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Round-Trip E-Mail Tests

The round-trip e-mail test monitors the amount of time required to send an e-mail through SMTP or MAPI to a POP3, IMAP, or MAPI e-mail system and download the message from that server.

Options and Arguments

Round-trip e-mail tests require the following specific options and arguments:

• Mail Send Type. The Roundtrip Email Test supports SMTP and MAPI protocols. Select one. The fields that appear below this option reflect the type of protocol you select.
• SMTP|MAPI Server. The hostname of the SMTP or MAPI mail server, where the e-mail originates.

  Note: IPv6 addresses can be used, but they must be embedded in brackets, for example [0aff::230:6eff:fe4b:51db]:8080. Here 0aff::230:6eff:fe4b:51db represents the IPv6 address and 8080 represents the port number.

• SMTP Port. (Optional.) The port on which the SMTP service is running. The default is 25.
• SMTP|MAPI Mail Recipient. The name of the account to which the test sends an e-mail.
• SMTP|MAPI Mail Body Size. (Optional.) The size of the test message to send. The default is 4096 bytes.
• Sender Hostname. (SMTP only. Optional.) Specify the hostname of the sender (for example, service_availability@hostname). The default is the agent hostname.

  Note: As of Service Availability r2.1 IPv6 addresses can be used, but they must be embedded in brackets, for example [0aff::230:6eff:fe4b:51db]:8080. Here 0aff::230:6eff:fe4b:51db represents the IPv6 address and 8080 represents the port number.

• SNMP|MAPI User Name. (Optional for SMTP.) A valid user name for the test mail account that is sending the e-mail. Do not use an active mailbox; create a test account instead so that valid email messages are not deleted in the process of removing test email messages.
• SNMP|MAPI Password. A valid password for the test user account. SRM stores the password in encrypted form. (Optional for SMTP.)
• User Domain. (MAPI test only.) The domain on which the user account that is sending the e-mail exists.
• Use SSL/TLS. (SMTP only.) If the SMTP Server requires SSL/TLS authentication, select this checkbox option to enable Secure Sockets Layer/Transport Layer Security.
• Mail Retrieval Type. The type of mail service to use to retrieve the e-mail. Select one of the following:
  • POP3.
  • IMAP.
  • MAPI.

    Note: The MAPI test requires the Extended MAPI API. MAPI tests, therefore, must originate from a Windows server that is running either Microsoft Exchange or Microsoft Outlook (not Outlook Express. Outlook Express does not include the correct API for this test).

• POP3|IMAP|MAPI Server. The hostname of the server to which the mail is sent.

  Note: IPv6 addresses can be used, but they must be embedded in brackets, for example [0aff::230:6eff:fe4b:51db]:8080. Here 0aff::230:6eff:fe4b:51db represents the IPv6 address and 8080 represents the port number.

• POP3|IMAP Port. (Optional.) The port on which the mail service is running. Defaults are 110 for POP3 and 143 for IMAP.
• User Name. A valid user name for the test mail account that is receiving the e-mail. Do not use an active mailbox; create a test account instead.
• Password. A valid password for the test user account. SRM stores the password in encrypted form.
• User Domain. (MAPI test only) The domain on which the user account that is receiving the e-mail exists.
• Poll Interval. The interval at which to check the recipient e-mail account for messages. The default is 500 ms.

Note: Run the round-trip e-mail test for a minimum of 5 minutes with one sample at each interval.

Specify these options and arguments when you create or modify tests.

This test matches e-mails by their title and time/date stamp. It creates and deletes a user profile each time it runs, and it always deletes the e-mail and then logs off at the end of the test.

Example

Use this example to create a test that monitors the amount of time required to send a test e-mail of 2000 bytes from the mail server at server.mydomain to an account (you@yourdomain.com) on the mail server server.yourdomain. The test waits up to 5 seconds for a successful response, downloads the message using POP3, and calculates response time and availability statistics over the last 86400 seconds (1 day).

To create a new test in a policy

1. Click + (New) on the Test Monitors toolbar.

   The New test pane appears.

2. From the Test Type list, select Round Trip Email.
3. In the Description field, specify RTE_SMTP_POP_Test.
4. In the Test Name field, specify Roundtrip Test.
5. In the Test Interval field, specify 300.
6. In the Test Timeout field, specify 5.
7. In the Samples Per Interval field, specify 1.
8. In the Statistics Window field, specify 86400.
9. In the Send Mail Type=SMTP field, specify SMTP.
10. In the SMTP Server field, enter server.mydomain.com.
11. In the SMTP Port field, accept the default of 25.
12. In the Mail Recipient field, specify you@yourdomain.com.
13. In the Sender Hostname field, specify Gold.
14. In the User Name field, specify SMTPuser.
15. In the Password field, specify SMTPpassword.
16. In the Use SSL/TLS field, click the checkbox.
17. In the Mail Body Size field, specify 2000.
18. In the Mail Retrieval Type field, select POP3.
19. In the POP3 Server field, specify server.yourdomain.com.
20. In the POP3 Port field, accept the default of 110.
21. In the User Name field, enter Mailuser.
22. In the Password field, enter Mail123.
23. In the Check Interval field, accept the default of 500 ms.
24. Accept defaults for all other fields.
25. Click Save Test.

When you commit your changes, SRM adds an entry similar to the following to the svcrsp.cf file:

{ 
index=70 
type=rtemail
desc="RTE_SMTP_POP_Test" 
dest="server.mydomain.com:25" 
username="RTUser" 
encoded=yes 
password="zrvr8tx" 
args="send_Proto=SMTP&to=you@yourdomain.com&size=2000&shost=gold& SMTP_SSL=yes&send_user=SMTPuser&send_pass=SMTPpassword&get_Proto=POP& source=server.yourdomain.com:110&check=500" 
interval=300 
samples=1 
timeout=5 
window=86400 
tos=0 
limit=0 
status=active 
name="Roundtrip Test"
class=""
context=""
flags="1"
loglevel=1
}

For information about errors you may encounter when running round-trip email tests, see any of the following:

• IMAP, MAPI, and POP3 Test Error Codes
• SMTP Test Error Codes