Why JEMHC Message Sources and Mail Handlers block

Summary

When JEMHC Message Sources and Mail Handlers stop working it’s because something is preventing normal operation that is not recoverable by the app, some degree of manual intervention is required. This guide will cover common cases of these problems.

Support Scope

Of course, we are here to help you get mail running smoothly but our support to you is primarily limited to the use of the JEMHC application, we cannot advise on specifics relating to a particular mail host, we provide information for 3rd party systems on a best endeavours basis.

Enabling a blocked Source/Outbound Connection

If a Mail Source connection or Message Outbound connection goes offline, the connection will be retried using the following configuration:

  • If the connection has been offline for less than 7 days, the connection will be retried at least every 30 minutes. This allows intermittent disconnections to be resolved without manual intervention.

  • If the connection has been offline for over 7 days, the connection will be retried once daily.

If your connection does not get automatically re-enabled, please continue reading to diagnose why the connection is still offline.

Be aware of firewall issues

If you have a firewall, it is possible that the JEMHC System needs to be allowed to communicate with your mail host.

IP addresses used by the app

Enabling a blocked Mail Handler

Message Handlers can become blocked/disabled by JEMHC or manually removed from the scheduler.

Re-enabling is done by Polling the mailbox, by doing this we are effectively ‘running’ the Mail Handler (to retrieve mail):

A successful execution that did not result in a Blocked outcome would show as:

Any other outcome means further work is needed.

Enabling a Mail Handler to be scheduled for automated execution

Edit the Mail Handler:

Ensure that scheduling is enabled:

How to Access JEMHC

As a Jira Administrator in your instance, JEMHC is found through:

  • Apps > JEMHCloud

Who gets Notifications about Sources/Handlers blocking

As your mail connection may be unusable, notifications about offline Message Sources and Mail Handlers are sent by JEMHC:

From: JEMHC <noreply@thepluginpeople.com>

The recipients of these system level notifications are defined by the JEMHC Admin through:

  • JEMHC > Licensing > System Notifications

Here you can set specific email addresses and pick users to be notified (they will also receive usage alerts and monthly usage summaries):

Seeing the System Status

A high level view is available that will highlight where the problems are:

  • JEMHC > Licensing > System Status

Within the “Inbound Message” the Message Source and Mail Handlers can be found. Access to the related configuration, and an indication of current status is available from this view.

Message Source is offline

Scenarios

Password expired or lack of authorization

Your mail host may require periodic password change and/or interactive authentication. See ‘enabling’ to verify. You need to engage with your service provider/admins to solve this.

No default SMTP server defined

If JEMHC cannot create an issue from an email, in order to remove the mail from the queue (to stop re-processing and allow the rest of the queue to be processed) JEMHC will ‘forward’ the full mail for review to the Profile > Forward User Email Addresses. It does this through your default SMTP server. If you do not have one, JEMHC will not be able to ‘forward’ the mail and it will remain ‘unread’ with the Inbound Mail Source made offline.

To understand why a mail was not processed, use the “View Report” action from JEMHC > Auditing > Inbound Messages > item:

 

Enabling a blocked Message Source

Re-enabling is done through the circled Play action:

  • JEMHC > Messaging > Message Sources

A successful outcome validating authentication would be as shown below:

If there is a different outcome, check the logs in the window shown, typically there will be an connection/authentication/authorization problem.

We will of course be here to help guide you in the right direction but our support is limited to the use

Message Handler is offline

Scenarios

Mail is found that was seen before and not processed / removed from the mailbox

When JEMHC Mail Handlers process a message, we check if that message was processed already. If we have seen it before, re-processing that mail will likely result in the mail still being left in the mailbox and be repeatedly processed with the only other outcome being your Plan capacity being reduced to zero over time. JEMHC blocks the handler because some kind of manual intervention is required.

Typical Causes

Catch Email Address mismatch

Your Profile > Catch Email Addresses list doesn’t find a match for the incoming mail addressees.

If your profile’s Non-catch Email Action is Ignore, the mail will be left in the mailbox. If the mail is still there when JEMHCloud next polls the mailbox, it will detect the repeated processing and take the handler offline again.

If your Profile > Non-catch Email Action is Forward but you do not have a default SMTP configuration, then the mail must be left in the mailbox. Failure of this mail to be removed before the next scheduled run of JEMHC will detect the processing of the same mail and take the handler offline again.

Check the JEMHC > Auditing > Inbound Messages, use “View Report” action to see what addresses your Profile expects, and what the mail has. Decide what to do next!