Backup for Workgroups - Support - EMail Troubleshooting

Backup for Workgroups needs access to your email server in order to send messages to you and other users of the Backup for Workgroups software.  This page contains information to help you troubleshoot email related problems.

• Cannot connect to the email server
• I can connect to the email server, but it is refusing to accept email from the Data Repository.

Cannot Connect to the Email Server

When the Backup for Workgroups Data Repository cannot connect to your email server, you need to check for the following.  In every case, you will need to go to the Data Repository Manager, select Tools > Preferences, go to the Email Server tabbed page and use the " Generate Test Message" button.

1. DNS name problems. - If a DNS naming problem occurs, you will see a message indicating that the name of the email server could not be resolved.  If this occurs, try changing from the DNS option to entering in the specific name or IP address of your email server.
2. Port blocking. - It is common for most ISPs to block SMTP out to the Internet.  If your ISP blocks SMTP (Port 25), then you will need to enter the name of the email server that your ISP has provided for you.  Typically, you will not be able to use DNS when the ISP has blocked Port 25 (blocked SMTP out to the Internet).
3. Authentication required. - If your email server requires authentication, check the "Logon/Authenticate" option and enter your user name and password associated with your email account at your email server.  Some email servers are configured to block anonymous SMTP access to prevent open relaying on the Internet.  These email servers require authentication.  Authentication is the process in which you use a user name and password to login to your email server.  The user name and password verifies that you are a trusted user and that you have an account on this particular email server.  This process prevents arbitrary people who come in from the Internet from using that email server.

Email Server Refuses to Accept Email from the BFW Data Repository

In previous versions of Backup for Workgroups (1.x - 2.x), all emails used a hard-coded FROM address: "BackupForWorkgroups@YourCompany.com"  in which YourCompany.Com was substituted with your domain name.  Many email servers would cross-reference this email address with its known email user list and experienced a problem when this email address was not a member of its user list.  These email servers would reject the emails because they considered these messages spam or that people were trying to relay messages through an impersonated address.  Either way, some email servers were refusing to allow the Backup for Workgroups related messages to go through.

Now that administrators can customize the FROM address, you are in control of the FROM address.  If an email server only allows email from existing users, enter any existing user email address into the "From" address field and the email will be accepted by the email server.