Question

Unable to forward SMTP Traffic on DMZ

Asked by: Joe_27

I'm currently using Win Srv 2003 Web Ed for my web server.  I have a form in which the results are sent to me via Email.  However, I'm not receiving those emails.  They are just sitting in queue.  My server is attached to the DMZ of a Cisco PIX 515E firewall.   Do I need to have a policy to allow SMTP traffic to travel from and to the webserver, for emails to send?

This Question has been solved and asker verified All Experts Exchange premium technology solutions are available to subscription members.

Subscribe now for full access to Experts Exchange and get

Instant Access to this Solution

  • Plus...
  • 30 Day FREE access, no risk, no obligation
  • Collaborate with the world's top tech experts
  • Unlimited access to our exclusive solution database
  • Never be left without tech help again

Subscribe Now

Asked On
2004-01-28 at 11:37:03ID20865962
Tags

forward

,

dmz

,

traffic

,

pix

,

smtp

Topics

Network Software Firewalls

,

Enterprise Firewalls

Participating Experts
5
Points
500
Comments
10

Trusted by hundreds of thousands everyday for fast, accurate and reliable tech support.

  • "The time we save is the biggest benefit of Experts Exchange to Warner Bros. What could take multiple guys 2 hours or more each to find is accessed in around 15 minutes on Experts Exchange." Mike Kapnisakis, Warner Bros.
  • "Our team likes having a resource that is more secure than just using Google and most experts using this service really know their stuff. It's nice to look here first versus using Google." Dayna Sellner, Lockheed Martin
  • "Anytime that I've been stumped with a problem, 9 out of 10 times Experts Exchange has either the accepted solution or an open discussion of the potential solution to the problem." Kenny Red, eBay Inc.

See what Experts Exchange can do for you.

Got a question?

We've got the answer.

Experts Exchange has been collecting answers to technology questions since 1996…3 million and counting! If you have a question, chances are we already have your answer.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Need individual assistance?

Our experts are ready to help.

If you can't find the exact answer you're looking for, ask our exclusive community of 50,000 experts. You’ll get a personalized answer from a trusted professional.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Want to learn from the best?

Read articles from industry experts.

Thousands of free tech tips, tricks, how-to’s and tutorials are available in our peer reviewed articles section. See for yourself how smart our experts are, no login required.

Screenshot of an Article

Working on a long term project?

Store your work and research.

Save solutions to your questions, answers you’ve discovered through searching plus helpful articles in your personal knowledgebase for easy future access.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Access the answers to your technology questions today.

Subscribe Now

30-day free trial. Register in 60 seconds.

What Makes Experts Exchange Unique?

Members of the expert community talk about why the experience at Experts Exchange is different than what you will find anywhere else.

Trusted by the world's most respected brands.

image of each brand's logo

Faithfully serving IT professionals since 1996.

Experts Exchange Logo

Try it out and discover for yourself.

Subscribe Now

30-day free trial. Register in 60 seconds.

Related Solutions

  1. PIX with DMZ
    Hi There, I have a PIX with OS 6.1 with inside, outside and DMZ. my config as follows inside - 20.20.20.1/8 outside - 202.21.32.2/24 dmz - 172.16.1.1/24 perimeter router at 202.21.32.1 i want everybody to access my Exchange 2000 mail server on the dmz (172.16.1.5) and the ...
  2. Windows 2003 SMTP Relay in a DMZ
    How do I configure the networking for a SMTP Relay in a DMZ? My DMZ sits behind a Cisco Pix 515. As I see it I have 2 options. 1. Either having 2 NIC, one to the DMZ and on the LAN? 2. or set up routing rules and allow incoming and outgoing SMTP traffic on the PIX from...
  3. Cisco 2600 ACL & PIX 525 with SMTP on DMZ
    Hello, I have a PIX 525 with a new SMTP server on my DMZ. The SMTP box essentially ensures that inbound mail is not SPAM and then delivers to a server on my inside network. I can use the web interface and test mail on the SMTP box, but when I telnet from the outside it fai...

Free Tech Articles

  1. WARNING: 5 Reasons why you should NEVER fix a computer for free.
    It is in our nature to love the puzzle. We are obsessed. The lot of us. We love puzzles. We love the challenge. We thrive on finding the answer. We hate disarray. It bothers us deep in our soul. W...
  2. SCCM OSD Basic troubleshooting
    SCCM 2007 OSD is a fantastic way to deploy operating systems, however, like most things SCCM issues can sometimes be difficult to resolve due to the sheer volume of logs to sift through and the dispe...
  3. Migrate Small Business Server 2003 to Exchange 2010 and Windows 2008 R2
    This guide is intended to provide step by step instructions on how to migrate from Small Business Server 2003 to Windows 2008 R2 with Exchange 2010. For this migration to work you will need the fo...
  4. Create a Win7 Gadget
    This article shows you how to create a simple "Gadget" -- a sort of mini-application supported by Windows 7 and Vista. Gadgets can be dropped anywhere on the desktop to provide instant information, ...
  5. Outlook continually prompting for username and password
    There have been a lot of questions recently regarding Outlook prompting for a username and password whilst using Exchange 2007. There are a few reasons why this would happen and I will try to cover t...
  6. Backup Exchange 2010 Information Store using Windows Backup
    There seems to be quite a lot of confusion around the ability to backup Exchange 2010 using the built in Windows Backup feature. This stems from the omission of this feature prior to Exchange 2007 s...

Cloud Class Webinars

  1. Avoiding Bugs in Microsoft Access
    Alison Balter takes and in-depth look at avoiding bugs in Access. In this webinar you will learn about using the immediate window to debug your applications, invoking the debugger, using breakpoints to troubleshoot, stepping through code, setting the next statement to execute, ...
  2. Top 10 Best New Features in Visio 2010
    Scott Helmers gives live demonstrations of the top 10 new features in Visio 2010. This webinar will teach you how to create compelling diagrams by adding shapes to the page with a single click, linking the shapes in a diagram to data in Excel (or SQL Server, or SharePoint), ...
  3. IT Consultant Business Secrets Revealed
    Michael Munger, Experts Exchange tech pro and IT consultant, pulls back the curtain on his very successful businesses and answers question on every IT consultant and business owner should know about. He shares secrets on what he did to solve the 5 most common problems in IT, ...
  4. Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity
    Quest CTO, Mike Billon, gives an overview of the steps involved in building a dunamic disaster recovery plan. Through case studies and an examination of software/hardware tooles for monitoring and testing, you'll gain a better understandin of where you are, where you want ...
  5. Organize Your Visio Diagrams with Containers and Lists
    Scott Helmers uses cross functional flowcharts, wireframe diagrams, data graphic legends and seating charts to teach you: how to ustilize all three new structured diagram components in Visio 2010, the best practices for organizeing shapes in previous version of Visio, how to organize ...
  6. How to Us Objects, Properties, Events and Methods in Microsoft Access
    Alison Dalter gives an in-depbth look at objects, properties, events and methods in Microsoft Access. In this webinar you will learn about using the object browser, referring to objects, working with properties and methods, working with object variables, understanding the ...

Join the Community

Give a Little. Get a Lot.

Join the community of experts here and help other tech pros by answering question in your area of expertise. You can earn FREE access to all Experts Exchange's premium features and resources.

Join the Community

Answers

 

by: KdoPosted on 2004-01-28 at 12:57:54ID: 10221926

Hi Joe_27,

Depending on your e-mail implementation, any of several mail ports may need to be opened.  SMTP, POP3, IMAP, etc.


Kent

 

by: Joe_27Posted on 2004-01-28 at 13:06:25ID: 10221995

It used to send emails under our old one firewall, but since we went with Cisco it doesn't work now.  So the ports would need to be opended for the DMZ on the firewall?

 

by: KdoPosted on 2004-01-28 at 13:11:47ID: 10222056

Hi Joe_27,

Because the mail is sitting "in queue", it appears that the host is unable to connect with the e-mail server.

From the Win server, try to ping the e-mail system and then do a traceroute to it.

If both are successful, the messages are probably being blocked by a firewall.  The traceroute MAY stop at the firewall, depending on what is being let through so this won't be a definitive test.


Good Luck,
Kent

 

by: td_milesPosted on 2004-01-28 at 15:43:48ID: 10223118

has this worked before (with the PIX) ? If not, then it may be a config problem with the DMZ interface on the PIX. Is the mail server trying to send outbound email, receive inbound email, or both. Can you post a copy of your PIX config (remove any sensitive info, like passwords)

 

by: Joe_27Posted on 2004-01-28 at 15:51:31ID: 10223182

This webserver is trying to send outbound mail with IIS' SMTP service.  This webserver work with a different firewall other than the PIX.  So I don't know if it was set up to do smtp traffic outbound from the DMZ.  

Kent, as far as it trying to communicate to our main mail server, I had it set to not allow DMZ traffic to touch the internal network.

 

by: Pascal666Posted on 2004-01-28 at 19:21:51ID: 10224368

Make sure the pix has the command "no fixup protocol smtp 25" in it.

-Pascal

 

by: KdoPosted on 2004-01-28 at 19:57:36ID: 10224573

Hi Joe_27.

Bingo.  You had the mail server set to not allow DMZ traffic, which I assume is your VPN or through firewall.


Try Pascal666's suggestion.  If that doesn't work, try we've got more work to do.

What does your network look like?  (forgive the grammar.)


Kent


 

by: tradecraft1Posted on 2004-01-28 at 20:11:01ID: 10224646

Hi Joe,

Is the web server in the DMZ trying to send email to a mail server on your internal network?  

Check to make sure you have a line like this:
static (inside,dmz) <IP range of internal network> <IP range of internal network> netmask 255.255.255.0


If you post your config without passwords and external IP's we can probably help a little more.

--Chris

 

by: Joe_27Posted on 2004-01-29 at 06:06:44ID: 10226469

Actually, I want it to send mail to an address outside my network.

 

by: tim_holmanPosted on 2004-02-01 at 12:41:31ID: 10248379

You will need a rule in the PIX config to allow your Web Server to resolve the DNS portion of your mail address (port 53), and to send and receive mail (port 25).
Assuming your Web Server has a public IP address, this should be quite easy to setup, but it can work with NAT as well if you need it to.
Details are here.  If you don't understand these, post up your config / network topology and we will modify it for you !  :)

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/hw/vpndevc/ps2030/products_configuration_example09186a008015efa9.shtml


20120131-EE-VQP-002

3 Ways to Join

30-Day Free Trial

The Experts

98% positive feedback on 31,087 answers since March 2000. angeliii is a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional for his work with MS SQL Server & Develoment.

He has also proven his knowledge of Visual Basic Programming, PHP Scripting and Oracle Databases.

The Experts

97% positive feedback on 10,752 answers since July 2000. lrmoore has more than 18 years experience in the networking industry.

The six-time Mircosoft MVPs specialties include firewalls, virtual private networking, and network management.

Testimonials

"...and excellent source for support... Kind of like having your very own IT dept." Electriciansnet

Testimonials

"I was apprehensive at signing up at first. However... it has already made my life as an IT administrator much easier." JaCrews

Testimonials

"WOW! You guys have great, active, and knowledgeable people on here." moore50

Business Clients

Business Clients

In the Press

"If you’ve got a question... Experts Exchange can supply an answer.”

In the Press

"...an invaluable aid for both IT professionals and those who require tech support."

In the Press

"where IT professionals provide quick answers on just about any topic"

Business Account Plans

Loading Advertisement...