Help! Reverse DNS entry.

charliez

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Sep 29, 2004
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http://www.dnsreport.com/tools/dnsreport.ch?domain=dot2me.com

As you can see, it returns this error:
The IP of one or more of your mail server(s) have no reverse DNS (PTR) entries. (...) It is strongly urged that you have them, as many mailservers will not accept mail from mailservers with no reverse DNS entry.

Is this really serious? Will mail be rejected? I guess this is something that we can't set up from our end anyway?

C.
 
Reverse DNS will probaly be usefull if there's mail going to mailservers wich check the reverse entry. Normaly you're co-location/dedicated provider, wich gave you your IP adres can setup a reverse entry. My provide has setup my reverse DNS entry's.
 
Thanks. The company hosting our dedicated server gave this piece of useful info:

Please note that ALL domain names must have a current forward zone entry created and pointing to your IP space we provide you before any DNS entry can be made.

What would the Latin phrase "current forward zone entry created and pointing to your IP space" be in English? "Current" I know, but after that I sort of drifted off a bit.

C.
 
We'll just make an entry for example: server01.yourdomain.com wich points to the IP. And ask them to make a reverse entry for your IP to server01.yourdomain.com. It isn't that hard :p or make one in the DA CP ;) Don't know how it works :p
 
Thanks a lot for your help!

I already have the nameservers set up in DA to resolve to the IP. This is a shared IP with the apache server, though. Dunno if that can cause problems? I got 5 free IPs, but I have no idea how to move the NS to a new IPs.

We'll see what happens...

Cheers,
C.
 
charliez said:
What would the Latin phrase "current forward zone entry created and pointing to your IP space" be in English? "Current" I know, but after that I sort of drifted off a bit.
Just create an A record for your hostname in the zone file for the hostname's domain.

For example, if your hostname is host.example.com, then create an A record for "host" in the example.com DNS zone file pointing to the box main IP#.

Then just tell your provider to create a reverse DNS record for the box main IP#.
Please note that ALL domain names must have a current forward zone entry created and pointing to your IP space we provide you before any DNS entry can be made.
While this would be considered by most DNS experts to be a stupid limitation based on a complete misunderstanding of how DNS works, there's no reason you can't do it.

Just wait until you use your IP#s, and then when you do, have your provider set up reverse DNS for each IP#, back to the first domain you use it for.

Jeff
 
I don't know how the misunderstanding arose that I am in any way able to understand words of more than two syllables. Let me explain myself as candid as I can - I'm an idiot. If I was a knife, I'd be the one you bought from the Home Shopping Network in 1986 - the one in the far back of the drawer that is unsuitable even for slicing butter.

My main domain is dot2me.com

It's listed as:
-dot2me.com. A 64.92.163.250 in DNS setup

at the same time, I have:
-dot2me.com. NS ns1.dot2me.com.
-dot2me.com. NS ns2.dot2me.com.
-mail MX 10

Under IP management I have
-64.92.163.250 server 255.255.255.248

Under ADMIN Settings I have:
-Server's Hostname: lts(...).dot2me.com
-NS1: ns1.dot2me.com
-NS2: ns2.dot2me.com

I don't know why the server hostname is not www.dot2me.com. It was set up like this (with a subdomain prefix) when I started DA for the first time.

The hostname would be dot2me.com I presume. So it is correctly set up with an A record in the DNS setup?

Now, if I understand you correctly. I would simply ask my provider to set a reverse lookup for 64.92.163.250 to ns1.dot2me.com? Should I set the second nameserver on a separate IP and do the same for NS2? Am I completely lost? Should I get completely lost? I know stupid people tend to make people annoyed. In my clearer moments I may even have felt annoyed by other stupid people, too. So I beg your forgiveness.

C.
 
charliez said:
Under ADMIN Settings I have:
-Server's Hostname: lts(...).dot2me.com
-NS1: ns1.dot2me.com
-NS2: ns2.dot2me.com

Is that an exact copy of your admin settings?

In other words do you really have a hostname of:

its(...).dot2me.com

If not, then what is your hostname as shown under admin settings?
I don't know why the server hostname is not www.dot2me.com. It was set up like this (with a subdomain prefix) when I started DA for the first time.
And I doubt the subdomain prefix is its(...).dot2me.com. Without the proper subdomain prefix there's no way to tell you what to do any more simply than I already have.

It's not www.dot2me.com because that's not a legal hostname according to the DA install instructions.
The hostname would be dot2me.com I presume.
The hostname would be exactly what it says under admin settings. It should NOT be just the domain name and it should NOT be www. plus the domain name.

If it is you'll need to fix it. And the necessary A records pointing to it.
So it is correctly set up with an A record in the DNS setup?
I don't know until I know the hostname.
Now, if I understand you correctly. I would simply ask my provider to set a reverse lookup for 64.92.163.250 to ns1.dot2me.com?
That would work, though it's not the hostname.
Should I set the second nameserver on a separate IP and do the same for NS2?
There's nothing to be gained from it. Unless your DNS servers are on different physical servers, there's no redundancy anyway.
Am I completely lost? Should I get completely lost? I know stupid people tend to make people annoyed. In my clearer moments I may even have felt annoyed by other stupid people, too. So I beg your forgiveness.
I do not buy into your self protestations of idiocy. Managing a server requires at least some reasonable degree of intelligence, as well as the ability to understand and follow instructions. Lacking that, then you'll either need to find someone else to manage your server at no charge, or to pay someone else to manage your server.

Jeff
 
jlasman said:
I do not buy into your self protestations of idiocy. Managing a server requires at least some reasonable degree of intelligence, as well as the ability to understand and follow instructions. Lacking that, then you'll either need to find someone else to manage your server at no charge, or to pay someone else to manage your server.

Jeff [/B]


Steady on there, Jeff. I certainly didn't want to upset you. With that temper of yours, you must have a lot of experience from bar fights and such, and I might get hurt.

We have all started somewhere, haven't we? Knowledge on how to run a server, is not passed on in the genetic code, as far as I know.

In any case, I thank you for your assistance.

C.
 
Last edited:
I tend to stay out of bar-fights; a friend of mine was killed in one.

Gary Kildall, the inventor of CP/M.

If he hadn't gotten in that fight, who knows what today's most popular OS might be.

http://www.maxframe.com/EUBANKS.HTM

Sol Libes, another early pre-PC computer luminary, reports he may have died from a fall from a ladder:

http://www.cadigital.com/kildall.htm

But the call I got (I believe it was from Gordon (Eubanks) said a barfight, and I believe Gordon has the story right.

I was just trying to point out that I thought I was simplifying as much as possible.

Jeff, and that protesting idiocy is not a trait that will help when attempting to administer servers.

I apologize for any misunderstanding.

Jeff
 
jlasman said:
Jeff, and that protesting idiocy is not a trait that will help when attempting to administer servers.

After 14 hours of working on the server without success (not only on this issue, though), it's not just a protesting of idiocy - it's a genuine feeling of stupidity. :eek:

Anyway. I'll head for bed. But first a nightcap to calm the nerves and save the keyboard.

Cheers,
C.
 
charliez said:
Anyway. I'll head for bed. But first a nightcap to calm the nerves and save the keyboard.
A good night's sleep can do wonders.

There's an awful lot of work I refuse to do when i don't feel fully awake.

And tonight, figuring out the full backup/restore appears to be one of them <frown>.

Jeff
 
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