Bounce detection

NOTE: The bounce detector system requires that you have control over the domain under which the bounce detection address resides, it also requires that you know how to configure a SMTP server.

The basic idea is the write outgoing messages so that the SMTP envelope address (and/or Return-Path header) contain a specially formatted email address which receives no other mail than these bounces.

Rest of this document supposes you are running Postfix.

• Install PEAR package HTTP_Client

  # pear install --onlyreqdeps http_client
  

  See also the installation document about making sure the file access rights are correct

• See main.cf make note of the recipient_delimiter configuration setting (delimited recipients must be enabled and tested to work prior to configuring bounce detection), as default it is + (plus-sign)

• Decide on a good account part for the bounce detector, we choose bouncer
• Locate bounce_detector.php in the directmarketing support directory, copy it to /usr/local/sbin and make sure the Postfix user can execute it.

• In /etc/aliases (or whatever alias file you choose to use) add line:

  bouncer: |"/usr/bin/php /usr/local/sbin/bounce_detector.php bouncer+TOKEN@www.example.com http://www.example.com/path/to/directmarketing/logger/bounce/"
  

  note those quotes around the command.

• in component configuration (directmarketing/config.html) set backend to 'any bounce detector compatible' (alternatively either 'SMTP' or 'Sendmail')
• in component configuration set bounce detector address to bouncer+TOKEN@www.example.com.

Now create a campaign with couple of members where some of them have bogus email addresses and test it, if you check the source of outgoing mails the Return-Path: should show bouncer+<random_string>@www.example.com and those with bogus addresses should be marked with an icon showing that they have bounced. If it doesn't work start by looking trough your mailserver logs (both outgoing and incoming).