Tiscali / TalkTalk User

Terry · 28-09-2005, 05:47 PM

Hi I am trying to set up a forum (phpbb) from a home server.
When a user registers they are sent a confirmation email.
This worked fine for about the first 3 registration emails, then this error started to appear every time:

Ran into problems sending Mail. Response: 550 Relay denied.

I have a mail server set up and working, but it seems that f2s have blocked something their end. Is this maybe some kind of protection?

The recipients email addresses were valid but the relpy address from the sender (forum), was a bit odd.
admin@i-194-106-56-142.freedom2surf.net
This address could not be replied to. (Not surprising really)

I really don't have much idea of what I'm doing. I hope I havn't annoyed anybody at f2s.

Justin · 28-09-2005, 06:06 PM

Don't use the SMTP on there, just use PHP's built in sendmail function. I think if you leave the PHPBB SMTP details blank it should be okay. Either that or there is an option for sendmail.

Matt · 28-09-2005, 06:13 PM

Where is the error appearing? In the phpbb system? Or the email server? Also, what are you using to serve the mail? IIS?

ISPs et al prevent the use of their email servers as "relays" to try and cut down spam from "unknown" hosts etc. Assuming this error message is comming from your own SMTP server, you need to configure it to allow relaying for your server's IP address I think.

If you can give me some more details (software versions etc), I might be able to help further.

Terry · 28-09-2005, 07:20 PM

Quote:

Don't use the SMTP on there, just use PHP's built in sendmail function. I think if you leave the PHPBB SMTP details blank it should be okay. Either that or there is an option for sendmail.

phpbb does have an option to use the sendmail function. I tried this but cannot get it to work. I cannot remember the error code and I'm away from my PC right now.

Quote:

Where is the error appearing? In the phpbb system? Or the email server? Also, what are you using to serve the mail? IIS?

ISPs et al prevent the use of their email servers as "relays" to try and cut down spam from "unknown" hosts etc. Assuming this error message is comming from your own SMTP server, you need to configure it to allow relaying for your server's IP address I think.

If you can give me some more details (software versions etc), I might be able to help further.

Hi. The error is occouring in the phpbb system as far as I can tell. The mail server I'm using is XMail.
I have no idea how I would tell my mail server to allow relaying.

The software I installed is apache2triad V1.4. I had tried a few times to setup all the parts manually. Apache, Mysql, php, etc.. I got close to getting it all working, when I found "apache2triad". This seemed to be an easier way to get it all working, and so far it's going well, except the email thing was working, now it's not.

I really appriciate your help. This is all very new to me, and as you can tell, I'm struggling!

Regards Terry.

ItsMe · 29-09-2005, 08:20 AM

When I did this I didnt use relay, couldnt get it to work at all but I was with pipex at the time so I dont know the situation with f2s.

Why not just send direct from your mail server, that should work.

When I did it, using Kerio Mail Server I couldnt get it to work using the php mail in phpbb, (probably would but I couldnt do it) so I set up an accout on the mail server for "forum" told it only to except email from localhost and used the smtp option to send the mail.

The only problem was as there was no MX record the mail was treated as spam by some isps, If the have a domain name you should be able to setup an MX record and then the spam filters will allow the mail through.

Terry · 29-09-2005, 02:20 PM

Hi, and thanks for the tips. I have 3 domain names registered so I can use one of those. I'm sure I can figure out how to add a "forum" account on my mail server, XMail.

Can you explain more about the MX record.

How do I create an MX record?
Is this like putting an entry into the DNS?
Can I do this at somewhere like ZoneEdit.com?

Thanks for the help. I feel I'm getting closer.

Regards Terry.

Terry · 29-09-2005, 04:19 PM

Ok. I found the MX thingy in the members area. I have no mail account for my f2s hosted domain. So I put my WAN IP address in there under MX. Now I have to try and configure my mail server. Should be fun, as I've never done this before.

Terry.

Terry · 29-09-2005, 04:40 PM

While waiting for the f2s servers to be updated, I thought I'd look into why the PHP mail function wasn't working.

I created a new server named (forum),for the PHP mail command to connect to. Set it to port 25 and hey presto. PHP can now send outgoing mails via that server.
I think the default sever (localhost) was set for intenal mail only. Although I'm not sure on this.
It's fun learning tho'.

At least I've got the capabilities to send mail again. For now, anyway.
I'll see if I can also setup to use my domain once f2s update the servers in the morning.

Thanks for all the help. While looking into your suggestions I found out a lot of other stuff too.

Terry.

ItsMe · 29-09-2005, 09:01 PM

Good you got it sorted (ish)

Couldnt give you much advice anyway other than fiddle with this and that

If you can send to hotmail and it doesnt end up in junk its fixed

or it was for me. Everybody seemed to get the mails they were expecting.

28-09-2005, 05:47 PM	#1
Terry Tiscali User Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 22 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Home DSL server running phpbb2 forum. Mail Response: 550 Relay denied Hi I am trying to set up a forum (phpbb) from a home server. When a user registers they are sent a confirmation email. This worked fine for about the first 3 registration emails, then this error started to appear every time: Ran into problems sending Mail. Response: 550 Relay denied. I have a mail server set up and working, but it seems that f2s have blocked something their end. Is this maybe some kind of protection? The recipients email addresses were valid but the relpy address from the sender (forum), was a bit odd. admin@i-194-106-56-142.freedom2surf.net This address could not be replied to. (Not surprising really) I really don't have much idea of what I'm doing. I hope I havn't annoyed anybody at f2s.

28-09-2005, 06:06 PM	#2
Justin Site Founder Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 4,351 Thanks: 4 Thanked 4 Times in 4 Posts	Don't use the SMTP on there, just use PHP's built in sendmail function. I think if you leave the PHPBB SMTP details blank it should be okay. Either that or there is an option for sendmail. __________________ Justin Tiscali User

28-09-2005, 06:13 PM	#3
Matt Tiscali User Member Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 930 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Where is the error appearing? In the phpbb system? Or the email server? Also, what are you using to serve the mail? IIS? ISPs et al prevent the use of their email servers as "relays" to try and cut down spam from "unknown" hosts etc. Assuming this error message is comming from your own SMTP server, you need to configure it to allow relaying for your server's IP address I think. If you can give me some more details (software versions etc), I might be able to help further. __________________ Matt Ex-Freedom2Support Team

29-09-2005, 08:20 AM	#5
ItsMe Tiscali User Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Elgin Posts: 33 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	When I did this I didnt use relay, couldnt get it to work at all but I was with pipex at the time so I dont know the situation with f2s. Why not just send direct from your mail server, that should work. When I did it, using Kerio Mail Server I couldnt get it to work using the php mail in phpbb, (probably would but I couldnt do it) so I set up an accout on the mail server for "forum" told it only to except email from localhost and used the smtp option to send the mail. The only problem was as there was no MX record the mail was treated as spam by some isps, If the have a domain name you should be able to setup an MX record and then the spam filters will allow the mail through. __________________ Hardware, n.: The parts of a computer system that can be kicked.

29-09-2005, 09:01 PM	#9
ItsMe Tiscali User Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Elgin Posts: 33 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Good you got it sorted (ish) Couldnt give you much advice anyway other than fiddle with this and that If you can send to hotmail and it doesnt end up in junk its fixed or it was for me. Everybody seemed to get the mails they were expecting. __________________ Hardware, n.: The parts of a computer system that can be kicked.

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29-09-2005, 02:20 PM	#6
Terry Tiscali User Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 22 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Hi, and thanks for the tips. I have 3 domain names registered so I can use one of those. I'm sure I can figure out how to add a "forum" account on my mail server, XMail. Can you explain more about the MX record. How do I create an MX record? Is this like putting an entry into the DNS? Can I do this at somewhere like ZoneEdit.com? Thanks for the help. I feel I'm getting closer. Regards Terry.

29-09-2005, 04:19 PM	#7
Terry Tiscali User Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 22 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Ok. I found the MX thingy in the members area. I have no mail account for my f2s hosted domain. So I put my WAN IP address in there under MX. Now I have to try and configure my mail server. Should be fun, as I've never done this before. Terry.

29-09-2005, 04:40 PM	#8
Terry Tiscali User Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 22 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	While waiting for the f2s servers to be updated, I thought I'd look into why the PHP mail function wasn't working. I created a new server named (forum),for the PHP mail command to connect to. Set it to port 25 and hey presto. PHP can now send outgoing mails via that server. I think the default sever (localhost) was set for intenal mail only. Although I'm not sure on this. It's fun learning tho'. At least I've got the capabilities to send mail again. For now, anyway. I'll see if I can also setup to use my domain once f2s update the servers in the morning. Thanks for all the help. While looking into your suggestions I found out a lot of other stuff too. Terry.

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