DNS MX Record

Submitted by visionquest on Mon, 03/07/2011 - 16:28

Hi,

I have my primary mail handled by a third party provider Tuffmail.

I set up a virtual server for this domain, gothisway.net.

In Webmin->Servers->BIND DNS Server->Zone->gothisway.net->Mail Server the default entry was mail.gothisway.net.

I edited this to point to the Tuffmail mailserver mxin.mxes.net.

Name TTL Priority Mail Server
gothisway.net. Default 5 mxin.mxes.net.

This was a while ago but can't remember exactly when. I suppose it is possible the DNS records have not updated properly through the internet as yet. However, the following command shows mail.gothisway.net still as the mail server.

$ host -t mx gothisway.net
gothisway.net mail is handled by 5 mail.gothisway.net.

The tool at mxtoolbox.com also shows mail.gothisway.net


Reported by host.ecomautomation.com on Monday, March 07, 2011 at 4:19:31 PM (GMT-6)

So the question is, have I set this up correctly in VM?

The thing is the nameserver record changes to my custom nameservers have taken effect and the splash home page is showing OK.

Possible alternative for future stability

This is my primary mail domain and I use Tuffmail due to problems previously on a shared server. I am wondering if for this particular domain I may be better to use either my hosts DNS server or another third party DNS provider, such as DynDNS, in the event of problems with the VPS or switching servers or VPS provider. What do you think?

Related: Reverse DNS

I am with Linode and have set up reverse dns using their control panel.

Again using the tool at mxtoolbox.com I get this for the smtp check:

smtp:72.14.191.90 
220 host.ecomautomation.com ESMTP Postfix (Debian/GNU)

OK - 72.14.191.90 resolves to li106-90.members.linode.com
Warning - Reverse DNS does not match SMTP Banner
0 seconds - Good on Connection time
Not an open relay.
0.187 seconds - Good on Transaction time

Is there a way I can set the reverse dns in VM so it resolves to host.ecomautomation.com instead of the Linode server?

Cheers, Noel

Status: 
Active

Comments

Submitted by JamieCameron on Mon, 03/07/2011 - 17:02

Did you click the link in the "BIND DNS Server" module labelled "Apply Configuration" ? That is needed to have BIND pick up your changes..

As for the reverse name, you would need to make this change at Linode ... Virtualmin cannot do anything, as your system doesn't host the reverse DNS zone.

Submitted by andreychek on Mon, 03/07/2011 - 17:10

Howdy -- if you'd like to host mail on another server, and not on your Virtualmin server, you'd need to do two things --

First, setup your MX records to point to that other server. For any existing Virtual Servers, you can set that up in Services -> DNS Domain, and change the MX records to point to your preferred mail server. For new domains,

Second, you'd want to disable the "Mail for Domain" feature (along with spam and virus scanning). You'd need to go into Edit Virtual Server -> Enabled Features, and disable it there -- and once you're finished, you can go into System Settings -> Features and Plugins, and disable the Mail, Spam, and Virus features there.

I am wondering if for this particular domain I may be better to use either my hosts DNS server or another third party DNS provider, such as DynDNS, in the event of problems with the VPS or switching servers or VPS provider. What do you think?

Most mail servers that are attempting to send you an email will try to send the email for quite some time before giving up. I actually wouldn't be too concerned about who your DNS provider is. Many folks run DNS only on their primary server, and find that it works just fine for them. I mean, if you're going for every ounce of reliability, then sure, you might want geographically distributed set of DNS servers... but I suspect you'll be fine running it off of your VPS :-)

Is there a way I can set the reverse dns in VM so it resolves to host.ecomautomation.com instead of the Linode server?

That's a setting you can tweak in your Linode control panel. They offer a means of changing what the reverse DNS resolves to. Once you log into your Linode account, go to the dashboard for this particular VPS, then click "Remote Access". You'll see a "Reverse DNS" option next to your list of public IP's.

Submitted by visionquest on Tue, 03/08/2011 - 06:59

Thanks Jamie that was it!

And thanks Eric for your detailed reply. I appreciate your opinion and I was easily able to change the reverse DNS with your clear instructions.

You guys are the best! :-).

Cheers,

Noel