Mail Server & DNSSTUFF tests

[jltnol]

Ok so I have two domains I’m using at the moment. As far as I can tell, both domains have their MX records set correctly, as entering the url and sending mail to both give expected results.

However, with I do a check via dnsstuff.com, and using the dnstools, I get a big red error message:

ERROR: I could not complete a connection to any of your mailservers!

MAIL.digitalmc.tv: Timed out [Last data sent: RCPT TO: ]

If this is a timeout problem, note that the DNSreport only waits about 40 seconds for responses, so your mail *may* work fine in this case but you will need to use testing tools specifically designed for such situations to be certain.

Now, the deal is I’m getting mail, and most of it comes in pretty quickly, although some of it does take a very very long time.

In the GUI, I have the SA>Mail>General tab, the domain name is set to mail.domain.com, and the host name is mail.domain.com (I’ve tried diferent combinations of both mail.domain.com and domian.com… none seem to solve the problem)
In the GUI, SA>Advanced>Hosting>Local Hosts Aliases, I have domain.com, and localhost.

I’ll worry about the other domains later, but if I could just get this problem solved, the rest I think I could figure out.

If there is any thing glaring apparent, please let me know so I can hopefully put my mind at ease.

Much Thans In Advance.

J

[gw1500se]

The key diagnostic is the “Last data sent” message. Since it is “RCPT TO:”, it clearly means a connection has occurred and the ‘HELO’ handshaking was successful. Apparently your server is taking too long to respond to the “RCPT TO;” command. I would suggest you look at your postfix rules for something that would delay that response such as some kind of validation rule that is hanging or taking too long. Start by seeing which users time out and which do not (you seem to have implied that anyway) and finding some commonality.

Sorry I couldn’t be much more help but maybe fresh eyes will say something dumb enough to give you and idea. 🙂

[jltnol]

Well as it turns out… the problem was being caused by a bad/old mail spam service… I deleted it, updated to zen.spamhaus, and all is right with the world.

As a side note, checking the Apple Server discussion board, by far, Mail has more entries than anything else, so I pose this question.

Is it that Mail service is just plain hard to set up correctly, or is it that Apple hasn’t done the best job in making the GUI as easy to use as it should be?

[gw1500se]

IMO the latter. I have a Linux machine and setting up and maintaining mail with ‘webmin’ works fine. Apple hides too much from the admin.

[gw1500se]

Remember what happens when you ‘assume’. 🙂 I think what rankles me is that once you go outside of server admin to configure mail and have problems Premimum Care no longer covers you. While I can understand Apple not wanting to be a Unix support company, they really need to provide access to more postfix and spamassassin settings in the GUI. On the other hand, some of what they do provide generates configurations that are flat out wrong.

[jltnol]

I’ll be the first to admit that what I don’t know about servers is vast. While not exactly a rookie, it has been a challenge to get Mail set up correctly. First, we were given an static residential IP address, so that caused problems, then our new IP address was on everyone’s spam list, so that took some fixing as well. And while none of this was the fault of Apple, a simple “checkIP address for issues” button may have gone a long way in my getting my problems solved more quickly.

The manuals are great when everything works correctly, and that happens more often than not. But when problems do arise… it’s good that there are sites like these, and more importantly, patient people who can help people like me troubleshoot and fix those problems. I try to do my share on the Apple boards on issues that I feel confident I can provide help with…. pay forward.. pay back.

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