How to set up email piping on InterWorx

Email piping lets InterWorx send incoming email directly into Ticaga, where it can be converted into tickets for the correct department. InterWorx uses qmail pipe files for this.

Before you start

You will need:

• The email address you want to pipe, for example sales@example.com.
• The department in Ticaga configured with the same email address.
• Access to SiteWorx File Manager, SSH, NodeWorx, or your hosting provider's support team.
• The full server path to your Ticaga installation.

If you do not have SSH or NodeWorx access, you may still be able to create the pipe file in SiteWorx File Manager if your host allows access to the domain mail folder. If File Manager cannot access the mail folder, ask your hosting provider to complete the steps for you, or use IMAP fetching instead.

1. Check the Ticaga department email

In Ticaga, go to:

Administration -> Departments -> Edit Department

Make sure Department Email Address matches the mailbox you want to pipe.

Example:

sales@example.com

Ticaga uses this address to route incoming piped emails to the correct department.

2. Find the qmail mail folder

On InterWorx, the domain mail folder is usually:

/home/{unixuser}/var/{domain.com}/mail

Example:

/home/example/var/example.com/mail

Replace:

• {unixuser} with the system user for the hosting account.
• {domain.com} with the email domain.

3. Create the qmail pipe file

For an email address like:

sales@example.com

create this file:

/home/example/var/example.com/mail/.qmail-sales

The filename must be:

.qmail-{mailbox}

So:

• sales@example.com becomes .qmail-sales
• support@example.com becomes .qmail-support
• billing@example.com becomes .qmail-billing

Option A: create the file in SiteWorx File Manager

If SiteWorx File Manager lets you browse to the domain mail folder, you can try creating the qmail file there.

Open File Manager and browse to:

/home/{unixuser}/var/{domain.com}/mail

Create a new file named for the mailbox.

Example:

.qmail-sales

Then add the pipe line from the next step and save the file.

File Manager may create the file as your hosting account user. On some InterWorx servers that works; on others, qmail expects the file to be owned by vpopmail:{unixuser}. If mail bounces or no ticket is created, ask your host to correct the ownership.

Option B: create the file over SSH or NodeWorx

If you have SSH or NodeWorx access, create the .qmail-{mailbox} file directly in the domain mail folder.

Example:

cd /home/example/var/example.com/mail
touch .qmail-sales

4. Add the pipe line

Add one line to the .qmail-{mailbox} file:

|php -q /home/example/example.com/html/email-pipe.php

Adjust the path to match your Ticaga install.

Common InterWorx paths may look like:

|php -q /home/example/example.com/html/email-pipe.php

or:

|php -q /home/example/example.com/public_html/email-pipe.php

The important part is that the path points to Ticaga's email-pipe.php file.

5. Set ownership and permissions

InterWorx qmail pipe files normally need to be owned by vpopmail and the hosting account user.

Example:

chown vpopmail:example /home/example/var/example.com/mail/.qmail-sales
chmod 644 /home/example/var/example.com/mail/.qmail-sales

Replace example with the correct hosting account username.

6. Make sure the pipe script is executable

The Ticaga pipe script should be executable:

chmod 755 /home/example/example.com/html/email-pipe.php

Adjust the path if your Ticaga install uses public_html or another document root.

7. Test the pipe

Send a test email to the piped address.

Example:

sales@example.com

Then check Ticaga:

Administration -> Tickets

If everything is configured correctly, a new ticket should appear in the matching department.

Troubleshooting

No ticket appears

Check:

• The department email in Ticaga exactly matches the piped email address.
• The .qmail-{mailbox} file exists in the correct domain mail folder.
• The .qmail-{mailbox} file contains the correct |php -q .../email-pipe.php line.
• The email-pipe.php path is correct.
• The .qmail-{mailbox} file ownership is correct.
• The email-pipe.php file is executable.

The email bounces

This usually means qmail could not execute the pipe script.

Check:

• The script path is correct.
• PHP is available as php.
• The file permissions allow execution.
• The .qmail-{mailbox} file ownership is correct.

You are using File Manager and it still does not work

File Manager can create the .qmail-{mailbox} file, but it may not be able to set the exact owner qmail expects.

Ask your hosting provider to check the file ownership. It usually needs to be:

vpopmail:{unixuser}

Example:

chown vpopmail:example /home/example/var/example.com/mail/.qmail-sales
chmod 644 /home/example/var/example.com/mail/.qmail-sales

You do not have File Manager access to the mail folder, SSH, or NodeWorx

Ask your hosting provider to create the qmail pipe file for you.

You can send them this example:

cd /home/example/var/example.com/mail
printf '%s\n' '|php -q /home/example/example.com/html/email-pipe.php' > .qmail-sales
chown vpopmail:example .qmail-sales
chmod 644 .qmail-sales
chmod 755 /home/example/example.com/html/email-pipe.php

Replace:

• example with the hosting account username.
• example.com with the domain.
• .qmail-sales with the mailbox you want to pipe.
• /home/example/example.com/html/email-pipe.php with the real Ticaga path.

Alternative: use IMAP fetching

If your hosting account cannot create qmail pipe files, use IMAP fetching instead.

In Ticaga, configure a mail account and connect it to the department:

Administration -> Mail Settings
Administration -> Departments -> Edit Department

IMAP fetching does not require qmail pipe files or server-level mail routing changes.