MailEnable is a powerful, scalable and cost-effective mail solution for the Microsoft Windows platform. MailEnable adopts the principals of simplicity, reliability and scalability and minimises most of the complexities associated with providing a scalable messaging platform.

This guide provides an overview of for configuring and administering MailEnable. It is assumed that MailEnable has already been installed on your PC. Please refer to the MailEnable Quick Start Installation Guide for details on installing MailEnable. You can download the Installation Guide from the MailEnable web site: (http://www.mailenable.com).

2 MailEnable Administration Console

The majority of MailEnable configuration and maintenance is done through the MailEnable Administration application.

You can start this application by using the Start menu in Microsoft Windows:

Start->Programs->Mail Enable->Mail Enable Administrator

The MailEnable Administrator will open are you will be presented with a window similar to the following:

The tree view on the left allows you to navigate through the various components of MailEnable in order to configure them. The first item in the display is Messenging Manager. This is where you modify the various global settings, such as domains, Post Offices and mailboxes. Explanations of these items are later in this document.

The second item, labelled Servers, is for configuring the various servers that are in your MailEnable configuration. This document only describes how to configure a single server installation.

2.1 Messenging Manager

2.1.1 Managing Services

There are five services that are copied onto your computer when MailEnable is installed. These services run in the background and handle the sending, receiving and distribution of email. After your initial installation, you should check that these Services are running. Expand the Servers->localhost->Monitoring branch, and click Services. You should see the following:

The tick indicates that the corresponding service is running. A red cross will be shown if the service has failed to start. If a service is not running, you can start it by right clicking the service and selecting Start from the pop-up menu. The reason for a service failing to start will be displayed in the Status column. Failure of a service to start is usually due to another service running on the same port (such as the Microsoft SMTP Service). Make sure the services that could possible be interfering with MailEnable are disabled.

2.1.2 General Settings

General Settings for MailEnable’s configuration can be found under the Properties of the Messenging Manager. This allows you to configure the default quota for mailboxes as well as the paths that MailEnable uses to store its configuration data. You should use these settings when you wish to cluster MailEnable and have multiple servers share the same configuration repository. This will effectively allow you to configure a clustered server array or to change the location of the MailEnable configuration and storage repositories.

2.1.3 Managing Security and Authentication Settings

MailEnable Integrated Authentication allows you to use Windows Authentication as well as MailEnable’s inbuilt authentication. It also allows you to have mailboxes created as users successfully authenticate using Windows Credentials. To enable Integrated Authentication, you must select Messenging Manager Properties and check the box labelled “Enable Integrated Authentication”.

This is a system wide setting that allows you to simply enable or disable authentication for all hosted Post Offices.

When using Tab Delimited Configuration Providers (the default configuration provider available with Standard Edition), MailEnable passwords are stored in text files under the configuration directory. You can optionally specify that you want to encrypt MailEnable passwords. If you are using integrated authentication, Windows credentials will take preference to these passwords.

2.1.4 Managing Post Offices

A Post Office is used to host multiple mailboxes and domains under one area. For example, if you were providing email hosting for multiple companies, you would create a Post Office for each company. Within the post office you can assign multiple domains and mailboxes. If you are running a small mail server, you might only have only one Post Office. If you host multiple domains for various people, you would create multiple post offices (think of them as similar to “customer accounts”). When you first install MailEnable, a post office will be created for you, but it is best to go through the creation steps so you can understand the process involved.

If you wish to add a new Post Office, click on the Messaging Manager branch in the left tree view window of the MailEnable Administration console. In right window, you will now see an icon titled Create Post Office. Click this icon to create a post office. You will be prompted to enter a post office name, so enter a meaningful name that describes the client. You also need to supply a password for a default mailbox that will be created for the post office administrator. For now, enter a password, as mailboxes will be explained in a later step. The post office name is used for mail clients, so usually the post office name would be company or business name. You have now created a Post Office.

Note: You can also right click the Post Offices branch and select New->Post office... to create a new post office. Functions that are represented by an icon are mostly available through right-clicking items in the left hand panel.

In the MailEnable Administration Console you can now expand the Post Offices branch to display all the available Post Offices. You will see the name of post office you have just created. Clicking on the post office you created will display the available actions you can perform (as seen in the diagram below).

Note: An administrator is able to e-mail all the users at a Post Office by selecting clicking on the Post Office name under Messenging Manager->Post Offices.

2.1.4.1 Exporting Users

A user list can be exported in CSV (comma-separated value) format, with the fields you require. To export users, click on the post office where you wish to export the users. You can click the Export Users icon or right click the post office name, select All Tasks and then select Export Users. From the list you select the items you wish to export to the file. Enter the filename you wish to save to and select Export.

2.1.4.2 Deleting Messages

Messages can be deleted from MailEnable either globally or by post office or mailbox. You are able to specify how many days old the messages have to be, whether you wish to delete all messages before a certain date, or you want to delete all messages.

2.1.4.3 Importing Users

Windows users can be imported into a MailEnable post office. This will create a mailbox for each Windows user. To import users select the post office you wish to import the users to. Then either click the icon for Import users, or right click the post office name, select All Tasks and then select Import Users.

You will then select the Windows users you wish to import. Select whether to give them a specific quota, or allow them to have an unlimited amount of space. The password for all selected users can be set to the same, or you can let MailEnable give the users random passwords. If giving them random passwords, you are able to export users to produce a list of all the users and the passwords assigned. By default, the users are given an email address corresponding to a domain for the post office you are importing to. Select the domain you wish to assign email addresses for. Mailboxes are automatically enabled when created.

2.1.4.4 Configuring Post Office Integrated Authentication

Once you have enabled Integrated Authentication, you can then configure each Post Office with specific authentication settings. This can be accessed using the Administration Console by selecting Messenging Manager|Post Offices|Post Office Name Properties. The following dialog will be displayed:

This dialog allows you to configure the windows domain that Post Office mailboxes can authenticate against. The name of the Mailbox must match the corresponding Windows account name. For example: A mailbox named Administrator will be able to authenticate using the Windows Administrator password.

In simple implementations, there is likely to be only one domain (or authenticate against the local machine). More complicated implementations will allow you to authenticate against specific domains (ie: the organization is made up of multiple domains).

The settings contained within this dialog are outlined in the following table:

Setting	Explanation
Use Integrated Windows Authentication	This setting allows you to define whether the Post Office can use Windows Authentication.
Use Post Office Name as Windows Domain Name	You should select this option if the name of the Post Office matches the desired Windows Domain Name.
Map this Post Office to the following Domain Name	This setting allows you to define the Windows Domain Name that the will be used for authenticating this Post Office’s Mailbox users. If you wish to authenticate against the local machine, you can either leave the Domain Name blank or enter a single period (.).
Authenticate against Active Directory	This option configures MailEnable to use UPN style logins, rather than legacy Windows NT style logins. Both login mechanisms work equally as effective, except Active Directory allows you to host multiple domains in its hierarchy.
Enable Account Creation	This option allows accounts to be created as users attempt to Authenticate. If a user enters valid Windows credentials, their mailbox is created automatically. By enabling this option, you can immediately provide access to mailboxes for those who have validated against the specified.

2.1.5 Managing Mail Domains

Domains are logically placed under to Post Office that owns them. You can use the Administration Console to manage the domains that are serviced by a Post Office (or customer). A domain is of course needed in order to create emails. To add a domain, from the right hand side window of the MailEnable Administration Console click on the Create Domain icon. You will be prompted for the domain to add. Here you must enter the full domain you wish to receive emails for. For instance, if you wish to receive emails such as sales@mailenable.com or info@mailenable.com, you would enter the domain mailenable.com here. The domain you add will now appear under the Domains branch.

Multiple domains can be assigned to a Post Office. You need to have at least one domain configured in order to have a valid email address.

The Domain properties page allows you to redirect a domain to another server. If you wish to relay all the mail destined for a domain, you can enter the alternate IP addresses here.

Setting	Explanation
Domain is disabled	Stops email being sent to the domain.
Abuse Address	You are able to enter the email address or select the mailbox for the abuse@domain email address.
Postmaster Address	You are able to enter the email address or select the mailbox for the postmaster@domain email address.
Catchall Address	A catchall address will catch all emails for a domain that do not have a mapping to a mailbox. You are able to select an existing mailbox to send all the emails to, or you can enter the email address where you wish to send them to.
Act as Smart Host	This will redirect all mail for the current domain to another mail server. This would be used if for instance you were acting as a backup mail server for the domain. You are able to specify a port number by adding a colon and port number after the IP address. e.g. 192.168.3.45:30

Remote hosts can be denied access to the system by adding them to the blacklist for a domain. This effectively denies a server access to the SMTP connector. Any server attempting to connect to the server from a designated host name (by using a reverse lookup on the connecting host or using the EHLO servername) can be denied access to SMTP delivery to locally hosted (or relayed) domains.

To deny a site for all domains, you are able to enter a mask, eg: *.com.au

2.1.5.1 Smart Hosting Domains

MailEnable can function as a Smart Host. This means that it can collect mail for another host, and pass the email on. In MailEnable this is done on a domain basis. You need to configure a domain in MailEnable to receive the email, otherwise the email may be rejected.

In the domain properties, you can select the Act as Smart Host checkbox. This will enable the list below. Using the “add” and “remove” buttons will allow you to configure the addresses of where you are going to redirect the email to. You can enter IP addresses or the fully qualified host name (eg: mail.mailenable.com). If you need to send to a specific port, then use a colon and port number after the name/IP address.

2.1.6 Managing Mailboxes

A mailbox is a repository for email. It is used to store emails for one or more email addresses. When your server users connect via POP with a mail client application (such as Microsoft Outlook or Eudora), they connect to a Mailbox in order to retrieve their email. A Mailbox can have multiple email addresses. This means a user only requires one Mailbox to connect to, from which they can retrieve email from all their email addresses. When creating a mailbox, MailEnable will automatically create an email address for each domain in the post office, using the format mailboxname@domain. When a mail client application logs onto to MailEnable to retrieve email, it needs to have its username formatted as mailboxname@postofficename.

To create a mailbox, click the post office branch. Select Create Mailbox from the icons displayed. You will be presented with the following window:

The first text box is the Mailbox Name, where you enter a name for the mailbox you are creating. If the person who will be using this mailbox to download their emails is named John Brown, you may want to enter johnbrown here.

This both identifies the user and ensures there is no duplication of Mailbox names. As you enter the Mailbox Name in the text box, you will notice the POP Logon name entry just below it will change to reflect your entry.

The POP Logon name is the same as the “User Name” that is used by mail clients when they connect to the server to retrieve email. Mail Enable uses the @ symbol to identify the post office the mailbox belongs to. This way, you can have the same mailbox names in different post offices (although the username to retrieve their email will differ, since the username is formatted as mailboxname@postofficename).

The second text entry box is the Password, where you enter a password that will, together with the POP Logon name, give access to the mailbox. Once again the Password you set is the same as the password that is used by mail clients to authenticate when they connect to the server to retrieve email.

The options in a mailbox are:

Setting	Explanation
Mailbox Name	This is the name of the mailbox. Once created, this cannot be changed.
POP Username for mail clients	This is the username used for logging onto the server via POP3. Use this information to set up the client mail software (this is the username).
Password	The password for the mailbox. This is used by the client software when connecting. If SMTP authentication is turn on, this password is also used for sending email. Other extensions to the MailEnable product may also use this username/password combination.
Select random password	Creates a random 8 character alpha-numeric password.
Mailbox Type	Determines the access level for the mailbox. If the mailbox is given "ADMIN" rights, then the user will be able to administer MailEnable via the administration web interface (this is only relevant for MailEnable Enterprise version).
Mailbox has a size limit	Limits the size of the mailbox. If an email will take the size of the inbox over this amount, the email is bounced back to the sender.
Logon Disabled	When a mailbox is disabled, it cannot be accessed via a service, such as POP3 or webmail. It would be used when you don't want the mailbox or email mappings to the mailbox to be recognised, but don’t want to actually delete it. Useful when you wish to suspend an account.
Delete messages	Allows the deletion of messages from the mailbox. Deleting messages from the mailbox properties page will only delete emails from the selected mailbox.
Emails	Each mailbox can have one or more email address mapped to it. Use this property page to add new email addresses. You are only able to add an email that matches an existing domain for the post office. When you first create a mailbox, MailEnable will automatically create emails for each of the domains for the post office.
Redirection	The Redirection property page allows you to redirect all email for the mailbox to an alternative email address or addresses. To enable redirection, select the Redirect this mailbox to checkbox. Click the Add button to add email addresses. When redirection is turned on, the mailbox will not receive any email. If you have more than one email address listed, the email will be copied to all of the addresses you have listed.
Messages	Lists the current messages in the current mailbox. Double-click an item to view the contents of a message.

An administrator can E-Mail a user/mailbox owner from within the Messenging Manager by right clicking on the Mailbox and selecting Send email.

2.1.6.1 Auto Responder Mailboxes

Auto responder mailboxes allow you to configure a message that will be dispatched to message senders upon receipt of a mail message. The following dialog shows how to configure this.

2.1.6.2 Mailbox Redirection

Mailbox redirection allows you to specify a list of target recipients that will be forwarded copies of mail messages as they are received. You can optionally configure whether or not you wish to retain a copy of the message before it is forwarded. The following dialog outlines the settings for a mailbox called “Peter”:

This dialog allows you to configure the following settings:

Setting	Explanation
Add	You can add additional redirections by selecting the Add button. Redirection addresses are defined in SMTP format ie: george@mailenable.com
Remove	Allows you to select a forwarding address and remove it from the list of target recipients.
Keep a copy of the message in mailbox	This option allows you to retain a copy of the mail message in your mailbox before it is redirected to the specified addresses.

Mailbox Redirections are processed after Auto Responder messages. Hence, if a user sends to a mailbox that is configured with both Auto Responder and Redirection, the original sender will get the automated reply and the message will then be forwarded to the respective forwarding addresses.

2.1.7 Managing Email Addresses

When you create a mailbox, email addresses are created for all the domains available in the post office. For instance, if you have a domain called mailenable.com, and created a mailbox called peter, the email address peter@mailenable.com will automatically be created. If you wish to create new email addresses, you can add them by selecting the Emails tab at the top of the window. A list of the current email addresses will be shown. In order to add another email address for this mailbox click the Add Email button. The following window will appear:

The first text box, Enter email name is where you enter the first part of the email address. So if you are adding sales@mailenable.com you only need to enter the word sales. As you enter the email name you will see the actual full address of the email you are adding in the label below it.

You will also notice the Available Domains list box in this window. The Domains listed here are domains that are entered via the Create Domain icon. MailEnable restricts you to adding email addresses only for the available domains in each Post Office account. For the purpose of this guide we have entered only one domain. In cases where there is more than one domain in a client’s post office account, these domains will appear in this list box. You can then select the appropriate domain by clicking on it and then entering email name that is required. Select OK on the Add Emails window when you have entered the address. It will now appear in the mappings list.

Select OK on the Mailbox Properties window as your mailbox has now been configured.

2.1.8 Managing Groups

A group is an email address that maps to one or more other email addresses. For example, you can set up a group with has the recipient as socialclub@company.com and add 50 email addresses as members of this group. When someone emails socialclub@company.com, the email is duplicated and sent to all 50 members.

When creating a group, the group name is the full text of the group name so you can easily identify it. The recipient address is the email address of the group (it will be socialclub@company.com from the above example).

2.1.9 Managing Lists

MailEnable contains a list server that enables people to subscribe and unsubscribe to a list. A list is a online discussion group or information mailout, where emails are sent out to all the members. People are able to post to the list, and the server will duplicate their email and send it out to all the members. When a user wishes to subscribe to a list, they need to send an email to the list with the word “subscribe” in the subject. When the user wishes to be removed from the list, they need to send an email with the word “unsubscribe” in the subject.

The options associated with a list are outlined in the following table:

Setting	Explanation
List name	The name of the list. This determines the address that people email to in order to post to the list. You can see the full email address for the list at the bottom of the General property page.
List moderator	The email address of the moderator. When a list is moderated, all the emails that are posted are sent to the moderator. It is the job of the moderator to decide whether or not the email is to be posted. Only emails coming from the moderators email address will be posted to the list.
List is disabled	Disables the list so no one can post to it.
List Type	Determines whether the list is moderated or not. If moderated, you need to enter a moderators email address.
Description	A description of the list. This is displayed in the Administration program to allow you to easily see what a list is about.
Header	This text is added to the top of every email when the Attach header checkbox is selected.
Footer	This text is added to the bottom of every email when the Attach footer checkbox is selected.

2.2 Managing Server Configuration

The server you have installed MailEnable on must be properly configured to accept and transmit Internet traffic. The Domain Name Server (DNS) for your hosted domains needs to be configured with the correct details. The DNS informs other mail server software what your IP address is in order for them to connect to you and deliver email. This means you need to make sure that the DNS that contains the details about your domain has an MX record. Your domain name provider will be able to configure this for you.

If you are not on a static IP address (i.e. your IP address changes) and you want to direct emails and domains to the server, you will need to use a dynamic DNS provider that keeps track of your changing IP address and updates the DNS details accordingly. Companies that offer this server may charge a monthly fee, although there are some free services available. You are still able to send email from MailEnable with a dynamic IP address, but unless the DNS is updated with your new IP address every time it changes, other mail servers will not be able to connect to yours.

If you are operating MailEnable from a computer at your office or home, make sure that your Internet plan allows you to run a mail server. Some providers can stop mail servers from receiving emails. If unsure, please ring your service provider.

2.2.1 General Configuration

General Server Configuration Options are located under the properties of the Messenging Manager.

Using this dialog, you can specify the default post office for your server. This means that any username that only has the mailbox name will be assumed to be from the default post office. The Server Properties dialog also allows you to define the level of encryption for your Authentication database. The default setting is to store credentials unencrypted, however, you can change the server setting to use hashed passwords as an alternative.

2.2.2 SMTP Connector

Using the Administration Console You can access the SMTP options by expanding the Servers->Localhost->Connectors branch.

Right click on the SMTP icon and select Properties.

This dialog allows you to configure the properties of MailEnable’s SMTP Connector Service.

The options for this dialog are explained below:

Setting	Explanation
Local Domain Name	This should be the domain name of the server you have installed MailEnable onto, or the default domain for your configuration.
DNS Address	The DNS that the local machine uses. If using more than one DNS then separate the addresses with a space character. Use the DNS that you have configured for your local network. Remember that this is not necessarily the DNS of where your domain name is registered.
Bad Mail Sender Add.	The address from which bad mail notifications are sent from. When MailEnable sends out email such as message delivery delays, or delivery failures, it will use this address as the "from" email address. Usually you would use postmaster@localdomainname.com (substitute your domain here).
Maximum message size	Entering a value here will inform remote mail servers and email clients of the maximum size of an email that should be sent to the server. The size is represented in kilobytes. The value may be ignored by clients or remote mail servers.
SMTP Port	Determines the port the SMTP service is running on. The default is 25.
Reject mail if sender address is from invalid domain	When a user is sending mail to MailEnable, this option will check the From address in order to verify the domain it is coming from. This is used to stop people abusing the mail server by using incorrect information. The majority of people who use an incorrect From address are spammers. This may affect valid email from incorrectly configured clients, so you should monitor your logs more often.
Access Control	The Access Control feature allows you to specify who can connect to your email server. You can specify a list of IP addresses that are either banned from connecting, or are the only ones allowed to connect.
IP Addresses to bind SMTP to	You are able to select the IP addresses that the SMTP service will be bound to. On a multi-homed machine you may only wish to listen to connections on particular IP addresses. Always bind all IPs will allow connections on all IP addresses that are configured for the machine.
Allow Mail Relay	In order for MailEnable to send email, you need to enable Mail Relaying. Otherwise MailEnable will only be able to receive email. There are three options available to limit those who are able to send mail out through your SMTP server. You are able to select any combination of the three in order to best meet your needs. These are: Allow Relay for Authenticated Senders If this option is selected it means that users who turn on SMTP authentication on in their mail client application are able to send email to domains outside of the machine. It is recommended that you have this option turned on, but make sure you have informed your clients that they need to turn on SMTP authentication. Some older mail clients do not support this, and would require an upgrade. You can see a list of mail clients and their support for this in the Appendix A. There are three methods of authenticating clients when this option is enabled. Authenticate against the MailEnable user database will check the username and password given against those that have been configured for all the MailEnable mailboxes. Authenticate against the Windows user database will check against the users that have been configured under Windows for the current machine. Authenticate against the following username/password allows you to specify one username and password combination that anyone can use. This means that there is only one username that all the connections would use. Allow relay for privileged IP addresses Users whose IP address matches those in the privileged list are able to send email out. The privileged IP addresses can either be Grant All and you enter the IPs that are denied access, or you select Deny All and you enter the IPs you wish to allow access. Be careful when using the Grant All option, as this will allow everyone to connect and send email through your server unless their IP address is listed. Allow relay for local sender addresses Those users who have their send address as a valid email on the MailEnable server are able to send email out. Be aware that turning this option on allows people to Spam using your server if they impersonate a user on your system. They can easily do this, but the majority of spammers do not.
Max. Send Threads	The amount of threads that are used to send email.
Max. Receive Threads	The amount of threads that are used to receive email.
Message Retry Count	How often a message send is attempted before the email is bounced.
Timeout for Remote Mail Servers	How long the SMTP service will wait for a response from a remote mail server before disconnecting.
Poll Interval	How often the SMTP service polls the queue directory for mail messages to send. This is measured in seconds.
Failed Message Lifetime	This determines the amount of time a message will stay in the outbound queue before MailEnable gives up and moves the message to the Bad Mail directory. If the message has hit the maximum retry amounts, it will be moved to Bad Mail, even if Failed message lifetime has not been reached.
Failed message retry interval	This is the amount of time between failing to send a message, and when it is next tried. The time is measured in hours.
Allowed SMTP Commands	The list of SMTP commands you are able to disable are shown here. For example, you may wish to disable the EXPN, which displays all the emails of users in a group, or VRFY, which will allow someone to confirm an email address on the system.
Smart Host Enabled	Enabling this option will force all outbound email to be sent to one server, which you would enter here.
Logging Options	MailEnable's SMTP Connector provides W3C, Activity and Debug Logging. W3C Logging is used to record service usage, Activity logging is used to record system activity and Debug Logging is used to provide low-level information on system activity.
Enable Logging	Enables W3C logging for the SMTP service. W3C Logging allows you to specify which fields are logged and the rollover frequency. The directory can also be specified.
Activity Log	Enables the Activity Log.
Debug Log	Enables the Debug Log.

2.2.2.1 Relay Settings

An important part of running a mail server is to make sure it is secure from abuse. Abuse of a mail server is usually done by sending spam-mail without your permission. This means that a user will connect to your server, and instead of sending an email to one of your users, will send it out again. If anyone is able to do this with your mail server, you are running an “open-relay”. When this happens, your mail server may get “blacklisted” by other mail servers, and they will refuse to accept your email (because you are the originator of spam – although you didn’t authorize it). MailEnable offers a variety of authentication methods, and it is recommended that you implement them. Find below some of the relay options that are available in MailEnable. You can access the relay options via the SMTP properties page: Servers->{ServerName}->Connectors

Right click the SMTP icon, select Properties, and when the window appears, click the Relay tab.

For a server on the Internet, the best relay setting to have is to only have Allow relay for authenticated senders, and leave Allow relay for local sender addresses unchecked. This will make everyone who wants to send email out via your server provide a username and password. Find below an explanation of the various relay settings.

Allow relay for authenticated senders - this means that people who try to send mail out through your server need to enter a username and password (i.e. SMTP authentication). To set this is different for various mail clients, but in Microsoft Outlook Express and Microsoft Outlook for instance, you do this in the account properties via the "My server requires authentication" checkbox under the "Servers" tab. It is advisable that you have this option enabled if you aren't using privileged IP ranges.

Allow relay for privileged IP ranges - this means that you will allow people with certain IP addresses to send email through your server. If you know the IP addresses of those persons who are able to send email out through your server, you can use this option. DO NOT select this if you haven't set a list of IP addresses, as you may inadvertently allow everyone access. Normally this option is not selected.

Allow relay for local sender addresses - this will allow people to send mail if their “From:” address has a domain that you host on Mail Enable. For instance, if you host domain.com, and someone sends a mail that has their From address as peter@domain.com, the email will be sent. Unfortunately spammers may still abuse this by pretending they are one of your users, so most servers will not use this option.

Setting	Explanation
Enable Catch-All Header	Allows you to specify an alternate name for the storage of recipients that have been delivered to the Post Offices Catch-All mailbox.

2.2.2.2 MailEnable Reverse Blacklists

DNS Blacklist checking allows you to prevent known spammers from sending mail through your server. MailEnable standard allows you to define an array of DNS Blacklist service providers and have the IP Address of requesting clients checked against their database. The remote client will be able to connect to your server, but will be prevented from sending mail when they attempt to address the message using the SMTP RCPT command.

You can manage DNS Blacklist providers using the Administration Console. This can be found under MailEnable Management|Servers|localhost|Connectors|SMTP Properties.

You can enable multiple service providers, however this will reduce your servers performance as each provider must be checked when receiving mail from unidentified hosts.

The following settings are defined on this dialog:

Setting	Explanation
Enable Reverse DNS Blacklist	This enables or disables Reverse DNS Blacklisting for the SMTP Connector.
Blacklist Service	You can use this combo box to list Anti-Spam service providers and their settings.
Enabled	This option allows you to specify whether you wish to configure the server to check a specific Blacklist Provider.
DNS Path	This allows you to define whether you wish to refer your lookup request to the service providers DNS Zone or to simply query a DNS Host for an entry. Most implementations of DNS Blacklists require a Zone lookup.
Zone/Name Server	This is the name of the DNS Zone or the IP Address of the DNS host that should be queried.
Record Type to check for	When the remote host or zone is queried, it may return one or more DNS Record types. Most implementations return an A record, but other implementations may return NS, PTR or MX records.

MailEnable provides a list of well known Reverse DNS Blacklist providers. You can also configure your own blacklist provider by pressing the Add.. button.

Once you have added the provider, you are able to configure it using the screen outlined earlier. You must click the Enable button before you can configure the service provider’s details.

2.2.2.3 Enable Catch-All Header

When mail is sent to an invalid recipient and they are specified as a BCC on the message, it is difficult for the mail administrator to know who should have received the message. The Catch-All header allows you to specify the name of the message header field that is used to record any recipients that were delivered to the Catch-All account. By default, MailEnable records this information into the Received By: message header; hence this setting is supplied to provide more control over how the information is recorded within the message.

2.2.3 POP Service

APOP is an authentication method for clients who are connecting to the mail server to read their mail.

The following table outlines the configuration options for MailEnable’s POP Service:

Setting	Explanation
Enable APOP authentication	Usually, the users username and password are sent in clear text format (i.e. not encrypted). Due to this, people are able to "tap" into the data stream and read the username and password. To avoid this, APOP encrypts the password before sending, and it changes every time the user logs on. So even if a person manages to grab the encrypted password, they will not be able to use it to log on. Enabling this option will force clients to enable APOP authentication on their mail client software. Make sure your users are using software that supports APOP, otherwise they will not be able to receive email. A lot of the older mail clients do not support APOP. Click here for a list of popular mail clients and what options they support.
Access Control	The Access Control feature allows you to specify who can cannot to your POP service. You can specify a list of IP addresses that are either banned from connecting, or are the only ones allowed to connect.
POP Port	This is the port MailEnable will allow client POP connections on. The default is 110.
Maximum Threads	Determines the maximum amount of threads the POP service will use.
Inactivity Timeout	Disconnects a user from MailEnable if they have been inactive for a period of time. Also, if a user disconnects incorrectly, they may not be able to log in again until this time has expired.
Alternate @ characters	Some older mail clients don't allow the use of @ in the username section. Since the MailEnable usernames are formatted in mailboxname@postoffice format, this may cause problems. To solve this, MailEnable allows you to specify the characters that can be used as a substitute. Just enter the list of characters such as #$%. This will allow users to log on using mailboxname@postoffice, mailboxname#postoffice, mailboxname$postoffice and mailboxname%postoffice.
IP Addresses to bind POP to	You are able to select the IP addresses that the POP service will be bound to. On a multi-homed machine you may only wish to allow connections on particular IP addresses. Always bind all IPs will allow connections on all IP addresses that are configured for the machine.
Enable Logging	Enables W3C logging for the POP service. W3C Logging allows you to specify which fields are logged and the rollover frequency. The directory can also be specified.
Logging Options	Produces a debug and activity log for the POP3 service. Use this if you need to get more details about what the service is doing (i.e. you are debugging a problem).

2.2.4 Mail Transfer Agent

The Mail Transfer Agents (MTA) is primarily responsible for moving messages between MailEnable Connectors. The MTA moves messages from Inbound Queues to the respective Outbound Message Queues of different connectors based on rules defined in an Address Map table.

Examples for MTA functionality follow:

Receiving Inbound Messages from Mail Connectors
Delivering Mail to Local Mailboxes
Queuing Mail for Relay to other Mail Connectors (Including themselves, as in SMTP Relay)

The configuration options for the Mail Transfer Agent are outlined in the following table:

Setting	Explanation
Inbound mail max. delivery time	The delay time before an inbound mail message is delivered.
Outbound mail max. delivery time	The delay time before an outbound mail message is sent.
Enable pickup event	When an email arrives, you are able to execute a program, and MailEnable will pass the mail message filename to the application. For example, if you write a VB script the adds some text to the end of each email that gets delivered, you would enable the pickup event. The command line used to execute the application is: program messagefilename connectortype Where program is the program filename, messagefilename is the name of the message file and connectortype is the type of messages (ie. SMTP, LS, SF). Be aware that the directory path to the message is not passed to the program. You will need to read the directory path from the registry in the program file.
Logging Options	Produces a debug and activity log for the POP3 service. Use this if you need to get more details about what the service is doing (ie. you are debugging a problem).

3 Operations Procedures

3.1 Backing and Restore MailEnable Data

This article explains how you can effectively backup configuration.

A basic utility is available for download from the following URL:

http://www.mailenable.com/support/mebackup.zip

With this utility, you can pass /BACKUP as a parameter to use it as an automated command line backup utility. There are 3 main areas where MailEnable stores configuration and user data:

ü Registry: Server Configuration (Service Settings, Machine Specific Configuration Information)

ü File System: Queues, Post office and Account data, etc

ü Provider Store (File System: \CONFIG Directory or SQL Server Database; depending on provider).

It is relatively straightforward to backup and restore MailEnable. The most primitive way is to copy everything under the Program Files directory to an alternate location. MailEnable mostly uses flat files for configuration (by design) and therefore all messages and configuration are simple to backup.

The only additional information you need to (optionally) backup is the information in the registry. The registry hosts server specific information (like connector settings, etc).

To do this, you need to use the registry editor (REGEDIT) to export the HKEYLOCALMACHINE\SOFTWARE\MailEnable registry key (and all subkeys and values) to a reg file. (More information on how to use the registry editor is available from Microsoft's Web Site).

To recover the backup, you should stop all services, replace the directory tree from your backup and then import the saved registry file into the registry.

3.2 Debugging MailEnable

Mail services can be run interactively in debug mode allowing debug messages to be written to the screen. The following instructions outline how to run the services in debug mode:

Open the regedit and move to the HKEY LOCALMACHINE\SOFTWARE\Mail Enable\Mail Enable\SMTP\Debug Mode Key.

Set the value of this key to 1 (this tells the server to write debug messages to the console rather than to a file).

Then, run the Windows command prompt and type in the following command: C:\Program Files\Mail Enable\Bin\MESMTPC -debug

When you have completed the debug session, you can close the console window.

Make sure that you set this setting back to 2 when you have completed running the server in debug mode.

3.3 Inspecting log files

Log files are an important aspect of any mail server. You need to understand what the various log files that MailEnable produces in order to find and rectify any problem. Fortunately, MailEnable can produce a large amount of logging information to help you isolate a problem.

MailEnable usually can produce 3 logs for each service. The are called W3C, Activity and Debug logs. The W3C log has all the information about what is passing to and from the mail server in W3C extended log file format (www.w3c.org). The Activity log will display all the information that is passing to and from the server. The Debug log is used to display information about what the service is actually doing.

When you first think you are having a problem with email, there are some quick steps to resolve the problem, which basically involve examining the various log files. If you follow the guidelines below to see which log file will help you, issues will get resolved faster.

Check the Debug log file first. This will more likely have information about the error that the service has encountered. The Debug log will show errors such as DNS failures, file errors, send problems, etc.

If you cannot see the issue in the Debug log, it is likely that it is not a program error, but an error in conversation between the servers (i.e. the server may be trying a command that isn't supported).

3.4 Diagnostic Utility

MailEnable provides a diagnostic utility that allows you to perform a sanity check of your installation and configuration settings. This utility is available either from the MailEnable Program Group, or under the monitoring branch of the server you wish to diagnose.

3.5 Configuring Email Clients

In order to read and send email from an email client such as Eudora, Microsoft Outlook or Outlook Express you need to configure them to connect to MailEnable. The POP3 and SMTP server should be the server name you are running MailEnable on. Email clients have to be able to resolve this server name to an IP address. The username needs to be the full logon name for the mailbox. Remember that this is formatted as mailboxname@postofficename. You will not be able to retrieve email if you do not use the full username.

3.5.1 Configuring Netscape Messenger

Start Netscape
Select Edit then Preferences from the menu bar
Click on the '+' symbol on the right of Mail & Group
Click Mail Server option
Enter values in the input boxes
If you don't want to re-enter your password every time you check email click More Options, then tick Remember mail password
Click on Identity
Type in your full name or business name in Your Name: input box
Type in the email address you would like people to contact you with (e.g. info@mydomain)
Type in your reply email address (e.g. info@mydomain)
Click OK to accept new settings.

3.5.2 Configuring Microsoft Outlook Express

Open Outlook Express.
Click on 'Tools | Accounts...'.
Click on the 'Mail' tab.
On the right side, click on 'Properties'.
Now click on the 'Servers' tab.

Make sure the POP Logon name is the same as the Account name (username) that is used by mail clients when they connect to the server to retrieve email. Eg: mailbox@postoffice.
If you have enabled SMTP Authentication on your server, you should check the option instructing Outlook Express that your outbound server requires authenticaton. The checkbox to do this is labelled My server requires authentication.

For assistance in setting up other mail clients, please refer to the MailEnable web site.

3.5.3 Configuring Microsoft Outlook

Access the Tools|Accounts menu.
Select the Mail tan and click Add|Mail.
Enter an appropriate display name.
Enter your e-mail address.
Specify your incoming and outgoing mail servers. eg: mail.[mydomainname].com.
Specify your Account Name and Password. Your Account Name is formatted as Account@Postoffice.
Specify how you connect to your mail server.
Click Finish

3.6 Configuring DNS and Mail Exchanger Records

Whilst MailEnable is relatively simple to install, you are likely to need to configure Domain Name Services (DNS) to publish your mail server to remote mail servers and clients. This is necessary so that a remote mail server will be able to determine the IP address of your MailEnable server (in order to deliver any mail to your server).

If you intend to use MailEnable on the Internet, you should have a fixed IP address that is registered under your public DNS (or you can use a synamic IP client like DNS2GO).

Every domain that you register on MailEnable should have mailexchanger (MX) records defined with your ISP or whoever is hosting your DNS.

Because of the vast array of combinations for DNS hosting and the number of vendor specific DNS implementations, you should consult your DNS provider for instructions or inform them of your servers published IP Address along with the domain names you are hosting under MailEnable and request they configure your DNS accordingly.

More information is available on configuring DNS in the MailEnable Knowledgebase (www.mailenable.com/kb) and in the MailEnable forums (forum.mailenable.com).

4 Glossary

Term	Explanation
Address Map	An address map is used to define source and target mail exchanges between Connectors by the Mail Transfer Agent. For example, mail sent to the SMTP address [SMTP:Jones@mailenable.com] is likely to have an address map to the post office address [SF:MailEnable/JONES].
Agents	Agents run perform specific management or operating functions for MailEnable itself. An example of an Agent is the Mail Transfer Agent. Its function is to move messages between connectors.
Connector	Connectors facilitate moving mail between systems or subsystems (whether they be local or remote).
Group	A Group represents a logical combination of mail addresses addressable under a single mail address. Any mail addressed to the group is destributed to all the members belonging to that group.
List	A List is much like a group. The major difference between a list and a group is that lists are subscription based, can be moderated, and can have headers and footers applied to them.
Mailbox	A mailbox is a repository for email. It it used to store emails for one or more email addresses. When a user connects with a mail client application (Outlook Express, Eudora, etc.), they connect to a mailbox to retrieve their email.
MTA	A Windows Service that exchanges internal messages between MailEnable Connectors.
Post office	A post office is used to host multiple mailboxes and domains under one area. For example, if you were providing email hosting for multiple companies, you would create a post office for each company. Within the post office you can assign multiple domains and mailboxes.
Provider	Providers are used by Connectors, Agents and Services to allow them to read their configurations. An example of a provider is the Tab Delimited Address Map provider. This provider reads the address map that is used to determine mail routing between connectors. In order to allow the applications to read configuration data from different sources, different providers would be used. For instance, SQL Server would have its own providers.
Recipient	The address to where the email is destined.
Services	Services expose MailEnable functionality to external agents or programs. An example of a service is the POP3 service. This service allows mail clients to access mail from their post office. MailEnable employs standard Windows Services that make it compatible with Windows NT/XP/2000.