Frequently Asked Questions - Mail Server

How to choose server certificate?

Please follow this link!

How to get back currently hidden outdated anti-spam features?

Features, such as POP before SMTP, Trusted Senders and Verification of Addresses with Sender Domain are now disabled.

POP before SMTP has been removed because it was used decades ago when SMTP servers did not support authentication. Trusted Senders was removed for security reasons. Having that option enable makes it extremely easy to hack the server. Use of Verification of Addresses with Sender Doman increases server load, and after introducing SPF, DKIM and DMARC, it is not useful at all. Besides, there are high chances of returning "false negatives".

However, they are still there, they are just "hidden". To get the back, stop the server, go to Tools - Utilities - Advanced Settings, put a checkmark in the Enable Old security features box, click OK, save changes, and start the server.

How to solve "This server was built after your support expiry date" problem?

Either log in to your account and extend your support or download the version, which was built before your support expiry date from our Old Versions page.

Can the Web Interface be customized?

Yes, you can customize the template files. They are, by default, located in C:\ProgramData\ArGoSoft\MailServer.Net\Web directory. They can be moved, if you update (or insert) the WebPath entry in the Settings.xml file (See below about Settings.xml file). The entry should be pointing to your templates folder.

They are plaintext HTML files. You can modify wording, or insert logos, use your own boostrap.css and so on.

But, please remember, that each time you upgrade your server they will be overwritten with templates from the new setup, and you will have to do modifications again. Setup will create a backup of your current templates, and place them into the folder, with a ~ symbol prepended to the folder name. Remember: only one set of backups is kept. If setup runs again, older templates will be overwritten.

If it does not solve the problem, or you cannot find the backup file (which means, you are using one of earlier versions of Mail Server), then see this document.

How to solve the "Root element is missing" problem?

It happens when file Settings.xml gets corrupted.

It is, usually, in the folder C:\ProgramData\ArGoSoft\MailServer.Net. See Q/A below for more ways to locate it.

The latest versions of the server make a backup of the Settings.xml file after a successful start. The backup file is called Settings.Backup.xml.

You can restore it, by deleting the original Settings.xml and renaming the backup file to Settings.xml.

If it does not solve the problem, or you cannot find the backup file (which means, you are using one of earlier versions of Mail Server), then see this document.

How to switch from 32-bit to 64-bit version?

If you did not follow standard installation instructions and installed the mail server into the folder other than default c:\Program Files (x86)\, then you can just install the 64 version normally, the similar way you would do a usual upgrade.

It also would be safe to install the 64-bit version into the same x86 folder, but probably, it is "nicer" to follow "rules" and keep 64-bit applications in the Program Files folder, rather than in the x86 folder.

First, uninstall the 32-bit version from the Uninstall or Change a Program applet in the Control Panel. When prompted if you are upgrading to a new version, answer YES.

Then, if you are using the SQL database engine, run SQL Server Management studio and detach the MailServerData database from SQL server.  If you are using the SQLite database engine, then you can skip this step.

Then locate the file Settings.xml (instructions on how to locate it are below in this FAQ), open it using Notepad (OK, you may need to move it to desktop, and edit it there, and save it and copy it to its original location, sometimes there are some user access rights problems).  Go through the Settings.xml file, and wherever you see references to folder c:\Program Files (x86)\ change it to just c:\Program Files\.

After that, move the entire content of C:\Program Files (x86)\ArGo Software Design\ArGoSoft Mail Server .NET to C:\Program Files\ArGo Software Design\ArGoSoft Mail Server .NET.

Using SQL Server Management studio reattach the MailServerData.mdf file to the SQL server as MailServerData. No need of doing that if you are using SQLite.

Install the 64-bit version of the mail server into the standard folder C:\Program Files\ArGo Software Design\ArGoSoft Mail Server .NET.

How to locate Settings.xml file?

File Settings.xml contains configuration settings for your server.

The file in the C:\ProgramData\ArGoSoft\MailServer.NET\ folder.

ProgramData folder is usually hidden, which means, to access it, you will have to enable Show Hidden Files and Folders option in Windows Explorer, under Tools - Folder Options - View...

Why am I getting Network Unreachable or Time Out errors when sending mail to outside domains?

In most cases, it happens, when your ISP blocks outgoing port 25. Some of them do that because they want to reduce the amount of spam originating from them. They just do not want their users to run mail servers.

It also may be caused by some anti-virus or anti-spam software on your computer.

There are the following solutions:

• If ports are blocked by your anti-spam feature, disable port 25 blocking;
• If it is your ISP:
  • Switch to another ISP, which treats their users more fairly;
  • Use the Smart Server feature of your server Settings - Options - Smart Server. It will partially defeat the purpose of using your own mail server because all mail will go through the "Smart Server" you have selected, but your server will still accept local mail.

How to remove the server from the computer manually?

In some cases, mail server installation may be corrupt, and windows standard way of adding and removing programs may fail. Below are the instructions for removing the server manually.

First, let's manually unregister the service. There are two methods of doing that:

First method:

Execute following commands from the admin command prompt:

      sc stop ArGoSoftMailServerNet
      sc delete ArGoSoftMailServerNet
      sc stop ArGoSoftMailServerWeb
      sc delete ArGoSoftMailServerWeb
      

Second method:

Please, use extreme caution, because it involves manipulation with the registry.

• Run Regedit from Start - Run;
• Go to HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services;
• Find the entry ArGoSoftMailServerNet and ArGoSoftMailServerWeb, if it is there;
• Delete it (right-click - Delete);
• Restart your computer;

Now, let's remove the traces of the server from the Uninstaller:

• Run Regedit from Start - Run;
• Go to HKLM\Software\Micorosft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall;
• Scroll down through sub-nodes, watching for DisplayName ArGoSoft Mail Server .NET;
• Delete the entire sub-node;
• Restart the computer

You also can try Program Install and Uninstall troubleshooter" from Microsoft.

How do I set up a backup mail server (backup mail exchanger)?

Your server has a feature called Mailbag Domains. It can act as a backup of domains listed as Mailbag Domains.

You should install two servers on two computers, preferably belonging to different ISPs (To avoid situations when both your servers are down, in case your ISP is having some major trouble. Then you have to update the DNS settings of your domain(s) so that one with the lower preference (higher priority) points to your main server, second, with a higher preference (lower priority) - to your backup server. Set up your users on your main server, then go to your backup server, and add your domains as mailbag domains. You do not have to create any users (but, you can specify acceptable users, see the help file of your mail server for more). Point your mailbags to your main server and make the number of delivery attempts reasonably high.

All will work as follows: if your main server is up, mail will be delivered directly to it. If for some reason, it goes down, servers will deliver mail to your backup server, which will place mail into mailbags, and keep attempting to deliver it to the main server, until the main server is up and accepts mail, or until the number of delivery attempts is exceeded.

The server also supports the ETRN SMTP command: if you are performing the maintenance of your main server, and know that it will be down, you can specify the mailbag on the backup server as suspended. Mail will arrive there and will be kept without any delivery attempts until you issue the ETRN command. The command will release all mail, and the server will just push it to the main server. The ETRN command will be issued after maintenance is finished.

Moving data, web template and log folders to another location

If your C: drive is overloaded, you can move your data files from the ProgramData directory (usually, C:\ProgramData\) to any other location.

Stop the server, move the folders to another location, edit the Settings.xml file: enter new paths, and start the server.

See above how to locate your Settings.xml file.

Look for XML tags UsersPath, OutboxPath, LogPath, WebPath, ArchivePath.