Can't send mails

[ravin]

Hi,

I have working zimbra collaboration suite. I can receive mails from any domain (intranet, internet) after disabling dns lookup in admin -> Servers -> MTA.
But I cannot send mails to any domain. Is this a problem related to DNS entries ? In one of the threads I read the problem could be of reverse dns. If so how can resolve it ?

I checked nslookup x.x.x.x but got following error.

** server can't find x.x.x.x.in-addr.arpa: REFUSED

Thanks in advance.

[phoenix]

If you're behind a NAT router then you will need a Split DNS.

[ravin]

Hi,

Thank you for your prompt reply. I checked split DNS entires as suggested by you but I have some confusion with my existing setup. Basically I have following setup in our company.

1. DNS server running bind ( 4 domains). In dns server I have entries for both private and public networks. Like if a user is in the company's network he can access mails, websites, ftp locally. (HAVING 2 ZONE FILES FOR EACH DOMAIN)
2. mail server qmail (for 3 domains - which I want to transfer to zimbra eventually, once it is successful.)
3. OpenLDAP for user authentication on private IP.

my new setup for zimbra:

zcs server for 4th domain (using existing dns server), which has LDAP, postfix and everything that comes with it by default.

Now I'm wondering as to how can I implement split DNS in this case.

Your help in this regard is highly appreciated. I liked zcs features and want to move all our domains to zimbra server. (squirrelmail sucks most of the time)

Thanks & Regards

[phoenix]

Post the output from the following commands (run on the zimbra server):

cat /etc/hosts
cat /etc/resolv.cone
dig yourdonain.com mx
dig yourdomain.com any
host `hostname`  <-- type as-is and use single quotes not backticks

[ravin]

[root@lsnet opt]# cat /etc/hosts
# Do not remove the following line, or various programs
# that require network functionality will fail.
127.0.0.1 localhost.localdomain localhost
192.168.3.10 lsnet.in
11.22.33.44 lsnet.in
11.22.33.11 ns1.abc.com
11.22.33.22 ns2.abc.com
[root@lsnet opt]# cat /etc/resolv.conf
; generated by /sbin/dhclient-script
nameserver 192.168.200.5
nameserver 192.168.3.10
nameserver 203.122.63.152
nameserver 203.122.63.154
search localdomain
[root@lsnet opt]# dig lsnet.in mx

; <<>> DiG 9.2.4 <<>> lsnet.in mx
;; global options: printcmd
;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 31688
;; flags: qr aa rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 1, AUTHORITY: 3, ADDITIONAL: 1

;; QUESTION SECTION:
;lsnet.in. IN MX

;; ANSWER SECTION:
lsnet.in. 7200 IN MX 10 mail.lsnet.in.

;; AUTHORITY SECTION:
lsnet.in. 7200 IN NS 192.168.200.4.lsnet.in.
lsnet.in. 7200 IN NS ns1.abc.com.
lsnet.in. 7200 IN NS ns2.abc.com.

;; ADDITIONAL SECTION:
mail.lsnet.in. 7200 IN A 192.168.3.10

;; Query time: 4 msec
;; SERVER: 192.168.200.5#53(192.168.200.5)
;; WHEN: Tue Aug 19 11:22:38 2008
;; MSG SIZE rcvd: 147

[root@lsnet opt]# dig lsnet.in any

; <<>> DiG 9.2.4 <<>> lsnet.in any
;; global options: printcmd
;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 61366
;; flags: qr aa rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 8, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 1

;; QUESTION SECTION:
;lsnet.in. IN ANY

;; ANSWER SECTION:
lsnet.in. 7200 IN SOA ns1.abc.com. root.lsnet.in. 2006062018 10800 900 604800 7200
lsnet.in. 7200 IN NS ns2.abc.com.
lsnet.in. 7200 IN NS 192.168.200.4.lsnet.in.
lsnet.in. 7200 IN NS ns1.abc.com.
lsnet.in. 7200 IN A 192.168.200.4
lsnet.in. 7200 IN A 192.168.200.5
lsnet.in. 7200 IN A 192.168.3.10
lsnet.in. 7200 IN MX 10 mail.lsnet.in.

;; ADDITIONAL SECTION:
mail.lsnet.in. 7200 IN A 192.168.3.10

;; Query time: 5 msec
;; SERVER: 192.168.200.5#53(192.168.200.5)
;; WHEN: Tue Aug 19 11:23:40 2008
;; MSG SIZE rcvd: 236

[root@lsnet opt]# host `hostname`
lsnet.in has address 192.168.3.10
lsnet.in has address 192.168.200.4
lsnet.in has address 192.168.200.5

[phoenix]

Your hosts file is incorrect, you need to change the following line:

192.168.3.10 lsnet.in

to this

192.168.3.10 mail.lsnet.in mail

You also need to modify the DNS A record to reflect the FQDN of your server as per this change.

[phoenix]

You would also appear to have no external DNS records for your domain according to this report, you'll need to fix that before mail can be sent to you.

[ravin]

But my hostname is lsnet.in. Do I need to change that as well. If so then do I have to reinstall zcs ?

And even if I change that to mail.lsnet.in, what will be my mail id in that domain. is it abc@lsnet.in or abc@mail.lsnet.in (am looking for abc@lsnet.in)

In one thread I read that my ISP also should have reverse dns entries in it's dns server. is it true?

Thanks & Regards,

[phoenix]

Originally Posted by ravin

But my hostname is lsnet.in.

No, that's your Domain Name and is incorrect as the FQDN for your server. Your hostname would be mail plus the domain name and that gives you the FQDN (Fully Qualified Domain Name) of mail.lsnet.in Check the Zimbra Documentation.

Originally Posted by ravin

Do I need to change that as well. If so then do I have to reinstall zcs ?

That's the cause of your poblems, the hostname can't be resolved. My suggestion would be to uninstall Zimbra then delete the /opt/zimbra directory (I'm assuming this is a test system with nothing important on it).

When you removed Zimbra, change the hostname to mail.lsnet.in and also modify your DNS records as I mentioned in the last post. Once that's done you can reinstall Zimbra, during the install you'll be asked if you want to change the Domain Name - you answer yes to that and set the Domain Name to lsnet.in. You will then have the correct domain name in your email.

You are advised to have a reverse DNS for your server as some receiving mail servers will reject your mail or tag it as possible spam.

[ravin]

Hi,

Thanks a bunch.

I did everything as per your suggestion and the system is fully operational now. I can send and receive mails without any problem.

Thanks again for your help.

One more help is needed. How can I start push mail in this system. My installation is zcs-5.0.8_GA_2462.RHEL4.20080709163257.tgz.

Regards,