Newbie Needs alot of help

[sirzrx]

Hi guys, im very new to this linux and email server thing. our exchange license almost expires and im seeking new alternatives, zimbra looks promising but i have never ever setup a email server and some concepts are very new to me, im doing some tests firsts before doing any decision,i have managed my self to setup the zimbra server i can recieve any mails but cant send mails, and the pop3 and imap thing dont work, let me explain my case:

1) we dont own a domain yet, so i registered one at dyndns "test.gotdns.com" is my domain for tests.

2)i downloaded the virtual appliance for some testing.
Configure Email:
mail relay "test.gotdns.com"
mail from "admin@test.gotdns.com"
my first confusion i have read the help article but i just dont get it

Configure Networking
Host Name test.gotdns.com
DNS Search Domain localdomain <----is that correct?
DNS Server(s) 192.168.152.254 <---- thats my router IP or what dns server should i put here?

IP Address 192.168.152.253
Netmask 255.255.255.0
Gateway 192.168.152.254 <---my ip router gateway

Configure Proxy
Blank, i have no idea what it is

some text scrolled and "done" u now can log in to the admin site

2)i went to my router and redirected all the ports to 192.168.152.253

3) i went do the admin site and i can see 1 domain, 1 server
domain:
virtual host <--
Server:
General---> LMTP advertised Name , LMTP bind address <-- blank ATM
Services--->all marked, imap pop proxy & SNMP unchecked
MTA----->Relay MTA for external delivey, and MTA trusted domains "Blank"
IMAP-----> Defaults
POP-----> address, adverticed name in blank
Volumes--> default

Zimbra seems to work fine, i can access to the ZCS via web from my house, my GF's House, with my admin account, and i can recieve mails. but i dunno why cannot sent any mail, they are in the queue line with the following error "Connect to mx1.hotmail"(hotmail.com) or "Connect to as.lajat.com.mx"(lajat.com.mx), this is what i did, and im stuck, any suggestions? thanks for any help in advance.

[phoenix]

As you are behind a NAT router you will need to set-up a Split DNS so the mail can be delivered to your server. Which operating system are you using?

[sirzrx]

router DD WRT
Zimbra virtual appliance running under VMWARE 6 on W2k3

[phoenix]

You still need the Split DNS. Is a VM intended to be the final set-up for Zimbra or will it be installed on real hardware?

[sirzrx]

i dont intend to install linux in a separate computer , if i use zimbra ill run it via vmware.

[phoenix]

Originally Posted by sirzrx

i dont intend to install linux in a separate computer , if i use zimbra ill run it via vmware.

If that's the case, I'd suggest you download the free VMware Server (or whatever VM you choose as long as it can run a linux o/s) and install a copy of CentOS5 in that and then install the current version of Zimbra. The VMware Appliance isn't kept as up-to-date as the normal releases. You'll also need plenty of RAM on this server.

[sirzrx]

any other suggestions?

[phoenix]

Originally Posted by sirzrx

any other suggestions?

What's wrong with the one I've given you above? The VMware appliance is only meant for testing and if you want to use this for a real mail server then I'd suggest following the above advice, it'll save wasted effort in the long run.

[sirzrx]

i started to download cent OS 5, ill try it and see how it goes.

[phoenix]

It should be fairly straightforward, there's a 'how-to' for Zimbra & CentOS5 in the forums, do a quick search for it and post again if you have questions about the install.