Mail Server Help (SmarterMail)

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MielieSpoor

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So I have a server from MWeb and set it up and all it working well. I have set up the free edition of SmarterMail because I don't need a lot of mailboxes but I need to send a lot of email daily using the system running on the server so I need the mail server.

Yesturday I noticed on of the recipients' emails aren't delivered; I get the following error:
andre@***.co.za

Pending
450 4.7.1 Client host rejected: cannot find your hostname, [41.86.104.169]

From what I have read, this has got to do with DNS reverse lookup - or so it seems. The target mail server is doing a reverse lookup to prevent spam. How can I fix this?

I am doing the DNS hosting via cloudns.net which has been good so far. From I have seen via searches I need to add a PTR record for the reverse lookup to work. How the hell do I add that?

I have the following DNS entries:
Type: Host:
A bluebullreferees.co.za
A mail.bluebullreferees.co.za
A www.bluebullreferees.co.za
A *.bluebullreferees.co.za
MX bluebullreferees.co.za
CNAME smtp.bluebullreferees.co.za
CNAME pop.bluebullreferees.co.za

What more do I need to do to get this guys email sending?

Thanks!
 
A reverse lookup on your server ip gives the following:

dig -x 41.86.104.169

; <<>> DiG 9.7.1-P2 <<>> -x 41.86.104.169
;; global options: +cmd
;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 23136
;; flags: qr rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 1, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 0

;; QUESTION SECTION:
;169.104.86.41.in-addr.arpa. IN PTR

;; ANSWER SECTION:
169.104.86.41.in-addr.arpa. 600 IN PTR 41-86-104-169.mweb.co.za.

;; Query time: 361 msec
;; SERVER: 192.168.1.55#53(192.168.1.55)
;; WHEN: Tue Jul 26 11:51:12 2011
;; MSG SIZE rcvd: 82

A PTR record just means that when doing a lookup on your servers ip, the lookup returns your servers hostname. I would suggest you contact Mweb as they should be the ones setting up the PTR record. From my experience with Hetzner, they setup the PTR record when a client requests one, so I am pretty sure that Mweb can do it for you. It would need to be setup on their DNS servers, so they would have to do it.
 
MielieSpoor said:
I am doing the DNS hosting via cloudns.net which has been good so far. From I have seen via searches I need to add a PTR record for the reverse lookup to work. How the hell do I add that?
Click to expand...

BTW, it has nothing to do with your cloudns.net service.
The PTR record is about your IP address
 
Check in SmarterMail's setup, there's an actual field called "hostname" that you need to fill in.This is IF I correctly remember. A lack of RDNS record shouldn't keep you from sending mail/receiving any. A rejection like that sounds like something very very basic each mail server should have.
 
Actually lack of verifiable RDNS being blocked as an Antispam measure is becoming quite common
 
kim_bcs said:
A reverse lookup on your server ip gives the following:

.
.
.

A PTR record just means that when doing a lookup on your servers ip, the lookup returns your servers hostname. I would suggest you contact Mweb as they should be the ones setting up the PTR record. From my experience with Hetzner, they setup the PTR record when a client requests one, so I am pretty sure that Mweb can do it for you. It would need to be setup on their DNS servers, so they would have to do it.
Click to expand...
Thanks. Have sent the mail to MWeb so hopefully they will update the PTR records for me.

AcidRaZor said:
Check in SmarterMail's setup, there's an actual field called "hostname" that you need to fill in.This is IF I correctly remember. A lack of RDNS record shouldn't keep you from sending mail/receiving any. A rejection like that sounds like something very very basic each mail server should have.
Click to expand...
I have problems with only one person's email going out. The rest is ok for now, but it is quite important for this guy to get his system updates to I have to do this.
 
kim_bcs said:
;; ANSWER SECTION:
169.104.86.41.in-addr.arpa. 600 IN PTR 41-86-104-169.mweb.co.za.
Click to expand...

There's the PTR right there, then? 169.104.86.41.in-addr.arpa resolves to 41-86-104-169.mweb.co.za. Looks fine to me?

I get the same result when doing an nslookup from a Windows machine:

C:\>nslookup
Default Server: UnKnown
Address: 41.157.83.51

> set type=ptr
> 169.104.86.41.in-addr.arpa
Server: UnKnown
Address: 41.157.83.51

Non-authoritative answer:
169.104.86.41.in-addr.arpa name = 41-86-104-169.mweb.co.za

104.86.41.in-addr.arpa nameserver = ns2.mweb.co.za
104.86.41.in-addr.arpa nameserver = ns1.mweb.co.za
ns1.mweb.co.za internet address = 196.2.16.3

Perhaps the destination mailserver (i.e. the MX host for the recipient domain) experienced a temporary problem contacting whatever DNS server it's configured to query. If you can find out what its IP is, we can dig it and see!
 
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