Ubuntu 6.10 server. DNS?

[stevenjo57]

When installing ubuntu 6.10 server for a future Zimbra install, should I opt to install the DNS server during setup?

Thanks.

[phoenix]

Zimbra (postfix) requires DNS A & MX records and the ability to do DNS lookups for delivering mail, so I guess the answer is yes.

[stevenjo57]

Thanks very much for your help.

As I continue my mostly fruitless, research I seem to read some posts that says I don't need a DNS server on the Zimbra machine.

Can anyone point me to a very clear, step by step procedure that will tell me EVERY step involved in getting Ubuntu 6.10 perfectly ready to install Zimbra so I don't get the MX record error message?

I am using Ubuntu 6.10. My test domain is ovationbooks.net, and the server will be behind a firewall, with static IP address 192.168.0.5.

Thanks.

[jholder]

Originally Posted by stevenjo57

Thanks very much for your help.

As I continue my mostly fruitless, research I seem to read some posts that says I don't need a DNS server on the Zimbra machine.

Correct. However, you do need it pointing to a DNS Server serving your Zimbra machine. For example, look at /etc/resolv.conf

Your Zimbra server needs an MX record in that server.
You should check this by
dig mx domain.com

Can anyone point me to a very clear, step by step procedure that will tell me EVERY step involved in getting Ubuntu 6.10 perfectly ready to install Zimbra so I don't get the MX record error message?

I am using Ubuntu 6.10. My test domain is ovationbooks.net, and the server will be behind a firewall, with static IP address 192.168.0.5.

Thanks.

Take a look at the wiki. Also, try http://support.zimbra.com/help
There's a lot of helpful information that is easy to read and understand.

Give it a try, and then when you have a question, ask!

john

[stevenjo57]

Thanks John.

Originally Posted by jholder

Correct. However, you do need it pointing to a DNS Server serving your Zimbra machine. For example, look at /etc/resolv.conf

Am I looking at the resolv.conf in the Zimbra server or the DNS server?

Originally Posted by jholder

Your Zimbra server needs an MX record in that server.
You should check this by
dig mx domain.com

I assume this is a line command, but is it entered in a terminal on the Zimbra server or the DNS server.

Originally Posted by jholder

Take a look at the wiki. Also, try http://support.zimbra.com/help
There's a lot of helpful information that is easy to read and understand.

I have been looking at these this morning. I think they will be helpful. Thanks.

[mmorse]

Originally Posted by stevenjo57

Quote:

I assume this is a line command, but is it entered in a terminal on the Zimbra server or the DNS server.

dig mx domain.com can be run from pretty much any linux box...it's what shows you the settings-not what sets them

[stevenjo57]

Originally Posted by mmorse

dig mx domain.com can be run from pretty much any linux box...it's what shows you the settings-not what sets them

Thanks. Here are the results of a dig for the domain I'd like to set up.

; <<>> DiG 9.3.2 <<>> mx ovationbooks.net
;; global options: printcmd
;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 37418
;; flags: qr rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 1, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 0

;; QUESTION SECTION:
;ovationbooks.net. IN MX

;; ANSWER SECTION:
ovationbooks.net. 14400 IN MX 0 69.53.116.171.

;; Query time: 320 msec
;; SERVER: 208.67.222.222#53(208.67.222.222)
;; WHEN: Tue May 15 08:21:18 2007
;; MSG SIZE rcvd: 63

It looks like right now, it's set up to use OpenDNS as a DNS server. We do have a Windows server machine running as a DNS server I could use.

Do you think I'm better off just installing Bind9 or something on the Zimbra server, or can I make some kind of modification to the Windows server and point the Zimbra machine to that?

[mmorse]

If it's using whatever dns company already to set the mx value of 69.53.116.171 can you just set the mx value there?
(also, usually people make it mail.domain.com for easy reference)

[phoenix]

Originally Posted by stevenjo57

It looks like right now, it's set up to use OpenDNS as a DNS server. We do have a Windows server machine running as a DNS server I could use.

Not necessarily, if you are behind a NAT device then your dig command should return the IP address of the Zimbra server ie.e 192.168.x.x - have a look at the split-DNS setup in the wiki. Perhaps you need to describe your network setup in a bit more detail.

[stevenjo57]

Originally Posted by phoenix

Not necessarily, if you are behind a NAT device then your dig command should return the IP address of the Zimbra server ie.e 192.168.x.x - have a look at the split-DNS setup in the wiki. Perhaps you need to describe your network setup in a bit more detail.

Thanks Bill. At the present time we are using OpenExchange 4.1 a Novell product which is pretty much dead and has very little support. It has many of the same features as Zimbra, but we think it important to change as we've been using OpenExchange for 4 years and we get no support anymore.

I am open to just about anything. I can set the Zimbra server behind a firewall, or I can assign it a static IP address outside the firewall.

The OpenExchange server accepts mail for bookpros.com which is our main domain. The MX record for bookpros.com points to a company VirtualConnect which scans for viruses and spam, then forwards it to 69.53.116.170 which is our router, which then forwards port 25 to the OpenExchange server which is a static IP behind the firewall.

I do not want to disturb my currently functional email server, so I'm trying to simply get Zimbra up so I can test the features. But everytime I try to set it up, say at another domain I own, such as ovationbooks.net, it grouses about DNS MX records, and never seems to start or install properly.

I am open to just about anything.