SmarterMail is shown as not configured in Plesk: No process is on the other end of the pipe

Atif Bangash

Updated January 13, 2026 19:05

Plesk for Windows kb: technical ABT: Group B

Applicable to:

Plesk for Windows

Symptoms

Unable to configure SmarterMail service via Tools & Settings > Server Components: after specifying the correct credentials no errors occur, however service is still shown as 'Not Configured'.
In IIS > Sites > SmarterMail > Bindings SmarterMail is bound only to localhost.
On attempt to access SmarterMail interface via http://127.0.0.1:9998 the error below appears:
CONFIG_TEXT: CONFIG_TEXT: Bad Request - Invalid Hostname
HTTP Error 400. The request hostname is invalid.

With Plesk Backend Debug enabled, the following error can be found in %plesk_dir%admin\logs\plesklog_debug.log:

CONFIG_TEXT: Plesk Management service pipe communication error: No process is on the other end of the pipe. (Error code 233) at Unable to write to pipe at (Con::OverlappedPipe::beginWrite line 358). Trying to reconnect.

Cause

SmarterMail is not listening on 127.0.0.1.

Resolution

Log into the server via RDP.
Note: if direct RDP access to the server is not possible, contact server administrator for further assistance.
Go to IIS > Sites > SmarterMail > Bindings.
Add the binding on port 9998 without specifying the Hostname to make it listen on all IP addresses including 127.0.0.1.
Go to IIS > Application Pools > SmarterMail > Advanced Settings:
Make sure that Identity for SmarterMail application pool is set to the NetworkService:
Execute the following command via the command line to open Windows Services Manager:
C:\> services.msc
Find out SmarterMail Service and restart it.
Configure SmarterMail once again under Tools & Settings > Server Components

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