2.3.8 Cautionary notes on the mail system linkage function
This subsection gives some cautionary notes on the mail system linkage function.
- Organization of this subsection
(1) Using the Windows automatic logon function
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Holding down the Shift key during startup of Windows stops the starting of the Windows automatic logon function and displays the dialog box for logging on to Windows. If another user uses this dialog box to log on to Windows, the automatic Windows logon function might fail when Windows starts next time.
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Do not let any other user to log on to Windows when you are using the Windows automatic logon function. If you logged on as another user, make sure that the Windows automatic logon settings are not changed before using the Windows automatic logon function the next time. For details on how to check the Windows automatic logon settings, see the documentation provided by Microsoft.
(2) Linking a mail system other than Exchange Server using a service
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Although the mail system linkage service is registered using the name JP1/AJS2 Mail, type JP1_AJS2_Mail when you use the service name in a command such as net start.
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To link a SMTP/POP3 mail system, configure Exchange Server and a gateway and use them as a mail server.
Note that you can use addresses included in the global address list (the name of an entity such as a mailbox managed by Exchange Server) and user addresses in other mail systems that are created and saved in personal address books. For details on linking mail systems from the desktop, see 2.3 Setup for linking mail systems (for a Windows host when using Outlook).
(3) Mail system linkage function and cluster operation
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When used from the desktop:
JP1/AJS3 mail monitoring process does not support the cluster operation.
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When used with a service:
JP1/AJS3 Mail service does not support more than one logical host. Use the JP1/AJS3 Mail service on one of the logical hosts.
In a cluster environment, if you register the mail system linkage function as a resource in the cluster system and are using passing information, specify a folder on the shared disk as the destination for the passing information file. You specify this folder in the EvjobInfFile environment setting parameter.
(4) Action to take after changing the environment set up for mail system linkage
If you change settings for any environment setting parameter used for the mail system linkage function, restart the JP1/AJS3 service.
If you are using the mail system linkage function on the desktop, also restart the JP1/AJS3 mail monitoring process. If you are using the mail system linkage function with a service, also restart the JP1/AJS3 Mail service.
(5) Deleting a file created after mail reception
JP1/AJS3 does not automatically delete body text, attached files, list file for attached files, or passing information files. These files are created after mail reception. Delete these files manually once they have become unnecessary, because they reduce the amount of available disk space.
For details on the location of these files, see 2.1.2(1) Behavior when receiving email (for Windows).
(6) Switching between desktop and service-based mail system linkage
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The JP1/AJS3 mail monitoring process does not terminate automatically when you switch the mail system linkage function from use on the desktop to use with a service, or disable the mail system linkage function. In these circumstances, terminate the JP1/AJS3 mail monitoring process manually.
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The JP1/AJS3 Mail service is created when you switch the mail system linkage function from use on the desktop to use with a service. Because the JP1/AJS3 Mail service must be run from the account that you used to log on to Windows when you created the profile used by the mail system linkage function, ensure that this user account is set in the properties window of the JP1/AJS3 Mail service.
(7) When a profile is configured to use personal folders
When a profile specified in the definition of an email sending or email reception monitoring job is configured to use a personal folder, an error might occur if the corresponding personal folder file is being used by another job program. This corresponding folder has extension .pst. The error occurs when the email sending or email reception monitoring job program accesses Outlook to send an email or monitor email reception. If this error occurs, the job status changes to Ended abnormally. For this reason, ensure that none of the following is taking place when you use an email sending job or email reception monitoring job:
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Another application process or mail account is viewing, updating, or deleting the personal folder.
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The profile or mail account is being configured.
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The personal folder file is open for editing in another program such as Notepad.
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On a desktop on which the mail system linkage function is used, Outlook is controlled by the email sending job or email reception monitoring job that remotely accesses the desktop from another desktop.
If an error occurs, make sure that none of these operations is taking place with respect to the personal folder file.
Then, re-execute the error email sending job or email reception monitoring job.
(8) Procedure for calculating the mail monitoring interval
For the email reception monitoring job, specify a monitoring interval that is shorter than the result of the following calculations. The default is 10 minutes.
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In Outlook, measure how long it takes to complete transmission or reception of a single email message.
Measure this time using the profile that is actually used for the mail system linkage. Round the calculated time to the number of seconds and set this as the processing time for one email.
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Calculate the monitoring processing time.
The expression is shown below.
monitoring-processing-time = (maximum-number-of-email-reception-monitoring-jobs-monitored-concurrently-on-the-host) x processing-time-for-one-email
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Calculate the send processing time.
The expression is shown below.
sending-processing-time = (maximum-number-of-email-sending-jobs-executed-while-monitoring-an-email-reception-monitoring-jobs-on-the-host) x processing-time-for-one-email
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Add the monitoring processing time and the send processing time determined in step 2 and step 3, and round the seconds to minutes.
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Add one minute to the value determined in step 4 and set it as the mail monitoring interval (lower limit). However, we recommend that you set a value greater than the lower limit in actual operation.
(9) Notes on using Outlook
Before using Outlook, set it as the system's default email program. For details on how to do so, see Outlook Help. Unless Outlook is the default mail client, mail cannot be sent or received at execution of an email sending job or email reception monitoring job. A dialog box appears, prompting you to run Microsoft Outlook and set it as the default mail client.
(10) Outlook behavior and notes
The following describes Outlook behavior when the email sending job and email reception monitoring job are executed, and provides notes on Outlook that apply to when these jobs are executed.
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The mouse pointer might change to an hourglass that indicates that the application is performing processing.
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The active window might become inactive.
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The progress of the email sending job or email reception monitoring job is displayed.
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If you do not want to display the progress window, from Outlook menu bar, choose Tools, Send/Receive, Show Progress, and then select Don't show this dialog box.
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An Outlook button appears in the task bar.
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Do not use this icon to terminate Outlook during execution of the email sending job or email reception monitoring job.
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The Outlook window appears momentarily, at the start and end of the email sending job or email reception monitoring job.
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If virus-checking software is active, the logo of the software might appear.
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If the size of an email that Outlook is receiving is too large, email reception might be unable to finish. If email reception fails, set and apply the following environment variable in the user environment or system environment, as described below, and then re-execute the email reception monitoring job.
- Environment variable name:
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JP1AJS2_REC2
- Description:
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Set a value from 5 to 1,800 (in seconds).
When you execute an email reception monitoring job, the email receiving time for the job is extended by the time set in this environment variable. If you specify a value outside the 5 to 1,800 range, the email receiving time is not extended.
Regardless of whether the receiving time is extended, when the size of an email is 500 kilobytes, the required receiving time is about six seconds. When the size of an email is 1 megabyte, the required receiving time is about 12 seconds. Use these times as guidelines when setting the environment variable.
Note that the actual receiving time changes depending on the environment. Measure the email receiving time beforehand by using Outlook, and leave a sufficient margin when setting the environment variable.
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If it takes a long time for Outlook to receive email, the email reception monitoring job might be unable to detect the email being received. If the job cannot detect the email, the job will detect the email at the next execution cycle of email reception monitoring.
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Email reception monitoring job and unread emails in the Inbox of Outlook
An email reception monitoring job references and evaluates unread emails in the Inbox of Outlook until it finds emails that meet the conditions defined for the job. Therefore, if the Inbox of Outlook contains many unread emails that do not meet the defined conditions, the job might take a long time to determine the unread emails. To avoid this problem, use the email system in a way that prevents many unread emails from remaining in the Inbox.
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If you manually activate Outlook, while the email sending job or email reception monitoring job is sending or receiving email through activation of Outlook, then the Outlook window that you activated manually might be minimized into a task bar button. To use the instance of Outlook that you activated manually, in the task bar, right-click the Outlook button to display a menu, and then choose Resize or Maximize.
(11) Settings for mail client software
If you use the mail system linkage function on the desktop, make sure that the value set for the WINMAILCLIENT environment setting parameter is 2 or 3. If the value of this environment parameter is not 2 or 3, the mail system linkage function operates incorrectly as described below:
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Emails defined in email sending jobs are not sent and remain in the Outbox despite the job ending normally.
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The system cannot access the Inbox, and thus cannot detect received emails that satisfy the conditions defined in an email reception monitoring job.
If you use the mail system linkage function in a service, you do not need to set this parameter. For details about the WINMAILCLIENT environment setting parameter, see 2.3.4 Setting up the environment for the mail system linkage.
(12) Note on using Remote Desktop
Do not run the JP1/AJS3 mail monitoring process on Remote Desktop, because the mail system linkage might not operate correctly.
If you use Remote Desktop to log on remotely, remove the JP1/AJS3 mail monitoring process icon from the startup items so that the process will not start automatically. Note that if the icon is removed from the startup items, the process also does not start when you log in to the system console. Therefore, before using mail system linkage, make sure that the JP1/AJS3 mail monitoring process can be started on the system console, and start the process manually.
To manually start the mail monitoring process, click the icon for the JP1/AJS3 mail monitoring process that is pinned to the Windows Start screen or taskbar of Windows.
(13) If the environment settings cannot be read
If the settings cannot be read for the environment setting parameters to be used for the mail system linkage function, the JP1/AJS3 mail monitoring process and the JP1/AJS3 Mail service will start as usual. However, when an email sending job or email reception monitoring job is executed, the message KAVT3409-E The environment definition could not be read. is output to the integrated trace log and the job status changes to Ended abnormally. As a result, the system cannot send the email defined in an email sending job, or monitor for messages that match the monitoring conditions in an email reception monitoring job.
In this case, check whether message KAVT3409-E was output to the integrated trace log, and review the settings for the environment setting parameters used for the mail system linkage function. For details, see 4. Messages beginning with KAVT (Messages about the event/action control) in the manual JP1/Automatic Job Management System 3 Messages. After changing the settings for the environment setting parameters used for the mail system linkage function, you must restart the JP1/AJS3 mail monitoring process or the JP1/AJS3 Mail service, as well as the JP1/AJS3 service.
(14) Notes on Outlook licenses and certificate expiration
If you start an unlicensed copy of Outlook more than a predetermined number of times, or attempt to run Outlook with an expired certificate, Outlook will not start.
If you execute an email sending job or email reception monitoring job in this state, the job status changes to Ended abnormally, and the system is unable to send email or detect received email.
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Licenses
You can start an unlicensed copy of Outlook a limited number of times, beyond which the program will no longer start. Because the number of times you can start a particular instance of Outlook differs depending on its specifications, do not execute an email sending job or email reception monitoring job if JP1/AJS3 is linked to an unlicensed copy of Outlook.
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Certificates
If you use a certificate to send and receive email, Outlook will not start if the certificate has expired. Check the expiration date of the certificate. Because different certificates have different expiration dates, check with the authority that issued the certificate.
For details on how to use certificates to send and receive email in Outlook, see Outlook Help.
(15) Email encryption and digital signature
Mail encryption and digital signatures are not supported for email sending jobs and email reception monitoring jobs.
When you use the mail system linkage function, do not encrypt the mail or add a digital signature to it.
(16) Notes regarding the use of Outlook 2019 and Outlook 2016
To use the mail system linkage function that uses Outlook with the JP1/AJS3 Mail service on a device on which Outlook 2019 or the Click-to-Run version of Outlook 2016 is installed, start the JP1/AJS3 Mail service when Outlook is not running. The JP1/AJS3 Mail service cannot start while Outlook is running.
To start the JP1/AJS3 Mail service when Outlook is already running, log off from the device on which Outlook is running, log in again, and then start the JP1/AJS3 Mail service.
To check whether your version of Outlook is the Click-to-Run version, see the publicly available information from Microsoft.
(17) Action to take after changing how emails are sent
If you change an email sending job that uses Outlook into a job that does not use Outlook, perform the setup needed for the job to send email without Outlook. For details on the setup needed to send emails without using Outlook, see 2.2 Setup for linking mail systems (for a Windows host when not using Outlook).
Some differences between an email sending job that uses Outlook and one that does not use Outlook might require you to change job definitions. For the differences between an email sending job that uses Outlook and one that does not use Outlook, see 4.3.4 Environment settings for action jobs in the JP1/Automatic Job Management System 3 System Design (Configuration) Guide.
If the differences do not affect job operations, you do not need to change any job definitions. Instead, use the name of the existing profile as the name of the profile that will be created.
(18) Troubleshooting
For details on how to troubleshoot problems associated with mail system linkage, see 2.9 Troubleshooting problems related to mail system linkage (for Windows only) in the manual JP1/Automatic Job Management System 3 Troubleshooting.