Attachments
On request Mail Log keeps the attachments of sent mails, so that you can later trace exactly what was sent. The settings for this are in the options in the tab attachments.
How attachments are captured
If capture attachments is active, Mail Log copies every attachment into a protected directory while sending and records it in the log entry. In the detail view the attachments appear in the tab attachments with name, type and size and can be downloaded individually (the permission download attachments and .eml being required).
Where attachments live — outside the web root
Out of the box, attachments are stored outside the publicly reachable area (in
the Joomla log directory under com_maillog/attachments). They are therefore not
retrievable directly through a URL, but only through the component with a permission check.
With storage path you can set a location of your own. If the field stays empty, the safe
default path applies. For additional protection Mail Log places lock files (.htaccess,
web.config) in the attachment directory.
Coming from a very early version? Earlier builds stored attachments inside the web root. After the update Mail Log still points at the old location so that nothing is lost. The maintenance task move attachment files moves the files to the safe default location once and clears the old reference afterwards.
Limits and storage budget
| Option | Default | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Capture attachments | Yes | Copy attachments to disk while sending. |
| Storage path | empty (= safe default) | Where the attachments are kept. |
| Max. per file (MB) | 10 | Larger attachments are skipped; their metadata (name, type, size) still stays in the log. |
| Total storage budget (MB) | 500 | Once the budget is used up, new attachments are no longer copied until the next cleanup. |
Cleaning up
How long attachment files are kept is controlled by attachment retention (days) in the tab retention (default 30 days). The maintenance task clean up attachment files removes older files and those whose log entry has already been deleted. How to set up this task is described in the chapter Maintenance: scheduled tasks.
Safety of file names
Mail Log sanitises every attachment file name before storing it and defuses potentially executable
extensions (.php, for instance) by appending .bin. Together with the
storage location outside the web root, this rules out an attachment being executed on the server.
Applies to version 1.0.5.