SMTP Issues - Outbound Going AWOL !

[#1]

Hi,
Do plusnet have any special SMTP settings requirements for running my own mail server at home ?
i have just migrated to Plusnet and before i could send and receive mail from my local mail server without problems. But i have now discovered that emails FROM my local system are never being received by the addressee. However i am getting SMTP mail delivered to my mail server.
Anyone know of anything special i have to do ? Or get PN to do in their network ? Should i speak to support ? Any ideas ?
Andy

[#2]

Check out the setup guide here http://www.plus.net/support/email/smtp_mail.shtml

[#3]

Andy
Just curious? what software you using chap? Most SMTP platforms will allow you to send the mail directly via a DNS MX record - why do you not do this rather than relay the message through plusnet
(this would be sending the mail as directly as possible rather than passing it through PlusNets platform (and should ignore any problems that their service is having) )

@MisterW - looks like andy did look There and it tells you to post here

[#4]

We do not block outbound messages, which would suggest a local problem depending on how it worked prior to the move to us.
As you are using SMTP, were you delivering direct to the recipient or using your prior providers smarthost?
If using a smarthost, it may be that you have not updated your smart host to relay.plus.net. It's likely your old provider blocking them due to not being on their broadband.
If you are using a smarthost, it's highly advisable to consult your mail servers logs, as it will indicate the reason for any rejection by the third party. If they are accepting though, that it going to be a third party problem.

[#5]

Hi,
Thanks for the thoughts, as you say i ended up posting here because of the supplied info 
All the instructions are there for inbound problems, rather than outbound. The mail server is MS Exchange 2003, and there's nothing configured in there that i can see that controls the way that messages are relayed outbound. My DNS entries are updated to point at the static IP from PN rather than my old IP, and as i'm receiving mail OK this must be right .. ?.
As for smarthost, i don't have a clue what that even means  .... i thought the SMTP protocol would send outbound emails to the server who's MX record matched the email domain. Am i right about this logic ?
The only odd thing i can see is that DNS resolves mail.xxxxxxx.org to my correct IP but my IP resolves to user.plus.com not my correct www.xxxxxxxxx.org dns name. Could this be the problem ? How do i fix this ?
Andy
PS - Checked MX record, SMTP and blacklisting via http://www.mxtoolbox.com and it does flag up the reverse DNS issue on the SMTP check ....

[#6]

Sounds like you need to setup logging, so you can see exactly what is happening.
http://www.msexchange.org/tutorials/Logging_the_SMTP_Service.html

[#7]

Quote

Could this be the problem ? How do i fix this ?

No, (or at least it should not) mine (matt2k34.co.uk) does not do this, it also complains at the "connection" time (6 seconds) i add a 6 second delay and i got a 90% reduction in SMTP spam connections 😉
Cant say i've used exchange for *quite* some time (I use Kerio Connect now) but I believe Exchange relays the messages via DNS anyway (will double check this now!)

[#8]

Thanks for all the help guys .... i've fixed the problem.
looking in the log suggested by Mr Richardson didn't show any errors ... BUT it did show mail outbound from my second email server. (This one i only set up last week to test something for work). it was using my mail server as a bridgehead but i could see mails going out. Eventually i found a log showing that there were some mails in the pending queue and they were there because of a DNS failure. fixing this took a little while because i couldn't see why there was a DNS error. My NIC was correctly configured so that ping's from the machine worked just fine but it turns out that in the configuration for the MS SMTP server 4 panels into advanced features there are settings to configure specific DNS entries purely for SMTP to use. These we still set to values from my old ISP .... Doh ! Values updated and mail is flowing again.
Thanks again ... Andy

[#9]

Quote from: AndyHamp

but it turns out that in the configuration for the MS SMTP server 4 panels into advanced features there are settings to configure specific DNS entries purely for SMTP to use.

It's no surprise that people like Matt_2k34 give up with MS products and use something far easier to setup like Kerio Connect!

[#10]

Indeed. i did use MS Exchange prior and it was absolutely rancid.
But if your happy Andy dont change xD