How to determine which mail server rule is filtering mail

Just like most of us, as a System Administrator I have found great uses for the Domino 6 mail server rules section now located in the configuration document.

Over time, I’ve constructed quite a large number of these server mail rules so as to block some “conditions” (i.e. objectionable language and product advertisement SPAM).

Recently, we noticed that a few false positives are being generated when I use a popular fax to email service. There is some wording in the emails sent to my users by this service that is being snagged by one of my many server mail rules, and being redirected to a catch all database that I’ve created (for just this reason).

Instead of selecting the “don’t accept this message” option, I’ve normally selected “move to this database” option, so we’re not losing emails or (in this cases) faxes, and I have a way to retrive them.

But here’s my question. Is there a way to determine which one of my 25+ server Mail Rules it is that is filtering out these particular emails from my fax service?

I’ve tried turning up the Log Mailrouting notes.ini variable to 40. I was hoping that in this level of detaile, I might be able to use the server’s Notes Log to determine what condition (word or phrase) it is that is triggering one of my Mail Rule filters or at least which Mail Rule is being triggerred.

But no luck with that.

Any ideas? When you only have a few mail server rules or Notes client mail rules, it’s not too difficult to determine what’s causing false positives.

But as time goes by, and these rules grow in number and detail so as to adapt to new SPAM threats, the ability to zero in on the problematic “condition” is a much needed tool.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Subject: How to determine which mail server rule is filtering mail

Hi BillYou are right and it is a pitty that there is no way of configuring any rules to add a message or marker to the mail that meets the rule’s condition. That would be very useful for sys admins, in many ways.

In your case I’d suggest you do a ‘binary’ search which “on average” is the quickest way of searching through a list for a random condition. Therefore what you do is (at a quite time or on a test system):

1- copy an email with a false positive

2- turn off the top half of your rules that are ‘on’ at present

3- send the copy email

4- if it gets snagged the rule you are after is in the half that is ‘ON’. Go to step 2. If it gets through, then obviously the problem is in the rules that are ‘off’ … turn those ‘on’ and turn the ones that are ‘on’ to ‘off’. Go to step 2.

If you have:

512 rules the above will take 9 tries

256 rules the above will take 8 tries

128 rules …7 tries

and so on.

Good luck

Bizhan