port 25 outgoing blocked by isp

[energyinn]

Up untill 2 weeks ago I had scalix (from version 10 to 11.1) working fine. I use it with Outlook 2003 in MAPI mode.
On 1st August my ISP removed the ability for me to send email on port 25. I can recieve email but not send in MAPI mode. My ISP tells me that I can send on port 225 or use IMAP. I need MAPI so that I can share calendar etc.
As more ISPs prevent use of port 25 outgoing, is there a standard fix ?
I have tried changing the SMART_HOST to a defined external SMTP but without success.

Any suggestions much appreciated

[Valerion]

You can change the outgoing port in sendmail (can't remember how I did that last time, but I know it can be done). However, mail servers on the internet usually only listen for mail on port 25, so you will have to get it into a mail server at some point.

IMAP can't send mail, just read a mailbox, IMAP clients still use SMTP to send. Maybe you ask them to send you the settings to apply to a IMAP client (Outlook Express, for example), and use that to configure sendmail with.

[energyinn]

As you say, I'm having to use IMAP at present, with the client dictating the smtp outgoing server e.g. smtp.isp.co.uk, but this devalues the functionality of scalix considerably and removes the opportunity for shared access to calendars etc.

I tried changing the sendmail.mc line - define(`SMART_HOST',`smtp.isp.co.uk') and running m4 but without success.

I also tried variour changes to the line
DAEMON_OPTIONS(`Port=smtp,Addr=127.0.0.1, Name=MTA’)
in sendmail.mc, such as Port=smtp=225, and Addr=0.0.0.0 - again without success.

I simply don't know anywhere near enough to resolve this on my own. I know that Microsoft have posted a fix "Howto" for Exchange to sort out this problem, so it must be something that affects a lot of people. How do other Scalix users deal with this ?

[Valerion]

Setting the smarthost is the correct thing to do. Leave sendmail listening on 127.0.0.1 only. You can check if the smarthost is imported into the sendmail.cf by checking the DS parameter. It will be

DS

for no smarthost, or

DSsmtp.isp.co.uk

for a vaild host. Remember to restart sendmail if you change the .cf.

Then let sendmail send a mail and look in the sendmail log file (/var/log/maillog on my machine) to see what the returned error is when it goes out. The most likely cause is that your ISP is requiring SMTP Auth, you can set this up in sendmail as well (there are previous threads on how to do this on the forum). If this is the case, you can send with an IMAP client when auth is enabled, and not send when auth is disabled.

[jaime.pinto]

You guys are getting things confused. If you were using OL with Scalix before, that means that you relied on the connector, which operates on port 5729 between *your* computer, via your ISP, to the scalix server. If it stopped working it's because the ISP is now blocking that port as well. Just inform them that port 5729 is a standard communication port for a linux Enterprise server, and ask them to have it open.

On the other hand, they also blocked port 25. That only affects the IMAP-send part of the of the equation, not MAPI. If you're using the connector you are *NOT* using IMAP. If you have clients that want to keep on using IMAP there are a couple of options:

1) *port redirect*. Leave everything alone on the scalix server sendmail, and change the SMTP port on the client to 225. Then on the server add a line on the /etc/rc.local files as bellow:
iptables -t nat -A PREROUTING -i eth0 -p tcp --dport 225 -j REDIRECT --to-port 25

That should let your client work around the ISP new restriction

2) Use port 527 for SMTP. Port 25 has been deprecated by several ISP's, in favor of port 527. By default scalix also responds to SMTP on port 527.

3) use secure ports. 465 instead of 25 for SMTP. 993 instead of 143 for IMAP download.

Just remember, options 1, 2 or 3 still won't fix the restriction to access the scalix server for MAPI functionality, since the connector uses port 5729.

[Valerion]

jaime.pinto has got a good point that I neglected before. I was assuming you have the Scalix server on your internal LAN and worked from there. Could you please send us your network layout, where your server, ISP and workstation is relative to one another?

[energyinn]

I've spoken to my isp regarding port 5729 and they are going to check that it's open and come back to me.

My system is a centos 4.x server running Scalix 11.1, with 3 workstations attached. The server has 2 nics, one connected to a 5 port switch with the workstations attached (192.168.100.xxx), and the other connected to an SMC ADSL router (192.168.1.xxx). The adsl line provider is my isp.

At present I can receive all emails but only send through IMAP or POP with the smtp as smtp.isp.co.uk.

As you would expect, my changing the SMART_HOST entry in sendmail.mc, has made no difference to my inability to send emails via the scalix connector or SWA.

I very much appreciate your kind advice. Thanks

[Valerion]

Port 5729 is only for MAPI communications between your workstations and the Scalix server. We will have to concentrate on getting sendmail to send mail out.

What is logged in your sendmail log when a mail is sent out?

[energyinn]

These are two parts of the maillog, leaving out repartition and the fetchmail entries:-

Jul 30 10:41:23 marchetti sendmail[4163]: l6U9f9o5004163: from=<MAIL-SYSTEM@marchetti.net>, size=682, class=0, nrcpts=1, msgid=<H000000000000421.1185788469.marchetti.net@MHS>, proto=ESMTP, daemon=MTA, relay=localhost.localdomain [127.0.0.1]
Jul 30 10:41:44 marchetti sendmail[4171]: l6U9f9o5004163: to=<scalix-usage-stats@scalix.com>, delay=00:00:21, xdelay=00:00:20, mailer=esmtp, pri=120682, relay=gw2.scalix.com. [85.118.4.17], dsn=2.0.0, stat=Sent (2.0.0 l6U9Z9Xl016821 Message accepted for delivery)
Jul 30 14:11:03 marchetti sendmail[1629]: alias database /etc/aliases rebuilt by root
Jul 30 14:11:03 marchetti sendmail[1629]: /etc/aliases: 78 aliases, longest 10 bytes, 802 bytes total
Jul 30 14:11:03 marchetti sendmail[1634]: starting daemon (8.13.1): SMTP+queueing@01:00:00
Jul 30 14:11:04 marchetti sm-msp-queue[1642]: starting daemon (8.13.1): queueing@01:00:00



Aug 13 14:43:19 marchetti sendmail[1568]: alias database /etc/aliases rebuilt by root
Aug 13 14:43:19 marchetti sendmail[1568]: /etc/aliases: 78 aliases, longest 10 bytes, 802 bytes total
Aug 13 14:43:19 marchetti sendmail[1573]: starting daemon (8.13.1): SMTP+queueing@01:00:00
Aug 13 14:43:20 marchetti sm-msp-queue[1581]: starting daemon (8.13.1): queueing@01:00:00
Aug 13 14:43:29 marchetti ldapmapper[1555]: (re)read scalix global config file
Aug 13 14:43:29 marchetti ldapmapper[1555]: found scalix instance marchetti
Aug 13 14:43:29 marchetti ldapmapper[1555]: (re)read relay config file /var/opt/scalix/mi/s/sys/smtpd.cfg
Aug 13 14:43:29 marchetti ldapmapper[1555]: cannot send search request to instance marchetti: Can't contact LDAP server
Aug 13 14:43:29 marchetti sendmail[1574]: l7DDRDR4002562: SYSERR(root): Error getting LDAP results in map ldapsx: Unknown error 325

is there a specific sendmail log ?

[energyinn]

This is the returned mail error message

**********************************************
** THIS IS A WARNING MESSAGE ONLY **
** YOU DO NOT NEED TO RESEND YOUR MESSAGE **
**********************************************

The original message was received at Mon, 13 Aug 2007 16:16:24 +0100
from localhost.localdomain [127.0.0.1]

----- Transcript of session follows -----
451 4.3.5 Error getting LDAP results in map ldapsx: Unknown error 325
<yyy@xxx.co.uk>... Deferred: mailserver.mhl2.co.uk.: No route to host
Warning: message still undelivered after 4 hours
Will keep trying until message is 5 days old