Unable to set auto-reply or create alias with mail forwarding in Plesk: Mail cycling is detected, the address “[email protected]” is contained in the mail group of this mail account

Symptoms

• Unable to set auto-reply in Plesk > Domains > example.com > Email addresses > [email protected] > Auto-Reply with specifying the [email protected] mailbox in the Forward to field due to the following error:

  Mail cycling is detected, the address "[email protected]" is contained in the mail group of this mail account.

• The Switch on mail forwarding option was turned off earlier in Plesk > Domains > example.com > Email addresses > [email protected] > Forwarding.

• The Forward incoming messages to the following email address field contains the [email protected] mailbox.

Cause

This is Plesk bug PPPM-3844.

Resolution

As a workaround, perform the following actions:

1. Log into Plesk.

2. Go to Plesk > Domains > example.com > Email addresses > [email protected] > Forwarding or Plesk > Domains > example.com > Email addresses > [email protected] > Auto-reply > Forward to

3. Mark the Switch on mail forwarding checkbox and specify any non-existing mailbox, e.g. [email protected], in the Switch on mail forwarding field.

   Note: just removing the [email protected] mailbox from the Forward incoming messages to the following email address field will not help to resolve the issue because this field cannot be empty.

4. Unmark the Switch on mail forwarding checkbox again and press the OK button.

5. Go to Plesk > Domains > example.com > Email addresses > [email protected] > Auto-Reply and enable auto-reply with specifying the [email protected] mailbox in the Forward to field.