After installing zimbra,i cant send or reeceive mails

[soundmax123]

I migrated from windows to Linux because of its stability,and after the installation of my Red Hat Linux according to the zimbra specification of specifying the partitions.i tried running ./install.sh,i got the following error.

Please fix ur /etc/hosts file to contain:
127.0.0.1 localhost.localdomain localhost

I fixed my/etc/hosts file as follows :
127.0.0.1 localhost.localdomain localhost
192.168.2.188 servername.domain.com servername

The installation continued and got to another question about changing my hostname,i selected no,another came about MX records,i have a webmail running,i changed my domain name to mydomain.com and continued the installation.
After the installation,i created two accounts,i tried sending mails to each of them,it said message sent but i cant find anything on their inboxes.
I am not sure of my global settings and account settings.please help me.

I also downloaded fetchmail for receiving my external mails but cant get it working.
How do i solve these problems and can i use zimbra without the fetchmail.

[phoenix]

You don't need fetchmail to get your mail, Zimbra is an MTA and will send/receive mail for you. You need valid external DNS A & MX records and if you're behind a NAT router you'll need a Split DNS set-up.

I'd suggest you have a read of the documentation before you go any further, then search the forums (there are several tutorials in the forums) and wiki for any problems you encounter during an install. When you've done that post again if you're still having problems.

[uxbod]

Welcome to the forums

As you are on a private IP address you will need to set up a Wiki :: Split DNS architecture as ZCS requires a MX and A record available.

[soundmax123]

Ok, i got the message, i just reconnected my server directly to my ISP,do i need to still install Bind,i am not sure if i am secured now,can i get a yahoomail address that i will use to chat online for the remaining steps and how do i check if i have a valid A and MX record.

[uxbod]

cat /etc/hosts
cat /etc/resolv.conf
dig yourdomain mx
dig yourdomain any
host `hostname` <- note backticks and not single quotes (type exactly as show)

[soundmax123]

typing cat /etc/hosts gave:
127.0.0.1 localhost.localdomain localhost
192.168.2.188 servername.mydomain.com servername

typing cat /etc/resolv.conf

search mydomain.com
nameserver 192.168.2.100
nameserver 192.168.2.188

yping dig mydomain mx and dig my domain any replied successfully but host `hostname`,i used servername as my hostname and it is giving me

bash: servername: command not found
Usage: host [-aCdlriTwv] [-c class] [-N ndots] [-t type] [-W time]
[-R number] hostname [server]
-a is equivalent to -v -t *
-c specifies query class for non-IN data
-C compares SOA records on authoritative nameservers
-d is equivalent to -v
-l lists all hosts in a domain, using AXFR
-i IP6.INT reverse lookups
-N changes the number of dots allowed before root lookup is done
-r disables recursive processing
-R specifies number of retries for UDP packets
-t specifies the query type
-T enables TCP/IP mode
-v enables verbose output
-w specifies to wait forever for a reply
-W specifies how long to wait for a reply
-4 use IPv4 query transport only
-6 use IPv6 query transport only
-s a SERVFAIL response should stop query

i now tried host servername it replied
;; connection timed out; no servers could be reached

what next please?

[uxbod]

As I said type the commands exactly hostname is a system command which gets automatically expanded according to what the system believes is your servername. So please type

host `hostname`

we need to see the dig information for your domain aswell to be able to help.

[soundmax123]

typing host `hostname`, i got this message

Host alpha not found: 3(NXDOMAIN)

remember i have not done any split DNS because i dont have a public IP

what's next? thanks for all the help so far.

[uxbod]

You still require a valid MX and A record even on a internal LAN. If you have connected to your ISP then you will have a public IP

[soundmax123]

my servername is alpha and my domain name is paletteng.com

my dig paletteng.com mx gave this
; <<>> DiG 9.3.3rc2 <<>> paletteng.com mx
;; global options: printcmd
;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 23303
;; flags: qr rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 1, AUTHORITY: 2, ADDITIONAL: 3

;; QUESTION SECTION:
;paletteng.com. IN MX

;; ANSWER SECTION:
paletteng.com. 14400 IN MX 0 paletteng.com.

;; AUTHORITY SECTION:
paletteng.com. 1988 IN NS ns2.hostingseries43.net.
paletteng.com. 1988 IN NS ns.hostingseries43.net.

;; ADDITIONAL SECTION:
paletteng.com. 1988 IN A 85.13.243.2
ns2.hostingseries43.net. 145955 IN A 85.13.243.3
ns.hostingseries43.net. 145955 IN A 85.13.243.2

;; Query time: 4256 msec
;; SERVER: 192.168.2.100#53(192.168.2.100)
;; WHEN: Fri Jan 30 14:59:44 2009
;; MSG SIZE rcvd: 149

my dig paletteng.com any gave

; <<>> DiG 9.3.3rc2 <<>> paletteng.com any
;; global options: printcmd
;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 61811
;; flags: qr rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 4, AUTHORITY: 2, ADDITIONAL: 3

;; QUESTION SECTION:
;paletteng.com. IN ANY

;; ANSWER SECTION:
paletteng.com. 14087 IN MX 0 paletteng.com.
paletteng.com. 1675 IN A 85.13.243.2
paletteng.com. 1675 IN NS ns2.hostingseries43.net.
paletteng.com. 1675 IN NS ns.hostingseries43.net.

;; AUTHORITY SECTION:
paletteng.com. 1675 IN NS ns.hostingseries43.net.
paletteng.com. 1675 IN NS ns2.hostingseries43.net.

;; ADDITIONAL SECTION:
paletteng.com. 1675 IN A 85.13.243.2
ns2.hostingseries43.net. 145642 IN A 85.13.243.3
ns.hostingseries43.net. 145642 IN A 85.13.243.2

;; Query time: 2 msec
;; SERVER: 192.168.2.100#53(192.168.2.100)
;; WHEN: Fri Jan 30 15:04:57 2009
;; MSG SIZE rcvd: 193