> HI Everyone,
>
> Thanks for the great feedback. I still do not know what I am doing wrong...so what I have done is made screen captures of everything I
> think may be important (the MX record, A record, Mercury.ini, screenshots of what I am seeing, etc). These can be found at
> russvanderhorst.info . If anyone would kindly take a look at this for me and perhaps point me in the right direction, it would be greatly appreciated.
>
>  Thanks in advance,

Answer Section:
    russvanderhorst.info, MX, 0, mail.russvanderhorst.info
    russvanderhorst.info, A, 98.216.147.35
    russvanderhorst.info, NS, ns16.zoneedit.com
    russvanderhorst.info, NS, ns8.zoneedit.com

Answer Section:
    mail.russvanderhorst.info, A, 98.216.147.35

Answers as a mail server

220 mail.russvanderhorst.info ESMTP server ready.
ehlo thomas
250-mail.russvanderhorst.info Hello thomas; ESMTPs are:
250-TIME
250-SIZE 0
250 HELP

Mercury.ini I have removed lines that are not a problem.

> [General]
>
> myname:          mail.russvanderhorst.info    # Canonical name for this server

Since this is the domain for the postmaster and maiser addresses I would use just russvanderhorst.info

>
> timezone:        +0000    # Time Zone to add to date fields
> file_api:        1    # Use the file api instead of queues
> mailqueue:       C:\MERCURY\QUEUE    # Where mail should be put for delivery
> smtpqueue:       C:\MERCURY\QUEUE    # Where the SMTP client should look for mail
> newmail_path:    C:\PMAIL\MAIL\~N    # Where to find the users' WinPMail mailboxes.

Everything else looks good.

>
>
>
> [Protocols]
>
> C:\MERCURY\mercurys.dll
> C:\MERCURY\mercurye.dll
> C:\MERCURY\mercuryp.dll

Three active protocols.
 
> [Mercury]
>
> postmaster:    postmaster    # NetWare UIC of postmaster

I assume that you have created an account called postmaster.

> [MercuryC]
>
Not used.

> [MercuryE]
>
> HELO : mail.russvanderhorst.info

You can leave this blank and it will pick up the data from the system name above.

> Nameservers : ns16.zoneedit.com

Use the IP addresses of the name servers, i.e. 75.125.10.187, 207.36.5.78

ns8.zoneedit.com[75.125.10.187]
ns16.zoneedit.com[207.36.5.78]

>
> Logfile : C:\MERCURY\Logs\MercuryE\~y-~m-~d.log
> Log_Verbose : 0
> DNS_Timeout : 20
> DNS_Retries : 4
> Transcripts : 1
> MaxThreads : 10
>
> [MercuryD]
>
Not used
>
> [MercuryS]
>
> Debug : 1
> Logfile : C:\MERCURY\Logs\MercuryS\~y-~m-~d.log
> Timeout : 30
> Relay : 0
> Strict_Relay : 0

Turn on strict since otherwise the spammers sending as your users will be able to relay.

> Allow_Illegals : 0
> SMTP_Authentication : 0
> Session_logging : C:\MERCURY\Sessions\MercuryS
> Session_logmode : 0
> Compliance_Settings : 0
> Maximum_Failed_Rcpts : 4
> Max_Relay_Attempts : 4
> SSL_Mode : 0
> ST_Blacklisting : 288
> No_VRFY : 0
> SMTP_ConnFlags : 0
>
> [MercuryP]

Nothing special here.

>
> [Domains]
>
> server: server
>
> server: server

Need a lot more here.

Server :     Server
Server :     russvanderhorst.info
Server :    mail.russvanderhorst.info
Server :    [98.216.147.35]

Greetings all,

 I am brand new to the mercury mail program, and I cant get it running...I am sure that I am doing (probably several things) wrong. I am on a local LAN at home (so I am going through a router), I would like to set up so I can send and receive email for the domain name that I own (russvanderhorst.info). I use zoneedit.com as my DNS. However one thing that happens when I try to send a test message I get 'error 249. unable to resolve host (I am trying to send a test email to my yahoo account). Can anybody get me started on how to set up and configure this program? Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks :-)

Russ

"error 249. unable to resolve host" doesn't look like a Mercury error message. Do you use MercuryE or MercuryC for sending messages? Assuming it's MercuryE, if you temporarily switch on session logging while sending to Yahoo we could get more information on what is happening.

You have mail.russvanderhorst.info as MX for your domain, but as far as I can see there is no corresponding A record for that host.

/Rolf 

Can anybody get me started on how to set up and configure this program? Any help would be appreciated.

Hi,

 I believe I am running Mercury E....I will switch on session logging and see what comes back. I will also check the 'A' record...I know that there is one for 'russvanderhorst.info', but I know I didnt set one up for 'mail.russvanderhorst.info'. I will get back with you soon as I have done what you suggested.

Thanks,

Russ

Hi again....

now for my next brillant question...how do I turn on session logging? <embarrassed smile>

Thanks,

Russ

Configuration / MercuryE SMTP client / Enable session logging

/Rolf  

how do I turn on session logging?

Use Configuration | <protocol> and specify the directory for the session log and then enable it by checking "Enable session logging".

 I believe I am running Mercury E....I will switch on session logging

and see what comes back. I will also check the 'A' record...I know that

there is one for 'russvanderhorst.info', but I know I didnt set one up

for 'mail.russvanderhorst.info'. I will get back with you soon as I

have done what you suggested.

Hi to all,

I have turned on session logging...and will send myself a test message shortly. However, I am wondering if I would be better off starting from scratch. Right now I have Mercury installed on my laptop, not the computer I intend to use as a server. Would I be better off transfering the installation files to the computer I am going to use, give a description of how my router and everything else is set up, and then have the group talk me through this.

I appreciate everyones help with this,

Russ

Mercury itself is quite easy to set up, it's getting the environment correct that's the tricky part. You might as well continue with testing on your laptop, once you have everything sorted out it won't take you long to repeat the installation on the server.

If you have Windows firewall active, make sure Mercury is allowed access to required ports.

/Rolf 

Hi,

I will continue to work with my present configuration (ie, not start from scratch)...I will also check to be certain that the ports can be accessed. I have one computer that I want to use as a server (install mercury on), this is connected to the router which is conneccted to the cable modem. I have told the virtual servers (on  the router) to allow access to ports 25 and 110. I have set up an 'A' record on zoneedit.com for mail.russvanderhorst.info (so I should be good there). can anyone talk me through the settings with this information?

Thanks,

Russ

P.S. it is going to be a few hours before I can check this thread again, so it may be this evening before you hear from me again (I am on EST).

Still no answer on port 25 for mail.russvanderhorst.info, so either Mercury isn't running, there is some forwarding problem from the router, or your ISP has blocked it.

As for the settings you could start by checking the local domains section of Mercury core configuration. Make sure it's set up the way it ways in the help text, and then do another test with Yahoo with session loggin switched on.

/Rolf 

Russ - Your setup seems to be similar to my own ... just using Mercury for home use, using ZoneEdit and server on a LAN behind a router.  Others have mentioned many of these things, but this would be my check-list:

1. Confirm that your ISP allows inbound port 25 (the first-line customer service representatives will probably not know this, or may give you wrong information).  It looks as if you are on Comcast and, from what I can see, Comcast has a flexible policy regarding port 25 blocking.  If you have been found to be generating a lot of traffic (maybe having been compromised as a zombie machine or other relaying), you may be blocked.  Whether this information is up to date, I am not quite sure.  My own ISP in Canada is reputedly blocking port 25 outbound but doesn't seem to be doing so inbound.
2. You mentioned that you have set up your router to provide "virtual server" operation for port 25.  This terminology is used by D-Link and maybe others.  There may also be a "port-forwarding" option that could operate a little differently.  Is the WAN side of the virtual server or port-forwarding setup set to "*"?  Has the virtual server or port-forwarding been enabled ... one of my previous D-Link routers had radio-buttons to select enable or disable..
3. Are you using a personal firewall on the server machine, e.g. ZoneAlarm?  Check that port 25 is allowed inbound.  Windows firewall doesn't restrict outbound connections but does restrict inbound connections, depending on the set up.
4. In MercuryS "connection control" configuration have you "allowed" connections from a wide range of IP addresses, e.g. 1.0.0.0-255.255.255.254 to allow external connections regardless of the source IP address.
5. Are you seeing anything in the MercuryS log?  I suspect that you aren't, if no response at all is coming from port 25.
6. Try "telnet localhost 25" or "telnet 127.0.0.1  25" on the server machine command line.  Does the SMTP server answer?
7. Try "telnet 192.168.x.x 25" from another machine on your LAN.  Does the SMTP server answer? (where 192.168.x.x should be replaced by your server local (LAN) IP address).

At some point, when you have got things running, you may wish to obtain a static IP address from your ISP (which may not be possible if you use Comcast) or, if you don't, run a dynamic dns address updater such as DirectUpdate (which I use).

Gordon

HI Everyone,

Thanks for the great feedback. I still do not know what I am doing wrong...so what I have done is made screen captures of everything I think may be important (the MX record, A record, Mercury.ini, screenshots of what I am seeing, etc). These can be found at russvanderhorst.info . If anyone would kindly take a look at this for me and perhaps point me in the right direction, it would be greatly appreciated.

 Thanks in advance,

Russ

Russ - There are others here much more familiar with the details of Mercury than I am, but my initial concern, on looking at your web-site, was seeing the errors generated by the SMTP client.  Unless I have "lost the thread", I thought that your problem was with the SMTP server, not the SMTP client (maybe it's both).  Nothing is showing in the SMTP server window, which makes sense if you aren't making connections at all.  If, as I understood, your problem is with the MercuryS server (which certainly has a problem, as it doesn't respond from the outside), have you confirmed that you can get it to respond with a local telnet connection attempt?

Can you add a screenshot of your router virtual server page to the web-site?

Gordon

- Did you forward port 25 (and 110 if you want POP3 access from the Internet) from the router to the Mercury machine? The screenshots don't show that information.

- Local domains should be fixed. Please read the help text in Mercury, it will tell you what to do.

- If you feel you need to specify a nameserver in MercuryE configuration (do you really?), then it must be a numerical IP.

- And while you are in MercuryE configuration, please switch on session logging. Then try Yahoo again. Then switch off session logging again. When we see the log we will know if there is something blocking port 25 for you or if there is some specific problem with the Yahoo server.

/Rolf