Portal Home > Knowledgebase > Google Message Security > 552 Message too large - psmtp
ISSUE:
Sender getting the following error 552 Message too large - psmtp
POSSIBLE CAUSE 1:
Message limit is set to low for inbound Attachment Manager, by default the limit is set to 200MB, if a sender is sending a message that is above the limit size set in Attachment Manager the message will bounce with error 552 Message too large - psmtp
RESOLUTION 1:
Change message limit size in Postini, via inbound attachment manager:
http://www.postini.com/admindoc/attach_edit.html
POSSIBLE CAUSE 2:
Message sent is actually larger when received by Postini than size when sent by sender. For example when Exchange sends an e-mail to another host via SMTP, the message size may change due to the encoding used to package it. This is doubly true for messages with attachments, since the only way to send e-mail attachments is to convert them from plain ASCII to MIME or UU-encode the message.
Even if an attachment is less than the size limits proscribed by Exchange, it may not be accepted because its MIME-encoded or UU-encoded size is too big.
This happens most often when administrators set limits for inbound SMTP mail. An incoming MIME-encoded e-mail with attachments can increase in size anywhere from 30% to 40%, depending on how many separate attachments, line breaks, MIME headers or other non-data elements are in the message.
The exact size can vary enormously, especially since mail systems all behave a little differently when converting e-mail and attachments to MIME.
The same problem exists in reverse, where messages sent from your domain will be constrained by message limit sizes on other hosts. Likewise, mail sent from your domain is going to expand anywhere from 30% to 40% in size when converted.
A third-party program, such as UUDeview, can help you find out just how much larger a MIME or UU-encoded version of a given file will be. (Note that this tool does not calculate things like message size overhead, but it can still be helpful.)
The exact maximum incoming and outgoing message size is going to be up to the e-mail administrator, but should be set with these caveats in mind.
RESOLUTION 2:
Explain to users that when they send attachments, they need to be aware that messages will increase in size.
Add to Favourites 
Print this Article
Keep up-to-date on new technology, and services as the industry changes.
