Coldfusion mail not sending

They are getting stuck in the coldfusion undelivered folder.  I checked the logs and am getting errors like:

"Error","web-3","07/23/07","00:53:22",,"Mail: 'Forums Confirmation Required' From: 'forum@localhost' was missing server information."

"Error","scheduler-2","07/23/07","01:14:56",,"Could not connect to SMTP host: 127.0.0.1, port: 25;   nested exception is:       java.net.ConnectException: Connection refused: connect"

and then when I enabled relaying (as someone requested) I get stuff like:

"Error","scheduler-1","07/23/07","01:45:42",,"Invalid Addresses;   nested exception is:       class javax.mail.SendFailedException: 550 5.7.1 Unable to relay for test@excite.com "


Any thoughts on how to approach this?  Thanks

do you have your mail settings configured properly in coldfusion administrator?

Make sure the ip matches the ip on your SMTP service.
Make sure the port is the correct port.
Assuming you have a recent version of CF you should not have to have an open relay (in fact I would recomend never having an open relay unless you are specifically allowing only certain ip's to relay messages), just enter the username and password in the mail server settings like "user:password@127.0.0.1"
check the "Verify mail server connection" box and hit "submit changes" to make sure CF can connect to the SMTP server.

Okay I'll check that when I go home; but I do remember that when i set it up the coldfusion verify mail check did say "OK"

It is possible for it to say OK but not really work. The verification does not actually attempt to send an email it just establishes and SMTP connection to verify the server can be contacted. In your SMTP servers relay settings you should be able to allow/whitelist a list of trusted IP's so I would make sure that 127.0.0.1 is on that list.

Okay, the IP in the coldfusion mail config was different from the IP in the SMTP config so i changed it.  (it was 192.168.1.33 for the SMTP, and 127.0.0.1 for the coldfusion, now they are both 192.168.1.33)  I know these refer to the same computer but i figured i'd make it exactly the same anyway; both of the ports are 25.  This still did not work though; but I noticed that this time the mail didnt appear in the coldfusion undelivered folder (at least not after i gave it a few minutes).   What do you think my next step should be?  Thanks.

Ok now you will want to check the configuration of your SMTP service.

Check this by load Internet Information Services Manager
Right click SMTP Server, choose properties
Choose the Delivery Tab
Click Advanced

Do you have a Smart host set?

If you do then the SMTP server cannot find the Smart Host to deliver the messages to.
If you dont then you probably have a DNS resolution problem or a firewall issue

Here is a brief descriptioin of the two options for delivery of mail:

Smart Host
This setting tells the server to send all mail to another SMTP server.  So if you have an email account with your ISP then they generally give you an SMTP Address for you to send mail to, you could use this address for the Smart Host, in which case all outbound mail gets sent to that server for delivery onwards.

Direct Delivery
With this option your SMTP server delivers mail directly to the SMTP Server resposible for the domain the mail message is getting sent to.  What it does is looks up who is the responsible mail server for the domain and sends the mail to that server.

Try the following articles:
HOW TO: Configure the SMTP Virtual Server for Message Delivery
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;303734&Product=iis50

HOW TO: Test the Windows 2000 SMTP Service Outbound Mailflow Without Using DNS
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;297988

Okay I will check that when I go home.    I just wiped this computer and am reinstalling everything from scratch; and i just downloaded the ISS and installed it; so i am figuring that I do not have a smart host set up.  

If i don't have a smarthost set up should I try to set one up using the second link you posted?  Also, you mentioned possible firewall issues... do I have to punch a hole in my router and firewall for port 25?  Thanks.

you will have to make sure your firewall is allowing it, and also (since this seems to be a home internet connection), You may want to check with your ISP and make sure they are allowing port 25 traffic through your internet connection. Many ISP's will block SMTP traffic on home internet connections to prevent spam.

Okay, I checked and there is NO smart host set up.  When I hit the check DNS button in that panel; it checks out okay (domain name is valid).  I punched a port hole in my firewall and my router for port 25, but it still doesn't work. And again, strangely I am not seeing the mail go to he undelivered folder.  Thanks.  

Have you tried setting up the smart host option? and have you contacted your Internet service provider to see if maybe they are blocking the SMTP traffic?

I think I have optimum online; I'll give them a call when I go home.  Can i avoid the need for this if I setup a smarthost?  If so, how do I go about setting that up; do I need some other server or something (I don't know much about this stuff)?

if you use smart host then you will need access to an smtp account on another server.

Are there any free services that have this sort of thing (aol, gmail, etc)?

I get the sneaking feeling that i may not be understanding the concept properly... if so I apologize for my idiocy.

perhaps you should read through this 5 page tutorial on SMTP and IIS

http://www.windowsitlibrary.com/Content/141/09/1.html

Thanks, I'll check that out.

Okay, I read all that information and have a little bit clearer picture of whats going on; still trying to figure out how to proceed though.  It seems to set up a smart host it I would have to know the IP/DNS information of a dedicated smart host.  I am sure you can't just pick the IP address of any old one, its gotta be something you have access/rights to or whatnot: this is the thing I can't seem to find any information on; is it like, say if you had a working SMTP server on your computer; I would put the IP address of your computer in as my smart host and it would work (as in my SMTP would send emails to your SMTP which would then deliver them)?  I am assuming i would need some password or something for that to happen?  

Now, I'm not sure if I need a smart host, but either way it seems that because the mail is no longer appearing in the coldfusion undeliver folder i should check the logs of the SMTP server.  

Also, earlier you stated "just enter the username and password in the mail server settings like "user:password@127.0.0.1"    I didn't see where this (user/password) was applicable...maybe this is my problem; which field in which tab were you talking about?   Thanks.

Changed the point value to 500 since this is more involved than I thought.

you would use "user:password@127.0.0.1" in the coldfusion mail server setting if your email server required authentication.

What you need to do is check your SMTP server logs to see if you can find any reasons why your emails are not being sent. Also have you check with your Internet Service Provider as to weather they block SMTP from traffic?

I have Optimum online; and I have been reading that they do in fact block port 25 (at least old news articles from 2004 said so).  Apparently you can pay 10 bucks a month to lift this restriction; no way!

I found this article though, which may help:  http://www.citidexliweb.com/help/CablevisionEmail.html

Is this equivalent to using optonline.net as a smart host?   I will try it when I go home; do you think this will work?  Thanks.

Oh so i wouldnt even be using my ISS SMPT thing at all?  

you may also want to set the mailerid in your cfmail tag to that of microsoft outlook. the default coldfusion mailerid is blocked by many anti spam mechanisms.

<cfmail mailerid=Microsoft Outlook, Build 10.0.34163

If you can cut out the middle man by getting rid of the IIS SMTP service then that would be best just make sure you do the mailerid thing so your isp's SMTP server thinks you are sending it from outlook.

looks like my quote got turned into a box... strange

Lol;  thanks, I got a good feeling that this will work;  I'll keep you posted.  

Grr.. still no luck.  I added that mailerID stuff to the cfmail tag and changed the mail server in coldfusion to optonline.net.   When that didn't work I tried mail.optonline.net and mail-hub.optonline.net (that people suggested on the net.  Still no go..

The optonline website says the mail server is mail.optonline.net  but this gives me the following error:

"Error","scheduler-0","08/04/07","02:11:28",,"550 5.1.8 invalid/host-not-in-DNS return address not allowed "

Ahh, i see.  Hopefully this means we are getting closer to getting it working then.    If i am getting this error instead of the other one it would suggest that the optonline mail server is functional, yes?   Thanks.