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Knowledge base

PMTA knowledge base›Block <signals>›Directive§ 11.1.6.2.9

use-https

<signals>

Whether to encrypt substituted tracking links
in the configuration this is a lineuse-httpsinside the block <signals>
An unencrypted link in a message from you

The line makes substituted links encrypted. The default is false, that is, links go over the plain protocol.

🔴 The default means unencrypted links in your messages. Mail clients and mailbox providers see this; so does a modern reader.

It can be enabled only with your own tracking domain configured for encryption. The vendor stipulates this plainly: without your own secure domain the links will simply stop working.

It works only with engagement-tracking set to sparkpost — like the other substitution lines.

The main trap is enabling it without a prepared domain. Links will stop opening, and it will be noticed not by monitoring but by the recipient — that is, you will find out late and from a client.
What the Hub does. It does not write it — and does not intend to: substituting someone else’s links into our messages would mean recipients’ clicks going through the vendor’s domain.
Recommended values

The choice here is short:

Value When
false (default) you have no secure domain of your own
true your own domain is configured for encryption
The false default and the requirement of your own secure domain come from the manual (§ 11.1.6.2.9).
Example configuration
# only together with your own domain configured for encryption
<signals>
    engagement-tracking sparkpost
    tracking-domain track.mydomain.com
    use-https true</signals>
Without a prepared domain the line breaks the links in messages already sent.
yellow — — directive names, blue — blocks. They are highlighted the same way in the text of the card.
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Common mistakes and problems

what people get wrong and how it ends2 mistakes▶

Enabling encryption without a prepared domain

our experience

What it costsLinks stop opening. You find out from recipients, not from monitoring.
How to spot itComplaints about broken links in messages.
How to do it rightFirst configure the domain for encryption, then enable the line.

Expecting the line to work with substitution turned off

§ 11.1.6.2.9

What it costsThe substitution lines work only with engagement-tracking set to sparkpost. With other values they do nothing.
How to spot itThe line is set, and nothing in the messages has changed.
How to do it rightCheck the value of engagement-tracking.
Compatibility
PowerMTA 6.0
described in the manual of this version · platform: any
The vendor does not state the first version for every directive — there is no note here. The name also appears in the 5.0 edition of the manual.
Reference data
Syntax
use-https { yes | no }
Values
yes | no | true | false
Default
§ 11.1.6.2.9
Applying
reload, no restart needed
Queue
will not touch what is already queued
Where to write it
<signals>
How many times
once in the block
Everything here comes from the manual, with the section.
Inheritance
There is no inheritance: the line lives inside <signals>, and there is one such block per node. The scope of export by stream is set by the enable-signals line with three levels.
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Related directives

1 relation

Does not work without

tracking-domain<signals>Works only with your own tracking domain configured for encryption. § 11.1.6.2.9

How to check on the node
The result is visible in the message itself — check it in a delivered one:
grep -i "signals\|html" /var/log/pmta/log | tail -20
It is more reliable to look at a message that reached the seed mailbox: the links and pixels are either in it or not.
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What else to read

3 articles

◇Hand a message to a webhook instead of a receiverThe queue sends the message as a POST request in the form of a JSON object; only a 2xx response counts as success.◇The node can insert pixels and rewrite links by itselfIn the vendor’s tracking mode the engine parses outgoing HTML, rewrites links to the tracking domain and inserts open pixels — with a choice of what to do if the markup cannot be parsed.◇Markup parsing and editingOpen and click tracking in sparkpost mode edits the message markup with the built-in gumbo-parser; by default a message whose markup could not be parsed is bounced.

In the Hub
Cost of a mistake
safe: a wrong value breaks nothing
Scenarios
Tracking infrastructure
Neighboring settings of the block <signals>:privacy-policyhtml-edit-error-modecustom-message-id-headerretain-x-sp-subaccount-idengagement-trackingAll 16 directives of the block →