Results 1 to 10 of 10

Thread: Re-send "bad mail" folder entries?

  1. #1
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Apr 2004
    Posts
    157

    Question Re-send "bad mail" folder entries?

    Got a Win2000 Server using the MS SMTP service to send mail through for an application on the same server.
    If we had a network hickup, which caused a bunch of legit email to end up in the "bad mail" folder, how could we rescue them and get them re-sent?
    Been searching the net for this but having a really hard time finding anything at all about it.. !

    Thanks in advance!

  2. #2
    Senior Member nihil's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2003
    Location
    United Kingdom: Bridlington
    Posts
    17,188
    Sorry, I don't quite understand, what is in this "bad mail folder"? is it mail that could not be delivered?

    If it is, would these be mailing list/mailmerge type mailings or lots of individual mailings from different individuals in your organisation?

    Does it contain the messages or just some sort on failure notification?

    This may help?

    http://www.mcse.ms/archive74-2004-6-815558.html

  3. #3
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Apr 2004
    Posts
    157
    Originally posted here by nihil
    Sorry, I don't quite understand, what is this "bad mail folder"? is it mail that could not be delivered?

    If it is, would these be mailing list/mailmerge type mailings or lots of individual mailings from different individuals in your organisation?
    Yes, Microsoft SMTP service puts the un-deliverable email in C:\inetpub\mailroot\badmail\
    Lots of individual mailings.
    I've checked a bunch of the "badmail" entries, and they are fine. Usually you have incorrect email addresses and that sort of stuff ending up in this "badmail" folder...
    Really need to be able to resend these legit emails...!

    Maybe if there is no "trick" to make MS SMTP service re-send them, there is a 3rd party software that can do it?

    Thanks again!

  4. #4
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Apr 2004
    Posts
    157
    Originally posted here by nihil

    Does it contain the messages or just some sort on failure notification?

    This may help?

    http://www.mcse.ms/archive74-2004-6-815558.html
    Sorry.. I started to reply, got interrupted, went for lunch, and then submit my reply heh! But by then you had edited your reply...!

    Yes, it contains both the failure notification and the actual original email.

    HEEEEY!!!! YOU FOUND IT!!!! That was exactly what I was looking for!!! AWESOME MAN!!
    I will give it a try right away!!! Will let you know how it turns out!!

    Thanks a billion!!

  5. #5
    Senior Member nihil's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2003
    Location
    United Kingdom: Bridlington
    Posts
    17,188
    Hi SawPer,

    Glad I was able to help. I was also looking at some generic "work around" ideas as well............you know "when all else fails......CHEAT "

    If you have a problem with mailmerge/mailing list type stuff, you need to be able to determine where it went wrong and re-run the job, just clear the "badmail" folder first.

    Where you are handling the mail from a lot of individuals in small quantities it is more tricky if you don't save the message.............you have to get the failure message back to the user so that they can resend.

    Please keep an eye on that folder..............they can fill up mighty quickly, and I am sure that you don't want the overhead of sending loads of genuine failed messages.

    In this respect it helps if you have interested parties maintaining the corporate and departmental directories/address books

    Good luck

  6. #6
    AO Ancient: Team Leader
    Join Date
    Oct 2002
    Posts
    5,197
    when all else fails......CHEAT
    LOL... that's my definition of hacking.....
    Don\'t SYN us.... We\'ll SYN you.....
    \"A nation that draws too broad a difference between its scholars and its warriors will have its thinking done by cowards, and its fighting done by fools.\" - Thucydides

  7. #7
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Apr 2004
    Posts
    157
    Actually, Yes! It "works"... hehe.. !
    BUT... the bad mail file names look like this: 000161335193103200500000053.BAD
    They are like a .txt files, and have both the original message, but starts with the mail failure message, which was delivered back to me...

    So to make this work, you have to strip out the first part in the file, so only the original message is left, then you can move it to the 'pickup' folder...

    Only problem is, I have a little over 2000 messages... yiieeehaaa.. heh!

    Have to figure out a script or something that does this automatically I guess... but at least there is a solution!!

    Thanks again!!

  8. #8
    Senior Member nihil's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2003
    Location
    United Kingdom: Bridlington
    Posts
    17,188
    Hi, SawPer,

    This is starting to get mildly interesting, I haven't done one of "these" for a while, and "the flavour is starting to come back to me"

    Firstly, is this an ongoing situation that you have, or is it contingency planning? (I am after timescales)

    Secondly, I would like some test data..............I will send you a PM with an e-mail address that will fail, and one that will work. Please send me three identical messages to the "fail address" ..............err... testing, testing, testing, or something like that.

    Why do I want three?....................first record, last record and main file processing testing of course .............hey I was brought up to be a gentleman, it's just my folks can't figure out what went wrong since!

    Then you send me what you get back to the "working" e-mail and I will see if I can't develop a decent data cleansing algorithm for you.

    Up to you old chap.............hell you are a Texican, and we did send Col. William Broughton Travis to help you out at the Alamo, so I suppose a bit of IT support further down the line is in order

    Cheers


    EDIT: PM has now been sent

  9. #9
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Apr 2004
    Posts
    157
    Nihil,

    Did like you said, sent 3 emails to your "fake" address, and one last one to your real address.
    Now I guess I just have to wait for the 3 "fake" ones to time out, so they end up in the 'badmail' folder...

    Thanks a bunch for your help!!!

    ps. NO, I hope this is not gonna happen again.. hehe! One little misconfiguration caused all these emails to not be able to go out. But now it's fixed, and hopefully will stay so.. hehe!

    Oh, and actually I'm a Viking (Swede), who migrated to US..hehe!
    Hope you will still help me!?!

  10. #10
    Senior Member nihil's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2003
    Location
    United Kingdom: Bridlington
    Posts
    17,188
    Hi SawPer,

    That is weird......................they all came through, so you must have some sort of address correction software running?, or you just forwarded the failures individually?

    OK you need to send three to some sort of invented address that will not work, collect the failure records and send them to me as a single file as they appear in your system, so that I can sort out an algorithm for you.............I need to see the failed records, in your system's format, in order to work out how to split the message from the failure notification.

    Ack phtt!.............these computers are getting too clever for me

    Ist Svensk?.........................actually we are more Danish and Norwegian round here............when Harald Hadrada, King of Norway came to lay claim to the English throne in 1066, he sailed up the River Ouse, to meet Siward, Earl of Escrick..............the top man up here, a Viking, and provider of around half of Harald's army............local residents

    I was born and raised in York, it is the county town of Yorkshire...............the name comes from Yorvick...............a Viking name, because Vikings had settled here.............my wife was born in Limerick, on the west coast of Ireland, another Viking settlement...............

    People have this view of Vikings as raiders, plunderers and so on, actually they were colonists and settlers in the right environment.

    Try get me the three failed transmissions

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •