[exim] exim not choosing higher priority MX?

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Author: Giuliano Gavazzi
Date:  
To: exim users
Subject: [exim] exim not choosing higher priority MX?
Hello, I have encountered a delivery error with an MX that does not
seem to be properly configured, and at the same time I noticed that
exim *seems* to disregard lower numbered MXes.

These are the log lines:

2006-10-11 12:12:33 1GXazW-000KlD-1o => xxxxxx @repubblica.it
R=dnslookup T=remote_smtp H=relay1.inet.it [213.92.5.56]
2006-10-11 12:32:07 1GXbNF-000KrE-So ** yyyyyyy @repubblica.it
R=dnslookup T=remote_smtp: SMTP error from remote mail server after
RCPT TO:<yyyyyyy @repubblica.it>: host relay1.inet.it [213.92.5.56]:
550 Unable to relay for yyyyyyy @repubblica.it.
2006-10-11 12:32:07 1GXbNF-000KrE-So ** zzzzzz @repubblica.it
R=dnslookup T=remote_smtp: SMTP error from remote mail server after
RCPT TO:< zzzzzz @repubblica.it>: host relay1.inet.it [213.92.5.56]:
503 need MAIL From: first.

well, for one this inet.it server seems not to be able to relay for a
domain for which it normally relays, unless it just gives the wrong
error message. Also, it appears not to accept a second RCPT TO once a
previous one was rejected. But I am not here to point out inet.it
inadequacies... the point is that a couple of hours after this a dns
check shows:

dig repubblica.it mx

;; ANSWER SECTION:
repubblica.it.          7925    IN      MX      60  
mr_trend2.repubblica.it.
repubblica.it.          7925    IN      MX      70  
mr_trend1.repubblica.it.
repubblica.it.          7925    IN      MX      250 imail.repubblica.it.
repubblica.it.          7925    IN      MX      275 hide2.repubblica.it.
repubblica.it.          7925    IN      MX      300 relay1.inet.it.
repubblica.it.          7925    IN      MX      350 relay2.inet.it.
repubblica.it.          7925    IN      MX      10  
mr_trend6.repubblica.it.
repubblica.it.          7925    IN      MX      20  
mr_trend7.repubblica.it.
repubblica.it.          7925    IN      MX      30  
mr_trend5.repubblica.it.
repubblica.it.          7925    IN      MX      40  
mr_trend4.repubblica.it.
repubblica.it.          7925    IN      MX      50  
mr_trend3.repubblica.it.



;; ADDITIONAL SECTION:
mr_trend6.repubblica.it. 7925   IN      A       213.92.86.56
mr_trend7.repubblica.it. 7925   IN      A       213.92.86.57
mr_trend5.repubblica.it. 7925   IN      A       213.92.86.55
mr_trend4.repubblica.it. 7925   IN      A       213.92.86.54
mr_trend3.repubblica.it. 7925   IN      A       213.92.86.53
mr_trend2.repubblica.it. 7925   IN      A       213.92.86.52
mr_trend1.repubblica.it. 7925   IN      A       213.92.86.51
imail.repubblica.it.    7925    IN      A       213.92.86.95
hide2.repubblica.it.    7925    IN      A       213.156.52.245
relay1.inet.it.         77637   IN      A       213.92.5.56


and a look at both the SOA for that domain or a dig from another
server shows that these records should have not changed: the SOA
points to a serial from september and the dig point to a TTL of 86400
seconds, so the result of the dig above should be the same results
that exim got when delivering.

A look at the retry db shows:

T:hide2.repubblica.it:213.156.52.245 60 333 Operation timed out
T:imail.repubblica.it:213.92.86.95 60 333 Operation timed out

so, again just attempts for the three lower priority MXes (as
relay1.inet.it == relay2.inet.it).

The logs show correct deliveries to the top MX on the 28th of September.
Mmm, I am not at all convinced that this is an exim error, I am more
inclined to believe that this is just the usual dns/smtp mess that
some italian providers do so well..

Giuliano