Product » A free email server for Windows and Linux » FAQ

Xeams Licensing when using in Proxy mode

Many users ask how does licensing work when using Xeams to filter spam in front of another server, such as Exchange.

Xeams tries to determine the Actual User Count by analyzing who gets inbound emails from the Internet. For example, if there are 10 individuals get email from the Internet, you have to purchase a 10 user license.

To see a list of users Xeams considers as users, click About under Tools menu and click Show List.

Seeing invalid/duplicate users

It is common to see us two type email addresses that should not add up towards the Actual User Count:

• Invalid email addresses - For example: asdfasdf@yourdomain.com
• Different variations of email belonging to the same person - For example, john.smith@yourdomain.com and smith.john@yourdomain.com.

Fixing Invalid Users

When using SMTP Proxy in Xeams, every incoming email is validated by your actual server, such as Exchange. Therefore, as long as Exchange rejects an incoming email, so will Xeams. Note that there is a difference between rejecting an email verses accepting it but generating an NDR (Non-delivery report) later on because user does not exist. The default behavior in MS Exchange is to accept the message even for invalid users and then generate an NDR.

There are two ways prevent this:

1. Configure MS Exchange to reject email during SMTP Communication. Click here for instructions.
2. Configure Xeams to consult Active Directory before accepting messages. This is done in two locations in Xeams. First, configure Active Directory Integration under Server Configuration. Second, check Use Active Directory under SMTP Proxy Configuration

Fixing email variations

This is done by associating multiple email addresses to a user in Xeams. Click Manage Users under Server Configuration and click Associations for the desired user.