How to create a rule in Microsoft Outlook to reply to incoming probe messages for the Email Loop Monitor.

Background.

When IsItUp is used to monitor email servers, it sends out test messages to the email system being monitored. The test message is also called the probe message, the mail server IsItUp is configured to use as called the Host Email system, and the system being monitored is called the target EMail system The target email system must reply to the probe message by sending a message back to the host system so that IsItUp can tell if the target email system is responding. The reply message must contain the complete subject line of the probe message along with any other information appended by the target system such as Re:. When using Microsoft Exchange, such a rule can be setup using the following procedure. In order to perform the procedure, you must be using MS Outlook and be logged into Exchange with a MAPI connection. Note: The instructions below were done with Microsoft Outlook 2003. Other versions of Outlook are similar. If your Exchange servers are connected by the internet, please refer to FAQ – Enabling Exchange to send automatic replies over the Internet.

1. In the Outlook Inbox, click on Tools | Rules and Alerts to display the Rules and Alerts dialog box.  If a window appears asking whether to keep “Client” rules or “Server” rules, click on the Server button.

2. In the Rules Wizard dialog box, click on the New Rule button to display the first step in the rule creation wizard.

3. Click in the Start from a blank rule box, make sure that the Check messages when they arrive option is selected and click on the Next button.  The second step in the rule creation wizard will be displayed. This step lets you set conditions.

4. For the rule to apply to all incoming messages, make sure that none of the conditions are selected and click on the Next button. A warning message will be displayed.

5. Click on the Yes button to confirm that you want the rule to be applied to all incoming email. The third step in the rule creation wizard will be displayed. This step lets you set actions.

6. In the list of actions, check redirect it to people or distribution list. (Do not check “forward it to people or distribution list” as this option is a client only action and requires Outlook to be running for it to work.)  The redirect statement will be added to the rule description area.

7. In the rule description area, click on the blue underlined phrase people or distribution list to set the address to reply messages to.  The Rule Address dialog box will be displayed.

8. Set the address to the account that you have IsItUp logging into. You can find the address IsItUp is using by selecting Setup/System Parameters from the IsItUp’s main menu and then selecting the Email tab. Using the Internet option, specify the internet address associated with the Pop 3 username or if using the MAPI option, the account associated with the MAPI profile.

9. After specifying the address to forward to, click on the OK button to return to the Rules and Alerts dialog box.

10. The redirect action only forwards a copy of the incoming mail to the specified destination. The original message will remain in your Inbox.  To avoid a build up of forwarded mail in your Inbox, it is recommended that you also select the delete it option. Do not select the “permanently delete it” option as this option is a client only action and requires Outlook to be running for it to work.

11. Click on the Finish button and the rule will be listed in the Rules and Alerts window.

12. Click on the OK button.