The Routing Exceptions section is used for defining exceptions to the default Routing Options. These exceptions modify the manner in which connections to different systems are established. This feature allows the administrator to specify an alternate routing method for specific domains.
Routing Exceptions are handy to use in a situation where a domain may be missing the needed DNS records, the DNS records for a specific domain are incorrect, if you need mail addressed to a specific domain to be routed somewhere other than where the DNS records point, or an adjustment in timing needs to be made. Routing Exceptions can also be handy in situations where SLmail is the Smarthost for another server. For more information about this, please see the SLmail as a Smarthost section of this documentation.
The Site Name list box contains all of the domain names that have exceptions defined. To add an exception, click the Add button. You will be taken to the Routing Exception page. To edit or delete an existing routing exception, highlight the specific domain and click either Edit or Delete .
The Routing Exceptions page allows you to define the specific routing settings for individual domains. This page is divided into three sections: General, Connection Timeout, and Gateway.
The General section is used to determine how to connect to the exception's host.
The Routing list box specifies the manner in which SLmail will try and route a message.
The Check First Record option means that SLmail will attempt to connect to the highest priority MX record. If it fails to connect to this server it will not try any other records but will instead keep attempting to connect to the first record until it either succeeds or eventually bounces.
The Check All Records option means that SLmail will try all of the MX records, going to highest to lowest priority, until it is finally able to connect to a server.
The Send to Smarthost option means that SLmail will not attempt to lookup a MX record for a domain, but will instead send all outgoing mail to the Smarthost specified in the System page of the Web-based administration. This option is not available if Disable Smarthost is checked in the Options page of the SLmail Web-based administration.
Finally, the Use Defaults option tells SLmail to use the settings defined in the Default Settings section of the Routing Options page for this exception.
The Retry Time list box allows you to define how often SLmail will attempt to reconnect with a non-responding SMTP server. The Retry Time fields set how much time will pass between each reconnection attempt. The Retry Time may be set to:
The Use Defaults option means that SLmail will use the default set within the global routing options.
Optimized means that SLmail will use a variable retry schedule, starting with 3 minutes and working it's way up to 2 hours in between retries.
The settings Every 3 minutes , Every 15 minutes , Every 1 hour , or Every 2 hours mean that SLmail will attempt to contact the other SMTP server at the interval you have specified.
This option means that SLmail will attempt to send a message to the specified domain once. If this attempt fails, SLmail will then route that message to the specified Smarthost.
Note: In order for Send to Smarthost and Send to Smarthost on Failure to function properly, Disable MX lookup on the Options page must not be selected and a valid Smarthost must be specified on the System page.
The Queuing Option list box allows you to set the rate at which SLmail will process incoming messages for that domain. Messages may be queued immediately, kept until asked for, or kept for time periods ranging from 10 minutes to 4 hours.
The Connection Timeout section allows you to define (in minutes and seconds) how much time may pass before SLmail will timeout waiting for a response from the exception node after a connection has been made. By default, the Use Default check box will be enabled, deferring to the settings defined in the Timing tab. To enter a different value, you may either manually enter a numeric timeout value in the entry field, or use the slide bar.
If you enable the Use Gateway check box, you may enter in an IP address for the SMTP server SLmail should connect to for this exception. If a Gateway is specified, SLmail will neither lookup a domain's DNS records nor contact the Smarthost if a connection to that SMTP server has not been made.