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CNAME Email Bounceback Errors

The Non-Profit I work for uses IXWebhosting for our webhost and to manage email accounts. For the past 2 months whenever we send emails to anyone @baaqmd.gov, we receive CNAME bounceback errors.
I have contacted IXWebhosting and they say that their DNS server's aren't registering baaqmd.gov and that I need to contact baaqmd.gov. Well I've been in constant contact with baaqmd.gov's IT guy and they are receiving emails just fine from outside agencies. In fact, when I send a test email using GMAIL to baaqmd.gov, they receive it just fine.
To further confuse me, we receive emails fine from BAAQMD.gov.
Any suggestions at what I might try? I really am at a huge loss right now.





Last edited by jaketoolson : 10-23-2008 at 03:33 PM.

[inc595]

Weird my server can see their MX record. If their DNS is not resolving correctly they need to fix that.
Code:
; <<>> DiG 9.3.3rc2 <<>> mx BAAQMD.gov
;; global options: printcmd
;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 20776
;; flags: qr rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 2, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 0

;; QUESTION SECTION:
;BAAQMD.gov. IN MX

;; ANSWER SECTION:
BAAQMD.gov. 10800 IN MX 10 sparc1.BAAQMD.gov.
BAAQMD.gov. 10800 IN MX 20 sparc12.BAAQMD.gov.

;; Query time: 172 msec
;; SERVER: 127.0.0.1#53(127.0.0.1)
;; WHEN: Thu Oct 23 19:02:15 2008
;; MSG SIZE rcvd: 75

# host sparc1.BAAQMD.gov
sparc1.BAAQMD.gov has address 192.69.142.2

[plumsauce]

check it out here:http://www.intodns.com/baaqmd.gov
It shows that the MX for them is not a CNAME.
So, is your sending domain using a MX containing a CNAME as the data? In other words, is their end complaining about your end?
Pretty funny though, a .gov using zonedit, times must be really tough





__________________█ server uptime monitor and alert service - basicstate.com█ MSNBC.COM - Site of the Week█ managed dns global failover and load balance - edgedirector.com

[foobic]

Quote:



Originally Posted by plumsauce


Pretty funny though, a .gov using zonedit, times must be really tough


It's not just this .gov though is it? Looks like zoneedit nameservers are authoritative for .gov, so, in effect, all of them... (even no such agency!)
To the OP: Indeed there seems to be nothing much wrong with the DNS for baaqmd.gov. Can you post the exact error message you're getting, and perhaps the server you're on at ix? (Just wondering if perhaps someone's tried to host the baaqmd.gov domain on the same server).





__________________
Chris <ClonePanel>
"Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted" - Albert Einstein

The non-profit I work for is capcoa.org. Our IP is 76.162.109.96.
The bouncebacks I receive look like this:
----
Hi. This is the qmail-send program at mail51.opentransfer.com.
I'm afraid I wasn't able to deliver your message to the following addresses.
This is a permanent error; I've given up. Sorry it didn't work out.
<xxxxxxxxx@baaqmd.gov>:
CNAME lookup failed temporarily. ( #4.4.3 ) I'm not going to try again; this message has been in the queue too long.
---
Quote:


So, is your sending domain using a MX containing a CNAME as the data? In other words, is their end complaining about your end?


Our end is receiving bouncebacks, not their end.
Interestingly enough, when I called IXWebhosting and once again, told them of the problem they were unable to pull up baaqmd.gov website they got error messages. I tried to tell them that something on their end isn't resolving the BAAQMD.gov DNS server but they pointed the problem as being Baaqmd.gov's.

[foobic]

Quote:



Originally Posted by jaketoolson


Interestingly enough, when I called IXWebhosting and once again, told them of the problem they were unable to pull up baaqmd.gov website they got error messages. I tried to tell them that something on their end isn't resolving the BAAQMD.gov DNS server but they pointed the problem as being Baaqmd.gov's.


Yes, that looks like the cause - their resolvers can't resolve baaqmd.gov. But if others can, and the popular DNS tools like intodns show no major problems, then you've got to suspect the problem is at IX, no matter how much they deny it.
That doesn't help you though. Maybe try asking them for the result of "dig +trace baaqmd.gov" from their system (or if you have ssh access you could try this yourself, though the permissions may well be set to disallow dig).





__________________
Chris <ClonePanel>
"Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted" - Albert Einstein

[plumsauce]

Quote:


Hi. This is the qmail-send program at mail51.opentransfer.com.
I'm afraid I wasn't able to deliver your message to the following addresses.
This is a permanent error; I've given up. Sorry it didn't work out.


So, mail51 is actually your outbound smtp server? At least it looks that way as it is at 76.162.254.51
Whoever runs *that* server has to hop on it and figure out why it is not resolving.
About zoneedit, sorry I need better bifocals, or read slower





__________________█ server uptime monitor and alert service - basicstate.com█ MSNBC.COM - Site of the Week█ managed dns global failover and load balance - edgedirector.com

[foobic]

Quote:



Originally Posted by plumsauce


Whoever runs *that* server has to hop on it and figure out why it is not resolving.


Good point. I saw ix were using opentransfer.com for their own MX so assumed it was all part of their own system, but perhaps not.





__________________
Chris <ClonePanel>
"Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted" - Albert Einstein

[plumsauce]

Quote:


but perhaps not.


I don't know either. It probably is part of the network somewhere. Support can say what they want, but the easiest and surest way to prove/disprove their theory is to hop on the box and do some outbound tests from the console. From the looks of things, they'll probably have to come back to the OP with "whoops!"





__________________█ server uptime monitor and alert service - basicstate.com█ MSNBC.COM - Site of the Week█ managed dns global failover and load balance - edgedirector.com

Honestly, I have no idea about the specific details regarding my account at IXWebhosting. My knowledge about this stuff isn't as great as most of yours but it's certainly higher than the tech support technicians I get on the phone at IXwebhosting.
My smtp server is mail.capcoa.org. I believe this does DNS to mail51.opentransfer.com but it's nothing I have to mess with.
I don't have telnet access to my account at IXWebhosting so I'm kind of in a never ending tug-o-war with them. There's only so many ways I can use to try and convince them to check their stuff before I hang up frustrated. Plus if my problem needs to be escalated, I have to open a trouble ticket and sit and wait for a response which is frustrating.
So here we sit, almost 3 months later and we still can't email BAAQMD.GOV and IXWebhosting is still quick to say its BAAQMD.GOV's problem not theirs.

[lamerfreak]

You may be able to set up a specific rule on your MTA to send directly to a server for them. It's a hack, but it's a workaround.
Other than that, you have telnet, can you do a 'dig mx baaqmd.gov' from there and post?