SmarterMail problems and very poor support

[Stepster]

Back in May, I was having an issue with the way Panel was configuring domains when adding them to SmarterMail.

There are two major problems with the way it sets up accounts:

Problem 1:
When a domain is added, Panel turns off 'SMTP Authentication'. Even if SmarterMail is configured by default to always require SMTP Authentication and the option to require SMTP Authentication is selected in Panel, when the domain is added, PAnel explicitly requests that it is turned off for the added domain.

Problem 2:
There's no way of selecting which Outbound Gateway (which outbound IP) should be used. This can be specified when sending the instruction to SmarterMail using the API, but Panel does not manage this option at all.

I bought a support ticket to ask Tech Support about this. Frankly, it was a waste of time as 1st line technical are pretty useless. It took several days to push past them to reach someone that actually understood the problem.

The upshot of this was, Panel does not currently support the issue I have with Problem 2. The best I could achieve was 'I have submitted request to our Plesk Service Team with id #1663305'.

But problem 1 is arguably much more critical as it leaves the mail server vulnerable to abuse. I was told that the version of Panel I was using at the time (v11) did not support SmartMail v11 correctly at the time but "Known Issues and Limitation for supported SmarterMail 10.6 and above is described in KB articles http://kb.parallels.com/115180. The only solution at the time is just waiting for release of Parallels Plesk Panel 11.5 and upgrade the application. Meanwhile, it's needed to configure the features in SmarterMail 11.3.4898 manually. Thank you for understanding and collaboration."

In other words, I was told that if I upgraded to v11.5, it would support my version of SmarterMail and all would be good.

But it isn't. The problem is still there! Panel still incorrectly sets up the new domain on SmarterMail.

So now what do I do? My original support ticket #1656784 has now been closed.

It appears there is no way to submit a bug to Parallels about the problem without purchasing a support ticket costing another $74.99!!!

At the moment, I'm really shocked and disappointed at how poor the Technical Support is for this product. Even shelling out a lot of cash to gain access to a paid technician seems to result in getting nowhere.

Can anyone help me? Are there any decent 3rd party techs out there that offer a better service? Or better still is it possible to get decent tech support from Parallels? Do they actually care about their products doing what they say they do?

 

[AndreasY]

Feel for you

Back in May, I was having an issue with the way Panel was configuring domains when adding them to SmarterMail.

There are two major problems with the way it sets up accounts:

Problem 1:
When a domain is added, Panel turns off 'SMTP Authentication'. Even if SmarterMail is configured by default to always require SMTP Authentication and the option to require SMTP Authentication is selected in Panel, when the domain is added ............snip

I feel for you,

Yesterday I was fortunate enough to receive an email from Sergey Lystsev, Director of Program Management.

This came about because I reported a bug in Plesk 12.0.18 Update #3.

To my surprise I received a response from Sergey and answered his question, he then replied back and thanked me for my feedback.

Feeling a little surprised and not wanting to loose the opportunity, I pointed him to your post, explaining to him that 'Problem 1' is a critical issue and asking if he (or a member of support staff) could provide a work around for the issue or at least offer some guidance on where we can look to fix it for ourselves.

Well its been almost three days now, with absolutely no response.

To be honest with you its embarrassing, its embarrassing for such a huge company to just blank its users when it cant provide a solution to an issue.

Unfortunately, this seems to be the way of the world.......

The one thing it tells me is never to pay for a ticket.

Ive read too much in these forums to see that in many cases that Plesk are just milking their customers (you being one of many).

I have other issues (which is the reason I came to post) will start a new thread, just wanted to offer my 'condolences'

 

[MisterU]

...
Problem 1:
When a domain is added, Panel turns off 'SMTP Authentication'. Even if SmarterMail is configured by default to always require SMTP Authentication and the option to require SMTP Authentication is selected in Panel, when the domain is added, PAnel explicitly requests that it is turned off for the added domain.
...

Plesk always disables 'Require SMTP Authentication' parameter during domain creation.
In SmarterMail Web interface this can be found at Domains > domain.com > Edit > Technical:

Require SMTP Authentication: disabled

This parameter is actually working ONLY if 'Open relay' selected on server level, and does not affect other relay types such as 'Closed relay' and 'SMTP authorization is required relay'.
So there is no problem at all.

 

[AndreasY]

Thank you for your comment !

I am sure Stepster who posted July 31st 2013 will be happy !

I will test the above.

Thank you

 

[Stepster]

Plesk always disables 'Require SMTP Authentication' parameter during domain creation.
In SmarterMail Web interface this can be found at Domains > domain.com > Edit > Technical:

Require SMTP Authentication: disabled

This parameter is actually working ONLY if 'Open relay' selected on server level, and does not affect other relay types such as 'Closed relay' and 'SMTP authorization is required relay'.
So there is no problem at all.

The expression "too little too late" immediately springs to mind.

Paid for technical support is ****. No, I'm wrong. It's not that good. As a result, my reliance on Plesk Panel has been significantly reduced.

 

[AndreasY]

Where is the 'Open Relay' option found ??

This parameter is actually working ONLY if 'Open relay' selected on server level

Where is this option, 'Open relay' found ?

I cant see it here

Tools & Settings --> Server-Wide Mail Settings

Here I only have

Relay options
Relaying
authorization is required: Checked
SMTP: Checked

Is the 'Open Relay' you procure to, this

Use no relay restrictions for the following networks:

and we must add our server IP, localhost, 127.0.0.1 etc

???

Thanks

-- EDIT --

I found this

http://blog.serverbuddies.com/using-open-relay-option-for-your-mail-server-in-plesk/

But it is for Linux,

is this going to be another 'feature' that Windows Plesk users are denied ??

 

[AndreasY]

Plesk representative (Sergey Ugdyzhekov),

Would you please provide an answer to my question above.

Thanks

 

[AndreasY]

Plesk representative (Sergey Ugdyzhekov),

Would you please provide an answer to my question above.

Thanks

Please respond !

 

[MisterU]

AndreasY,

This option was not public released due its danger.