General Maintenance / Handover

Basic Orientation

MailArchiva is a Java enterprise application that runs under the Apache Tomcat application server. MailArchiva typically runs on a server running Windows or Linux operating systems. The MailArchiva setup includes an embedded Java runtime and Apache Tomcat. As of yet, there is no need to download these components separately as they are both included in the base setup. The MailArchiva software can be downloaded from https://mailarchiva.com/downloads.

Start And Stop MailArchiva Service

Windows

MailArchiva can be started and stopped from Windows Services Applet or from the MailArchiva Service Manager (accessible from Start Menu).

Press the Win + R keys on your keyboard, to open the Run window. Then, type "services.msc" and hit Enter or press OK. Find the MailArchiva service, right click, click Stop or Start.

MailArchiva should take no more than around 10 minutes to stop. If the server doesn't stop cleanly, as a last resort, it may be necessary to kill the process from the Windows Task Manager. Run the task manager by hitting Windows+R to open the Run box, typing “taskmgr,” and then hitting Enter.

Linux

MailArchiva V8 and higher

systemctl start mailarchiva (to stop MailArchiva)
systemctl stop mailarchiva (to start MailArchiva)

MailArchiva V7 and lower

/opt/mailarchiva/server/stopserver (to stop MailArchiva)
/opt/mailarchiva/server/startserver (to start MailArchiva)

To kill a MailArchiva process that won't stop on Linux, type:

Take note of MailArchiva PID. Wait 10-15 minutes, then perform a soft kill of the MailArchiva process as follows:

If, after another 10-15 minutes, the MailArchiva service still won't stop, there may no other choice but to perform a hard-kill (only as a last resort, usually definitely not recommended!):

How To Access Web Console

By default MailArchiva, the MailArchiva web console listens on port 8090. To access the web console, open Chrome browser on the MailArchiva machine, and type http://localhost:8090 or  (more directly) http://localhost:8090/signonform.do to access the login page. The default password is admin, admin, although the admin user password is typically changed as part of the setup.

If the console is not responding, try restarting the service using the start and stop service commands described earlier. If the console is still not accessible, try accessing the console locally on the server to rule out the possibility that there is firewall or some other networking issue blocking network communications on port 8090. For example, on Linux, one would type "wget http://localhost:8090". The web console may also be inaccessible due to an expired digital certificate. Refer to Secure Access for more information on how to enable HTTP/S console access and/or update the server certificate.

Users access the search interface from the web console. Depending on how the server is setup, they may be required to login using their Active Directory/Azure windows credentials. During the login process, they are assigned a role which determines what they can do. 

if the server's search interface is disabled, MailArchiva's license may be invalid. A license most likely becomes invalid if MailArchiva reports more mailboxes than is licensed. In this case, it may be necessary to purchase additional mailboxes. Refer to licensing for information on how to solve licensing issues.

Server Configuration

The main server configuration is kept in a text file called server.conf file. This file is usually located at C:\ProgramData\MailArchiva\ROOT\conf\server.conf (Windows) or /etc/opt/mailarchiva/ROOT/server.conf (Linux) and can be edited using a regular text editor, if the need arises. However, the server must be restarted for changes to take effect. Most often, the server is configured using the MailArchiva web console. The web console is typically accessed using a web browser from http://localhost:8090, although it is also possible the console may also be configured for HTTP/S in which case, the server may be accessible from a URL such as https://mailarchiva.company.com.

File Layout

Refer to File System Layout for an overview of where MailArchiva keeps various files, including log files, internal database, and audit information. Refer to System Requirements for the requirements of the system, including common partitioning information.

Important Passwords

There are two important passwords:

Encryption password - This password is setup at the point of installation. All volume data is encrypted using this password. If the password is forgotten, it is important to immediately backup your server.conf file.

Master login password - Login password to the master account. Refer to Locked Out for information on how to reset the MailArchiva admin password.

Check Diskspace

Verify there is enough disk space on all partitions.

On Windows..

Select the Start  button, and then select Settings .
Select System > Storage.

On Linux

Type the following:

The file outputs the total amount of storage on each partition:

It goes without saying if there is not enough disk space, either the partition must be expanded with new storage space, or data must be freed.

To find the largest files on Linux, type 

find / -xdev -type f -size +100M

Files in the following directories can safely deleted.

Temporary Files

C:\ProgramData\MailArchiva\ROOT\temp\* (Windows)
/var/opt/mailarchiva/ROOT/temp/* (Linux)

Tomcat Log Files

/var/opt/mailarchiva/tomcat/logs/* (Linux)

C:\ProgramData\MailArchiva\Tomcat\logs\*

MailArchiva Debug Log Files

/var/log/mailarchiva/ROOT/debug/* (Windows)

C:\ProgramData\MailArchiva\ROOT\logs\debug\*

Verify Archiving Is Happening

Access the web console from http://localhost:8090, login using admin account. Visit Status->Charts and check the activity in the charts. If the server is archiving correctly, you should see green bars. Refer to Charts information on how to interpret the charts.

There are a variety of ways that MailArchiva can be configured to archive data, depending on the specific mail server integration. The most common way is for MailArchiva to be configured to listen for journaling traffic on port 25. The mail server (for example, MS Exchange) will send journaling traffic to MailArchiva on port 25.  If MailArchiva is not receiving data (i.e. there are no blue bars in the chart), the first port of call is to verify that MailArchiva's SMTP server is listening. To do this, login to the MailArchiva console as admin. Click Configuration->Listeners, ensure that the SMTP Listener is enabled. If so, telnet to port 25 from the mail server and check that MailArchiva SMTP header is outputted. If there is no response, then verify that there is no local or intermediate firewall blocking communications on port 25. If data is being sent from outside the network, ensure that port 25 is forwarded correctly from your firewall to the machine running MailArchiva. Furthermore, if journaling traffic is forwarded to an archive@mailarchiva.company.local, verify that the domain mailarchiva.company.local resolves to the ip address of the machine running MailArchiva.

To archive data, MailArchiva requires an active volume with sufficient disk space available. Login to the console using admin, visit Configuration->Volumes. Ensure that there is at least one active or unused volume available. If not, create a new volume.

Server Instability

if the server is unstable, it usually points to an ill-defined memory settings. Refer to Troubleshooting for further troubleshooting steps.

Upgrading the Server

If the server is acting up or there is an issue with it, it is likely that an update of the software may resolve the issue. The easiest way to perform a minor update of the server, is to perform a WAR file update.