Email Piping

Email piping automatically imports emails for an email address into the support ticket system. As a result, clients can open and reply to tickets via email without the need to log in to the Client Area first.

  • Email piping and email importing use separate configurations and are distinct methods of importing email replies.
    • We recommend using email piping if you use cPanel & WHM and only import email replies from one domain.
    • We recommend using email importing if you use other control panels or if you want to import email from multiple domains.
  • Your mail service provider is separate from your configuration for email piping. You can update this configuration at Configuration () > System Settings > General Settings in the Mail tab.

Configuring Email Piping

To configure email piping for a support department, you must configure the pipe.php file.

To do this:

  1. Go to Configuration () > System Settings > Support Departments.
    The list of support departments in the Admin Area.
    Before you can set up email piping, you must configure your support departments at Configuration () > System Settings > Support Departments. Add each of your departments and the email address that you assigned to them.
  2. Copy the command to use to pipe email from Ticket Importing using Email Forwarders file path (or, if you use cPanel, only copy the file path).
    Importing Cron Commands
    If you have customized the location of the crons directory, ensure that the file path matches that location. The path will resemble the following example:
    \| php -q /home/username/public_html/whmcs/crons/pipe.php
  3. Use your preferred method to configure email piping.
    For steps to set up email piping with cPanel, see Set Up Email Piping - cPanel.
After you configure email piping, we recommend sending a test email to check your configuration. Do not use an admin’s email address to send this message.

RFC 3834

In WHMCS 8.1 and later, the system sends support emails with RFC 3834-compliant headers by default.

  • You can disable this at Configuration () > System Settings > General Settings in the Mail tab.
    Disabling RFC 3834 headers in General Settings
  • Regardless of your settings, WHMCS will not accept email that contains the Auto-Submitted header via email piping or email importing.

Blocked Support Email Replies

WHMCS may block email replies to existing support tickets for several reasons:

  • The sender is unregistered.
  • The sender is not a CC recipient.
  • The sender is not associated with the support ticket’s client account.

As of WHMCS 8.3, blocking only occurs if you have disabled Allow Insecure Imports in the Support tab at Configuration () > System Settings > General Settings. If this setting is disabled and blocking does occur, you can still view these replies and add them to support tickets manually.

Troubleshooting

Error or IssueCauseNext Steps
The system prevented an autoresponder from opening a ticket. (WHMCS 8.4 and later) or Prevented an Auto Responder from Opening a Ticket (WHMCS 8.3 and earlier)An email ticket reply contained the Auto-Submitted attribute in its headers.Auto-Submitted Header Errors
Department Not Found or Department Not Found. ExitingThe support department is a CC or BCC recipient.Department Not Found Errors
DirectAdmin is sending duplicates of piped email ticket replies.A line in the exim.conf file is causing email piping to send email twice.Duplicate Piped DirectAdmin Replies
The system blocked a potential email loop. (WHMCS 8.4 and later) or Blocked Potential Email Loop (WHMCS 8.3 and earlier)WHMCS received a large number of emails from the same email address, indicating an auto-responder loop.Email Loop Errors
pipe to |/home/username/public_html/whmcs/crons/pipe.php or generated by [email protected] or local delivery failedIncorrect file permissions for the /crons/pipe.php file or an incorrect forwarder entry.Local Delivery Failed Errors
You experience timezone-related issues in WHMCS or while running WHMCS automation.There is a timezone misconfiguration or a mismatch between the webserver’s PHP configuration and the cron engine’s PHP configuration.System Timezone Issues
TypeError: Return value of WHMCS\File::guessFileExtension() must be of the type string, null returned in /path/to/whmcs/vendor/whmcs/whmcs-foundation/lib/File.phpThe fileinfo function is missing or disabled in your server’s PHP configuration.TypeError guessFileExtension Errors
Unable to communicate with the WHMCS installationThe cron.php, pop.php, or pipe.php files cannot communicate with the WHMCS installation.Unable to Communicate Errors
The sender's email address is not registered. (WHMCS 8.4 and later) or Unregistered Email Address (WHMCS 8.3 and earlier)You have chosen to only allow registered clients to open tickets in this department.Unregistered Address Errors
email-piping support-tickets logs support-departments rfc-3834

Last modified: January 13, 2025