Thanks for your thoughtful reply, but evidently there's still something that I'm missing.
On Wed, Nov 12, 2008 at 01:48:44PM +0800, W B Hacker wrote: > Rick Pasotto wrote: > > I have been running exim on my debian machine for many years without > > a problem. Now the one recipient won't accept mail from me and gives > > the below explanation which I only partially understand. > > > > I think the problem will be resolved if I can get exim to respond > > with 'niof.net' to HELO rather than 'mnr.niof.net'. mnr is the > > machine name but the domain is niof.net. At the present time it is > > the only machine in that domain. > > > > I know just enough to muddle my way through and would appreciate if > > someone could help me understand what's going on and what I need to > > do to fix it. > > You have been belssed with a very rare gift - a far-end that has given > you polite, accurate, and specific advice. > > Be thankful for that, and act on it! > > - FIRST: > > -- chose the identity you will use, EX: 'niof.net' or 'mail.niof.net' > > - THEN either: > > --- set the box hostname to the above choice (AND NOT 'mnr.niof.net') I set /etc/hostname to 'niof.net' and restarted exim. However, that doesn't seem to be enough. Do I need to reboot? What puzzles me is that I have been sending and receiving mail for over five years without a problem. I run several mailman mailing lists, one with over 1600 addresses. This is the first host that has rejected my mail. Maybe the increase in spam has resulted in a tightening up of the protocols. > and/or > > --- set Exim's 'helo_data' to that choice, and insure the appropriate > transport(s) actually *use* it. Where would I do that? The only lines I find in my config file that reference 'helo_data' apprear to deal with incoming mail. > That's only halfway home, because the far-end sees that in the HELO, but > ID's the IP based on a DNS lookup - and *wants* a PTR RR from the > IP-block holder of record - NOT from your own DNS: I am not running my own DNS. > THEN ALSO > > -- insure there are DNS records (A, MX, and PTR for your choice, AND > that they match the IP you use for the MTA. > > CRITICAL ITEM: > > -- get your *IP-block holder* (datacenter, ISP, or other upstream) to > enter a RTR RR for the above 'choice' on the IP used. [1] Please excuse my ignorance, but is that the same thing as rDNS? niof.net gives an ip of 69.17.2.49 and 69.17.2.49 gives a PTR of niof.net. > Miss any of those, and *our* servers will not be at all 'polite' or > helpful because we will 'ass u me' you are a WinZombie or LinDiot. > > HTH, > > Bill > > > [1] If you cannot get that, then said upstream may provide, and require > you to use, their mailhost for outbound traffic. Too few bandwidth > purchasers bother to READ their terms of service, which often prohibit > operating a mailserver. My ISP (speakeasy.net) specifically *allows* all services, including mail and http. That's a major reason I chose them. > > > > On Wed, Nov 12, 2008 at 02:35:18AM +0000, Support Team wrote: > >> This error message indicates company's email server misconfiguration. > >> The problem is that hostname, used by the server to represent itself > >> to remote side (to our spam filtering system in this particular case), > >> is invalid. Mail standards require HELO greeting to be sent from valid > >> (existent) FQDN hostname (IE names like "localhost" or "myserver" > >> doesn't comply with RFC). In your case servers (I see several mail > >> sources in MTA logs on our side) send FQDN HELO, but A records, > >> corresponding to HELO hostname, are missing from DNS. Please see > >> example reject message from filter's log and DNS query transcript > >> below. > >> > >> You have 2 possible options at this point. You can either correct HELO > >> hostname in your MTA configuration files, or add "A" records, > >> corresponding to your current HELO hostnames, to your domain's DNS > >> zone. > >> > >> Also please note, that reverse DNS records for your mail relay IPs > >> must exist. We don't check direct/reverse DNS correspondence, but we > >> reject mail sources with inexistent PTR records. > >> > >> Please let us know if we can be in any further assistance. > >> > >> ########################## > >> $ dig mnr.niof.net > >> > >> ; <<>> DiG 9.4.2-P2 <<>> mnr.niof.net > >> ;; global options: printcmd > >> ;; Got answer: > >> ;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NXDOMAIN, id: 38288 > >> ;; flags: qr rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 0, AUTHORITY: 1, ADDITIONAL: 0 > >> > >> ;; QUESTION SECTION: > >> ;mnr.niof.net. IN A > >> > >> ;; AUTHORITY SECTION: > >> niof.net. 10659 IN SOA ns03.domaincontrol.com. > >> dns.jomax.net. 2007101000 28800 7200 604800 759 > >> > >> ;; Query time: 2 msec > >> ;; SERVER: 10.1.1.251#53(10.1.1.251) > >> ;; WHEN: Wed Nov 12 04:34:58 2008 > >> ;; MSG SIZE rcvd: 98 > >> ########################## > > > > > -- > ## List details at http://lists.exim.org/mailman/listinfo/exim-users > ## Exim details at http://www.exim.org/ > ## Please use the Wiki with this list - http://wiki.exim.org/ -- "...the capitalist system...of free markets and the private ownership of the means of production, [is] an essential condition of the very survival of mankind." -- Friedrich Hayek Rick Pasotto [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.niof.net -- ## List details at http://lists.exim.org/mailman/listinfo/exim-users ## Exim details at http://www.exim.org/ ## Please use the Wiki with this list - http://wiki.exim.org/
