26.2.8.1 Identify the Channels in the Message Path

By identifying which channels are in the message path, you can apply the master_debug and slave_debug keywords to the appropriate channels. These keywords generate debugging output in the channels’ master and slave log files; in turn, the master and slave debugging information will assist in identifying the point where the message part disappeared.

1. Add log_message_id=1 in the option.dat file in directory /msg-svr-base/config. With this parameter, you will see message ID: header lines in the mail.log_current file.

2. Run imsimta cnbuild to recompile the configuration.

3. Run imsimta restart dispatcher to restart the SMTP server.

4. Have the end user resend the message with the message part.

5. Determine the channels that the message passes through.

   While there are different approaches to identifying the channels, the following approach is recommended:

   1. On UNIX platforms, use the grep command to search for message ID: header lines in the mail.log_current file in directory / msg-svr-base /log.

   2. Once you find the message ID: header lines, look for the E (enqueue) and D (dequeue) records to determine the path of the message. Refer to 25.3.1 Understanding the MTA Log Entry Format for more information on logging entry codes. See the following E and D records for this example:

      29-Aug-2001 10:39:46.44 tcp_local conversion E 2 ... 29-Aug-2001 10:39:46.44 conversion tcp_intranet E 2 ... 29-Aug-2001 10:39:46.44 tcp_intranet D 2 ...

The channel on the left is the source channel, and the channel on the right is the destination channel. In this example, the E and D records indicate that the message’s path went from the tcp_local channel to the conversion channel and finally to the tcp_intranet channel.