IMAP Test

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IMAP is primarily used on mail servers to list folders, search messages, and fetch message contents, but for servers that support it, IMAP can initiate sending messages by moving them to the Sent folder. The Catchpoint IMAP Test monitors mail servers by establishing a connection and issuing various IMAP commands. It collects the following metrics:

  • Logout: Amount of time the test took from issuing logout command until it was fully unauthenticated.
  • Send: Time it took to send the message.
  • MessageSize: Size of the message.
  • Search: The SEARCH command searches the mailbox for messages that match the given searching criteria.
  • Fetch: Fetch is the first message found which matches the search criteria and the amount of time it took to fetch the first result.

IMAP Test Properties

Name
The name used to identify this test.
  • Required
  • Max 128 characters.
  • May include letters, numbers, spaces, and special characters
  • Must be unique within containing Folder or Product
Description Additional information about the Test 
  • Optional
Test Location

The protocol, hostname, and port of the IMAP server to be tested.

imap://<hostname>:<port>

or 

imaps://<hostname>:<port>

  • Required
  • IMAP typically uses port 143
  • IMAPS typically uses port 993
New Message
  • Disabled: (Test will not initiate a new email message.)
  • Enabled: (Test will initiate a new email message.)
  • Disabled by default
  • if enabled, standard email fields are displayed for Test message configuration (From:, To:, Subject:, etc.)
Search Search term(s) test will use to search existing messages  
Authentication By default, the test will run Anonymously (no authentication.)

By clicking "Add User Name and Password" you can select credentials from the credentials library, or add new credentials.
Location The Product/Folder location of this test
  • Read only
  • You can move a Test to a different product or folder by Modifying it and Clicking "Move"
Status Determines whether this test is currently Active or Inactive
  • Active by default.

Supported Metrics

# Purged RunsThe number of test runs manually excluded from calculation for purposes of SLA accuracy.
# RunsTotal number of test runs for the defined time period.
# Test ErrorsThe total number of test runs that failed. This is the sum of all of the following types of test failures:
  • # DNS Failures
  • # Connection Failures
  • # ssl Failures
  • # Response Failures
  • # Timeout Failures
  • # Test Limit Errors
% Adjusted AvailabilityIgnoring any purged runs, the percentage of test runs where the server was reached and the test was completed (i.e. there was not a Test Error.)
% AvailabilityThe percentage of test runs where the server was reached and the test was completed (i.e. there was not a Test Error.) Availability is calculated as:
(# Test Runs - # Test Errors) / # Test Runs
% DowntimeThe percentage of test runs where the server was unavailable, unreachable, or otherwise failed (i.e. there was a Test Error.) Downtime is calculated as:
# Test Errors / # Test Runs
% Ping Packet LossThe percentage of pings packets sent which did not receive a response. Calculated as:
(# packets received / # packets sent) * 100
Authentication (ms)The time it took to authenticate with the IMAP server.
Connect (ms)The time it took to establish a TCP connection with the server.
DNS (ms)The time it took to resolve the domain name to an IP address.
Fetch (ms)The time it took to fetch the message from the IMAP server.
List (ms)The time it took to list folders.
Logout (ms)The time it took to log out from the IMAP server.
Message Size (bytes)The size of the message sent.
Ping Round Trip (ms)Average time between sending a ping packet and receiving a response.
Response (ms)The total time from the initial request until receiving the last packet of response data.
Search (ms)The time it took to search for messages.
Send (ms)The time it took to send the request to the server.
Signal QualityMeasures the quality of the WLAN connection in terms of data transfer speed. It indicates what percent of the available network are you using to move data (upload / download). 99% is as good as it gets in terms of signal quality.
Signal Strength (dBm)This number represents the power the clients device is receiving from the Access Point / Wi-Fi router. A number of -30 dBm indicates excellent while a number of -70dBm indicates very poor signal strength.
SSL (ms)The time it took to complete the ssl handshake with the server.
Test Time (ms)One cohesive metric that applies to all test types and indicates the total duration of the test run. Test Time is equivalent to Response, Test Response (Transaction and web tests) and ping RTT (Trace Route tests), and is used when calculating Apdex. Test Time is not available for Request, Host, or Zone charting.
Wait (ms)The time from when the request was sent to the server until the first response packet was received. (Known as "First Byte" in some tools)