. Whether or not the FAX modem will be connected to a pulse-dial only telephone line. This will not be asked if you are using a DCE FaxBox/30 modem. For that modem, this information is set manually when the modem is first installed.
   
7. The name of the batch queue where jobs using the FAX modem should run from. This queue should run on a machine or machines which have access to the FAX modem; the job limit for the queue should not exceed the number of available FAX modems. It is strongly recommended that the g3_to_fax channel run in a queue separate from your standard mail processing queue, typically MAIL$BATCH. The reason for this is straightforward: the job limit on the queue running g3_to_fax should not exceed the number of available FAX modems. If the queue job limit exceeds the number of available FAX modems, then some FAX transmissions might not be delivered immediately and will instead wait until the next periodic delivery attempt. (The immediate delivery job will give up upon finding all of the FAX modems busy.)
   
8. The base priority the delivery job should run at. Since FAX devices drop their phone connections when data transmissions fall below a minimum rate, it is strongly recommended that the g3_to_fax channel run at an elevated priority in order to perform its I/O operations without too many interruptions.
   
9. The maximum number of delivery attempts per FAX transmission. Fifteen is a reasonable default; any number from 1 to 253 can be specified.
   
10. Whether or not to send acknowledgements after each successful FAX transmission.
    
11. The default FAX Station Identification string. This is the telephone number which you want your FAX modem to communicate to other FAX machines. For this string, you might want to use the telephone number of a receiving FAX machine at your site. PMDF-FAX does not itself display this number on FAXes it generates; this number is merely passed on to the FAX modem which then uses it as part of a standardized handshake with remote FAX devices. Remote FAX devices can print this string across the top of each received FAX page. This string should contain only digits, spaces, and hyphens and should be no longer than 20 characters. This question will not be asked if you are using a DCE FaxBox/30; for that modem this information is set when the modem is first installed.
    
12. The default Transmitting Terminal Identification string. This should be the organizational name to be printed atop each transmitted FAX page. This string should contain no more than 24 characters. This question will not be asked if you are using a WorldPort 2496 modem.
    
13. Whether or not users are allowed to set their own Transmitting Terminal Identification string. This question will not be asked if you are using a WorldPort 2496 modem.
    
14. If you want to receive FAXes with PMDF-FAX, then how you want to dispose of received FAXes (send them as e-mail, spool them to a printer, or deposit them as files on disk), and which image format you want to use for handling received FAXes (DDIF, GIF, LN03 sixel, PCL, PostScript, or TIFF).
    
15. Finally, a bunch of file names must be specified. These file names specify where to store the configuration generated by PMDF CONFIGURE FAX. The default file names are usually appropriate.