Resources available to you for troubleshooting EMAILX problems include the log file, the SMTP response codes, and the A-Shell forum. See below for details.
Log file
The first go-to troubleshooting tool is the log file. Before spending much time on anything else, we highly recommend editing your CFG file to add LOGFILE and LOGLVL entries and then examining the log after the failure. Here's an example for a GMAIL session with LOGLVL=4 ...
26-Mar-18 10:49:04 [EMAIL5M-joaquin-2] > Opening socket smtp.gmail.com (port 587) Flags=2097153...
26-Mar-18 10:49:04 [EMAIL5M-joaquin-2] [Socket=1]
26-Mar-18 10:49:04 [EMAIL5M-joaquin-2] < 220 smtp.gmail.com ESMTP o4sm4316117oia.44 - gsmtp
26-Mar-18 10:49:04 [EMAIL5M-joaquin-2] > EHLO microsabio.com
26-Mar-18 10:49:04 [EMAIL5M-joaquin-2] < 250-smtp.gmail.com at your service, [174.77.78.50]
250-SIZE 35882577
250-8BITMIME
250-STARTTLS
250-ENHANCEDSTATUSCODES
250-PIPELINING
250-CHUNKING
250 SMTPUTF8
26-Mar-18 10:49:05 [EMAIL5M-joaquin-2] > STARTTLS
26-Mar-18 10:49:05 [EMAIL5M-joaquin-2] < 220 2.0.0 Ready to start TLS
26-Mar-18 10:49:05 [EMAIL5M-joaquin-2] > EHLO microsabio.com
26-Mar-18 10:49:05 [EMAIL5M-joaquin-2] < 250-smtp.gmail.com at your service, [174.77.78.50]
250-SIZE 35882577
250-8BITMIME
250-AUTH LOGIN PLAIN XOAUTH2 PLAIN-CLIENTTOKEN OAUTHBEARER XOAUTH
250-ENHANCEDSTATUSCODES
250-PIPELINING
250-CHUNKING
250 SMTPUTF826-Mar-18 10:49:06 [EMAIL5M-joaquin-2] > AUTH PLAIN AGpvYXF1aW4ubWNncmVnb3JAZ21haWwuY29tAE5kc3NvLTk3c2Vh
26-Mar-18 10:49:06 [EMAIL5M-joaquin-2] < 235 2.7.0 Accepted
26-Mar-18 10:49:06 [EMAIL5M-joaquin-2] > MAIL FROM: <return@microsabio.com>
26-Mar-18 10:49:06 [EMAIL5M-joaquin-2] < 250 2.1.0 OK o4sm4316117oia.44 - gsmtp
26-Mar-18 10:49:06 [EMAIL5M-joaquin-2] > RCPT TO: <jack@microsabio.com>
26-Mar-18 10:49:06 [EMAIL5M-joaquin-2] < 250 2.1.5 OK o4sm4316117oia.44 - gsmtp
26-Mar-18 10:49:06 [EMAIL5M-joaquin-2] > DATA
26-Mar-18 10:49:07 [EMAIL5M-joaquin-2] < 354 Go ahead o4sm4316117oia.44 - gsmtp
26-Mar-18 10:49:07 [EMAIL5M-joaquin-2] > To: test@microsabio.com...
26-Mar-18 10:49:07 [EMAIL5M-joaquin-2] > This is a nice little test message....
26-Mar-18 10:49:07 [EMAIL5M-joaquin-2] > M...
26-Mar-18 10:49:09 [EMAIL5M-joaquin-2] < 250 2.0.0 OK 1522079347 o4sm4316117oia.44 - gsmtp
26-Mar-18 10:49:09 [EMAIL5M-joaquin-2] > QUIT
26-Mar-18 10:49:09 [EMAIL5M-joaquin-2] < 221 2.0.0 closing connection o4sm4316117oia.44 - gsmtp
26-Mar-18 10:49:09 [EMAIL5M-joaquin-2] > Closing socket #1...
26-Mar-18 10:49:09 [EMAIL5M-joaquin-2] > Connection lock cleared.
Each line starts with a timestamp showing the date, time, program-user-job#, then either ">" for outgoing commands or "<" for incoming responses, followed by the command or response text, or a description thereof. Lines with no directory indicator are just reporting internal status (like the socket # on the second line), or are reporting a breakdown in the protocol (such as a timeout). Lines with no timestamp are generally continuations of a multi-line response. Most SMTP responses start with a three-digit numeric code indicating the status (as part of the SMTP protocol - see the table below), and are followed by some non-standard explanatory text. Some messages may contain the word "Status" followed by a number, often negative, indicating a local library error code, as in the following examples...
> Checking for data... [Status=-10057 (A request to send or receive data was disallowed because ...)]
> Opening socket mail.optonline.net (port 25) Flags=1... [Status=-10060 (A connection attempt failed because ...)]
*** (Status -10049) ***
Usually the error code is followed by a description, but if not, you can usually look them up on the Internet. In the case of Windows, search the Internet for "Windows System Errors"; for Linux, try "Linux errno values".
Table of SMTP Response Codes
The following table lists the most common response codes. Note that since the SMTP standard is constantly evolving, new codes are added periodically. These are typically easy to look up on the Internet.
Code |
Description |
|---|---|
200 |
(nonstandard success response, see rfc876) |
211 |
System status, or system help reply |
214 |
Help message |
220 |
<domain> Service ready |
221 |
<domain> Service closing transmission channel |
250 |
Requested mail action okay, completed |
251 |
User not local; will forward to <forward-path> |
252 |
Cannot VRFY user, but will accept message and attempt delivery |
354 |
Start mail input; end with <CRLF>.<CRLF> |
421 |
<domain> Service not available, closing transmission channel |
450 |
Requested mail action not taken: mailbox unavailable |
451 |
Requested action aborted: local error in processing |
452 |
Requested action not taken: insufficient system storage |
500 |
Syntax error, command unrecognized |
501 |
Syntax error in parameters or arguments |
502 |
Command not implemented |
503 |
Bad sequence of commands |
504 |
Command parameter not implemented |
521 |
<domain> does not accept mail (see rfc1846) |
530 |
Access denied |
534 |
Authorization failure |
550 |
Requested action not taken: mailbox unavailable |
551 |
User not local; please try <forward-path> |
552 |
Requested mail action aborted: exceeded storage allocation |
554 |
Requested action not taken: mailbox name not allowed |
554 |
Transaction failed |
Forum
If the log file doesn't reveal the solution, next, try searching the A-Shell Forum for "EMAILX". There should be several threads covering actual problems reported by users.
GMAIL-specific problems
GMAIL may be the most popular outgoing SMTP service, but it's also one of the most persnickety to use. You'll find some useful tips relating specifically to GMAIL by searching the A-Shell Forum for "EMAILX GMAIL".
