Contents
Overview
If SMTP-based FaxMaker notification emails (for example, transmission reports/eFax notifications) stop arriving and only resume after restarting FaxMaker services, you may want a dedicated alert when SMTP delivery fails. GFI FaxMaker does not provide a built-in “SMTP delivery failure alert” for notification emails because it relies on the same SMTP path to send email-based alerts.
The recommended approach is to implement external monitoring that detects SMTP upload failures by watching FaxMaker’s undeliverable queue, SMTP upload log, and Windows service/queue health.
<supportagent>
Agent Notes
Investigation Summary:
Confirmed expected FaxMaker behavior and available monitoring points for SMTP notification delivery failures. No live environment diagnostics were performed (no customer logs were reviewed and no commands/queries were run). Guidance is based on known FaxMaker behavior and published documentation for log/queue locations and retry behavior.
Findings:
- FaxMaker cannot reliably email an alert about SMTP failure if SMTP is the failing dependency (it uses the same SMTP path for notifications).
- Failed SMTP uploads are recorded in
C:\Program Files (x86)\GFI\FaxMaker\logs\smtpin.fmlogger.txt. - Messages rejected/unaccepted by the mail server are moved to
C:\Program Files (x86)\GFI\FaxMaker\in\undeliverableand retried on a schedule (noted as approximately every 5 minutes). - Notification delivery is impacted by service health; monitor Windows services
GFI FaxMaker FaxServerandGFI FaxMaker Message Transfer Agent, and review queue/service state in FaxMaker Monitor.
Escalation: None
Outcome: Guidance was acknowledged and closure was requested.
</supportagent>
Key Information
- No built-in SMTP-failure alert for notifications: FaxMaker does not provide a separate alert that triggers specifically when SMTP delivery of notification emails fails, because SMTP is the dependency used to send those emails.
-
Monitor the undeliverable queue folder:
- Path:
C:\Program Files (x86)\GFI\FaxMaker\in\undeliverable - Recommended trigger: alert when the folder remains non-empty longer than a threshold (for example, 10–15 minutes), rather than on the first file.
- Reason: items here represent messages FaxMaker is retrying because the mail server did not accept them (retries noted as approximately every 5 minutes).
- Path:
-
Monitor the SMTP upload failure log:
- Path:
C:\Program Files (x86)\GFI\FaxMaker\logs\smtpin.fmlogger.txt - Recommended trigger: alert on newly written lines that indicate failed SMTP upload attempts (pattern matching depends on your environment/log content).
- Path:
-
Monitor Windows services and queue health:
- Services to monitor:
GFI FaxMaker FaxServerGFI FaxMaker Message Transfer Agent
- Use FaxMaker Monitor to observe service status and queued items, and incorporate those signals into operational monitoring where possible.
- Services to monitor:
- Optional scripting (no RMM/SIEM): Use Windows Task Scheduler to run a PowerShell script every 5–15 minutes that checks the undeliverable folder and sends an alert using your organization’s normal email method (i.e., not via FaxMaker).
Optional: Example PowerShell check (adjust placeholders)
$undeliverablePath = "C:\Program Files (x86)\GFI\FaxMaker\in\undeliverable"
$maxAgeMinutes = 10
$files = Get-ChildItem $undeliverablePath -File |
Where-Object { $_.LastWriteTime -lt (Get-Date).AddMinutes(-$maxAgeMinutes) }
if ($files.Count -gt 0) {
$body = "There are $($files.Count) queued notification emails older than $maxAgeMinutes minutes on server $env:COMPUTERNAME."
Send-MailMessage -To "fax-admin@your_domain.com" -From "fax-monitor@your_domain.com" `
-SmtpServer "smtp.your_domain.com" -Subject "Alert: FaxMaker undeliverable queue" -Body $body
}
Verification checklist
- Confirm alerts trigger when:
- files remain in
...\in\undeliverablebeyond your threshold, and/or - new SMTP upload failures are written to
smtpin.fmlogger.txt, and/or - the FaxMaker services stop.
- files remain in
- After SMTP is restored, confirm the undeliverable queue drains and notifications resume normally.
- If notifications repeatedly stop until services are restarted, or the undeliverable queue grows continuously despite SMTP being available, collect relevant log excerpts and timestamps and request deeper investigation.
References
Frequently Asked Questions
- 1. Is there a built-in FaxMaker alert specifically for “SMTP notification delivery failed”?
- No. FaxMaker relies on SMTP to send email notifications, so it cannot reliably generate an email alert about SMTP failing. Use external monitoring of the undeliverable queue,
smtpin.fmlogger.txt, and service health. - 2. Where do I check for SMTP upload failures?
- Review/monitor:
C:\Program Files (x86)\GFI\FaxMaker\logs\smtpin.fmlogger.txt. - 3. Where are emails queued when the mail server rejects them?
- They are moved to:
C:\Program Files (x86)\GFI\FaxMaker\in\undeliverableand retried on a schedule (noted as approximately every 5 minutes in the guidance). - 4. What’s the best alert trigger to avoid false positives?
- Alert when the undeliverable folder is non-empty for longer than a time threshold (for example 10–15 minutes), rather than alerting on a single file immediately.
- 5. When does this require further support engagement?
- If SMTP is confirmed working but FaxMaker still accumulates items in
...\in\undeliverable, or notifications only resume after restarting FaxMaker services, collect logs and timestamps and request deeper investigation.
Priyanka Bhotika
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