Email watch job doesn't work when 24x7 run as service

I am running 24x7 as a service on Windows. When I try to set up an "email watch job" (starts when email arrives) it fails to start with an error in the log that says it failed to login to the email account. When 24x7 runs as an application on the same server, the job "works" fine (although I'm having trouble getting it to properly recognize the email content). The service for 24x7 is running under the same user acocunt that I used when I ran it as an application. Any ideas?

Obviously the account doesn't have sufficient permissions to get out of the box when processes are run in service mode or the current email interface not support service mode. Service applications are very restricted in terms of what they can do.

Please ensure the scheduler is configured to use SMTP email interface, not MAPI. MAPI cannot be used with services. See Tools/Options menu in 24cx7; General tab for more info.

Using SMTP. Still can't figure out why account can't log in to email. Do you have a list of local security policy settings that are needed to get the service account to log in via email?

Create a simple job using ping command for your email server. Run that job from the service and see if it can reach your email server. That would confirm whether the account running the service is not allowed to go outside of the box. You can also try referring to the server by IP address rather then domain based name.

An test job can be as simple as

cmd /C ping MY_SERVER > c:\ping.log
Let the job run and check what you get in c:\ping.log

Apologies, please disregard the previous post. I didn't pay enough attention to the topic subject.

Here is the explanation:
In 24x7 Windows Edition, SMTP protocol is only used for sending emails. SMTP is a one way protocol by definition, used for sending outgoing emails only. 24x7 Windows Edition relies on MAPI and your local email program for checking incoming emails in email-watch jobs. In service mode, MAPI cannot be used for that purpose. To check for incoming emails in that mode POP3 protocol must be used which 24x7 Windows Edition doesn't support.

There are 3 solutions for this issue
1. Don't run it as a service
2 or switch to 24x7 Multi-platform Edition, which supports POP3 and can watch for incoming emails in service mode.
3. or use 24x7 Event Server, which also implements POP3 and runs in service mode.

Can I revive this old topic again?

I am still only partly successful with email watch jobs.

1.
The scheduler options are set to SMTP.
The email watch job is configured with a MAPI profile.
I send the email to the watched account.
I see 24x7 check the email. (Outlook pops up the annoying a program is trying to access email, I click Yes.)
The watched job never starts.

2.
I change the scheduler options to use MAPI.
I send the email to the watched account.
I see 24x7 check the email. (Same annoying Outlook popup.)
The watched job runs.

Should I assume that in order for email watch jobs to work, the scheduler options must be set to MAPI? Or is something else wrong?

In case #1 the Outlook popup comes up not when you send email, but when you check it. With SMTP option Outlook is not used for sending emails. In case #2 Outlook is used for both sending and receiving, and the popup comes up when you both check and send email. Theoretically you can disable security options in Outlook and stop it from displaying interactive warnings (see Microsoft KB documents for Outlook security topics)

The most likely reason why it doesn’t find your email - you set the job to watch for exact subject and text, not using wildcards. In fact, in most cases the email text contains more characters than you can see in the email client, for example, end of line characters, spaces, formatting, etc.. all of which are part of the checked text and required to be specified for exact match (you can see them in the message source).

I suggest to start with * wildcard as the message text to watch for in job properties, and if that works, add other symbols before this wildcard to tighten the screws and trigger email jobs for certain incoming emails only.

Please let us know if that works for you.

Last edited by SysOp on Sat Mar 14, 2009 1:46 pm; edited 1 time in total

Okay. Got it working with the * wildcard for both subject and message body.

(Still working on the Outlook security issue...)

Thanks for your help.

Just in case, Microsoft has provided a way to customize the security settings of Outlook using special admin package:

See, Customizing the Outlook Security Features Administrative Package
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/orkXP/HA011364471033.aspx

The drawback is that you need to use this package to change settings after installation of each Outlook and MS Office update, including automatic security updates. A better approach is not to use MAPI and Outlook at all.. Such options are available in both 24x7 Scheduler Multi-platform Edition and 24x7 Event Server both of which can access your POP3 email directly (this includes Exchange and many other email servers).