what do i need to do in order to setup my sbs 2003 as an email server as well. i tried forwarding my domain mx record to the server's ip, and i was able to get 1 or 2 emails, but then it just stopped working. I have allowed email traffic through the firewall through the wizard as well as opened up the ports on the router. is there anything else i should keep in mind? something tells me there is more to it then just changing an mx record. email is like top priority in my business so if it goes down it is not good. i need it working like a clockwork.
sbs 2003 exchange server setup
- Thread starter jcmuse
- Start date
Did you make sure your stores are running as well as the services? Sometimes when you first start up, they just stop for misc. reasons...
Also, are you able to send out?
Also, are you able to send out?
RebateMonger
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- Dec 24, 2005
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You didn't read any of those SBS management books I recommended, did you? Exchange itself is quite reliable. It's pretty easy to diagnose most issues with the Application Event Log and the Mail Store Queue.
Receiving INCOMING mail via Exchange is pretty simple:
A) Point your public MX record to your Server's public IP address
B) Have suitable recipient policies and email addresses
C) Have TCP Port 25 open and forwarded to your Server's external IP address
Reliable OUTGOING mail is a bit tougher:
A) Your mailserver's name must match the IP address registed to that name. This usually isn't a STRICT requirement, but some organizations (like AOL.COM) check this and will eventually cut you off as a probable SPAMMER if they don't match.
B) Your mailserver's IP address should have a reverse DNS listing. AOL (and others) won't accept email from you without a RDNS listing for your IP address.
C) Your Domain should have an SPF record. This isn't a strict requirement. In fact, I don?t know anybody who's enforcing this. But, in theory, you should have an SPF record that tells other mailservers the IP addresses where your mailservers are located.
Receiving INCOMING mail via Exchange is pretty simple:
A) Point your public MX record to your Server's public IP address
B) Have suitable recipient policies and email addresses
C) Have TCP Port 25 open and forwarded to your Server's external IP address
Reliable OUTGOING mail is a bit tougher:
A) Your mailserver's name must match the IP address registed to that name. This usually isn't a STRICT requirement, but some organizations (like AOL.COM) check this and will eventually cut you off as a probable SPAMMER if they don't match.
B) Your mailserver's IP address should have a reverse DNS listing. AOL (and others) won't accept email from you without a RDNS listing for your IP address.
C) Your Domain should have an SPF record. This isn't a strict requirement. In fact, I don?t know anybody who's enforcing this. But, in theory, you should have an SPF record that tells other mailservers the IP addresses where your mailservers are located.
- Oct 25, 1999
- 29,545
- 421
- 126
Our society is divided into four segments.
1. People who can Not Read.
2. People that can Not let go of Middle School and see Reading as a form of Punishment.:thumbsdown:
3. People that will Read if necessary.
4. People who enjoy reading.:thumbsup:
Thank God for the Internet some of segment 3 and most of segment 4 can provide focused help to the disabled segment 2.:light:
So here you Go:
http://www.msexchange.org/articles_tutorials/Exchange_Server_2003
:sun:
P.S. On the positive side most of the people of all segments like Brew.:beer:
actually, i bought a book (sbs2003 unleashed) but it doesnt talk about this, only pop3 connectors.
i have a and c covered for incoming. according to the book, recipient policies are setup by the internet and email wizard. do i have to do anything more to them? im using just 1 domain.
RDNS... is that something i do with my domain host? i use 1and1.com and havent seen any feature like that. What do you mean by "mailserver's name" is that like @domainame.com ? my domain name pts to my webhost... hope that isnt a problem.
thx
i have a and c covered for incoming. according to the book, recipient policies are setup by the internet and email wizard. do i have to do anything more to them? im using just 1 domain.
RDNS... is that something i do with my domain host? i use 1and1.com and havent seen any feature like that. What do you mean by "mailserver's name" is that like @domainame.com ? my domain name pts to my webhost... hope that isnt a problem.
thx
RebateMonger
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- Dec 24, 2005
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There's no obvious reason why Exchange should suddenly stop accepting emails after receiving one or two.
a) You have a business-type Internet connection, with no port blocking on inbound TCP Port 25, right?
b) All Exchange-related services that are set to "Automatic" are running, right?
c) Have you tried telnetting to your Server from outside?
From the Command Prompt on a PC OUTSIDE of your network:
"Telnet xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx 25"
There should be a response from your Exchange Server. This indicates that there are no firewalls between the Internet and your Server and that Exchange is listening.
d) Have you looked at DNSReport.com to see what it says about your Domain? Look for errors in the Mail Server area of the report.
e) What's happening in the Application Event Logs on the Server? Any errors from Exchange?
f) What does the Queue in the Exchange System Manager show? Are messages on hold?
a) You have a business-type Internet connection, with no port blocking on inbound TCP Port 25, right?
b) All Exchange-related services that are set to "Automatic" are running, right?
c) Have you tried telnetting to your Server from outside?
From the Command Prompt on a PC OUTSIDE of your network:
"Telnet xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx 25"
There should be a response from your Exchange Server. This indicates that there are no firewalls between the Internet and your Server and that Exchange is listening.
d) Have you looked at DNSReport.com to see what it says about your Domain? Look for errors in the Mail Server area of the report.
e) What's happening in the Application Event Logs on the Server? Any errors from Exchange?
f) What does the Queue in the Exchange System Manager show? Are messages on hold?
c) yeah i get a response from the mail server, np there.
b)yes
d)i didnt do this but i'll forward the ip again tonight and see what it says.
e) and f) i didnt check, but i will tonight.
i'm wondering if it maybe has something to do with the way i have outlook configured on the clients right now i have a pop3 account added on.
this isn't really related but i have another question:
im trying to get contact sharing working between users. If i copy the contacts to a public folder, everyone can see them, no problem. But sharing on client computers for a set of contacts that is located in the Mailbox folder that is NOT named "Contacts" (the default / main folder for contacts) doesn't work (nobody can see them). Here is what im doing to open the contacts... 1. click Open Shared Contacts 2. Select the user. All that ever opens is that user's Contacts folder (which i dont want).
For example, i have a set of contacts that syncs with my quickbooks database. I can't* store these in public folders because then the sync software doesn't work. So i need to be able to share these contacts from a particular user's mailbox folder. Don't know why it isn't working
THX FOR YOUR HELP
b)yes
d)i didnt do this but i'll forward the ip again tonight and see what it says.
e) and f) i didnt check, but i will tonight.
i'm wondering if it maybe has something to do with the way i have outlook configured on the clients right now i have a pop3 account added on.
this isn't really related but i have another question:
im trying to get contact sharing working between users. If i copy the contacts to a public folder, everyone can see them, no problem. But sharing on client computers for a set of contacts that is located in the Mailbox folder that is NOT named "Contacts" (the default / main folder for contacts) doesn't work (nobody can see them). Here is what im doing to open the contacts... 1. click Open Shared Contacts 2. Select the user. All that ever opens is that user's Contacts folder (which i dont want).
For example, i have a set of contacts that syncs with my quickbooks database. I can't* store these in public folders because then the sync software doesn't work. So i need to be able to share these contacts from a particular user's mailbox folder. Don't know why it isn't working
THX FOR YOUR HELP
RebateMonger
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Whenever you have a question about whether Exchange is functional, just log in locally using Outlook Web Access:
http://myservername/exchange
If you can log into your mailbox and send and receive emails using OWA, then Exchange is definitely working.
http://myservername/exchange
If you can log into your mailbox and send and receive emails using OWA, then Exchange is definitely working.
RebateMonger
Elite Member
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Microsoft: Share and open other people's folders - including any other folder than the Inbox, Contacts, Calendar, Notes, or Journal.
"To share any other folder other than the Inbox, Contacts, Calendar, Notes, or Journal, you must share permissions on the folder you want to share and each folder that is higher in the folder hierarchy. For example, to give another person access to a folder that is under Inbox in your mailbox, you must grant permissions to the Mailbox, Inbox, and the subfolder. Even though it might appear you're granting the other person access to more folders than you want, only the items in the Inbox subfolder will be available."
Is 1and1.com actually hosting your email and you are just forwarding that to your Exchange server?
Also, if 1and1.com is handling your DNS take a look at how your MX records are setup. Make sure your MX priorities are setup correctly. Ideally, it would look something like "mail.yourdomain.com=10" and the 1and1.com mail setting would be 20. If both are set to 10 then that can definitely cause problems.
This, of course, may have absolutely nothing to do with your problem though
Also, if 1and1.com is handling your DNS take a look at how your MX records are setup. Make sure your MX priorities are setup correctly. Ideally, it would look something like "mail.yourdomain.com=10" and the 1and1.com mail setting would be 20. If both are set to 10 then that can definitely cause problems.
This, of course, may have absolutely nothing to do with your problem though
RM: ah, that helps a lot thanks.
well 1and1.com is hosting at the moment, but im trying to switch it over so mail is going directly to my server.
Im looking more into reverse dns... im still confused on it. ive posted on several other forums and nobody seems to have a straight answer. as i understand it, i need to change it so that when my server's ip is looked up, it doesn't return something-adsl.myisp.com but rather mail.mydomain.com. if this is true, this seems like it is something id configure with my isp. well i called them today and they said they "couldn't do it" saying something like it would only let them put in a domain (ike mydomain.com) not a subdomain (like mail.mydomain.com). then they said i had to contact my domain host. To be honest, i dont think they had a clue what rdns is.
btw, i have no priority set up @ 1and1 i just have the mx record pting to mail.mydomain.com.
Originally posted by: ITJunkie
Is 1and1.com actually hosting your email and you are just forwarding that to your Exchange server?
Also, if 1and1.com is handling your DNS take a look at how your MX records are setup. Make sure your MX priorities are setup correctly. Ideally, it would look something like "mail.yourdomain.com=10" and the 1and1.com mail setting would be 20. If both are set to 10 then that can definitely cause problems.
This, of course, may have absolutely nothing to do with your problem though
well 1and1.com is hosting at the moment, but im trying to switch it over so mail is going directly to my server.
Im looking more into reverse dns... im still confused on it. ive posted on several other forums and nobody seems to have a straight answer. as i understand it, i need to change it so that when my server's ip is looked up, it doesn't return something-adsl.myisp.com but rather mail.mydomain.com. if this is true, this seems like it is something id configure with my isp. well i called them today and they said they "couldn't do it" saying something like it would only let them put in a domain (ike mydomain.com) not a subdomain (like mail.mydomain.com). then they said i had to contact my domain host. To be honest, i dont think they had a clue what rdns is.
btw, i have no priority set up @ 1and1 i just have the mx record pting to mail.mydomain.com.
would it make a difference if i used an mail service (maybe my isps?) to send out email. probably not since the ip will still not return mail.mydomain.com unless i configure it that way.
on a side note, mail seems to still be getting to their locations without the rdns listing. ive tried aol, gmail, yahoo myself.
on a side note, mail seems to still be getting to their locations without the rdns listing. ive tried aol, gmail, yahoo myself.
RebateMonger
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- Dec 24, 2005
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There's no good reason why your ISP can't put in "mail.mydomain.com" as your Reverse DNS name. But it makes no difference. Those mailservers that check for RDNS don't CARE what the name is. They just want a registered Domain name to be listed for your mailserver's IP address. "mydomain.com", "mail.mydomain.com", "my.my.my.my.mail.mydomain.com"...it doesn't matter. Just so you have SOME kind of RDNS listing.
This link, provided by AOL, describes how to verify that you can successfully send email to an AOL member:
Troubleshooting AOL Email Delivery
One of the AOL tools:
AOL Reverse DNS Check - see if your IP address has a RDNS that iss acceptable to AOL.
If you don't have a RDNS listing, AOL will reject any email you send. I promise.
This link, provided by AOL, describes how to verify that you can successfully send email to an AOL member:
Troubleshooting AOL Email Delivery
One of the AOL tools:
AOL Reverse DNS Check - see if your IP address has a RDNS that iss acceptable to AOL.
DNS Server Response:
adsl-xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx.xxx.xxx.bellsouth.net
"Success! It appears you have Reverse DNS."
How? what is the point then as i think every ip will have some response similar to that.
adsl-xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx.xxx.xxx.bellsouth.net
"Success! It appears you have Reverse DNS."
How? what is the point then as i think every ip will have some response similar to that.
i also have the same question. in order for me to send mail, i need to configure a smart host with my ISP, otherwise, email servers will think my mail is spam.
RebateMonger
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I've never had a problem with any of my clients sending email anywhere, as long as they:
a) Have a static IP address
b) Have a RDNS listing for their mailserver's IP address
c) And their Server's name corresponds to the DNS name of their IP address.
Most don't enforce that last condition, but AOL will eventually decide you are probably a spammer if your email server's name doesn't match one of your public DNS host records/IP address combinations.
Of course, if your ISP is a known spam-haven, all bets are off. Some of the big mailservers will block entire ranges of IP addresses from problem ISPs.
RebateMonger
Elite Member
- Dec 24, 2005
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