The online FAQ database contains hundreds of answers to frequently asked questions, articles on using our
web server applications and other related technologies, and resolutions to common problems. If you are seeing
an error message, be sure to try searching on the error message or error number that you are seeing.
|
| |
| |
| |
| |
|
It seems sometimes email messages are sent from my server, sometimes they are not sent. What could be wrong?
or
None of my email is being sent. I do not get any account confirmation emails from registrations or anything. I do not see any error messages.
or
No email is sent at all from the software.
|
|
|
If some of your users are receiving email messages, but others are not, there may be a problem on your end and it may not be limited to a certain or small number of users. It may have something to do with your configuration. Just because email works for some users does not mean all of your settings are correct or your SMTP server is configured properly. Web server applications immediately hand email messages over to an SMTP server for delivery. As long as the application can communicate with the SMTP server, the part that the application is responsible for is working and the problem lies some other place in the delivery chain of the message. We would recommend checking the following:
-
Do you have SPF setup for your domain? Many mail servers are beginning to check for SPF records and filter incoming messages based on SPF responses. If you are having trouble getting mail through to AOL, MSN, or HOTMAIL addresses, this is likely to be a major contributing problem. For more information on SPF see FAQ article #402.
-
Check to see if the email server that you are using to forward your outgoing email through is not blacklisted on one of the Spam or DNS blacklists. An excellent site for quickly checking to see if your server is on a blacklist, is dnsstuff.com with their Spam database lookup tool. If you find that your email server is on the list, and it is your ISP or web host's email server, then you should contact them for assistance. If it is your own email server that is blacklisted, very carefully read all of the information that is shown to you.
-
The next thing to check for is to see if DNS is properly configured for your domain. You could potentially have a bad configuration in your DNS settings that is interfering with the ability to deliver mail to certain other domains. A great way to check this easily is to use the tools on DNSreport.com. This site provides an analysis of your DNS settings. Of particular importance for reliable email delivery is the information reported back in the MX and MAIL sections of the report. Carefully read all of this information before attempting any action, as the report provides extremely important details and advice.
-
Next, check your SMTP server's network settings. If the server is using incorrect DNS settings for name resolution, it may not be able to forward mail correctly. This can be most problematic if you are trying to use a dynamic DNS service and you are not able to create a network configuration that supports both internal and external communication on your private network and the public internet. Dynamic DNS services will work fine with our applications, but you must understand how to correctly setup and configure your own servers in a way that is compatible with the networks that you are on.
-
Network connectivity issues can prevent reliable delivery of email. If email is not getting through reliably to all hosts, then there could be some other routing problem or situation that is external to your direct server(s) and this situation will require the assistance of your upstream network provider.
If none of the messages that the software sends out are getting through to your users, the problem is nearly guaranteed to be on your end. We recommend checking the following:
-
Are you trying to use the default Microsoft CDONTS or CDOSYS email components? Just because these components may be installed on your web server by default, does not mean that they are properly configured or available for your use. For more details, see FAQ Article #6 - Microsoft CDONTS, CDOSYS and the Microsoft SMTP Service and FAQ Article #17 - Setting up the SMTP Service Component for Microsoft IIS with an existing SMTP Server.
-
Double check your email settings in the applications. Be sure to check each application's configuration files. Remember that the default method of installation has a unique configuration file for each folder. For example, in xcAuction, there is a configuration file named APConfig.ASP in the Auction folder and a file named XUDConfig.ASP in the Membership folder. Both of these must be configured properly.
-
Double check that the email component you have configured the application for is actually installed and does work. You can double check for installed components by using the xcDiag.ASP tool that comes with the application or is available at www.xcent.com/downloads/.
-
Use the Email Component Test file(s) included with the applications for testing outbound email from your web server. Older versions of the applications will have separate email test files named corresponding to the Email Component name to be tested. For example, the test file to test the ASPEmail component would be xcTestAspEmail.asp. Other components will have correspondingly similar names. Some newer versions of our software will use a single test file to test all email components (xcTestCommonEmailLib.asp). Simply reference this file from within your browser and supply the information that it prompts you for.
-
Your Mail Host is the server that is responsible for delivering your site's outbound email. It must be configured to accepting forwarding email from your web server and for your domain. If you are setting up your own SMTP server, be sure that you have properly configured mail forwarding for your servers. Be careful setting this up, as improper mail forwarding configurations will quickly get your site/server listed on a mail blacklist.
Important Notes:
When waiting for test email messages to be sent to a particulr inbox, be sure to realize that email is not instantaneous. It can take some considerable elapsed time for an email to appear in an inbox from the time it is sent by your server. There are many reasons why this can happen. See FAQ Article #361 - Delivery of Email via SMTP.
If you do not understand the information or results that is presented above or via any of the suggested informational sites, then you most likely will need to hire a networking professional for further help resolving the problem you are encountering. The first stop should always be to contact your hosting company to see if they can provide guidance. XCENT's consulting services are available for assistance in such matters if you do not have in-house IT professionals that can resolve all of the issues with your servers.
|
|
|
|
| |
