Agents Administration - Tests
 

Configuration of MailTest

This test monitors the availability of the messaging server from an external perspective. To do this, the MailTest sends a test mail periodically from one user account to another and measures whether the mail was sent successfully and what the delivery time was. While the SMTP protocol is used to send mails, POP3 or IMAP protocols are used by the test to receive mails.

The default parameters associated with this test are as follows:

  • The TEST PERIOD list box helps the user to decide how often this test needs to be executed. 

  • The HOST text box takes the IP address of the messaging server.

  • In the PORT box, the port number of the Exchange routing engine will appear.

  • The SENDPORT field denotes the SMTP port of the messaging server. The default SMTP port is 25. 

  • The SENDUSER field denotes the user name with which the test sends mails. 

  • The password associated with the above user name has to be specified in the SENDPASSWORD text box. The Senduser and sendpassword can be ‘none’ if the target messaging server does not need authentication to send mails.

  • Confirm the password by retyping it in the CONFIRM PASSWORD text box. 

  • The FROMID box takes the email id from which the test generates mails.

  • The TOID box takes the email id to which the test sends mails. It is advisable that a separate email account be created for the MailTest. 

  • The protocol to be used for receiving the mails should be indicated in the PROTOCOL field (could be POP3 or IMAP).

  • The RECEIVEHOST text box, indicates the IP address at which the test receives mails. Typically, this would be the IP address of a POP3 or IMAP server.

  • The RECEIVEPORT text box, indicates the port number of the host, which receives the mails. The default port for POP3 is 110 and that of IMAP is 143.

  • The RECEIVEUSER text box, indicates the user name with which the test receives mails.

  • The RECEIVEPASSWORD text box, indicates the password corresponding to the above user.

  • Confirm the password by retyping it in the CONFIRM PASSWORD text box. 

    Here are example settings of the MailTest parameters:

    • SENDPORT = 25

    • SENDUSER = none

    • SENDPASSWORD = none

    • FROMID = mailtest@test.com

    • TOID = mailtest@test.com

    • PROTOCOL = POP3

    • RECEIVEHOST = mail.test.com (the POP3 server's host)

    • RECEIVEPORT = 110

    • RECEIVEUSER = mailtest

    • RECEIVEPASSWORD = mailtest's password

  • In the case of Exchange 2000 servers, the MailTest takes an additional ISPASSIVE parameter. If the value chosen against this parameter is YES, then the Exchange server under consideration is a passive server in an Exchange cluster. No alerts will be generated if the server is not running. Measures will be reported as "Not applicable' by the agent if the server is not up. This parameter is applicable to Exchange 2000 servers only, though it appears in the MailTest configuration pages of other mail servers too.

  • If multiple components of the same component type are awaiting configuration, then an APPLY TO OTHER COMPONENTS check box will appear in this page. Clicking on this check box will allow you to apply the configuration to all/selected components of that type.

  • Once the necessary values have been provided, clicking on the UPDATE button will register the changes made.

When changing default configurations of tests, the values with "$" indicate variables that will be replaced by the eG system according to the specific server being managed - for instance, $hostName is the host/nickname of the target host, $port is the port number of the server being monitored. E.g., for a server xyz:80, $hostName will be changed automatically by the eG manager to "xyz" and $port will be changed to "80" when configuring a test.

Note:

It is advisable that you create a separate user account on your messaging server for this test to use.