Viewing activity, info, and log windows

    You monitor mail server activity by viewing the Info, Activity, or Log windows.

    This section tells you how to view
      Network Info
    Summarizes your computer's network information
    Mail Server Activity
    Summarizes mail server status and current use
    Outgoing mail by host
    The Host List window lists all the domains to which mail has been sent or from which mail has been received, "approved hosts” entered by the mail administrator, and mail information by host
    SMTP Activity
    Current SMTP server mail connections and status
    Connected Users
    Names and addresses of users connected via IMAP or POP3
    Mail Logs
    Mail Server Log and Error Log


Viewing Network Info


    To see summary information about your computer's network configuration, use the Network Info window. Verifying information about your network connection is often the first step in solving mail-related problems.

  To view the Network Info window, follow these steps:
1 Open the Mail Admin program, if it's not already open.
2 Choose Show Network Info from the AppleShare IP Manager's Manager menu.
The Network Info window appears.
The Network Info window displays the DNS name for your computer and its IP address. It also displays your computer's Macintosh name and the name of the AppleTalk zone for the computer's default port. This information is often important when you are tracking down mail-related problems.


Monitoring Mail Server activity


    The Mail Server Activity window displays summary information about Mail Server activity.

  To view the Mail Server Activity window, follow these steps:
1 Open the Mail Admin program, if it's not already open.
Click the Open Mail Admin button in the AppleShare IP Manager. Enter your name and password in the Administer Mail Server dialog box, then click OK.
The Mail Admin program opens and displays the Mail Server Activity window.
2 The Mail Storage box displays the name of the volume on which the AppleShare IP Mail Database file resides and its size.
Note: The size of the mail database is always larger than zero K, even when it contains no messages. That's because it grows to accommodate new messages but does not contract when messages are deleted.
The Status box displays information about current Mail Server Activity.
IMPORTANT: Having the correct time and zone is important for the proper operation of the Mail Server. The Mail Server Activity window provides an easy way to open the Date & Time control panel, which you can use to set the date, time, and time zone. The Mail Server uses this information to time-stamp each message. Correct time stamps make it easier to troubleshoot mail problems. An incorrect time stamp may cause other mail servers to handle a message incorrectly.


Monitoring outgoing mail by host


    You can monitor each domain to which mail has been sent or from which mail has been received in the Host List window. You can also stop the Mail Server from trying to deliver a message that is undeliverable in this window, and view MX List, network connection, and message statistics.

  To view the Host List and outgoing mail information by host, follow these steps:
1 Open the Mail Admin program, if it's not already open.
2 Choose Show Host List from the Server menu.
The Host List appears.
The Host List lists each host to which mail has been sent or from which mail has been received, and shows information about mail messages for each host.
3 To connect to the host to send or retrieve messages, select a host in the list and click the Attempt Connection Now button at the top of the window.
The Attempt Connection Now button looks like this:
4 To view DNS or network statistics for a host, select a host in the Host List, then click the View Host Info button.
The Show Host Information button looks like this:
The selected host's Info window appears.
5 To view DNS information about this host, click the DNS tab.
The MX List information for the current host appears.
6 To view network or other statistics about this host, click the Statistics tab.
Mail and network connection statistics for the current host appear.
7 To see information about a particular message being sent to a host, select the host in the Host List window and click the View messages button.
The View Messages button looks like this:
The Message Information window appears.
The Message box of the Mail Item Status window displays the message's ID, size, sender, time sent, and the last time the Mail Server tried to send the message.
The "Number of" box shows delivery information about this message.
• Recipients: The number of recipients for which this Mail Server is responsible. (The original mail message may have included other recipients for which delivery is the responsibility of another mail server.)
• Errors: The number of recipients for which the Mail Server cannot deliver the message. There are many reasons why the Mail Server may not be able to deliver a message. For information, see Troubleshooting the Mail Server. For information about increasing the number of concurrent connections, see Increasing concurrent connections.
• Waiting to be Delivered: The number of recipients for whom the Mail Server is still attempting to deliver the message.
• Delivery Completed: The number of recipients for which the Mail Server has delivered the message.
8 Click OK.
If you want to stop the Mail Server from trying to deliver a message to this host, select the message and click the Stop Delivery button at the top of the Message Information window.
A dialog box appears.
9 To notify the sender of the message that the message cannot be delivered, click the "Notify sender of Stop Delivery” checkbox so that an X appears.
The Mail Server will send mail to the sender indicating that the message could not be delivered.
10
Click the Stop Delivery button.
The Mail Server stops trying to send the message and removes it from the Messages window.


Monitoring SMTP Activity


    You can monitor hosts currently connected to the SMTP server for incoming or outgoing mail in the SMTP Activity window.

  To view the SMTP Activity window, follow these steps:
1 Open the Mail Admin program, if it's not already open.
Click the Open Mail Admin button in the AppleShare IP Manager. Enter your name and password in the Administer Mail Server dialog box, then click OK.
The Mail Admin program opens.
2
Choose Show SMTP Activity from the Server menu.
The SMTP Activity window appears. It shows:
• hosts connected to the SMTP server to send or receive mail
• IP addresses for each host
• the time hosts have been connected
• the status of the connection
• the number of incoming and outgoing messages
Note: To resort the items in the list, click any column heading.


Monitoring connected users


    You can monitor users who are connected connected to the server via POP3 and IMAP in the Connected Users window. You can also disconnect a user from the server in this window.

  To view the Connected Users window, follow these steps:
1 Open the Mail Admin program, if it's not already open.
Click the Open Mail Admin button in the AppleShare IP Manager. Enter your name and password in the Administer Mail Server dialog box, then click OK.
The Mail Admin program opens
2 Choose Show Connected Users from the Server menu.
The Connected Users window appears, and shows:
• the user's name
• the user's IP address
• the type of network connection being used to connect
• the length of time a user has been connected
• the number of users connected via POP and IMAP
3 To resort the items in the list, click any column heading.
4 To disconnect a user from the server, select the user in the list and click the Disconnect Now button.
The Disconnect Now button looks like this:


Viewing the Mail Logs


    The Mail Server maintains two logs:
    • The Server log contains information about normal operations, such as when the Mail Server started and stopped.
    • The Error log contains information about error conditions, such as failure to deliver mail because mail is not enabled for a user.

    Note: The logs are text files located in the AppleShare IP Preferences folder inside the Preferences folder inside the System Folder on your Mail Server's startup disk. You can view these files from within the Mail Admin program, as described below, or by double-clicking the file in the Preferences folder.

  To view the Mail Server Log or the Error Log, follow these steps:
1 Open the Mail Admin program, if it's not already open.
Click the Open Mail Admin button in the AppleShare IP Manager. Enter your name and password in the Administer Mail Server dialog box, then click OK.
The Mail Admin program opens.
2 Choose Show Mail Server Log or Show Mail Error Log from the Server menu.
A window for the log appears.
3
If you want to save the log in a separate file, click the Save Log button in the upper-left corner of the window.
A dialog box appears. Use the dialog box to locate the folder in which you want to save the file and the file's name.
4
If you want to print the log, click the Print button.
5
If you want to clear all the entries from the log, click the Clear Log button.

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