Reverse DNS

Forums › Spark New Zealand (including Skinny and BigPipe) › Reverse DNS

adamdotclarke

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#56509 14-Jan-2010 17:35

Hey Guys,

This might seem like a silly question, however, I am completely at a loss as to how or if this is possbile.
I am currently hosting a small mail server from my home xtra adsl connection. However, as im sure alot of you know, reverse dns is required for alot of servers to accept mail from my smtp server.

How can I go about getting the reverse dns for my static IP set to the hostname that I have set my server as?

Cheers

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#290058 14-Jan-2010 17:56

You need to request that the party authoritative for the reverse zone create PTR records.

That's probably going to be your ISP unless they have made you authoritative for the domain.

adamdotclarke

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#290063 14-Jan-2010 18:03

Ok so, considering that I have an xtra adsl connection, does that mean xtra would be authoritive for the reverse zone? and if so, does anyone know who as xtra i could contact to have this done or if they would even allow it?

Ragnor

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#290065 14-Jan-2010 18:07

Apparently they will do it (create a PTR record for your static ip address and hostname), there are some older threads about it on Geekzone if you do a search for "reverse dns"

Basically you should be able to call the Broadband Help desk (0800 22 55 98) and they should transfer you through to Complex Technical Support to run the request.

Kyanar

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#290067 14-Jan-2010 18:11

An ISP would have to be mad to set you as authoritive for their reverse lookup zone - that'd make you the rDNS resolver for the entire class C!

Ragnor

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#290068 14-Jan-2010 18:12

Haha yes wouldn't that be funny, anyway apparently they will create the PTR record for your static ip address and hostname.

We need to wish him luck in his quest to get past the 1st level helpdesk to the CTS team.

adamdotclarke

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#290069 14-Jan-2010 18:14

Haha funny like a fox :D

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#290073 14-Jan-2010 18:19

What mail server are you using? Microsoft Exchange? Dovecat? Postfix?

If you have configured your Email Domain's MX settings to your home IP address it should be all sorted, just configure your Mail Server to send from that domain too. One of the problems with hosting off a ADSL Connection is since any computer can be nowdays turned into a spambot, normally some ISP's or people might "Blacklist" the IP Address, you can doublecheck if your IP Address is blacklisted at http://www.mxtoolbox.com/SuperTool.aspx (I just noticed mine was on a blacklist then ugh)

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Ragnor

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#290076 14-Jan-2010 18:24

MX record with your DNS provider is not enough. You definitely need a PTR record for reverse dns to get around most junk mail filters these days.

On an ADSL ISP connection the PTR record has to be done by the ISP.

cokemaster

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#290078 14-Jan-2010 18:29

adamdotclarke: I've PM'ed you some details that should help you.

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adamdotclarke

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#290080 14-Jan-2010 18:34

awesome, just got that, thanks heaps for the help guys, will be great to have this sorted :)

jpollock

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#290189 15-Jan-2010 08:37

That seems strange, because a reverse DNS requirement in a spam filter would kill solutions like Google Apps - where one IP is serving multiple domains.

Unless people are automatically trusting Google?

Perhaps SPF is an easier solution for you? I know that it cut down on the amount of the spam bounces I was getting when I implemented it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sender_Policy_Framework

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#290231 15-Jan-2010 10:10

jpollock: That seems strange, because a reverse DNS requirement in a spam filter would kill solutions like Google Apps - where one IP is serving multiple domains.

Reverse DNS is checked against the DNS name the server is claiming to be - not the From address in the email.

For example, connecting to Xtra's mail server shows that the mail server responds with (live IP straight from DNS):

Trying 124.108.96.67... Connected to mta1.tnz.mail.vip.aue.yahoo.com.

If you then do a reverse lookup on the ip, you get returned: mta1.tnz.mail.vip.aue.yahoo.com.

Both the mail server name and the reverse lookup match, so you assume that this is a mail server setup to send and receive mail in a sensible fashion.

Hope that makes sense ...

jpollock

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#290248 15-Jan-2010 10:33

Ah, that makes more sense to me now, thanks.

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adamdotclarke

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#290249 15-Jan-2010 10:35

I did look at SPF too and will probably look at using that, but some SMTP servers will either refuse you connection or straight SPAM mark your mail if your rDNS dosent match and wont get to the SPF matching stage. But thanks for all the ideas :)

allan

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#290316 15-Jan-2010 13:57

If you're on an Xtra ADSL connection, wouldn't be easier to just use Xtra's SMTP server as your smarthost (in Exchange terminology)?

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