Moving MailFlow's Attachment Folders

Tuesday, September 17, 2013


Recently a long time VisNetic MailFlow admin contacted us seeking guidance for an easy method of moving his InboundAttach and OutboundAttach folders to a different directory.  

His company had recently launched a new program resulting in a significant increase in very large attachment files.  He wanted to move the attachment folders to an alternate directory with greater long-term capacity.  No problem.  The purpose of this post is to provide simple step by step instructions that could benefit others.

Keep in mind all inbound and outbound messages are stored in the SQL Database associated with VisNetic MailFlow.  The Inbound and Outbound Attachments however are stored in the file system of the MailFlow server and indexed to the corresponding messages in the DB.

Moving the Attachment Folders:

1. Stop the VisNetic MailFlow Engine Service via the Windows Services MMC and temporarily set to disabled.
2. Log into MailFlow as an Admin and navigate to Administration, MailFlow Servers, Servers.
3. Select the Master server from the list of servers.
4. Move the Attachment folders to the new location.
5. Modify the Attachment Folder settings to the new path.

Note: If the Attachment folders are being moved to a network share, the full UNC of the share must be used. You cannot use a mapped drive. Also, you can move one or all of the folders.

6. Set the VisNetic MailFlow Engine Service to Automatic and start.
7. Test by sending a test message with an attachment and verify it is written to the new location.
8. Test by logging into MailFlow and accessing an older message with attachment and verify the attachment is accessible.


Note: It is best to add a new local drive to the MailFlow server and then move the attachment folders to it.