> 2003-02-21 11:50:45 18mGIo-0002M2-00 ** dthompson@???: all
> relevant MX records point to non-existent hosts or (invalidly) to IP
> addresses
>
> > set type=mx
> > puremetal.com
> Server: ns.golden.net
> Address: 199.166.210.2
>
> >puremetal.com preference = 0, mail exchanger = 209.239.13.194
Quite so, as the log message shows. puremetal.com has an erroneous MX
entry in their DNS.
$ dig @NS1.WORLDWIDEDNS.NET. puremetal.com ANY
; <<>> DiG 9.2.1 <<>> @NS1.WORLDWIDEDNS.NET. puremetal.com ANY
;; global options: printcmd
;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 36936
;; flags: qr aa rd; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 6, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 3
;; QUESTION SECTION:
;puremetal.com. IN ANY
;; ANSWER SECTION:
puremetal.com. 3600 IN SOA ns1.worldwidedns.net.
hostmaster.puremetal.com. 2003021711 3600 3600 3600 3600
puremetal.com. 3600 IN NS ns1.worldwidedns.net.
puremetal.com. 3600 IN NS ns2.worldwidedns.net.
puremetal.com. 3600 IN NS ns3.worldwidedns.net.
puremetal.com. 3600 IN A 64.40.108.30
puremetal.com. 3600 IN MX 0 209.239.13.194.
;; ADDITIONAL SECTION:
ns1.worldwidedns.net. 43200 IN A 63.126.69.125
ns2.worldwidedns.net. 43200 IN A 63.126.67.253
ns3.worldwidedns.net. 43200 IN A 65.61.138.186
;; Query time: 40 msec
;; SERVER: 63.126.69.125#53(NS1.WORLDWIDEDNS.NET.)
;; WHEN: Sat Feb 22 11:53:08 2003
;; MSG SIZE rcvd: 242
It is totally incorrect to have an MX point to an IP instead of to a
hostname! Since the authority for the zone is "WORLDWIDEDNS.NET", that
is the organization that needs to correct the entry. I recommend you
alert puremetal.com to contact worldwidedns.net, to request it be fixed.
Note, it must be fixed in 3 places, since there are 3 name servers
involved.
Another problem is, the IP being pointed to (209.239.13.194) has no
reverse DNS entry, so there is no way to determine what hostname it
actually points to. That email server is going to have trouble sending
emails OUT to many places, which reject emails from any host without a
reverse DNS PTR record. Interestingly, that particular IP address is
under the authority of yet another organization, "execulink.net." Oh
what a tangled web...
Sounds like the tip of the iceberg here, and puremetal.net may want to
reconsider to whom they pay money for email services.
The short answer is, it is neither your fault, nor Exim's.
Regards,
Jim Roberts
Punster Productions, Inc.
