Outgoing Mail - Ability Mail Server

This service controls the flow of mail out of the mail server. The available options allow the administrator to control MX lookups, set up direct relaying, control the Outgoing Mail queue, manage failure messages and also create Static Routes.

Outgoing Mail #

Enable Outgoing Mail - This controls whether the service is enabled.
Independent Mode - If set, the default route of outbound mail will be controlled by MX lookups. This is the normal method of delivery and most mail servers operate in this mode.
Auto-Detect DNS Hosts - To perform MX lookups, the mail server requires access to at least one valid DNS host. If this option is set, Ability Mail Server will attempt to automatically detect a list of DNS hosts from the computer running the mail server.
Use DNS Host(s) - This allows you to specify the DNS hosts which should be used for MX lookups. This is usually only required when Ability Mail Server cannot automatically detect the DNS hosts. To set multiple DNS hosts, simply separate each with a semi-colon (';').
Test DNS - This will perform tests to ensure that the specified DNS hosts can be used to send mail successfully.
Try Only First MX Host That Connects - Normally, Ability Mail Server will try each MX host until it has successfully sent the email to all recipients. If an MX host rejects any of the recipients, the mail server will continue and try the other MX hosts. If this option is enabled, the mail transaction will be limited to the first MX host that successfully accepts the connection. If any email addresses are rejected by that host, Ability Mail Server will not try any more of the MX hosts.
Try Parent Domain's MX Records If No MX Found - If enabled and no MX hosts can be obtained for a domain, Ability Mail Server will perform an MX lookup on the parent domain. This process will repeat until the top level domain (i.e. '.com') is reached.
Try Auto-Detect If Given DNS Fails - If enabled and the 'Use DNS Host(s)' list does not successfully retrieve MX hosts for a domain, the mail server will try to auto-detect the DNS list and also try each of those entries.
Try Domain If No MX Found - If enabled and a no MX hosts can be obtained for a domain, Ability Mail Server will attempt to connect to the domain directly (i.e. the domain component after the '@' symbol in the email address will be used as the host address).
Relay Mode - If set, the default route of outbound mail will be directed at a particular SMTP. This is useful for mail servers that are not directly connected to the Internet or if your Internet IP is not permitted by some mail servers (e.g. your IP is dynamic).
SMTP Relay Host - This should contain the host address of the SMTP which your outbound mail will be sent to.
SMTP Relay Port - This should contain the port value of the SMTP which your outbound mail will be sent to. Usually this is set to 25, but if the relay SMTP operates on a different port you will need to provide the correct value.
Use SMTP Authentication - If the relay SMTP requires connections to log in, this option allows you to specify a user and password. This user and password will be used when connecting to the relay SMTP.
User - This should be the user login required by the relay SMTP.
Password - This should be the password required by the relay SMTP.
Use SSL - When using either Independent Mode or Relay Mode, This option controls the use of SSL and TLS. Some SMTP servers may support SSL but if not this option should be left unchecked. If you are not certain that SSL will be supported but still wish to try anyway, you can check this option. This will cause outbound connections to try to use SSL.
Try Implicit SSL Port - If Use SSL is enabled and this option is enabled, outbound mails will try to deliver using implicit SSL on the specified port before trying other delivery methods.
Only Allow Secure Connections - If Use SSL is enabled, this option controls whether or not non-SSL connection attempts are allowed when SSL connections fail.
Test Outgoing Route - This will perform tests to ensure that mail can be sent successfully using the settings provided.

Advanced #

Lifetime - This controls the length of time a mail can survive in the queue before it is classed as a failure.
Resend Delay - This is the period of time the mail server will wait between delivery attempts. This cycle will continue until the mail is either delivered or the mail reaches the lifetime limit.
Max Queue Size - This is the maximum limit on the number of mails allowed in the queue. Once this limit has been reached, the {0} service will silently delete any new outbound mails. This ensures that when the mail server is under load it can safely cope with the excess mails.
Max Outbound Connections - This controls the maximum number of simultaneous outbound SMTP connections the service will allow. It is recommended that this value be no higher than 200.
Max Recipients Per Transaction - This controls the maximum number of recipients per mail transaction. As most SMTP servers usually have a limit on the maximum number of recipients per mail, this ensures that you don't accidentally exceed those limits. If an outbound mail does exceed this value, it will be delivered multiple times until all recipients have successfully processed.
Send Warning to Sender After - If enabled, a warning mail will be sent back to the sender when a mail has been in the queue for the set period of time. The original mail will still remain in the queue and will not be affected by this option. The warning message can be edited through the normal message editing facility. For more information, please view the Messages page.
Attach Original Mail - If enabled, the warning mail will include a text attachment of the original mail's source. This allows the sender to view the mail they sent and to help them determine which mail is at fault.
Send Failure to Sender - If a mail reaches the lifetime limit, this option controls whether a failure notice is sent to the sender. The failure message can be edited through the normal message editing facility. For more information, please view the Messages page.
Attach Original Mail - If enabled, the failure notice mail will include a text attachment of the original mail's source. This allows the sender to view the mail they sent and to help them determine which mail is at fault.
Send Transmission Confirmation - If enabled, a notification mail will be sent back to the sender when the mail has been successfully transmitted. This notification confirms that the mail has left the mail server but does not guarantee delivery on the destination mail server.
Clear Queue - This will delete all the mails currently in the Outgoing Mail queue. No failure messages will be sent and this action cannot be undone.
Execute Application On Recipient Delivery Failure - If enabled, you can execute an external application for every recipient delivery failure. This could be used to remove the recipient email address from a mailing list or database.
Application Path - This is the file path of the application to be executed.It is perfectly legal to have this path set to a network location.For more information on using network drives, please view the Frequently Asked Questions page.
Parameters - This is an optional set of parameters which will be passed to the application.You can pass the failed recipient email address as a parameter using the special tag of "%s".
Hide Application Window - If enabled, the application window will be hidden when executed.

IP Binding #

Default Bind to Local IP - If enabled, all outbound connections will use the provided IP as the local IP. This ensures that the correct IP is used when your server is assigned multiple IPs.
Bind to Local IP When Sending From Domain - This allows you to control the local IP when sending from particular domains. This is useful if your server is assigned multiple IPs and you are hosting domains which should operate on a specific IP.

Static Routes #

Enable Static Routes - If enabled, any enabled Static Routes will be applied to outbound mails.

Add / Edit Static Route #

Enable Static Route - If enabled and Static Routes are enabled, this Static Route will be applied to any outbound mail which matches the domain.
Domain - If any of the recipients in an outbound mail matches this domain (the domain component after the '@' symbol), the outbound mail will be delivered to those recipients using the route provided in this Static Route.
Lifetime - This option allows you to change the default lifetime value when using this Static Route. This allows you to extend the lifetime for particular domains and is useful for backup mail servers.
Resend Delay - This option allows you to change the default resend delay value when using this Static Route.
Independent Mode - If set, the route of outbound mail affected by this {0} will be controlled by MX lookups. This is the normal method of delivery and most mail servers operate in this mode.
Auto-Detect DNS Hosts - To perform MX lookups, the mail server requires access to at least one valid DNS host. If this option is set, Ability Mail Server will attempt to automatically detect a list of DNS hosts from the computer running the mail server.
Use DNS Host(s) - This allows you to specify the DNS hosts which should be used for MX lookups. This is usually only required when Ability Mail Server cannot automatically detect the DNS hosts. To set multiple DNS hosts, simply separate each with a semi-colon (';').
Test DNS - This will perform tests to ensure that the specified DNS hosts can be used to send mail successfully.
Try Only First MX Host That Connects - Normally, Ability Mail Server will try each MX host until it has successfully sent the email to all recipients. If an MX host rejects any of the recipients, the mail server will continue and try the other MX hosts. If this option is enabled, the mail transaction will be limited to the first MX host that successfully accepts the connection. If any email addresses are rejected by that host, Ability Mail Server will not try any more of the MX hosts.
Try Parent Domain's MX Records If No MX Found - If enabled and no MX hosts can be obtained for a domain, Ability Mail Server will perform an MX lookup on the parent domain. This process will repeat until the top level domain (i.e. '.com') is reached.
Try Auto-Detect If Given DNS Fails - If enabled and the 'Use DNS Host(s)' list does not successfully retrieve MX hosts for a domain, the mail server will try to auto-detect the DNS list and also try each of those entries.
Try Domain If No MX Found - If enabled and a no MX hosts can be obtained for a domain, Ability Mail Server will attempt to connect to the domain directly (i.e. the domain component after the '@' symbol in the email address will be used as the host address).
Relay Mode - If set, the route of outbound mail affected by this Static Route will be directed at a particular SMTP. This is useful for mail servers that are not directly connected to the Internet or if your Internet IP is not permitted by some mail servers (e.g. your IP is dynamic).
SMTP Relay Host - This should contain the host address of the SMTP which your outbound mail will be sent to.
SMTP Relay Port - This should contain the port value of the SMTP which your outbound mail will be sent to. Usually this is set to 25, but if the relay SMTP operates on a different port you will need to provide the correct value.
Use SMTP Authentication - If the relay SMTP requires connections to log in, this option allows you to specify a user and password. This user and password will be used when connecting to the relay SMTP.
User - This should be the user login required by the relay SMTP.
Password - This should be the password required by the relay SMTP.
Use SSL - When using either Independent Mode or Relay Mode, This option controls the use of SSL and TLS. Some SMTP servers may support SSL but if not this option should be left unchecked. If you are not certain that SSL will be supported but still wish to try anyway, you can check this option. This will cause outbound connections to try to use SSL.
Try Implicit SSL Port - If Use SSL is enabled and this option is enabled, outbound mails will try to deliver using implicit SSL on the specified port before trying other delivery methods.
Only Allow Secure Connections - If Use SSL is enabled, this option controls whether or not non-SSL connection attempts are allowed when SSL connections fail.
Test Outgoing Route - This will perform tests to ensure that mail can be sent successfully using the settings provided.

DKIM #

Enable DKIM Signing - If enabled, outbound mails will be digitally signed if a matching or default DKIM domain can be found.
Set Default - Sets the selected DKIM domain to be default. If an outbound mail's SMTP Sender (MAIL FROM) does not match a domain. This default domain's DKIM records will be used to sign the email instead.
Remove Default - Removes the default DKIM domain. If an outbound mail's SMTP Sender (MAIL FROM) does not match a DKIM domain, it will not be signed with a DKIM digital signature.

Add / Edit DKIM Domain #

Enable DKIM Domain - If enabled and DKIM is enabled, outbound mails with an SMTP Sender (MAIL FROM) matching this domain will use this DKIM DNS record to digitally sign the email.
Domain - The domain that will be matched against the SMTP Sender (MAIL FROM).
Selector - The selector that will be used to form the subdomain where the DKIM TXT DNS record will be stored.
DNS TXT Record Domain - An auto-generated field based on domain and selector. For example, with a selector "selector" and a domain "mydomain.com" the DNS record should be placed as a TXT DNS record under the subdomain "selector._domainkey.mydomain.com".
DNS TXT Record Value - Once an RSA private / public key pair has been created for this domain, this will show the value of the DKIM TXT DNS record that should be placed under the subdomain shown in the 'DNS TXT Record Domain' field.
Generate DKIM Key - Generate a new RSA private key file, stored under the dkim subfolder of the installation. The public key is extracted from this private key and shown in the 'DNS TXT Record Value' field in order to create the DKIM TXT DNS record. Other other email servers will retrieve the public key in order to validate the DKIM signature.
Test DNS TXT Record - This does a TXT DNS lookup to fetch the DKIM record that should have been created as well as testing if the value matches the expected one shown in the 'DNS TXT Record Value' field.

See Also: Using the Outgoing Mail Service, Messages.