When users of your Web site try to submit e-mail messages by clicking a form on your Web site, they may receive an error message that says that the mail server is unavailable.

This behavior may occur if you used Microsoft FrontPage Server Extensions to configure your Web site mail server and your mail server is unavailable. All attempts to send e-mail from the site will be unsuccessful until the mail server becomes available.

To resolve this issue, configure the FrontPage Server Extensions to use the local Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) Virtual Server that can be installed with Internet Information Server (IIS) versions 4.0 and 5.0.

You can configure the SMTP Virtual Server to forward the e-mail to your primary mail server. If the mail server is unavailable, the local SMTP Virtual Server queues the e-mail and tries to forward it to your primary mail server at configurable intervals.

To configure the Web site to use the local SMTP Virtual Server to relay e-mail to your mail server, follow these steps in the order in which they are presented.

Part 1: Configure the IIS Web Site to Use the Local SMTP Server

Use one of the following procedures, as appropriate for your version of IIS.

If Your Computer Runs IIS 5.0

1. Click Start, point to Programs, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Internet Services Manager.
2. Double-click the computer node.
3. Right-click the Web site that hosts the e-mail form, and then click Properties.
4. Click the Server Extensions tab, and then click the Settings button next to Specify how mail should be sent.
5. In the SMTP mail server box, type the IP address for the local SMTP mail server, click OK, and then click OK.
6. Quit Internet Services Manager.

If Your Computer Runs IIS 4.0

1. Click Start, point to Programs, point to Windows NT 4.0 Option Pack, click Microsoft Internet Information Server, and then click Internet Service Manager.
2. Double-click the computer node.
3. Right-click the Web site that hosts the e-mail form, and then click Properties.
4. Click the Server Extensions 2002 tab, and then click Settings.
5. In the SMTP mail server box, type the IP address for the local SMTP mail server.
6. In the From address and Reply-to address boxes, type the appropriate text, and then click Submit.
7. Close the Change Configuration Settings window.
8. Close all dialog boxes, and then quit Internet Service Manager.

Part 2: Configure the IIS SMTP Server to Relay the E-mail

Use one of the following procedures, as appropriate for your version of IIS.

If Your Computer Runs IIS 5.0

1. Click Start, point to Programs, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Internet Services Manager.
2. Double-click the computer node.
3. Right-click the SMTP virtual server, and then click Properties.
4. Click the Access tab, and then click Connection.
5. Click All except the list below.
6. If the Computer list contains any entries, click Remove until the list is empty, and then click OK.
7. Click Relay.
8. Click All except the list below.
9. If the Computer list contains any entries, click Remove until the list is empty.
10. Click to select the Allow all computers which successfully authenticate to relay, regardless of the list above check box, and then click OK.
11. Click the Delivery tab, and then click Advanced.
12. Verify that the value in the Fully-qualified domain name box is correct.
13. In the Smart host box, type the name of your mail server, and then click OK.
14. Quit Internet Services Manager.

If Your Computer Runs IIS 4.0

1. Click Start, point to Programs, point to Windows NT 4.0 Option Pack, click Microsoft Internet Information Server, and then click Internet Service Manager.
2. Double-click the computer node.
3. Right-click Default SMTP Site, and then click Properties.
4. Click the Directory Security tab, and then click the Edit button next to IP Address and Domain Name Restrictions.
5. Click Granted Access.
6. If the Except those listed below list contains any entries, click Remove until the list is empty, and then click OK.
7. Click the Edit button next to Relay Restrictions.
8. In the Relay Restrictions dialog box, click Allowed to relay.
9. If the Except those listed below list contains any entries, click Remove until the list is empty.
10. Click to select the Allow any computer that successfully authenticates to relay check box, and then click OK.
11. Click the Delivery tab, and verify that the value in the Fully qualified domain name box is correct.
12. In the Smart host box, type the name of your mail server, and then click OK.
13. Quit Internet Service Manager.

Part 3: Configure the Form Properties

For instructions about how to set the form properties for e-mail submissions, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Some of the benefits to using the SMTP Virtual Server to relay e-mail from the site to the mail server are the following:

• Mail Handling Options: The Web site administrator can modify outbound and local retry intervals and can delay notification and expiration time-out messages.
• Non-Delivery Email: The Web site administrator can receive notification that the e-mail server is unavailable, instead of being informed by a user.
• Non-Delivery Report (NDR): If a message cannot be delivered, an NDR can be returned to the sender and copied to other SMTP addresses for review by the Web site administrator. NDRs are also placed in the Badmail folder for administrative review and troubleshooting.

NOTE: You can configure all of these options on the Messages tab of the Default SMTP Virtual Server.

For additional information about how to use FrontPage Server Extensions to send e-mail, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: