Mercury MTS and Outlook XP over network

[Ceanon]

I would like to install the Mercury MTS as a mail server for our 10 users. In the past we had no need for a mail server as we were using dialups. A few weeks ago we finally got an ADSL line and now it makes sense to route everything through the ADSL line using sharing. This has already been done for internet usage. The problem we have is that all of the users have remote POP3 mailboxes on our ISP's server and for some reason the other computers (apart from the one onto which the ADSL modem is physically connected) is not able to retrieve POP3 messages in this way through Outlook XP (which is installed for all the users on the 8 computers). SMTP sending through the ISP works fine through the LAN, but not receiving. So this leads me to Mercury. I am unable to work out how to configure it to (1) download e-mails form the various POP3 mailboxes at the ISP server and then (2) relay them to the mailboxes locally for the individual users. I just do not understand how it works. It appears that if you use the Pegasus mail system it is fairly easy since USERS are created within pegasus and this ties back to Mercury, however I do not see where this works within Outlook. Outlook asks for an SMTP and POP3 server, username and password, e-mail name and e-mail address.

Currently we have a limited 5-user mailserver from another company installed- it works like a bomb and was no trouble to configure since the SMTP and POP3 names in Outlook becomes the IP address of the computer on which the mailserver is installed, the mailserver in turn contain the ISP SMTP and POP3 addresses. A username gets created within the mailserver and this username is then used within Outlook (instead of the username with the ISP)...easy.

Now how do I get this setup to work with Mercury?

The whole local domain name baffles me somewhat as well. WE have a domainname registered with the ISP but we do not have a static IP, thus everything has to be relayed through the ISP. I just do not know what I have to configure where

Any help?

 

[SteelBurner]

Ok Ceanon, here are the steps you have to follow. I assume you have v3.32 installed.

Go to Mercury Core Module
General tab
Internet Name for this system: yourdomain.com
Username of postmaster: ceanon
Directories for queues and mailboxes should be like default.
Local domains tab
Add new domain
Local host or server: yourdomain
Internet name: yourdomain
Add another domain
Local host or server: yourdomain
Internet name: yourdomain.com

; yourdomain.com = registered domain name

Next go to Aliases
Add new alias
Alias: ceanon@yourdomain.com
Read address: ceanon

Go to Manage local users
Add
Username: ceanon
Mail password: donotreadthis

Go to MercuryD POP3 client
Check every: 900 seconds
Add
POP3 Host: your ISPs POP3-server
Username & Password: credentials for your individual ISP account
Local user: ceanon

POP3 and SMTP server name is the IP of your local Mercury server machine.

That's all to make it work. Add more users by following steps from "Next go to Aliases".
There are a lot of more things to trigger to make your Mercury safe and secure, keep it free of SPAM etc.

You might post your mercury.ini (copy and paste) and I'll set it up like it should. Passwords are not stored there.

SteelBurner

 

[Ceanon]

Thanks Steelburner,

By Friday Afternoon I had figured it out...the thing about the users. I have not set-up my "this computer's internet name" as "yourdomain.com". First of all, wouldn't mail then get routed to me AND to my ISP? Secondly, like I said, I do not have a static IP to broadcast...this is due to me, as I have setup two hardware firewalls, and the IP that is in the "open" is changing constantly. I have used the inernal network address of the "server" as internet address, which is for all the other computers on the network to be able to find it for retrieving mail, and since that is the address the others have to go through in order to send mail.

The whole thing seems to be working like a bomb. The only query I have is about "local-users". At first I could not send any mail anywhere since I would get the message "we do not relay to non-local users". This was only fixed when I opened up relaying completely (which I gather is not good) Surely there must be different way?

I will look at your response and compare to my configuration and I will post the .ini file contents shortly. Thanks a stack for your help. This is going to save our little business a $1000 a month.

 

[SteelBurner]

You MUST set up your domain name in the core module - that is, for which it should attempt direct delivery on the local system rather than forwarding the mail to another machine for processing.

It doesn't matter if you have a dynamic IP - you set that right.

To open up your server for relaying if not that good ;-)

Go to MercuryS SMTP Server
On the Relay/Connection Control Tab
Add restriction
Enter your local IP net (eg. 192.168.120.0)
Check Allow connections from this address group
Make sure you
Do not permit SMTP relaying of non-local mail
and
Use strict local relaying restrictions

If you want to safely close your mailserver for relaying you might use the next two options in that menu.

SteelBurner

 

[Ceanon]

I did as you said and changed the domain names.

I set it up as follows under the core module...

Internet name for this system: blue-horizon.net

(I can see where this is used)

and under the domain tab:

blue-horizon blue-horizon
blue-horizon blue-horizon.net
blue-horizon [local net ip address of this machine]

if this is the correct way, it did not work, but methinks there must be some other error somewhere....sending mail internally, to addresses @blue-horizon.net just creates error messages (invalid from address) and (bad syntax error)

I don't get it...

Furthermore, does it matter that 3 mail users are at remote locations and not thus not on the MTS system?

I really do not mind if mail is sent to another machine for processing...even for internal mail...

but now I am getting loops...I do not know what they are, but I can see them being discarded in mercury after a while.

Also, non-local users requesting delivery confirmations....those confirmations are not being sent, but looped for a while and then "postmaster" (me) is mailed with the error....

Hmmmmm

 

[SteelBurner]

I'm not sure what you set up when installing Mercury. It might be helpful if you post your mercury.ini and I'll have a look at it - or feel free to mail that to me w.konrad@konnexco.de

SteelBurner