Here at OrcsWeb, when we’re not resolving issues, we’re looking ahead to help prevent them; that’s just the way we think Windows cloud hosting should look. In the following how-to, our Senior Support Specialist, Rick Barber, does just that by showing you how to easily enable SMTP server logging before you find yourself needing to troubleshoot mail issues.

If you've ever had an email disappear into the black hole of cyberspace, you know one helpful place to look is in the Simple Mail Transport Protocol (SMTP) logs. I know, you're beyond excited to be able to dig into the raw logs and track down the problem. That is, until you look for the log files and find the folder...empty!

This is a common occurrence, because many people don't realize that the default installation of Microsoft SMTP server has logging turned off. I will guide you through setting it up so that logs are being created and filled with exciting information before you actually need them.

In Internet Information Services 6 (IIS6) and earlier, SMTP server was easily found in IIS manager. If you are running IIS 7 and later, you can find it in IIS 6.0 Manager. Now that you have found it, right click the SMTP server and choose 'Properties.' You will be greeted with a dialogue box similar to this:

Near the bottom of the window you will notice the empty check box indicating that there is no logging going on. Checking that box will magically bring light to the drop-down box, allowing you to chose the log format. I prefer to keep it at the default setting although there are other options that you can explore.

So we're all done, right? Not so fast! Click on the 'Properties...' button and you will see that enabling logging isn't enough. While a log file will now be created, there will be no information in it. Click on the 'Advanced' tab and you will see what I'm talking about. Right now, your SMTP logs will have as much detail as a painting of an albino cow in an arctic blizzard.

Through creative clicking techniques, you will want to select all the check boxes. Feel free to click away, ensuring that you check each box. Don't be afraid of information overload, as an expert Windows cloud hosting provider, we are well versed in information overload; take our word for it. You seldom know what you need before an issue happens, but it never fails that you didn't collect enough information, which is always obvious after the fact. You should note that the additional logging fields that we checked will add minimal size to your logs and minimal overhead to the server unless you are doing massive mailings. If that is the case, you would be better served exploring options for SMTP server solutions that are created specifically for very large mailings, or you may want to keep a very low profile.

Now, you're set to collect all the available information in your SMTP logs to help you troubleshoot mail issues.

If you'd like to know more about how our Webteam can help manage your Windows cloud server hosting needs, check out Complete Care Managed Services (CCMS), give us a call at 1-888-313-9421, or shoot us an email at sales@orcsweb.com. We would love to hear from you.