SmarterMail support in Plesk in builds newer than 16.x not working

Problem reported by Brandon Waldman - 3/28/2019 at 7:08 AM

Resolved

Hello

I've been trying to get our integration between SmarterMail and Plesk Onyx (17.8) working for a few months now. It was working fine in SmarterMail 16.x and doesn't work any longer in 17+ (not sure what to call it anymore since we went to build numbers instead of versions)

I've posted in their forums about getting it to work and for the last 6 weeks or so they have claimed they are waiting on SmarterTools to fixed something in the API. They said:

We already invested our time in a new SmarterMail 100 support and found a critical issue for integration which was reported to the SmarterMail side. We are still waiting when the issue will be fixed and will support this version in our Preview builds.

Is there something that we can fix on the mail servers side to get this working with Plesk? Or can we get the API issues that claim is going on fixed? We are desperate as our customers haven't been able to create any new email addresses in a while and are getting a bit antsy with us.

I always thought the API was backwards compatible so I usually just upgrade when a new version comes out. I'm also curious what the policy is when it comes to breaking API changes. We might have to stop upgrading our mail server and hope that we don't get bitten by a security issue for the sake of things continuing to work. I'd like to keep our software maintenance but it is also critical for it to work with our control panel as well. We've been with you all since around SmarterMail 4 or so :)

Thanks in advance for your help or insight!

11 Replies

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Brandon Waldman Replied

4/1/2019 at 2:17 PM

Would this be something better for me to make a ticket on?

Kyle Kerst Replied

4/2/2019 at 7:31 AM

Employee Post

Hello Brandon, I don't believe Plesk has tested for builds newer than 16.x per their system requirements here: https://docs.plesk.com/release-notes/onyx/software-requirements/#s4-2-2

Kyle Kerst System/Network Administrator SmarterTools Inc. (877) 357-6278 www.smartertools.com

Brandon Waldman Replied

4/3/2019 at 8:22 AM

Hi Kyle,

Thanks for the response. You are correct that the current versions of Plesk (17.8) only support 16.x.

They are currently working on a preview versions (17.9) and they are saying that they are waiting on SmarterTools to before they can move forward on the integration. It's a pretty large thread and I quoted one of the relevant parts out in the OP on this question. If you want to check out the entire thread hear is the link to the thread: https://talk.plesk.com/threads/plesk-onyx-17-9-preview.348675/page-4#post-860855

It's been a few months on Plesk side that they've said they have been waiting on SmarterTools. I'm hoping that we can get this resolved soon as this is a huge deal-breaker for me. I've been looking at some alternate solution in-case we can't get this fixed.

Is there a way to put a layer for backwards compatibility for not only Plesk but for any other solution that may of called a previous version of the API? I know there has been some major rearch in the latest builds so it might not be possible. If not, can we see what issues they are saying is wrong with the API so that we can get this up and working?

Thanks in advance!

Reto Replied

4/5/2019 at 12:49 AM

Hello Brandon

The "old" API is still there. We moved from v15 to v17 and our control panel is still working.

Best Regards,

Reto

Brandon Waldman Replied

4/5/2019 at 12:29 PM

Hi Reto

Thanks for the feedback. I wonder what is different about our setups. Are you on the beta release of Plesk?

Or are you maybe doing a remote SmarterMail? I see there is a different option for setting that up. Maybe that works since its purely through API and no local access. If that's the case maybe I'll try to migrate SmarterMail to a different server and use it remote.

In Plesk under server components I just get: SmarterMail Server 100.0.7016 not activated. According to Plesk it is because its not supported yet. I've tried going in and editing the settings around but stays that way even if I try the SSL port as well.

Brandon

Brandon Waldman Replied

5/9/2019 at 9:02 AM

Has any of the developers been able to review this? If not would it be possible to get someone involved? I'm almost at the point of losing customers. Its been over 5 months since the integration has worked. Plesk is saying that it is something on SmarterMail side.

Thanks in advance for any help you all can provide. I'm starting to get desperate here on my end.

Reto Replied

5/9/2019 at 10:10 AM

Hi Brandon

We don't use Plesk and have written our own control panel. With the upgrade from v15 to v17 (100) we had not

to make any updates to our code. We use the public API, what is now the legacy API.

Best Regards,

Reto

Derek Curtis Replied

5/9/2019 at 10:24 AM

Employee Post

So we do have communication with Plesk on this. As stated, the old API is still enforced, so there shouldn't be much needed on the part of Plesk to get they're 17.x to work with our "17.x". There is an issue in their testing where they stop mailservice.exe and try spinning up a different mail server...but I'm not entirely sure why that's preventing them from moving forward.

So, I've asked them for some clarification. I don't see that being an issue for the majority of customers who use SmarterMail and Plesk, so I've asked them to give me some additional info on how/why that's delaying their compatibility testing.

Derek Curtis COO SmarterTools Inc. (877) 357-6278 www.smartertools.com

Brandon Waldman Replied

5/11/2019 at 8:35 AM

We don't use Plesk and have written our own control panel.

Thanks for the followup with your setup. I'm thinking maybe long term that might be more of a solution for me as well.

So, I've asked them for some clarification. I don't see that being an issue for the majority of customers who use SmarterMail and Plesk, so I've asked them to give me some additional info on how/why that's delaying their compatibility testing.

Awesome! Thanks for looking into this. I really appreciate your time on this.

There is an issue in their testing where they stop mailservice.exe and try spinning up a different mail server

Thats really odd that they would do that. I think I'm going to do some testing over the weekend with a remote SmaterMail setup. That way they don't have access to stop the mailservice.exe and maybe that will help with getting it working again.

Either way, thanks again for the replies!

Brandon Waldman Replied

7/9/2019 at 7:34 AM

Incase anyone else is following this thread. Plesk has released an update Plesk Obsidian Release Candidate 2 (18.0.16) that includes support for the Smartermail 100 now.

Derek Curtis Replied

7/9/2019 at 8:39 AM

Employee Post Marked As Resolution

Thanks for the update, Brandon. If anyone is interested, here are the release notes: https://docs.plesk.com/release-notes/obsidian/change-log/#contents-18-rc20

We worked with Plesk on this, and the changes necessary in SmarterMail were relatively minor and based purely on how Plesk tests their third-party integrations. We didn't have to modify any of our APIs or any functionality that would impact users.

Derek Curtis COO SmarterTools Inc. (877) 357-6278 www.smartertools.com

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