FrontPage Server Extensions Prematurely Closes SMTP Connections

• Microsoft FrontPage 98 for Windows

SYMPTOMS

When you use the SMTPHost to configure the FrontPage Server Extension for UNIX to deliver e-mail to an e-mail transport, the extension may fail to send the e-mail and abnormally terminate.

CAUSE

When you use the SMTPHost option, the FrontPage Server Extension communicates directly with the SMTP server. Under normal circumstances, the initial SMTP communication is encapsulated in one packet. If the responses from the SMTP server are split into two packets, then the conditional checking finds the response but does not wait for the <cr><lf> from the second packet, which marks the message end. This has been observed with the 220 service ready message response being split into two packets. In this case, the extension sends the HELO message before the second packet arrives. When the HELO is sent, the extension expects the next message in the sequence, and when the remainder of the 220 message arrives, it causes the extension to fail and closes the connection.

RESOLUTION

This problem has been fixed in the FrontPage 2000 Server Extensions. It is available for download from http://officeupdate.microsoft.com/frontpage.

To resolve this problem, upgrade the Web server to the FrontPage 2000 Server Extensions.

WORKAROUND

To work around this problem, use the SendMailCommand that forces the FrontPage Server Extension to use an external mail program to send the mail. The following excerpt is from the FrontPage Server Extension Resource Kit:

SendMailCommand
This parameter sets the name of a program to which Email should be piped. Typically this will be 
"sendmail", but it could be any program. Before invoking the command, 
all occurrences of "%r" are replaced with the recipient of the mail. The percent sign character 
followed by any other character is replaced by that character. Example:

   SendmailCommand:/usr/lib/sendmail %r 

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in FrontPage 98 for Windows.

Additional query words: Email mail form SendMailCommand SMTP SMTPHost

Keywords : fpse2000
Version : WINDOWS:
Platform : WINDOWS
Issue type : kbbug