Controlling the Mail Tracking Collector

After you enable message tracking on the server, the Mail Tracking Collector (MT Collector or MTC task) automatically creates the Domino® MailTracker Store database (MTSTORE.NSF) in the MTDATA subdirectory of the Domino® data directory.

The MTC task periodically collects messaging information from raw data accumulated in special mail tracker log files (MTC files) produced by the Router. After collecting this message summary information -- information about the originators, recipients, arrival times, and delivery status of the messages processed by the server -- it adds it to the Domino® MailTracker Store database. Mail users and administrators use the information stored in the Domino® MailTracker Store to complete mail tracking requests and to generate mail usage reports.

CAUTION: Do not edit the Mail Tracking Store database directly.

In addition to collecting message data, the MTC task performs several maintenance operations on the Domino® MailTracker Store database. You can enter commands at the server console to instruct the MTC task to perform these operations. The following table lists the commands for performing various MTC operations:

Table 1. Mail Tracking Collector commands

MTC operation

Description and Command

Start mail tracking

When mail tracking is enabled in the Configuration Settings document, tracking automatically starts when the Router starts. If you stop the MTC task, you can restart it by entering the following command at the server console:

load mtc

Stop mail tracking

By default, the MTC task automatically stops when the Router stops. To stop the task without stopping the Router, enter the following command at the server console:

tell mtc quit

Collect new data from mail tracking logs

If mail tracking is enabled on the Router/SMTP - Mail Tracking tab of the Configuration Settings document, the MTC task collects data from mail tracking log files at the interval specified in the Message tracking collection interval field. If there is new data to report, it creates an entry in the MailTracker Store database. To instruct the MTC task to collect data immediately, enter the following command at the server console:

tell mtc process

Performing a manual collection resets the automatic collection interval to its full value. For example, if the collection interval is set to 15 minutes (900 seconds), after you run the collection manually, the next automatic collection occurs in 15 minutes.

To check the collection interval that is currently in effect, as well as the time remaining to the next collection, enter the Show Tasks command at the console.

Establish a different collection interval

If mail tracking is enabled on the Router/SMTP - Mail Tracking tab of the Configuration Settings document, the MTC task collects data from mail tracking log files at the interval specified in the Message tracking collection interval field. If there is new data to report, it creates an entry in the MailTracker Store database. To specify a different interval, enter the following command at the server console:

tell mtc interval value

where value is the desired interval, in seconds.

The specified value remains in effect until the next Router restart. At that time the value specified in the Configuration Settings document again goes into effect.

To check the collection interval that is currently in effect, as well as the time remaining to the next collection, enter the Show Tasks command at the console.

Compact the MailTracker Store database

By default, the MTC task compacts the Domino® MailTracker Store nightly at 2 am. To compact the database immediately, enter the following command at the server console:

tell mtc compact

You can also change the default time for compacting the database, by setting the variable MTCDailyTasksHour in the server's NOTES.INI file.

Reindex the MailTracker Store database

The Message Tracking Store must be full-text indexed by the MTC task only.

For a one time reindex of the database by MTC, enter the following command at the server console:

tell mtc reindex

To improve performance of the full text index, the index should be periodically rebuilt. If the admin believes a daily reindex is necessary they may set the following INI:

MTCCompactReIndex=1

If a different schedule is needed, an admin can periodically schedule a Program document to reindex by executing a Tell command as shown here:

-c tell mtc reindex

Purge old entries from the MailTracker Store database

Documents are purged from the MailTracker Store database based on the Remove documents not modified in the last x days replication setting. For a one time purge of documents from the database, enter the following command at the server console:

tell mtc purge value

where value is the maximum number of days to retain documents in the Mail Tracker Store database. The MTC task removes all documents older than value from the database.

For information about replication settings, see the related topics.