FreePBX received the fax but email or the UCP copy is missing

Freeze one session and one missing artifact

Choose one authorized inbound fax. Record timestamp, DID, inbound route, expected recipient, sender or remote station ID if appropriate, expected pages, expected email address, attachment format, local-storage choice and the exact missing artifact: message, attachment, local file or UCP item. Preserve a non-sensitive test document or redacted identifiers.

If there is no completed fax-session evidence, stop here and use the inbound-route or fax-over-VoIP path. This diagnostic does not turn failed negotiation or partial page transfer into an email problem.

Prove the fax branch and ReceiveFAX result

Confirm the called number matched the intended inbound route and the call entered the intended fax destination, whether directly for a dedicated DID or after detection for a shared line. Preserve the ReceiveFAX result: status, detailed status or error, pages, rate, resolution, remote station ID and audio or T.38 mode where available.

Asterisk documents SUCCESS and FAILURE independently from later distribution. If status is failure or page count diverges, remain at session negotiation and media rather than changing recipient email settings.

Resolve the selected FreePBX recipient

From the actual fax destination, identify the User Management recipient, fax-enabled state, primary linked extension, destination email, attachment format and local-storage setting effective at the session time. Compare those values with the intended owner; do not assume the displayed DID, an extension label and a user account are the same object.

If the recipient was renamed, disabled, unlinked or changed, preserve the old mapping and apply only the approved ownership correction. Use a distinct control recipient only when access and retention are authorized.

Follow storage, quota and UCP visibility

Determine whether local storage was enabled for that user and whether the session created the expected stored item. Inspect the applicable page quota and configured excess-fax behavior. Sangoma documents that a new fax can be rejected or older stored items deleted, and that a single fax larger than the page maximum can be deleted after receipt.

Then check the correct UCP user and folder. No local-storage entitlement means no expected retained UCP copy, even if email delivery is required. A stored item proves local persistence, not that an email left the PBX.

Trace conversion and email as their own stage

Compare the configured attachment choice with the artifact produced for the session. Distinguish no-attachment notification from PDF, TIFF or both. Then trace the single message from FreePBX submission through the configured mail transport to the intended address, preserving timestamp, recipient, message identifier and bounded error without exposing content or credentials.

A successful local submission does not prove remote acceptance, mailbox placement or readable attachment. Conversely, spam placement or a remote rejection does not mean ReceiveFAX failed. Keep PBX creation, transport acceptance and mailbox delivery as separate evidence.

Correct one owner and retest end to end

Correct only the first demonstrated divergence: route or destination, fax enablement, linked extension, recipient address, attachment selection, storage policy, quota behavior, conversion, mail transport or UCP access. Preserve the previous setting and any sensitive evidence, use supported FreePBX controls and retain rollback.

Retest with one non-sensitive single-page and one multi-page document. Confirm session success and page count, intended recipient, expected attachment or notification, local item and UCP visibility, then repeat a bounded failure case if required. This workflow is documentation-derived and was not reproduced on a customer or laboratory PBX.

Confirm the underlying Asterisk fax session before delivery repair

Use the Asterisk res_fax diagnostic when the TIFF/F artifact or application result is not yet established; keep a successful fax session separate from email or UCP delivery.