Topic: change domain/disable email

[raem]

dwater

What is the actual primary domain name you have used on your sme server when you configured it ?

[dwater]

dwater

What is the actual primary domain name you have used on your sme server when you configured it ?

jingmei.org

[raem]

dwater

Browsing to www.jingmei.org gives a 404 File not found error although I can ping www.jingmei.org successfully

Does that make sense in your current configuration, you mentioned earlier that the external DNS record is still being configured so it obviously does not point to your sme server as yet for http requests.

www.jingmeil.yi.org does resolve to your (I assume) server OK.


PING www.jingmei.org (220.194.62.28) from xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx : 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from 220.194.62.28: icmp_seq=1 ttl=106 time=307 ms


If your sme server primary domain is www.jingmei.org, then I think what I said earlier still applies, you can't have 2 servers with the same domain name ie your ISP host and your own sme server. You should rename your sme server with a different domain, and then it will not be receiving & delivering email for jingmei.org.

Have you also looked at the Hostnames & addresses panel, you can configure different functionality there for various types of requests.

[dwater]

dwater

Browsing to www.jingmei.org gives a 404 File not found error although I can ping www.jingmei.org successfully

Does that make sense in your current configuration, you mentioned earlier that the external DNS record is still being configured so it obviously does not point to your sme server as yet for http requests.

It's a typo in the DNS record. It should end in 128, not just 128. The MX record points who knows where and needs changing too. This is a separate problem.

www.jingmeil.yi.org does resolve to your (I assume) server OK.

Really? Apart from your typo, I haven't set up a 'www.jingmei.yi.org' - actually, they don't allow sub-subdomains on yi.org, IIRC (maybe if you pay). jingmei.yi.org resolves though. I use it for testing.

If your sme server primary domain is www.jingmei.org,

Nope. It's jingmei.org, not www.jingmei.org. The latter domain is/shouldBe/willBe 220.194.62.128.

then I think what I said earlier still applies, you can't have 2 servers with the same domain name ie your ISP host and your own sme server. You should rename your sme server with a different domain, and then it will not be receiving & delivering email for jingmei.org.

Well, there may be some truth to this. However, this is not a mail problem - it is a DNS problem. I want the DNS server on truth.jingmei.org/jingmei.yi.org to stop thinking it is handling mail for jingmei.org, and only handling email for itself (truth.jingmei.org/jingmei.yi.org).

I don't see how to stop it from thinking it basically provides every service for the whole domain. I notice someone else mentioned the services-control contrib, but that seems to have disappeared.

Have you also looked at the Hostnames & addresses panel, you can configure different functionality there for various types of requests.

I have, and it looks to me like you can only configure A records (or possibly CNAME), not MX records, and it doesn't have an option for the whole domain. I'm not sure where that setting it stored. It's not in /etc/hosts either. I see that jingmei.org is listed in the 'manage domains' panel, but there's no 'remove' option by it, like there is for other domains I can add. 'Modify' doesn't reveal anything useful.

I have this in the email panel :

Code: [Select]

The Your server includes a complete, full-featured e-mail server. However, if for some
   reason you wish to delegate e-mail processing to another system, specify the IP address
   of the delegate system here. For normal operation, leave this field blank.
   Address of internal mail server 220.194.62.128______

I'm rapidly thinking that SME server isn't designed to be the sort of host it would be if I could manipulate the DNS easily and I should just change the primary domain from the configure script.

Hrm. I've just found the /var/service/tinydns/root/data file. Looks like it contains the data for the MX record :

Code: [Select]

# MX Records
@jingmei.org::truth.jingmei.org

I'll bet if I delete it (using /etc/e-smith/templates-custom, as it says), it'll do what I want. Then, even if it is still running an email server, no one will know and so no one will try to deliver message to it.

I guess I have to decide if I want to make a temporary, but less 'dangerous', change to the tinydns config, or go the whole hog and switch domains completely.

Hrm. Thanks.

Max.

[raem]

dwater

> jingmei.yi.org resolves though....for testing.

Sorry I meant to say http://jingmei.org


>  I see that jingmei.org is listed in the 'manage
> domains' panel, but there's no 'remove' option

That's because it is the Primary domain not a virtual domain. You can only change the Primary domain by logging in as admin and running Configure this server


> I have this in the email panel.....
> For normal operation, leave this field blank.
>   Address of internal mail server 220.194.62.128

Why do you have an entry there, that's only if you want a different server to manage your mail (which I thought you wanted earlier but not anymore).
I think you should remove that and leave it blank, as suggested for normal operation... or is that meant to be the IP of the server that you want to handle all mail.

That IP (http://220.194.62.128) resolves, to a chinese (?) web page that I cannot read. Is that correct, who's server is that ?


> I guess I have to decide if I want to make a
> temporary, but less 'dangerous', change to the tinydns config, or go the whole hog and switch domains completely.

I would have thought changing the domain name of your server, perhaps to jingmei.yi.org, is easy (all done in 10 minutes) & less dangerous than fiddling with config files.

[dwater]

>  I see that jingmei.org is listed in the 'manage
> domains' panel, but there's no 'remove' option

That's because it is the Primary domain not a virtual domain. You can only change the Primary domain by logging in as admin and running Configure this server

Indeed, that seems to be the way. It's kind of all or nothing.

> I have this in the email panel.....
> For normal operation, leave this field blank.
>   Address of internal mail server 220.194.62.128

Why do you have an entry there, that's only if you want a different server to manage your mail (which I thought you wanted earlier but not anymore).

I want email for jingmei.org to be handled by another server. That's the whole point. ...but I want it to handle email for it's own local domain - ie truth.jingmei.org. I don't even care if it wants to handle mail for jingmei.org, so long as it doesn't tell anybody (ie doesn't publish an MX record).

I think you should remove that and leave it blank, as suggested for normal operation... or is that meant to be the IP of the server that you want to handle all mail.

It actually *is* the server I want to handle mail, but not *all* mail.

That IP (http://220.194.62.128) resolves, to a chinese (?) web page that I cannot read. Is that correct, who's server is that ?

That is correct. It is the host for our domain's httpd and smtpd. I guess it has pop3/imap too, though I'm not sure about that.

> I guess I have to decide if I want to make a
> temporary, but less 'dangerous', change to the tinydns config, or go the whole hog and switch domains completely.

I would have thought changing the domain name of your server, perhaps to jingmei.yi.org, is easy (all done in 10 minutes) & less dangerous than fiddling with config files.

Well, perhaps it is, and that is useful to know for sure. How about side effects of changing the domain name? I know we couldn't do it on a W2K server without serious hassles (esp. since I don't have a clue about any Microsoft - nor do I desire to have a clue about anything Microsoft). Perhaps there are other things on the network that depends on being in the jingmei.org domain and changing it stops them from working (pure speculation, of course, though based on having had to set it all up myself).

I think that it would be less dangerous changing the system in just a single small way (removing a small entry in the DNS) rather than changing the whole system (changing the primary domain will effect many different parts and who knows which parts).

It seems to me that removing the MX record from the DNS is the simplest and least likely change to effect anything.

Max.

[raem]

dwater

> How about side effects of changing the domain name?

Well as far as the server functionality is concerned I think it is OK to change as the changes will flow through the (base) system. I have done it on lightly configured systems without any difficulties other than needing to change/setup external DNS records.

If you have other apps installed with config files that include the primary domain name, then they may need to be changed also.
I don't know what else you have installed so only you will know the extent of that issue.


> It seems to me that removing the MX record from
> the DNS is the simplest and least likely change to > effect anything.

Try it then and tell us how it goes.

[dmac]

I have been following the discussion here and am a bit confused.

Are you trying to have the SME server serve up the domain truth.jingmei.org or jingmei.org?

If you want the truth.jinjmei.org, access the admin configuration from the local terminal and change the domain name to match.  (I.E. truth.jingmei.org)

Not 100% sure but you could also change the SME server to be a Private-Server/Gateway, this should prevent any broadcasting of DNS records on the internet.

Also, what version are you running?  If you have 6.01, find the update script http://no.longer.valid/phpwiki/index.php/SME6.0.1Contribs .  this should update your system and add the Services panel.  

<edit> May not, I have installed with 6.01-01, the custom build of SME Server 6.01, this may have already had the Services panel. </edit>

Darin MacLachlan

[CharlieBrady]

Not 100% sure but you could also change the SME server to be a Private-Server/Gateway, this should prevent any broadcasting of DNS records on the internet.

Except for customers of Mitel's ServiceLink, there is no publication of DNS records on the Internet. The DNS configuration of the smeserver is only visible on the LAN.