clcarlson
asked on
Can't receive external email
I have searched through many of the postings on EE and have had no success at resolving my issue, however, they have helped to maybe fine tune the configuration. So, now it's my turn to ask the experts.
I have Exchange Server 2003 running on the same computer as SBS2003. There are no other server installations on the network. We have DSL access through a Cisco 8xx DSL router.
I want to be able to receive email directly from the internet, but before going live with our real domain emails currently hosted by our ISP through aliases, I decided to test a configuration with another domain name we have registered and are using for external access to our internal web. We have one external static IP address. We have two NIC's on our server box -- one connected to the WAN (via the Cisco router) and the other to our LAN.
I have verified the following configurations (found via various postings to EE):
1) The host and MX records appear to be appropriately setup at the external DNS. DNSreports.com correctly resolves these records. However, when checking the domain name, DNSreport.com reports there is a time out error when connecting to our mail server.
2) I have setup a reverse lookup record at our ISP for our "alternate" domain from our external IP.
3) I am forwarding traffic for port 25 on our router to the ip address of our internal exchange server.
4) In the SMTP virtual server, I have anonymous access checked under access authentication and I have "all except the list below" checked for computers allowed connection. There are no computers listed below.
5) I use GFI Essentials as a spam filter on the Exchange server. I have disabled the service, but no effect on successfully receiving emails.
6) I can telnet to our mail server on port 25 internally using both the internal ip address as well as its global name (ie, mail.externalname.com).
7) I cannot telnet to our mail server externally. I get a blank command screen.
8) I can successfully send an email internally to a user at this test email domain.
Help!
I have Exchange Server 2003 running on the same computer as SBS2003. There are no other server installations on the network. We have DSL access through a Cisco 8xx DSL router.
I want to be able to receive email directly from the internet, but before going live with our real domain emails currently hosted by our ISP through aliases, I decided to test a configuration with another domain name we have registered and are using for external access to our internal web. We have one external static IP address. We have two NIC's on our server box -- one connected to the WAN (via the Cisco router) and the other to our LAN.
I have verified the following configurations (found via various postings to EE):
1) The host and MX records appear to be appropriately setup at the external DNS. DNSreports.com correctly resolves these records. However, when checking the domain name, DNSreport.com reports there is a time out error when connecting to our mail server.
2) I have setup a reverse lookup record at our ISP for our "alternate" domain from our external IP.
3) I am forwarding traffic for port 25 on our router to the ip address of our internal exchange server.
4) In the SMTP virtual server, I have anonymous access checked under access authentication and I have "all except the list below" checked for computers allowed connection. There are no computers listed below.
5) I use GFI Essentials as a spam filter on the Exchange server. I have disabled the service, but no effect on successfully receiving emails.
6) I can telnet to our mail server on port 25 internally using both the internal ip address as well as its global name (ie, mail.externalname.com).
7) I cannot telnet to our mail server externally. I get a blank command screen.
8) I can successfully send an email internally to a user at this test email domain.
Help!
ASKER
Yes, you are correct that it is resolving to the external address of the router. I cannot telnet on port 25 to the external ip of the router or the host name.
I confirmed with my ISP that they do not block any ports.
By trying to send from multiple external locations, I have also tried sending several emails from my personal email account which is through a different ISP. It has not been successful. The most recent failure report states: "451 4.4.1 reply: read error from mail.testdomain.com"
I confirmed with my ISP that they do not block any ports.
By trying to send from multiple external locations, I have also tried sending several emails from my personal email account which is through a different ISP. It has not been successful. The most recent failure report states: "451 4.4.1 reply: read error from mail.testdomain.com"
Place a switch on the wan so that the external server NIC and the inside router NIC are on it. Add a test machine to the switch and give it an address on the network. telnet to port 25 of the external sbs server NIC. does that work?
That's a good test since chances are high that it is the external interface that is not getting through.
"3) I am forwarding traffic for port 25 on our router to the ip address of our internal exchange server."
This should be the IP of the external NIC--please verify that it is indeed that and not the internal NIC IP.
When you did the set-up of Exchange,did you use the set-up wizard. When using the wizard, it should walk you through configuration of the additional SMTP connector for the external IP. That is the next place to look. In ESM, look to make sure that there are two SMTP virtual servers. (Servers > yourservername > Protocols > SMTP). One of them should be configured with the LAN IP and the other with the private WAN IP. If there are not two, then this is at least part of the problem. Exchange needs to know to listen on both interfaces for SMTP traffic.
Now for the other question. Why was Exchange 2003 added to the SBS2003 server. The version of Exchange that comes with it is the standard version. I am also wondering if there could be an issue here--are there two installations of Exchange on that server (one would be incomplete)?
"3) I am forwarding traffic for port 25 on our router to the ip address of our internal exchange server."
This should be the IP of the external NIC--please verify that it is indeed that and not the internal NIC IP.
When you did the set-up of Exchange,did you use the set-up wizard. When using the wizard, it should walk you through configuration of the additional SMTP connector for the external IP. That is the next place to look. In ESM, look to make sure that there are two SMTP virtual servers. (Servers > yourservername > Protocols > SMTP). One of them should be configured with the LAN IP and the other with the private WAN IP. If there are not two, then this is at least part of the problem. Exchange needs to know to listen on both interfaces for SMTP traffic.
Now for the other question. Why was Exchange 2003 added to the SBS2003 server. The version of Exchange that comes with it is the standard version. I am also wondering if there could be an issue here--are there two installations of Exchange on that server (one would be incomplete)?
ASKER
In response to m298908's suggested test, I need some clarification and then I'll try to do it in the am when I'm not disrupting the workflow. I'm not clear on where you want me to put the switch.
Are you suggesting:
1) DSL router ---> WAN NIC ---> WAN port on switch and LAN port on switch ---> LAN NIC (with a workstation also plugged into one of the switch LAN ports)? or
2) ?
Are you suggesting:
1) DSL router ---> WAN NIC ---> WAN port on switch and LAN port on switch ---> LAN NIC (with a workstation also plugged into one of the switch LAN ports)? or
2) ?
What they were trying to say was that you need to test the external NIC of the server on the inside of the router. This will eliminate the router/ISP filtering from the picture and will show whether the Exchange server accepts connections inbound on port 25 on the external interface. Your internal tests show that the Exchange is accepting SMTP connections on the internal NIC only.
|---> WAN NIC
DSL Router ---> Switch/hub |
|---> Workstation
|---> WAN NIC
DSL Router ---> Switch/hub |
|---> Workstation
ASKER
Ok, thanks. Now, I will also respond to your previous comment which I had intended to get to earlier, but the day's been quite hectic.
Actually, I at first had it pointing to the external NIC as are my other ports, but that wasn't working. So I thought maybe I should try the internal NIC. Neither works, but I do get different results: When forwarded to the external NIC, the message was something similar to "connection closed before I received all my data." With it forwarded to the internal NIC, it's a "timeout " message.
This may be the problem as I only have one SMTP virtual server. Yes I did use the wizard, but at the time I initially set everything up, I was using POP accounts with our ISP and retrieving the email through the POP connector. When I decided to try to see if I could set up receiving email from the internet, I used the wizard again. However, it did not set up an additional SMTP server. Actually, I'm not sure what it did, if anything. So, it sounds as though I need to create an additional SMTP server. Since the existing one is named "Default SMTP Server" can I rename it without creating havoc through the system? This "Default SMTP Server" is pointing to the internal NIC which is why I thought maybe I needed to forward port 25 to the internal NIC.
Now as to your last question. I guess I assumed I had Exchange 2003. It is the version that came with my SBS2003 package which was a factory install. No, there have not been multiple installations of Exchange Server, only inexperienced tweaking :).
Actually, I at first had it pointing to the external NIC as are my other ports, but that wasn't working. So I thought maybe I should try the internal NIC. Neither works, but I do get different results: When forwarded to the external NIC, the message was something similar to "connection closed before I received all my data." With it forwarded to the internal NIC, it's a "timeout " message.
This may be the problem as I only have one SMTP virtual server. Yes I did use the wizard, but at the time I initially set everything up, I was using POP accounts with our ISP and retrieving the email through the POP connector. When I decided to try to see if I could set up receiving email from the internet, I used the wizard again. However, it did not set up an additional SMTP server. Actually, I'm not sure what it did, if anything. So, it sounds as though I need to create an additional SMTP server. Since the existing one is named "Default SMTP Server" can I rename it without creating havoc through the system? This "Default SMTP Server" is pointing to the internal NIC which is why I thought maybe I needed to forward port 25 to the internal NIC.
Now as to your last question. I guess I assumed I had Exchange 2003. It is the version that came with my SBS2003 package which was a factory install. No, there have not been multiple installations of Exchange Server, only inexperienced tweaking :).
ASKER
An additional note, I notice when trying to create an additional SMTP virtual server, the only ip options I have are my internal NIC and unassigned.
ASKER
Good morning. Set up test as suggested as follows:
|---> WAN NIC (ip 192.168.17.2)
DSL Router ---> Switch/hub |
|---> Workstation (ip 192.168.17.3)
When I try to telnet on port 25 to ip 192.168.17.2 from the workstation, I get a connection lost result.
I hope this was the right configuration and is telling us what we want to know which is that something is not configured correctly.
|---> WAN NIC (ip 192.168.17.2)
DSL Router ---> Switch/hub |
|---> Workstation (ip 192.168.17.3)
When I try to telnet on port 25 to ip 192.168.17.2 from the workstation, I get a connection lost result.
I hope this was the right configuration and is telling us what we want to know which is that something is not configured correctly.
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
membership
This solution is only available to members.
To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.
ASKER
Thanks, I'm out of town until Thursday. I'll work on this when I return.
ASKER
Ok, so I'm back and have read through your comment and the link. It appears, however, that my Exchange Server doesn't seem to recognize that it's a dual-homed server.
When I manually create an additional SMTP virtual server, the only ip options I get are the internal NIC's ip address and 'all unassigned'.
When I run the wizard, my Exchange Server passes the prereq test. When I try to proceed from the Select email functions window, I get the following message: 'To send internet e-mail, the selected server cannot be a bridgehead server" and it won't proceed.
Is there somewhere else I need to identify the external NIC?
When I manually create an additional SMTP virtual server, the only ip options I get are the internal NIC's ip address and 'all unassigned'.
When I run the wizard, my Exchange Server passes the prereq test. When I try to proceed from the Select email functions window, I get the following message: 'To send internet e-mail, the selected server cannot be a bridgehead server" and it won't proceed.
Is there somewhere else I need to identify the external NIC?
Hmmmmm, do you see both NICs in the network settings (you should).
On the default SMTP connector, it should only be set to send email--not to receive it. The new connector will receive mail only. The bridgehead (when dealing with a single server) is always set to the sending server.
On the default SMTP connector, it should only be set to send email--not to receive it. The new connector will receive mail only. The bridgehead (when dealing with a single server) is always set to the sending server.
ASKER
Yes I can see both NICs in network setting.
When you say 'default SMTP connector', do you mean connector or virtual server? Actually, I don't see where to indicate not to receive email in either connector or virtual server.
When you say 'default SMTP connector', do you mean connector or virtual server? Actually, I don't see where to indicate not to receive email in either connector or virtual server.
Yes, I meant default virtual server--was thinking in a pre-2003 world today.
You can designate that on the initial run of the wizard. I'll see if I can do some looking through some material at home and try to determine how to get Exchange to recognize the second NIC.
You can designate that on the initial run of the wizard. I'll see if I can do some looking through some material at home and try to determine how to get Exchange to recognize the second NIC.
ASKER
Well, have a good weekend then. Thanks for sticking with me.
ASKER
I have finally succeeded in getting my email server to accept external email. Now, I can't get the server to deliver the email to the intended recipient. I do have multiple domains. I have added the email address to the user's account and I have the domains listed in the default recipient policy. However, the messages are just sitting in the queue. What have I overlooked?
Can you determine which queue the messages are sitting in? There are several inbound queues.
I assume you have done a full stop and start on the services and that the Information Store service is running.
Are there any error messages in either the SMTP log or in the event viewer that help to see why the messages are not getting delivered.
I assume you have done a full stop and start on the services and that the Information Store service is running.
Are there any error messages in either the SMTP log or in the event viewer that help to see why the messages are not getting delivered.
ASKER
It was as simple as restarting IIS. Thanks.
:) Wonderful. Am so glad you got it all working!
There's a start. I highly doubt internal DNS is causing issues, but that would be the next thing to examine