Question
I’ve installed WebMethods and I am either (a) using a trial version of GMS; or (b) set GMS to provide multi-line connection responses. For some reason, WebMethods reports the following error when it tried to send email:
Expected 250 got 220 purple.barney.dom Gordano Messaging Suite (v8.00.3065/AA0000.00.cbe4b227) ready for ESMTP transfer
Note: Split onto two lines for clarity.
And WebMethods does not send the message. Why does this happen?
Answer
The SMTP protocol specification allows Internet Mail servers to provide a multi-line response to any command from a remote mail server. This is indicated by using a "dash" character on the first line. For example:
220-Evaluation version of Gordano Ltd's NTMail Server 220 purple.barney.dom Gordano Messaging Suite (v8.00.3065/AA0000.00.cbe4b227) ready for ESMTP transfer
Note: Split onto two lines for clarity.
When an evaluation version of GMS is installed, it will automatically include the extra line at log on.
Multiple lines can also be configured by the mail system administrator at any point. This is typically used to inform people of the owner of the messaging server and tell them not to send spam.
When the WebMethods software receives this response it appears to parse it inappropriately and respond with an error (in fact, the error itself is also errorous according to the Internet Standards). This problem is not restricted to GMS software and may affect any messaging server that WebMethods software attempts to use.
There are several ways to workaround this problem:
- Purchase a full license for GMS software. This will remove the "Evaluation Version" message from the connection stage.
- Remove any logon message that has been configured.
We have contacted WebMethods to inform them that our customers have reported this issue in version XX.XX.XX. To date (18-Apr-02) we have not received a response.
See Also:
Keywords:webmethods ntmail SMTP multi-line response