Likely DNS issue...please help

[theferrett]

All,

I've been working on getting ZCS 4.5 running on Fedora Core 5 and seem to be missing something critical. I've spent a great deal of time in the forums, wiki, and Google and can't seem to find the answer. The following is kind of a long list, but I figure if I'm going to ask for your help I should give you everything I can.

OS: FC5 with all the latest patches/updates
Zimbra: latest version of 4.5 open source
Hardware: more than capable with lots of RAM, proc, and drive

Internet connectivity: Comcast cable (w/ DHCP addy) & Sonicwall firewall
Zimbra related ACL on Sonicwall (NAT'ing from WAN to internal IP 192.168.69.11): ports SMTP, HTTP, POP3, IMAP4, LDAP, HTTPS, IMAPS, POP3S, SSH.

External
I'm using DDNS to work around Comcast's DHCP.
External IP addy: varies/DHCP
DDNS domain: theferrett.no-ip.org (actual IP addy updated as needed by Sonicwall)
External (legal) MX record held at 1&1: theferrett.no-ip.org (default is a 1&1 mail server)

Internal
Internal mail server IP addy: 192.168.69.11 /24
Mail/ZCS domain: plotkin-tursi.info
Mail host/ZCS server name: mail

Symptoms
Mail from abc@plotkin-tursi.info to xyz@plotkin-tursi.info works.
Mail from the outside (eg your e-mail address) to abc@plotkin-tursi.info works.
Mail from abc@plotkin-tursi.info (or any internal addy) to the outside world (eg you) fails.
Outgoing mail sits in the Deferred queue and goes nowhere.

I'm aware of the need to set up split-DNS to get my server to check the local DNS before looking outside. I thought I set it up correctly by testing the following:
nslookup to non-cached sites works
MX record for the ZCS host reports back with the right name and the right internal IP addy
Forwarders are set up (all other internet activities function as expected so some level of DNS is working)

The only error I got during installation of ZCS was “DNS ERROR - none of the MX records for plotkin-tursi.info resolve to this host” I've been looking at the BIND configs and it all seems OK to me (not saying much, I guess ). Otherwise ZCS installed smoothly.

Here's the 'hosts' file:
# Do not remove the following line, or various programs
# that require network functionality will fail.
127.0.0.1 localhost.localdomain localhost
192.168.69.11 plotkin-tursi.info mail

So....I guess I'm lacking some knowledge of where to look next. In the interest of brevity I've not included any logs or output, but would be happy to do so upon your request.

Thanks so much for your help!

J

Edit: sendmail is disabled and not running

[marcmac]

I think comcast blocks outgoing mail on port 25 to anyone but their mail relay, so you'll need to set the zimbraMtaRelayHost to the CC mail relay, and disable dns lookups in postfix.

[theferrett]

Marc,

I was wondering about that. Would it make sense that this might not be an issue given that I can use both Earthlink and 1&1 as SMTP relays from my e-mail client (Thunderbird)? Or, am I confusing the difference in functionality between an e-mail client talking to a relay server versus an e-mail server talking to a relay server.

If needs be I can use the 1&1 server as a relay (since I'm paying them to host the domain). However they require authentication to their SMTP server and I don't see where to put that information in the MTA screen in the Admin console.

Thanks!

[marcmac]

Look in the mta logs, find out why outgoing mail is being deferred. If you're getting connect timeout, it's probably CC's firewall.

There's a wiki article on outbound smtp auth somewhere on wiki.zimbra.com

[theferrett]

Marc,

You're right on! After searching the wiki I found the doc you referenced. After adding the auth info for 1&1's SMTP server I've got mailing coming and going.

Thanks so much for your help. Now that I've got this proof of concept for my personal use I can present it to my company as a potential new e-mail solution.

I've been intrigued by Zimbra since first reading about it a year ago and am thrilled to be using it.

Thanks once again.

J