Can't send mails only to hotmail

Did you read the last part from message #6?

 

ok, i was just trying to be 100% sure it wasn't a problem with my config files...

so now, i'm gonna try to setup an SPF record for mi domain.. but i really don't understand why i have never setup an spf record and never had a problem.. wish me success , i'll be back. (neither be a part of microsot senderid program.. or somethig like it..)

 

To create an SPF record in ISPconfig go to the DNS Manager > the-domain > Records > and click on SPF New.

Now leave Hostname as is, and set all other options (for now) to Yes.
Leave the other boxes empty, and click on save.

You now have a "basic" SPF record that should be okay! (still no guarantee that your email will NOT go to the "bulk" mail from Hotmail)

 

OK.. my SPF record is according to micorsoft..

v=spf1 a mx ptr ip4:201.151.250.43 mx:mail.merrytech.com.mx +all

but, according to http://old.openspf.org/index.html

"v=spf1 a mx ~all" and also..
mail.merrytech.com.mx. IN TXT "v=spf1 a -all"

i've put it in my merrytech.com.mx zone file ...

i have check my domain again, and it has PASS the SPF record test, inmediately i sent out an email to hotmail and after 2 minutes it APPEAR!! in INBOX :O , but!, i sent another right away and it didn't show up.. ...

 

Same problem even with PTR, SPF AND SenderID

Hi there,

I also have this problem. I use the ip x.x.101.196 for my webserver and x.x.101.192 for my mailserver. Last monday my ISP created the PTR records for my mailserver and I created the following SPF records.

mail02.<mydomain>.nl TXT "v=spf1 a ~all"
<mydomain>.nl TXT "v=spf1 mx mx:mail02.<mydomain>.nl ~all"

I don't use ptr (pointer record) for the spf <mydomain>.nl, because the domain ip is different than the mailserver. This also applies for the host option "a".

MX record:
<mydomain>.nl MX 10 mail02.<mydomain>.nl

I added <mydomain>.nl to the SenderID and monday evening I got a reply from Microsoft that the domain has been added and it could take 24 hours. But still I can't send to hotmail. I did some test on mxtoolbox.com and dnsstuff.com and all are ok. Also in the mail.log I can see that the mail is queued at mx2.hotmail.com. Does somebody has some tips or can help me look for the problem?

 

You are correct.

They will probably ask you to send some example email to randomtestacct (at) hotmail.com. When done, you will need to give them the subject lines of emails that you have sent.

 

hotmail support

Hi again,

I've tried that. The problem exists only when sending directly to hotmail, through webmail or an email client. When you configure forwarding to a hotmail account, it works and it doesn't matter where the original message comes from (hotmail, isp or somewhere else). So that's very strange.

I will try Microsoft support again. Hopefully they can help me.

 

Its The Spam Or Antivirus!

YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!

I've disabled the antispam and antivirus in ISPConfig and guess what! MY MAIL ARRIVES AT HOTMAIL!

I also disabled the SPF record and after that forwarding started working. Then I disabled both Antivirus and SPAM and I can send mail to hotmail.

I will try to figure out what exactly is the problem.

 

Just wait a few hours and test again.. Back to the "Bulk" mail again.

 

Bulk mail

I wish! My mail didn't arrive at all. I tried everything.

But it looks okay and I will wait an hour, like you said.

It's the SPAM filter by the way. I can leave Antivirus on.

--------------
You're right... You do have to create a SPF record. Below my record when using a different IP for the mailserver.
<mydomain>.nl. TXT "v=spf1 mx ptr ~all"

 

That was fun

For an hour or two!
And again I'm at the beginning. Only forwarding works for some domains and the that worked completely, now ends up in the BULK. Maybe it has to do with sync of the DNS servers or the mx servers from hotmail. I made a few changes, like removing the SPF. I've changed the TTL of the DNS records to 900, so they should replicate within 15 minutes. Maybe the mailservers at Hotmail don't renew the cached SPF record instantly. I see they use >4 mailservers. I will not change a thing for the comming week and see what happens. I removed ALL SPF records, so we'll see.

 

rvarkevisser ..

how did you managed to join your domain in the senderid program?


BTW, it has been almost 24 hrs.. mail from my domain to hotmail, thanks to SPF record is getting there. but only 3 out of 5, that's a progress

 

Just send an email to [email protected] with your domains. You will get an email within a few hours. After more than 24 hours, your domains will be added.

 

I find it interesting that hotmail support addresses score a 3.9 in spamassin..

Code:

 pts rule name              description
---- ---------------------- -----------------------------------------------
 0.6 REPLY_TO_EMPTY         Reply-To: is empty
 0.3 MAILTO_TO_SPAM_ADDR    URI: Includes a link to a likely spammer email
 0.0 HTML_MESSAGE           BODY: HTML included in message
 1.4 DNS_FROM_RFC_POST      RBL: Envelope sender in postmaster.rfc-ignorant.org
 2.2 MSGID_DOLLARS          Message-Id has pattern used in spam
-0.6 AWL                    AWL: From: address is in the auto white-list

Note the RBL score. That's basically saying Hotmail (Microsoft) doesn't play by the rules to begin with. And this is probably the major cause of problems with Hotmail.

All of the major players set their own rules and standards. Then they pressure the rest of the internet to conform. Which then leads to changes in the RFCs and the cycle starts all over again.

Now with that said, until I got our mail going through to Hotmail/MSN (YES if one isn't going the other isn't either) we simply refused to accept mail addresses for those that used them. We wound up calling all of our customers with those addresses and telling them to contact MS if they wanted to continue to do business with us. Hotmail/MSN got enough complaints that we are now "whitelisted" on their servers.

Note however, if you send mass mail of ANY kind you will never be whitelisted and you may find your mail going to the "junk" folder all of the time. But at least your mail will get through.

 

So that took a while. It's definately not a DNS problem, but a sync problem with the mx servers from Microsoft. My domains are all accepted. So you have to be patient. It took more than 72 hours before our servers were accepted. yesterday it worked for a few hours and than the whole day nothing. Last night I could send mail to the BULK folder and today every thing ends up in the INBOX. If you're using a different IP for the mail server and Web server use the following SPF record. This isn't necessary by the way, because a few domains, who don't have a SPF record also work.

"v=spf1 mx ~all"

For the domain which contain the A records for your mailserver I used the following:

"v=spf1 mx ptr ~all"

So, please be patient and wait 3 to 4 days and keep trying mailing to hotmail. The hotmail mx servers will recognize your mailserver faster.

 

You might want to change ~all to -all.

~all is the same as no SPF protection since it is a "softfail" which accepts mail from anybody. ~all is for testing purposes only. -all gives a hard fail if it's not sent from your servers.

 

-all

That's something for the next release I think. You only have the option ?all and ~all in ISPConfig (last option in the SPF record). I could not get it set to -all. Maybe I'm doing something wrong, because I think there's no option to set it to -all.

 

If you want ISPConfig to set it automatically you need to edit /root/ispconfig/scripts/lib/classes/ispconfig_bind.lib.php and change ~all to -all.

I think ISPConfig defaults to ~all for sanity sake of the programmers. If the -all is set incorrectly no mail would be accepted by servers checking SPF and that would just lead a ton of questions on this board.