I'm having trouble with Godaddy and I wonder if anyone else is, and what they did about it.

I recently set up a mail server on linode, created a CNAME for the hostname, and set the rDNS to give out this name, which is the same postfix is using. The accounts I handle are successfully sending and receiving mail to and from all over.

Except that Godaddy (secureserver.net) blocked one of my outgoing mails to an email customer of theirs. I submitted an unblock request and have had the most bizarre runaround with them. They started off by saying they didn't like my hostname. They wanted 'mail' or 'smtp' in the name to make it look like a mailserver. It went downhill from there.

They claimed it wasn't a static IP. They claimed the IP didn't resolve to my hostname. (When I run gethostbyname() I get my IP, and when I run gethostbyaddr() I get my hostname.) They won't say what they use to check on name resolution. They refuse to unblock the IP. They even block my mails to the unblock people. I ask them what kind of spammer do they think would waste an hour on the phone with them? They suggest I submit another form, but the form tells that I've already submitted the request.

Do they do this for fun?

Suggestions?

Try routing your mail through google apps.

I've never had a problem email wise with godaddy, but I've experienced other issues.

Check if your ip is in spamhaus.org http://www.spamhaus.org/lookup.lasso

Did the smtp response for the blocked message include anything resembling an explanation?

Arguing with the first layer of tech support is always pretty pointless - as you saw they don't even understand the question, and even if they did they are not likely to be empowered to fix anything.

Thanks guys. But they relented and unblocked me this morning.

Just fyi, for each mail, the logs show entries from the two servers on the MX list, one rejects because it sees spam. The other defers delivery, which means that I don't get a failure back, so my accounts think the mails are received but they're not.

Both messages refer you to their unblocking web form -- like many ISPs. Only the more savvy ones just unblock stray requests like mine. It's hard to imagine an outfit less savvy than Earthlink, but this is one.

Whether you get stuck in this situation is just luck. Perhaps someone who had this IP before me was sending spam. Then again, perhaps not.

At Godaddy, I just had to keep working at it, and getting pissed.

I had the same issue - outgoing email would send fine to seemingly everywhere but GoDaddy. I had the same 554 bounce message.

I called and after some leading of the first-line tech in the right direction, she unblocked my linode IP. Everything works great now.

Apparently, godaddy does a reverse-DNS on your IP. Mine resolves to a linode member address, of course. If they don't see 'MX' or 'mail' or the like in the address, they apparently assume it's spam and block it.

From http://unblock.secureserver.net (GoDaddy server):



Is there anyway to change a Linode IP's CNAME entry?? If not, the SMTP servers set up on Linode VPS's should be used with caution--who knows if other mail servers have similar policies and will block incoming mail accordingly.

If you're handling mail for a domain, you can set "mail.example.com" to point to your Linode's IP address, then change your Linode's reverse DNS on the Network tab. Clicky.

In fact, if you're sending mail for example.com, example.com should be in your rDNS before you even begin.

_________________
Disclaimer: I am no longer employed by Linode; opinions are my own alone.

I could be wrong but I have a hard time believing they are really basing a filter on those strings being in your reverse hostname. I just checked my mail logs for this year, and that rule would have blocked 46% of my incoming mail, after zen.spamhaus.org and several other layers of filtering. In other words, it would have blocked a lot of valid mail.

Just a few examples of the "spam sites" they would have blocked:

client=ipd1.scottrade.com[63.76.234.135]
client=ms.avg.com[193.85.188.248]
client=ESCORP4JBOSS01.pandasecurity.com[195.55.72.147]
client=imhvf4.jpmchase.com[159.53.46.159]

My guess is that seeing those strings in your rDNS just makes them more likely to manually unblock you if you are on their list for some other reason.

OTOH, I have seen stupider filters implemented by bigger providers so who knows...

I'm starting to wonder that myself. I added another IP to my Linode account to act as my dedicated smtp server IP, and had not yet changed the reverse DNS on it, and it worked fine with GoDaddy without having to call them. So, who knows why the former IP was blocked.

By the way, the reverse DNS option is pretty cool. This is the first VPS I've used, and I was pleasantly surprised to have the ability to change the rDNS!