cannot send and receive mail

i set up according to the perfect CentOS 5 setup.

I can't send or receive any emails. I will be honest when I say i really don't know what I Am doing. I am doing this as a learning experience.

I have a virtual private server and have my domain names all pointing to the dns of my hosting company.

The three different domain's are all working fine with www, but mail will not work. I can successfully log into webmail, but cannot send. I can also successfully pop the account but no messages sent to it arrive.

in netstap -tap I can see where all of these test messages i've sent from gmail are sitting on the server. but why don't they go into mailboxes? I get a message back to gmail after a day that say:

Message will be retried for 1 more day(s)

Technical details of temporary failure:
TEMP_FAILURE: The recipient server did not accept our requests to connect.

Now, I know I was confused when setting up dns within ISPCONFIG. I wasn't sure what to put, as I am using the nameservers of the hosting VPS provider.
I see mentions of internal vs external IP's but mine only has an external IP. MTA type is set to Postfix and maildir is checked. On the DNS tab of the ISP server I have the hosting comp's DNS servers listed.

hopefully these problems will be obvious to someone else, because I have no clue and I have been searching the forums here for a similar issue with no luck.

here is what netstat -tap say:

Code:

Proto Recv-Q Send-Q Local Address               Foreign Address             State       PID/Program name
tcp        0      0 *:mysql                     *:*                         LISTEN      26082/mysqld
tcp        0      0 *:hosts2-ns                 *:*                         LISTEN      23990/ispconfig_htt
tcp        0      0 ubercrummy.com:domain       *:*                         LISTEN      26425/named
tcp        0      0 localhost.localdomai:domain *:*                         LISTEN      26425/named
tcp        0      0 *:ftp                       *:*                         LISTEN      25788/xinetd
tcp        0      0 *:smtp                      *:*                         LISTEN      20113/master
tcp        0      0 localhost.localdomain:rndc  *:*                         LISTEN      26425/named
tcp       78      0 localhost.localdomain:smtp  localhost.localdomain:41254 CLOSE_WAIT  -
tcp       78      0 localhost.localdomain:smtp  localhost.localdomain:41322 CLOSE_WAIT  -
tcp        1      0 ubercrummy.com:smtp         yw-out-1718.google.com:6622 CLOSE_WAIT  -
tcp       91      0 localhost.localdomain:smtp  localhost.localdomain:49533 CLOSE_WAIT  -
tcp        1      0 ubercrummy.com:smtp         rv-out-0506.google.co:20906 CLOSE_WAIT  -
tcp        1      0 ubercrummy.com:smtp         yw-out-1718.google.co:10313 CLOSE_WAIT  -
tcp        1      0 ubercrummy.com:smtp         yw-out-1718.google.co:11345 CLOSE_WAIT  -
tcp        0      0 ubercrummy.com:smtp         yw-out-1718.google.co:34480 ESTABLISHED -
tcp        1      0 ubercrummy.com:smtp         yw-out-1718.google.co:20866 CLOSE_WAIT  -
tcp        1      0 ubercrummy.com:smtp         yw-out-2324.google.co:35041 CLOSE_WAIT  -
tcp        1      0 ubercrummy.com:smtp         yw-out-1718.google.co:24040 CLOSE_WAIT  -
tcp        0      0 ubercrummy.com:smtp         smtp-relay.TAMU.EDU:recipe  ESTABLISHED -
tcp        0      0 ubercrummy.com:smtp         smtp-relay.TAMU.EDU:29959   ESTABLISHED -
tcp        1      0 ubercrummy.com:smtp         yw-out-1718.google.co:16390 CLOSE_WAIT  -
tcp        1      0 ubercrummy.com:smtp         yw-out-1718.google.co:24861 CLOSE_WAIT  -
tcp        1      0 ubercrummy.com:smtp         yw-out-1718.google.co:14443 CLOSE_WAIT  -
tcp        0      0 *:https                     *:*                         LISTEN      3565/httpd
tcp        0      0 *:imaps                     *:*                         LISTEN      25801/dovecot
tcp        0      0 *:pop3s                     *:*                         LISTEN      18315/pop3-login
tcp        0      0 *:pop3                      *:*                         LISTEN      18315/pop3-login
tcp        0      0 *:imap                      *:*                         LISTEN      25801/dovecot
tcp        0      0 *:http                      *:*                         LISTEN      3565/httpd
tcp        0      0 *:ssh                       *:*                         LISTEN      25768/sshd
tcp        0   1184 ubercrummy.com:ssh          pool-71-113-226-90:metasage ESTABLISHED 24272/0

also if i telnet localhost 25 and try to do ehlo localhost this is all I get.. nothing else..

Code:

Trying 127.0.0.1...
Connected to localhost.
Escape character is '^]'.

 

Hi Till,

The maillog is completely empty. 0 bytes. no modifications since I installed postfix.

The log file location is correctly entered in ispconfig.

Its like postfix isn't working?? it says it is running..

I can't even send mail using phpform or sendmail form on www. That was working before I installed postfix.

 

thanks for your help. You will now see a mod date of today on that file, but it was because i tried renaming it in both ispconfig and in the directory to see if it made any differences. lol I am getting desperate.

Code:

drwxr-xr-x  9 root   root       4096 Jun 30 09:00 .
drwxr-xr-x 21 root   root       4096 Jun 23 16:08 ..
-rw-------  1 root   root          0 Jun 29 01:33 boot.log
-rw-------  1 root   root          0 Mar  5 03:36 boot.log.1
-rw-------  1 root   utmp     272256 Jun 29 21:31 btmp
-rw-------  1 root   root      27377 Jun 30 10:10 cron
-rw-------  1 root   root     125341 Jun 29 01:33 cron.1
-rw-r--r--  1 root   root          0 Mar  5 03:36 dmesg
drwxr-x---  2 exim   exim       4096 Jan  6  2007 exim
-rw-------  1 root   root       3136 Jun 27 19:35 faillog
drwx------  2 root   root       4096 Jun 30 09:49 httpd
-rw-r--r--  1 root   root      16911 Jun 25 18:19 ispconfig_install.log
-rw-r--r--  1 root   root    5840292 Jun 30 09:36 lastlog
drwxr-xr-x  2 root   root       4096 Jun 29 18:33 mail
-rw-rw----  1 root   root          0 Jun 30 09:00 maillog
-rw-------  1 root   root        738 Jun 23 15:49 maillog.1
-rw-r--r--  1 root   root          0 Jun 29 23:59 mail.log.ispconfigsave
-rw-r--r--  1 root   root          0 Jun 28 23:59 maillog.ispconfigsave
drwxrwsr-x  2 root   mailman    4096 Jun 29 01:33 mailman
-rw-------  1 root   root      55225 Jun 30 10:00 messages
-rw-------  1 root   root     254817 Jun 29 01:30 messages.1
-rw-r-----  1 mysql  mysql     21565 Jun 30 09:03 mysqld.log
-rw-r-----  1 root   mysql         0 May 25 21:03 mysqld.log.rpmnew
-rw-r-----  1     27 mysql      5025 Jun 24 14:58 mysqld.log.rpmsave
drwxr-x---  2 apache apache     4096 Jun 23 16:23 psa-horde
-rw-r--r--  1 root   root      22929 Jun 30 01:33 rpmpkgs
-rw-r--r--  1 root   root      22862 Jun 28 01:33 rpmpkgs.1
drwx------  2 root   root       4096 Jun 21 21:07 samba
-rw-------  1 root   root     180825 Jun 30 09:36 secure
-rw-------  1 root   root     190521 Jun 29 00:30 secure.1
-rw-------  1 root   root          0 Jun 29 01:33 spooler
-rw-------  1 root   root          0 Dec  6  2007 spooler.1
-rw-------  1 root   root          0 Jun 27 19:11 tallylog
drwxr-xr-x  2 tomcat tomcat     4096 Jun 29 01:33 tomcat5
-rw-rw-r--  1 root   utmp     245376 Jun 30 09:36 wtmp
-rw-r--r--  1 root   root     690352 Jun 26 21:17 xferlog
-rw-r--r--  1 root   root      16057 Jun 30 09:54 yum.log

 

here is dig mx output on my domain

Code:

; <<>> DiG 9.3.4-P1 <<>> mx ubercrummy.com
;; global options:  printcmd
;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 40366
;; flags: qr rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 1, AUTHORITY: 2, ADDITIONAL: 3

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

;; ANSWER SECTION:
ubercrummy.com.         600     IN      MX      255 mail.ubercrummy.com.

;; AUTHORITY SECTION:
ubercrummy.com.         114     IN      NS      ns3.tektonic.net.
ubercrummy.com.         114     IN      NS      ns4.tektonic.net.

 

Any ideas??

I have gone and completely removed ISPCONFIG postfix etc.

I reinstalled postfix (via perfect setup for CentOS 5.1 instructions), then ispconfig

SAME THING!!

I can authenticate to pop with my usernames, but mailboxes are empty. All messages sent to usernames hit the server and end up bouncing back with delayed messages (as mentioned in first post).

What settings could be causing this to occur?

 

Oh, and as before, I can't even send messages using standard sendmail (or sendmail-postfix) using joomla. The php-mailer doesn't work either.

This is driving me insane.

 

What's in /etc/postfix/main.cf?

 

ok. the settings *were* exactly as they were after postfix install via the instructions (i still have it saved). It wasn't working though, so I messed with some of the settings to see if i could make it work. Here are the current settings.

Code:

queue_directory = /var/spool/postfix
command_directory = /usr/sbin
daemon_directory = /usr/libexec/postfix
mail_owner = postfix
myhostname = mail.ubercrummy.com
mydomain = ubercrummy.com
myorigin = $mydomain
inet_interfaces = all
unknown_local_recipient_reject_code = 550
mynetworks_style = subnet
  alias_maps = hash:/etc/aliases
#local_destination_concurrency_limit = 2
#default_destination_concurrency_limit = 20
debug_peer_level = 2
debugger_command =
	 PATH=/bin:/usr/bin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/X11R6/bin
	 xxgdb $daemon_directory/$process_name $process_id & sleep 5
sendmail_path = /usr/sbin/sendmail.postfix
newaliases_path = /usr/bin/newaliases.postfix
mailq_path = /usr/bin/mailq.postfix
setgid_group = postdrop
html_directory = no
manpage_directory = /usr/share/man
sample_directory = /usr/share/doc/postfix-2.3.3/samples
readme_directory = /usr/share/doc/postfix-2.3.3/README_FILES
smtpd_sasl_local_domain = 
smtpd_sasl_auth_enable = yes
smtpd_sasl_security_options = noanonymous
broken_sasl_auth_clients = yes
smtpd_recipient_restrictions = permit_sasl_authenticated,permit_mynetworks,reject_unauth_destination
mynetworks = 127.0.0.0/8
smtpd_tls_auth_only = no
smtp_use_tls = yes
smtpd_use_tls = yes
smtp_tls_note_starttls_offer = yes
smtpd_tls_key_file = /etc/postfix/ssl/smtpd.key
smtpd_tls_cert_file = /etc/postfix/ssl/smtpd.crt
smtpd_tls_CAfile = /etc/postfix/ssl/cacert.pem
smtpd_tls_loglevel = 1
smtpd_tls_received_header = yes
smtpd_tls_session_cache_timeout = 3600s
tls_random_source = dev:/dev/urandom
home_mailbox = Maildir/
mailbox_command = 
virtual_maps = hash:/etc/postfix/virtusertable
mydestination = /etc/postfix/local-host-names

 

Looks ok. What's the output of

Code:

netstat -tap

?

 

thanks for the help thus far. Here is netstat -tap output

Code:

Active Internet connections (servers and established)
Proto Recv-Q Send-Q Local Address               Foreign Address             State       PID/Program name
tcp        0      0 *:mysql                     *:*                         LISTEN      8062/mysqld
tcp        0      0 *:finger                    *:*                         LISTEN      7774/xinetd
tcp        0      0 *:hosts2-ns                 *:*                         LISTEN      8128/ispconfig_http
tcp        0      0 ubercrummy.com:domain       *:*                         LISTEN      9496/named
tcp        0      0 localhost.localdomai:domain *:*                         LISTEN      9496/named
tcp        0      0 *:ftp                       *:*                         LISTEN      7774/xinetd
tcp        0      0 *:smtp                      *:*                         LISTEN      21696/master
tcp        0      0 ubercrummy.com:smtp         smtp-relay.tamu.edu:24853   SYN_RECV    -
tcp        0      0 localhost.localdomain:rndc  *:*                         LISTEN      9496/named
tcp        1      0 ubercrummy.com:smtp         yw-out-1718.google.co:21674 CLOSE_WAIT  -
tcp        1      0 ubercrummy.com:smtp         yw-out-1718.goog:ace-server CLOSE_WAIT  -
tcp        1      0 ubercrummy.com:smtp         yw-out-1718.google.co:13503 CLOSE_WAIT  -
tcp        1      0 ubercrummy.com:smtp         yw-out-1718.google.co:23680 CLOSE_WAIT  -
tcp        1      0 ubercrummy.com:smtp         221.2.225.70:20752          CLOSE_WAIT  -
tcp        1      0 ubercrummy.com:smtp         221.2.225.70:20093          CLOSE_WAIT  -
tcp        1      0 ubercrummy.com:smtp         rv-out-0708.google.co:47695 CLOSE_WAIT  -
tcp        1      0 ubercrummy.com:smtp         yw-out-1718.google.com:8696 CLOSE_WAIT  -
tcp        1      0 ubercrummy.com:smtp         yw-out-1718.google.co:43983 CLOSE_WAIT  -
tcp        1      0 ubercrummy.com:smtp         yw-out-1718.google.co:18120 CLOSE_WAIT  -
tcp        1      0 ubercrummy.com:smtp         rv-out-0708.google.co:61032 CLOSE_WAIT  -
tcp        1      0 ubercrummy.com:smtp         203.147.19.76:netport-id    CLOSE_WAIT  -
tcp        1      0 ubercrummy.com:smtp         yw-out-1718.google.co:26842 CLOSE_WAIT  -
tcp        1      0 ubercrummy.com:smtp         yw-out-1718.google.co:39127 CLOSE_WAIT  -
tcp        1      0 ubercrummy.com:smtp         yw-out-1718.google.co:64299 CLOSE_WAIT  -
tcp        1      0 ubercrummy.com:smtp         smtp102.vzn.mail.mud.:43875 CLOSE_WAIT  -
tcp        1      0 ubercrummy.com:smtp         smtp102.vzn.mail.mud.:47211 CLOSE_WAIT  -

 

This is what I'm getting:

Code:

server1:~# telnet mail.ubercrummy.com 25
Trying 72.249.77.36...
Connected to mail.ubercrummy.com.
Escape character is '^]'.

IS 72.249.77.36 the right IP?

Are you absolutely sure there's nothing in your mail log? What's the output of

Code:

ls -l /var/log

?

 

That is indeed the correct ip. here is the output you requested:

ls -l /var/log

Code:

total 5196
-rw------- 1 root   root          0 Jun 29 01:33 boot.log
-rw------- 1 root   root          0 Mar  5 03:36 boot.log.1
-rw------- 1 root   utmp    1655808 Jul  2 12:38 btmp
-rw------- 1 root   root      88706 Jul  3 12:10 cron
-rw------- 1 root   root     125341 Jun 29 01:33 cron.1
-rw-r--r-- 1 root   root          0 Mar  5 03:36 dmesg
drwxr-x--- 2 exim   exim       4096 Jun 30 16:32 exim
-rw------- 1 root   root     640064 Jul  1 06:13 faillog
drwx------ 2 root   root       4096 Jul  3 00:30 httpd
-rw-r--r-- 1 root   root      26927 Jul  1 05:57 ispconfig_install.log
-rw-r--r-- 1 root   root    5840584 Jul  3 12:14 lastlog
drwxr-xr-x 2 root   root       4096 Jul  1 02:25 mail
-rw-rw---- 1 root   root          0 Jun 30 09:00 maillog
-rw-r--r-- 1 root   root          0 Jun 29 23:59 mail.log.ispconfigsave
-rw-r--r-- 1 root   root          0 Jul  2 23:59 maillog.ispconfigsave
drwxrwsr-x 2 root   mailman    4096 Jun 29 01:33 mailman
-rw------- 1 root   root     189131 Jul  3 12:00 messages
-rw------- 1 root   root     254817 Jun 29 01:30 messages.1
-rw-r----- 1 mysql  mysql     25099 Jul  1 15:27 mysqld.log
-rw-r----- 1 root   mysql         0 May 25 21:03 mysqld.log.rpmnew
-rw-r----- 1     27 mysql      5025 Jun 24 14:58 mysqld.log.rpmsave
drwxr-x--- 2 apache apache     4096 Jun 23 16:23 psa-horde
-rw-r--r-- 1 root   root      22756 Jul  3 01:34 rpmpkgs
-rw-r--r-- 1 root   root      22862 Jun 28 01:33 rpmpkgs.1
drwx------ 2 root   root       4096 Jun 21 21:07 samba
-rw------- 1 root   root    1450292 Jul  3 12:14 secure
-rw------- 1 root   root     190521 Jun 29 00:30 secure.1
-rw------- 1 root   root          0 Jun 29 01:33 spooler
-rw------- 1 root   root          0 Dec  6  2007 spooler.1
-rw------- 1 root   root          0 Jun 27 19:11 tallylog
drwxr-xr-x 2 tomcat tomcat     4096 Jun 29 01:33 tomcat5
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root   utmp     347904 Jul  3 12:14 wtmp
-rw-r--r-- 1 root   root     708686 Jul  1 18:47 xferlog
-rw-r--r-- 1 root   root      16537 Jul  1 03:09 yum.log

 

Thanks for your assistance fellas!

I got it figured out. The maillog was empty because syslog.conf had it specified for an "obscure" location (even though there was an empty maillog in var/log). It was in /usr/local/psa/var/log/maillog. obscure to me anyway...

So reading that it turns out aliases.db was not being propagated for some reason. So i ran postalias /etc/aliases and everything seems to be working now!

Thanks again! I am so relieved.

 

I have a hunch

I have a hunch that the issue you're having is related to the mynetworks settings . . . Mine is set to

mynetworks = 127.0.0.0/8

I can send email locally only, and I can receive from anywhere. I get a relay error when I try to send email to outside addresses . . .

I haven't been able to figure out the setting yet, but hopefully Till or Falko will bail us out here!

sERGE

I'm going to play a bit and maybe I can get this solved . . .

 

Well I have part of it solved . . .

OK. I redirected the display back to my home from the actual Linux box, ran Evolution, and I can definitely send and receive email to everyone. However, I can't seem to be able to use my home computer to send email . . . I can receive just fine, but Sending gets me the relay error . . .
How do I get my IP address added to the main.cf and what option do I use so I can send emails from my home IP (setting up relaying I guess is what it's called!)

Help!

sERGE

 

Please enable "Server requires authentication" in your email client.

 

Where do I enable this?

Hey Falko et al. Where do I enable this, at my mail client's config, or somewhere in the ISPconfig? I have the checkbox in Thunderbird under Account settings to use TLS and "Use Secure Authentication" but I can't send to anyone outside of the linux box. Users IN the Linux box can send to eachother just fine . . .
I think the relay rules are busted somehow . . .

sERGE

 

You must enable this in the email client, not ISPConfig. I'm not quite sure how the option is called in Thunderbird.