Incoming mails not coming to Outlook & Blackberry Redirector not working either

When you say BES, I assume you mean 'BlackBerry Enterprise Server'. We do not have BES. Rather we have a client tool called 'Blackberry Redirector' which has to be running and forwards all incoming e-mails to the Blackberry device.

I took your advice to check the firewall. When I went to open the windows firewall, I get this error message: "windows firewall cannot run because another program or service is running that might use the network address translation component (Ipnat.sys)".

I should also add that the e-mails sent from the blackberry device do not reach the intended recipients. But it is fine other ways- it sends text message, and I also took out the battery and SIM Card for it to synch up with any other changes in the AT&T (Carrier) network.

Thank you
Anushahanna

How does your mail to your server?  Do you use POP3 to collect it, or does it get sent directly to it via SMTP?

If the latter - has your default SMTP Virtual Server stopped?

Check under Exchange System Manager, Expand servers, Expand YOURSERVER, Expand Protocols, Expand SMTP.  Check that the default SMTP Virtual Server is started (right-click and if Start is not listed, then it is running), if not, click Start.

alanhardisty,

The 'default SMTP Virtual Server' is running. But the 'Default POP3 Virtual Server' is not running.

How can I check if POP3 is also involved, in the mail collection?

Thanks
Anushahanna

Hi Anushahanna,

The POP3 virtual server is not needed unless your users pull mail down from your server via POP3.

Are you running Small Business Server?  If you are, then POP3 collection is built-in and thus a possibility, if not, then you would have to install a 3rd party application to collect mail, so check addr/remove programs.

Can you telnet to the server from a workstation to port 25?

Start, Run, Cmd (enter)

telnet server 25 (enter)

Replace server in the above line with the name of your server, or it's internal IP address.

Do you get an answer displaying the exchange header info or nothing?

Yes, I am using 'Windows Small Business Server 2003'. So, I do not have to start the
 'Default POP3 Virtual Server' ?

I tried 'telnet server.ntktc.local 25', but it is bringing nothing. Sometimes, the screen becomes blank, and when I hit enter it comes back to the command prompt, and other times, it directly comes back to the command prompt, without any action/information.

When I tried 'telnet server.ntktc.local' without a port number, it says the following:
"Connecting To server.ntktc.local...Could not open connection to the host, on port 23: Connect failed".

When you do not mention the port, I guess it goes to a default port other than 25; but if I mention port 25, it return nothing.

Thanks for your help
Anushahanna

No - if none of your users access mail externally from your server, then you don't need the POP3 Virtual server started.

If telnet is not working, then check the setings on the SMTP Virtual Server.  Right-click it, select properties.  On the general tab, click on the Advanced Button, then click edit on the next screen.

Check the IP Address that is shown.  Does it show the iternal IP Address of the server that SMTP is beig forwarded to on the firewall.  If it is, then change it to all unassigned, if it is not, then change it to the internal IP Address.  Click OK 3 times.

Try telnet again to the server on port 25.

If you get the Exchange server details, then it is now working.

I went into SMTP Virtual Server->Properties->Advanced->Edit

I see '(All Unassigned) as the option chosen, with TCP Port 25 option, with no Filters Chosen. In the drop down there are 2 IP Addresses. How can i confirm which is one is the exact IP address of the Exchange Server. Regardless, I put both IP address in the telnet command, and still they come back blank.

I pinged these 2 IP Addresses, and they are working fine (Packets sent & received).

Any other thoughts, please?

thanks

The IP to choose is the IP address of your server, assuming you only have one NIC in the beast.  Click on Start, Run and type CMD and press enter.

At the DOS prompt type
ipconfig (press enter)

can you report back with the results please.

C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator>ipconfig

Windows IP Configuration

Ethernet adapter Server Local Area Connection:

   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
   IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.20
   Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
   Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :

Ethernet adapter Network Connection:

   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
   IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.2.19
   Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
   Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.2.1

C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator>

Okay - set the IP on SMTP virtual server to the 192.168.2.19 ip address and then check your server by visiting http://www.mxtoolbox.com/diagnostics.aspx

The link was http://www.mxtoolbox.com/diagnostic.aspx (instead of diagnostics.aspx)
I get the message
"A connection attempt failed because the connected party did not properly respond after a period of time, or established connection failed because connected host has failed to respond "

I clicked on the 'MX Lookup' link on the same page; it asked for the domain name, and when I put it in, it gives me a totally different IP address. 209.x.x.x.

I telnet this new IP address from cmd and it returns a code, starting with 220.

Should I put this new IP address in the 'SMTP virtual server' along with the other 2 IP addresses?

Thank you

Sorry - finger trouble!

Is the MX Lookup IP the same as your internet IP Address?

Visit http://www.whatismyip.com to check your internet IP Address.

Thanks.

MX Lookup gave 209.x.x.x

http://www.whatismyip.com gives 68.x.x.x

Okay - forget changing anything.

Your Internet IP has changed and your Mail is destined to the 209.x.x.x address which explains why it is not getting to you.  Have you change IS(Internet Service Providers)?

Has you ISP changed your IP without telling you.

If you are now on IP 68.x.x.x then you need to change your MX recod to reflect this in your domains DNS settings.

Whatever made your IP address change is the cause of your mail not arriving.

If you talk to your ISP and get the problem resolved by either getting your old IP back, or changing your MX record IP address, then your mail will start to flow again.  The stuff that you have not received will eventually arrive unless the max retry period has ben reached (usually 3 days).

The IP address 209.x.x.x is/was not under SMTP virtual server (within '(All Unassigned)'), when this problem started. It has only the two 192.x.x.x IP Addresses Is that ok? or should the 209.x.x.x also be along with the other two IP Addresses?

We did not request any change of IP Address from the ISP Provider, with whom we have been with for 6 years. This happened friday morning, and I will have to call them on monday morning to talk about this.

Can only the ISP change the MX recod to reflect the 68.x.x.x IP address in the domains DNS settings?

So, I am understanding that the MX Lookup IP address should be exact same as the one from
http://www.whatismyip.com. Is that right?

I have another question: Does this IP Address change not affect outgoing mails? Because the outgoing mails are working fine, both within the domain and to the outside world. Only the incoming mails are not received.

And I guess this IP address change does not affect incoming mails within the domain? (The mails sent within the company)

can you guide me as to the significance of 192.168.0.20 and the 192.168.2.19 IP addresses.

Thanks much for all the help, alanhardisty

The SMTP Virtual server should not show your external IP - just your internal ones.  Leave it at all unassigned.

Call your ISP asap - they should be available 24x7 with any luck.  Ask them why your IP has changed and from there, work out if you can either get back your old IP, or get your MX Record IP Address changed.  They may claim to have sent out a letter to advise you of changes - had 2 customers my end who were upgraded from ADSL to ADSL2 and their connections went wrong.  No letter, no warning, needed a new router and even then, problems.

The internet IP will not affect outbound emails, just incoming.

To put it another way, it is as if you have moved house without telling anyone that you have moved.  All your post (mail) is still trying to be delivered to your old address, but there is no-one there to receive it.  You can still pop to the post box to send your mail out.  Yes I know it's cheesy, but it might help you to understand what has happened.

I was able to update the MX Record to the server's www.whatismyip.com (68.x.x.x) address. But the mails are not flowing yet. Does the server need a reboot for this to happen?

Also, I see that the F drive is almost full, and it only has 2 major files
Small Business Server Backup (01).bkf
Small Business Server Backup (02).bkf
Both are 113 GB, and the total capacity of the F drive is only 217GB. Could this be a concern in any way to the issue at hand.

Thanks

Have you tested your server again on www.mxtoolbox.com/diagnostics.aspx?  Does it look happier?

I personally use http://www.dnsstuff.com to test.

Did you put the default SMTP virtual server back to All Unassigned?  You should - or at leat put it back the way it was before in case this was different.

The backup files (*.bkf) are not going to be cause for concern relating to this problem.  They probably get automatically overwritten on a daily basis.  Check the dates of the fies and then do the same again tomorrow.  If there are still 2 and a backup has been performed, hopefully the oldest will have gone and there will be a newer one.

When I telnet the 209.x.x.x IP Address on port 25 (The one that was in the MX Records before it was changed a few minutes ago to the 68.x.x.x IP Address), it works fine.

When I telnet the 68.x.x.x IP address on port 25, it fails.

Other than MX Record, where else should I repace the 209.x.x.x with the 68.x.x.x;

Thanks

You should only need to change the IP from 209.x.x.x to 68.x.x.x if you host websites, or use the IP to direct any other web traffic to your server.  The most common traffic is mail, then web.

Can you email me your domain name so that I can check it on dnsstuff.com.  My email is in my profile.  Understand if you are reluctant to.

When I put the 68.x.x.x IP address through http://www.mxtoolbox.com/diagnostic.aspx,  it gives the same error message as in the morning:
"A connection attempt failed because the connected party did not properly respond after a period of time, or established connection failed because connected host has failed to respond "

If I put the 209.x.x.x IP Address, it works fine, and gives a happy message.

Yes, I put the SMTP virtual server back to 'All Unassigned'.

Thank you

Check your ip again on www.dnsstuff.com.

The purpose to change the IP from 209.x.x.x to 68.x.x.x was to get the MX Record IP Address changed to the current Server's whatismyip.com IP address. Does that sound ok?

Yes - are you still on the same IP?

The Only change since this morning is that I have changed the MX Record from 209.x.x.x to 68.x.x.x; No Other changes.

Can you reboot the server please.

I have Rebooted the server and also stopped and started the SMPT and SMPT virtual server

Your domain report comes back with the following for your mail server, which is not your server, so must be a 3rd party hosting site.

Well, they seem to have gone for vacation. They are still fixing their server.

Meanwhile, I think it will be best for us to direct the mails to us, avoiding their path, at least till it is fixed.

Thanks so much for your generous help, which had made a lot of difference to us, and helped keep our sanity.