This document contains information about the MailEnable filtering engine and its configuration.

DETAIL

What if a message is not deleted?

If a criteria is matched to a message as it passes through the agent, it is not automatically deleted.  To stop a message being delivered after it has been matched to a criteria, there must be a delete action added as the last action in the filter list.  Remember that all criteria and actions will be completed in order of the list in the filter management screen.

Filter criteria do not seem to be working?

If a filter does not work, then check the following:

1. Ensure the criteria of the filter is correct and is picking up the message being matched to.
2. Make sure that filtering is enabled in the Administration Program, Servers->Localhost->Filters properties.

If the above is correct, then run the Mail Transfer Agent (MTA) in debug mode and watch a message go through the system, checking what criteria and actions occur.  The following command is entered into a command prompt:  c:\memta -debug   

Note: Stop the MTA before it is run in debug mode .

Are multiple criteria in a filter performed as an AND or OR?

If there are multiple criteria in a filter, they are cumulated with an OR. As long as one of the criteria is met, then the actions for the filter will be performed. For example, assume the following criteria are configured for a filter:

- Where the TO line contains people
- Where the CC line contains people
- Where the message has attachments

As long as either the To line matches, the CC line matches, or the message has attachments, the actions will be executed.

Where do filters fit in within the MailEnable message process?

Global filters are executed by the Mail Transfer Agent (MTA) service as it moves messages between queues. In the Enterprise version of MailEnable, the mailbox level filters are executed by the postoffice connector, before a message is delivered to a mailbox.

What is the Filter Overhead?

Every filter has it's own associated overhead or load.  The more filters that are configured, the longer it takes to move a message in or out of the server.   It is recommended to have no more than 20 filters configured, however, there is a hard coded limit of 100 filters.

How to track messages that are processed by the filter agent

To track messages that are processed by the filter agent, look in the activity log for the filter agent.  This feature needs to be enabled and this can be done under Administration Program, Servers->Localhost->Filters > MailEnable Message Filter properties

MORE INFORMATION

Troubleshooting Integrated Filtering: http://www.mailenable.com/kb/content/article.asp?ID=ME020386

Global/Mailbox Filtering - Troubleshooter: http://www.mailenable.com/kb/content/article.asp?ID=ME020356

How to implement message/spam filtering with MailEnable: http://www.mailenable.com/kb/content/article.asp?ID=ME020189