Piping vs POP3

[jeffshead]

Hello Everyone,

I'm stuck and don't know if I should use piping or POP3?

I'm not grasping this whole piping thing so I'm not sure how to set everything up.

My server is WinXP/Apache. I use vhosts.

The same box also runs my e-mail server which has the same domain name as one of my sites.

Should I still install cygwin and set up piping or should I use POP3?

I don't know anything (obviously) about Unix/Linux. Does exim act as an email server? Since I already have an email server set up, will piping work?

Someone please enlighten me.

[supportskins]

If you are on a Windows server I suggest you use POP3

[craigbrass]

Generally, piping is best if you receive a low volume of emails as it only fires the system when a mail comes on. If you receive a high volume, your server could be getting hammered by piping every few seconds and this is where POP / IMAP fetching is better as it means it fetches a batch once every 10 minutes.

[jeffshead]

Originally Posted by supportskins

If you are on a Windows server I suggest you use POP3

Originally Posted by craigbrass

Generally, piping is best if you receive a low volume of emails as it only fires the system when a mail comes on. If you receive a high volume, your server could be getting hammered by piping every few seconds and this is where POP / IMAP fetching is better as it means it fetches a batch once every 10 minutes.

Thank you

I tried POP, IMAP and piping. I can't get any of them to work. I installed cygwin and wget. Since I decided to go with POP/IMAP, I reimaged the server to the time before I installed cygwin. Now I have wget set up and Kayako to use POP. I'm stumped! I cannot get it to work and I don't know what to look for. When a client replies to a ticket via email, it is not picked up by Kayako.

I also took a look in my email server log and find replies from the staff are going through with the domain, but not the mailbox. Below is an excerpt from the email log. I changed the domain to "mysite" and the name of the computer/server to "computerName" since this post is viewable by anyone. Also, customerservice@mysite.com is what I have specified in my php.ini as the "send_mail from:" address.

 
2008-06-07 02:33:28 <TRACE-2>: SmtpReceiver: 000a: Connection from remote.
2008-06-07 02:33:28 <TRACE-3>: SmtpReceiver: 000a: Message for node '' from address '127.0.0.1', result: 1
2008-06-07 02:33:28 <TRACE-3>: SmtpReceiver: 000a: Node not on Blocked IP list
2008-06-07 02:33:28 <TRACE-3>: SmtpReceiver: 000a: Address in authentication zone 'Default'.
2008-06-07 02:33:28 <TRACE-2>: SmtpReceiver: 000a: Greeting sent.
2008-06-07 02:33:28 <WARNG-1>: SmtpReceiver: 000a: Node name of 'mysite.com' is different than reported name of 'computerName'. Assuming found name over reported name.
2008-06-07 02:33:28 <TRACE-2>: SmtpReceiver: 000a: HELO mysite.com
2008-06-07 02:33:28 <TRACE-2>: SmtpReceiver: 000a: MAIL FROM: <customerservice@mysite.com>
2008-06-07 02:33:28 <TRACE-3>: SmtpReceiver: 000a: Message for node 'mysite.com' from address '127.0.0.1', result: 1
2008-06-07 02:33:28 <TRACE-2>: SmtpReceiver: 000a: RCPT TO: <account1@mysite.com>
2008-06-07 02:33:28 <TRACE-3>: SmtpReceiver: 000a: Message for node '' from address '127.0.0.1', result: 1
2008-06-07 02:33:28 <TRACE-2>: SmtpReceiver: 000a: RCPT TO: <@mysite.com>
2008-06-07 02:33:28 <TRACE-2>: SmtpReceiver: 000a: Mailbox not available.
2008-06-07 02:33:28 <TRACE-2>: SmtpReceiver: 000a: QUIT

If I use the Kayako Staff panel to reply to a ticket and put an address in the "Cc" field, the message addressed to the "Cc" goes through.

I'm not sure how to check if wget is working properly. I know the scheduled task for wget is working because I see the black command box flash on the server's screen at regular intervals.

[supportskins]

Try running the URL

http://www.yourdomain.com/support/cron/index.php?_t=parser

in the browser and check what message it displays.

[jeffshead]

Originally Posted by supportskins

Try running the URL

http://www.yourdomain.com/support/cron/index.php?_t=parser

in the browser and check what message it displays.

Thanks.

I get the following:

Total Messages in Inbox: 0
0 Total Messages
Rejected Messages: 0
Accepted Messages: 0

[jeffshead]

Originally Posted by jeffshead

Thanks.

I get the following:

Total Messages in Inbox: 0
0 Total Messages
Rejected Messages: 0
Accepted Messages: 0

I fixed one part of the problem. Dummy Me, forgot to change the support@mysite.com POP3 email account in Outlook so it leaves a copy of the message on the server.

Now if I go to URL http://www.mysite.com/support/cron/index.php?_t=parser it does add the email to the ticket, but only when I manually visit the URL above.

Where do I begin troubleshooting for the scheduled task and/or wget?

[Dewak]

Hi jeffshead,

You are almost done, I recommend you to download the Kayako manual (Redirecting) and take a look at page 83. There you will see a detailed step by step instructions to create to create the scheduled task

[jeffshead]

Originally Posted by Dewak

Hi jeffshead,

You are almost done, I recommend you to download the Kayako manual (Redirecting) and take a look at page 83. There you will see a detailed step by step instructions to create to create the scheduled task

Thanks

Already did that. I've also been testing the tasks in this thread:

wget Dos Window Popup Problem

Still no luck

[jeffshead]

Originally Posted by jeffshead

Thanks

Already did that. I've also been testing the tasks in this thread:

wget Dos Window Popup Problem

Still no luck

OK, I got it to work, but I get a DOS window flashing everytime the task is run. Is there a way to stop the DOS window from appearing?

This is what I have in my scheduled task:

Run: C:\wget\wget.exe -O nul -a wgetLog "http://www.mysite.com/support/cron/index.php?_t=parser"

Start in: C:\wget

p.s. It does not work without adding "?_t=parser" to the end of the run statement. This is not mentioned in the manual.

[supportskins]

What is the message the task scheduler records after it runs wget - 0x0 or 0x1

[jeffshead]

Originally Posted by supportskins

What is the message the task scheduler records after it runs wget - 0x0 or 0x1

It is 0x0.

[supportskins]

It suggest the execution is alright yet mails are not retrieved in the software?

[jeffshead]

Originally Posted by supportskins

It suggest the execution is alright yet mails are not retrieved in the software?

Originally Posted by jeffshead

OK, I got it to work, but I get a DOS window flashing everytime the task is run. Is there a way to stop the DOS window from appearing?

The emails are retrieved by the software now.

I still have two concerns:

1. The DOS window flashes on the server's screen everytime the scheduled task is run. Is there a way to stop this?

2. I was hoping to use a local path (c:\public\vhosts\mysite.com\support\cron\index.ph p?_t=parseror) or a SSL URL (https://www.mysite.com/support/cron/index.php?_t=parser) for security. Is this possible or is there no security risk?

I tried many different scenarios and posted them here:
wget Dos Window Popup Problem

Is it possible to use a local path, SSL or at least get rid of the DOS window issue?


"https://www.mysite.com/support/cron/index.php?_t=parser" does work when accessing via a web browser. Wget does not like it even when using "--no-check-certificate".

[John Haugeland]

1. The DOS window flashes on the server's screen everytime the scheduled task is run. Is there a way to stop this?

Yes. The mechanism is different for different versions of windows. This works for XP and Vista:
Background Batch File | Robert Accettura’s Fun With Wordage

For windows 2k3, uncheck the box that says "Allow service to interact with desktop".

For other versions of windows, google background scheduled-task.

Is this possible or is there no security risk?

There is no security risk. You can, actually, load it by https, but there's really no point. The URL for the queue trigger is fixed, well known and public. All an attacker could do by scrubbing your queue URL is find out how many email boxes you were scanning (not what their addresses are) as well as how many of them were failing.

For failing mailboxes, the mailserver's canonical address is exposed, but still not the account's address.