Have you ever been unable to send an e-mail, with attachments, from your web server? Have mail recipients told you that the message you sent did not arrive, or that it arrived but without the expected attachments? It could be that your mail server blocks certain attachments.<\/p>\n

Some mail server administrators block the sending or receiving of attachments with specified file types. They block types of files that could potentially be harmful to recipients’ computers. For example, at my former web host administrators set Exim, the mail handler used in cPanel, to filter both outgoing and incoming mail. Exim blocked attachments of the following types:<\/p>\n

ade\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 adp\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 bas\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 bat\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 chm\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 cmd\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 com\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 cpl\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 crt\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 eml\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 exe\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 hlp\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 hta\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 inf\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 ins\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 isp\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 jse\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 lnk\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 mdb\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 mde\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 msc\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 msi\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 msp\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 mst\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 pcd\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 pif\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 reg\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 scr\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 sct\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 shs\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 url\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 vbs\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 vbe\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 wsf\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 wsh\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 wsc<\/p>\n

This was not a virus scan, and in fact the files’ contents were not scanned at all. The mail server blocked these attachments based solely on their file extensions, as such files were potentially harmful and used by viruses and other malware.<\/p>\n

For you WebHostingBuzz clients, WHB does not block attachments on its cPanel servers. They find that attachment filters produce more complaints than not filtering.<\/p>\n

One of my clients blocks many attachment types on their mail servers. Frustratingly, the server blocks many file types that are unlikely to be harmful. The workaround I used was to pack such files into a .zip file, which the client’s employees could receive. Another solution, if you face this situation, is to upload the files to a media sharing server and then send your recipient the download URLs.<\/p>\n

If you’re having difficult sending certain file attachments to people, consider that they may be blocked. Choose a method that works for you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Have you ever been unable to send an e-mail, with attachments, from your web server? Have mail recipients told you that the message you sent did not arrive, or that it arrived but without the expected attachments? It could be that your mail server blocks certain attachments. Some mail server administrators block the sending or […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":134,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[143,134],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n