Imap not seeing new mail

[rossplews]

Hi all,

I am running 2.61and having an issue with imap. I have used thunderbird and windows mail client and both have the same error. What I see is new mails are not listed via imap. If i go to the web interface then they are there.

Anyone else seeing this?

Ross

[Code Crafters]

IMAP4 and WebMail should view the same mails. IMAP4 has a protocol whereby new mails are informed to it from the mail server so it should show them as soon as they are delivered too. We have had no other reports of this happening. Make sure that Mozilla is pointing at the correct mail server and account. Its also possible that some firewall, router, antivirus or anti-SPAM software is intercepting the IMAP4 commands from the mail server and altering them causing this problem. Try eliminating these to see if that solves the problem.

[rossplews]

I have tried imap clients on the server with the same results. Anti virus is running but not checking mail. Anti spam is Ability Mail Server only. No router problem as on the same server. Local windows firewall is off as I am behind a h/w firewall.

I have used AMserver for several years now and had no problems. I am a bit stuck with this and will investigate further tonight when I get home. This is on my home server.

Ross

[rossplews]

Hi all,

I have tried to work this out but I am stumped. The imap clients are not seeing any new mail today but did manage to see some from yesterday. It's like there is a time delay.

I generated a config report.

*****************************************
* Ability Mail Server 2.61 Setup Report *
*****************************************

This report is intended only to provide a minimal outline of the mail servers settings. Therefore, most of the settings are not shown.


General
*******

Account Directory: "config\accounts\"
Primary Domain: bigfoot.com
Admin Email Address: admin@bigfoot.com
ODBC Mode: Disabled
Listen on IP: All IPs
Max Mail Size (KB): 102400
Max Account Size (KB): 2048000


Logging
*******

Enabled
Auto-Delete: Disabled
Log Size (KB): 50


Accounts
********

Group Count: 1
Shared Address Book Count: 0
Domain Count: 1 (5 Max)
User Count: 3 (25 Max)
Mailing List Count: 0


Content Filtering
*****************

Enabled
Rules: 1


Antivirus Filtering
*******************

Disabled


Outgoing Mail
*************

Enabled
Queue Life (Mins): 180
Resend Delay (Mins): 10
Max Queue Size: 5000
Max Connections: 20
Method: Independent
Use DNS's: Auto-detect
Static Routes: 0


SMTP
****

Enabled
Listen on Port: 25
Listen on IP: Same as General
Implicit SSL Port: Disabled
IP Restrictions: None
Max Connections: 200
Max Recipients per Mail: 128
Max Hop Count: 50
Relay Security SMTP Auth: Enabled
Relay Security IP Restrictions: Disabled
SPAM Protection RBL: Disabled
SPAM Protection Bayesian: Enabled
SPAM Protection SPF: Enabled


POP3 Retrievals
***************

Enabled
Max Queue Size: 500
Max Connections: 20
Max Hop Count: 50
SPAM White List: Disabled
SPAM Black List: Disabled
Bayesian Filtering: Enabled (Automatic Retrievals Only)
Poll Frequency (Mins): 10
Automatic POP3 Retrievals: 1


POP3
****

Disabled


IMAP4
*****

Enabled
Listen on Port: 143
Listen on IP: Same as General
Implicit SSL Port: Disabled
IP Restrictions: None
Max Connections: 200


WebMail
*******

Enabled
Listen on Port: 8000
Listen on IP: Same as General
Implicit SSL Port: Disabled
IP Restrictions: None
Max Connections: 200
Max Sessions: 2000
Default Template Directory: "webmailenhanced\original\"
Domain Specific Template Count: 0
Automatic Sign-ups: Disabled


LDAP
****

Disabled


Remote Admin
************

Enabled
Listen on Port: 9000
Listen on IP: Same as General
Implicit SSL Port: Disabled
IP Restrictions: None
Max Connections: 200




Any ideas please?

Ross

[Code Crafters]

The first thing I noticed here is that you have 8 MX records for your primary domain (bigfoot.com), none of which point at your Abiltiy Mail Server. I therefore assume that the mail server they all do point to (LiteMail v3.03) is forwarding mail to your Ability Mail Server and this could be causing the problem. Another point is that your primary domain is bigfoot.com which also doesn't point to your Ability Mail Server. Note that if your website is hosted at bigfoot.com, your mail server should be on something like mail.bigfoot.com which should point to your Ability Mail Server and also be your primary domain and highest priority (lowest number) MX record. You said that new mail was still visible via WebMail but I am willing to guess that new mail simply isn't making it to your mail server properly because of these issues.

[rossplews]

Hi Chris,

Thanks for the reply.
I am using AMserver to be a local post office in my house allowing me to pop3 retrieve my mail from bigfoot.com.
I have several pc at home and this allows me to have a consistent email solution from any of them. Also I can access my email from outside my house via the web interface. I also like the anti spam which is much better than my bigfoot provider as I can teach it myself. I don't have a domain name myself and thus I used bigfoot.com.

Is there anything I should be changing to get AMserver to work more simply as I know my setup is very simple as AMserver is just serving my house. When I send mail out I want the bigfoot.com mail address in the reply and from fields.

As you can probably tell I am not an email sysadmin

Rgds...Ross

[rossplews]

Chris,

Also the new mail is visable from AMS web mail so I know it has got to the server.

Rgds...Ross

[Code Crafters]

Your primary domain should be any domain that points to your mail server's IP to prevent other mail servers blocking you as a SPAM source via reverse DNS lookup checks. It doesn't even matter if it's not a domain hosted on your mail server as long as it has the IP (A record) of your mail server. You can use any domain as below.

domain.com
MX = mail.domain.com

mail.domain.com
A = mail server IP address

If WebMail can see the mail then its there and it must be your mail client setup or firewall / router problems that is preventing the mail from showing in your mail client. As I said, antivirus software can often intercept and intefere with IMAP4 communication so try turning any mail scanning off for any antivirus software running on your mail server and client computers.