Topic: MTA poor reputation, mail gets rejected

[bosco555]

Hi All,

I have an SME 7.51 with DSPAM installed and I get "554 Your access to this mail system has been rejected due to the sending
MTA's poor reputation"????

the helo responds properly to mail.domain.com...

I have checked senderbase, reputation authority, etc and the reputation is neutral...this is the first time that this happens on an SME box and I am at a loss...

any help will be greatly appreciated

thanks and best to all

bosco

[axessit]

You  might need to tell us your email configuration - are you sending it via your ISP or straight out to the internet ?

[CharlieBrady]

I have an SME 7.51 with DSPAM installed and I get "554 Your access to this mail system has been rejected due to the sending
MTA's poor reputation"????

Off-topic for this forum, which concerns only software installed from the SME server CDROM.

Do you have a good reason to run DSPAM?

[bosco555]

HI All,

dspam seems to be more effective...I have done some research and looked at the mail logs as well (which didn't really tell me much).  I am beginning to suspect some DNS issues with the ISP..will have to check with them and report back

Thank you all and regards

bosco

[CharlieBrady]

dspam seems to be more effective...

Apart from you "554 Your access to this mail system has been rejected..." problem ...

[bosco555]

Hi Charlie...oh boy..is that an issue with Dspam??  uh-oh...I was not aware of that!!!  OK then, I will un-install it and see if it makes a difference??

thanks guys!!

best to all

bosco

[CharlieBrady]

Hi Charlie...oh boy..is that an issue with Dspam??

I don't know whether it is or not. I don't even know whether you see the problem inbound or outbound, you just say "I get".

Please read:

http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/bugs.html

[bosco555]

Sorry guys..was in a bit of a hurry when I posted..should have explained better..apologies for that!

Outgoing email bounces back with the above error.  Now, I have spent 2 whole days at this site and I can say that only email sent to certain addresses gets bounced.

As mentioned before, I was suspecting some sort of DNS issue, and I think it's still the problem.  Researching on the 'net found that this error could be caused by a reverse PTR record either non-existent or pointing to the wrong mail server.

I did some "digging" and found that the reverse PTR point back to the ISP instead of pointing to the "mail.domain.com".  Contacted the ISp and they will do the changes.

I just wish that these errors were a bit less cryptic, and ISPs a bit more forthcoming with DNS issues and pitfalls.

So, for future reference, and so that nobody falls into the same trap, check your reverse DNS PTR settings.

Apologies again for sending you guys on a wild goose chase, but I was desperate as I had this client on my back unable to send emails.

Thanks again to all for your help and best regards

Bosco

[janet]

bosco555

..... check your reverse DNS PTR settings.

Which (with other issues) has been long ago documented in the Appendix section of the online sme manual, see link at top of forum.

[bosco555]

Hi Mary,

yes well..I would have done that if I knew what I was looking for..as I said, these messages are a bit cryptic..I did numerous searches with the error message and SME server, alone, etc. but no joy, hence my question here.  I only came here as a last resort..

bosco

[janet]

bosco555

The part of the error that says "the sending MTA's poor reputation" is a bit of a likely giveaway

Coming here last is my point, best to read the existing documentation FIRST, and you may well avoid having the issues you did as you will be wiser before the event.

[CharlieBrady]

Researching on the 'net found that this error could be caused by a reverse PTR record either non-existent or pointing to the wrong mail server.

I don't think that is the problem. I expect your server's IP address, or a range including its IP address, is listed in a blacklist database. Read, for instance, here:

http://serverfault.com/questions/62093/554-sending-mtas-poor-reputation