MX Issues

[speakingdigtial]

I have searched and searched on this (which I'm sure everyone has heard before) and I'm coming to wits end. After getting my install up and running, I am having issues getting my MX records hashed out. I have followed suggestions from multiple posts and have tried things like:

host -t mx server.lakelandradiology.com
server.lakelandradiology.com mail is handled by 0 server.lakelandradiology.com.

dig server.lakelandradiology.com   

; <<>> DiG 9.3.2 <<>> server.lakelandradiology.com
;; global options:  printcmd
;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 62219
;; flags: qr rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 1, AUTHORITY: 2, ADDITIONAL: 2

;; QUESTION SECTION:
;server.lakelandradiology.com.  IN      A

;; ANSWER SECTION:
server.lakelandradiology.com. 66943 IN  A       209.107.248.207

;; AUTHORITY SECTION:
lakelandradiology.com.  164730  IN      NS      dns21.register.com.
lakelandradiology.com.  164730  IN      NS      dns22.register.com.

;; ADDITIONAL SECTION:
dns21.register.com.     58128   IN      A       216.21.234.81
dns22.register.com.     75806   IN      A       216.21.226.81

;; Query time: 37 msec
;; SERVER: 204.127.203.135#53(204.127.203.135)
;; WHEN: Thu May  3 11:22:56 2007
;; MSG SIZE  rcvd: 143

And last but not least:

dig server.lakelandradiology.com MX

; <<>> DiG 9.3.2 <<>> server.lakelandradiology.com MX
;; global options:  printcmd
;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 29884
;; flags: qr rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 2, AUTHORITY: 2, ADDITIONAL: 2

;; QUESTION SECTION:
;server.lakelandradiology.com.  IN      MX

;; ANSWER SECTION:
server.lakelandradiology.com. 84101 IN  CNAME   lakelandradiology.com.
lakelandradiology.com.  82580   IN      MX      0 server.lakelandradiology.com.

;; AUTHORITY SECTION:
lakelandradiology.com.  104071  IN      NS      dns21.register.com.
lakelandradiology.com.  104071  IN      NS      dns22.register.com.

;; ADDITIONAL SECTION:
dns21.register.com.     76017   IN      A       216.21.234.81
dns22.register.com.     165087  IN      A       216.21.226.81

;; Query time: 44 msec
;; SERVER: 204.127.203.135#53(204.127.203.135)
;; WHEN: Thu May  3 11:23:54 2007
;; MSG SIZE  rcvd: 157

to check the MX records.

I am using register.com's services to handle everything DNS related so I don't have access to the actual DNS files. The setup is a Mac OS X Server running 10.4.9. Should I run DNS on the machine itself? And if so, any pointers on what the DNS settings should look like? I have tried following Apple's docs for setting up DNS, but no luck there. All suggested DNS settings on local machines have been on Linux boxes and Apple's version of the DNS files looks different than the suggested files.

We are going into day 2 without e-mail, so I'd like to get this resolved as quickly as possible.

Thanks much,
Steve

[phoenix]

Are you behind a NAT router? If you are, do you have the correct ports forwarded to your Zimbra server? You will also need a DNS server behind the NAT device. I'm afraid I don't know anything about MAC DNS files but you'll need a split-DNS as described in the wiki.

You said 'second day without mail', does that mean it was working? If so, what's changed to make it stop working?

[speakingdigtial]

Bill,

Yes, the install is behind a NAT router. Local IP is 172.16.1.x. I'm coming to find the Mac documentation is sparse around here. I know there are Mac users in this forum somewhere that have gotten things up and running.

E-mail has run fine on this box for years (no joke.) We were running the built in mail services on OS X Server, but came across Zimbra and it offers way more functionality than anything built into the Server.

I'll give the wiki documentation a look over and see if I can make heads or tails of it for use on the Mac.

Thanks,
Steve

[phoenix]

I recognise your LAN IP address (sad, I know ), didn't you have a support ticket open for this?

It should be fairly easy to set it up, I don't believe the MAC can be that different - or can it?

[speakingdigtial]

Bill,

I do have a support ticket open for this. I wasn't sure if this is a continuation of that incident though since I can log in to the admin interface and get around in there. It seems like it would be a wishy-washy call on your guys part since mail still does not work.

The Mac DNS set up is handled by a GUI (save the positive/negative comments for a later time.) I can edit the created DNS file, but am not sure if that would kill the GUI (Server Admin app.) I really would not want to start killing apps on the server since I've already killed e-mail.

Thanks,
Steve

[phoenix]

Do you have the ports forwarded through your NAT device? Is there any firewall running on your Zimbra server?

[speakingdigtial]

Bill,

Will postfix not be running because of the MX issues? I was checking the status of the services running on the set up and after issuing a zmcontrol status I got the following reply:

Host server.lakelandradiology.com
        antispam                Running
        antivirus               Running
        ldap                    Running
        logger                  Running
        mailbox                 Running
        mta                     Stopped
                postfix is not running
        snmp                    Running
        spell                   Running

Shouldn't postfix be running no matter what the issue is with my MX records? I also noticed that even though logger says it's running, I cannot view anything in server status because "Server status data is not available. To see the server status, logger service must be installed." Did something go screwy during my install that I did not catch?

[speakingdigtial]

Bill,

Sorry to double up the responses on you. I do have my server set as a DMZ on the router. Port forwarding was getting to be a pain since there were a lot of thing going on on the server. There is no firewall running on the server.

Thanks,
Steve

[speakingdigtial]

So here's the output from handling DNS via the GUI on the server:

$TTL 86400
lakelandradiology.com.          IN      SOA     server.lakelandradiology.com.   webmaster.lakelandradiology.com.        (
                                        2007050301      ;  serial
                                        3h      ;  refresh
                                        1h      ;  retry
                                        1w      ;  expiry
                                        1h       ) ;  minimum
lakelandradiology.com.                  IN      NS      server.lakelandradiology.com.
lakelandradiology.com.                  IN      A       172.16.1.120
server                          IN      A       172.16.1.120
lakelandradiology.com.                  IN      MX      0       server

Can somebody please have a look and let me know what needs to be changed? I have gone through the split DNS info on the wiki, but no changes occurred to my set up.

Thanks,
Steve

[phoenix]

It's difficult to spot on the wiki page but your MX record is missing a period '.' at the end of the line after 'server' - it is important. A slightly more readable version is the thread on the forums entitled 'DNS in a nutshell'.

What do these commands produce:

host `hostname`
dig yourdomain.com any
dig yourdomain.com mx