cannot receive external internet mail 1

[swdk]

anyone sending mail through the internet to my exchange server later get a automated delivery message

there are no problems at all for any ADS account users to send and receive email.
things i have checked out are as follows:
i have checked dns,recipient policy,port 25 is open,smtp qeue is empty etc....
1.my ddns service has both a and mx records that point to mymailserver.mydomain.com
2. nslookup is successful
3. telnet on the exchange server responds correctly
4. i used a web based utility to check all this and replies by send an email to the users account
have i missed anything out???????
sean

 

[gmcdonnell]

Are you testing all of these settings from inside your network or from outside?

It sounds like a DNS issue (I realize you've already checked it, but that's what it sounds like). Have you used a DNS checking service such as the free one at

http://www.dnscheck.net?

Gary McDonnell

 

[swdk]

i have checked from a freinds pc totally external from my network such as:
telnet srvrname.domainname 25- i get the correct reply

 

[EdwinSKH]

Are you saying when you telnet to port 25 from the external PC, did the Helo, Mail From:,RCPT To:, sequence of commands, you were able to receive a mail at your mail server? If you are able to do that, there shouldn't be a problem receiving emails from the internet.

For the smtp virtual server, under Access tab, is allow anonymous access tab for Authentication checked? If I remember correctly, you get similar problems if you unchecked this box.

I also read from other postings certain ISPs block certain ports to prevent the blaster worm from spreading, which affects some email services. This is only what I read. Can't confirm as I don't experience this.

Have you considered backing up your mailboxes and reinstalling Exchange?

 

[swdk]

what is the correct procedure to check this using telnet(just in case ive got it wrong?

 

[ITAMike]

I once had a client that was trying to configure their server to deny relay. They mistakenly placed the Exchange server's IP address in the following area:

ESM
Default SMTP Virtual Server
Properties
Access Tab
Connections Button

Thus the server could only accept smtp traffic from itself. This caused no problems for outbound email or internal email for their domain, but no other outside SMTP server could make a connection.

Worth a check,
Mike

 

[paradox17]

To start troubleshooting SMTP try this. Also if you can not recive email from outside try reinstalling the SMTP virtual server using smtpreinstall.exe But check the SMTP operation first:


telnet to port 25 and try to send emails using SMTP commands

From the server:

telnet

set local_echo

open

127.0.0.1 25

this should open communications with your exchange SMTP VS and display a simular message to

220 site.yourcompany.com Microsoft Exchange Internet Mail Connector version number of the IMC

helo site.yourcompany.com

mail from: person@yourcompany.com

rcpt to: persone1@yourcompany.com

data

subject: test


test

.

this should send a message to the rcpt: please see below for more detailed explination of the commands

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q153119&sd=tech

Good Luck hope some of this information helps

 

[swdk]

i installed active directory service it has a f.q.d.n of servername.mydomainname.com. i have an external ddns service account looking after my domain names & mx records. 1 have 2 website domain names both of which resolve in the url, home page displays etc. there are no problems regarding this side of my ddns service i use their ddns client software to auto update my dynamic ip address as well.i have port 80 open forwarding to its internal static address. this side of things are operating fine.
as for the e-mail, i have ports 25,110 both forwarding to another internal static ip address to a separate server with the following:

win2k server full, clean installation using ntfs.
service pack 3 .net framework (req by my ddns software)
i have set up my dns which also includes 2 dns addresses from my isp to help send internal emails (THIS IS NO PROBLEM SENDING INTERNAL MAIL THRU THE INTERNET)
active directory service, the server is now servername.mydomain.com. this name is also stored at my ddns service provider as is the mx record for this server
exchange server 2k (no service pack applied as yet)
i created a test account, set up a new recipient policy.
i have a smtp connector set up as well i did check to see if there are any in the Queues in the smtp virtual server, there are none. on strage thing, when i was using sophos mail monitor, there were several hundred messages logged being checked for virus, but i uninstalled this for the time being to shrink the variables in this proccess.
i'll stop here before i write a book, is this enough info to go by
sean

 

[swdk]

i have carried out the above telnet test as displayed above this was completly successful! the email was delivered to the recipient. the last message diplayed from telnet was:
queued mail for delivery
where does this leave me now?
sean

 

[peterpark]

What is in the undeliverable message? Is this a new installation, or has the mail server worked before? If you want to use telnet to test external senders to your mail system, then you need to telnet into the external mail system and send a test message to your mail server. You could try using your friends mail server or maybe hotmail may work?Yes, it's strange that you say Your Sophos is logging hundreds of messages yet you are not receiving any. You should investigate whether these messages recipients are meant for your smtp domain (mydomain.com). Also, is the smtp address in the recipient policy pointing to mydomain.com?

 

[peterpark]

Oh yes, I must add that I have no idea about DDNS service account doing port forwarding 25,110 to internal ip address of the mail server. I'm assuming it is somehow similar to having 2 nics on your mail server, one with an external ip, and the other with an internal ip.

 

[paradox17]

Sean,

My guess would be that the email is not hitting your server. The NAT is not being done correctly if the follow conditions are apparent.

1. If you can send/receive email internally with no problem and you can send out of the domain without issue.

2. If the external MX records are resolving correctly


Is you router doing the NAT or is it software based? Are the MX records pointing to the DDNS service address and then they re-route the mail to your IP or are you running the client locally? I would suggest getting a router and setting up NAT through this. Your dynamic IP should not change for at least 3-4 days so your MX records will stay current. Uninstall the DDNS client on your computer and use the router to do your NAT

 

[keithschm]

EdwinSKH

you da man; fixed my issue. That is what I get for playing

thanks