|SYSTEM INFORMATION | |
|| OS type and version | Ubuntu Linux 24.04.2 | | |
|| Usermin version | 2.302 | | |
|| Virtualmin version | 7.30.8 Pro | | |
|| Theme version | 24.02 | | |
|| Apache version | 2.4.58 | | |
|| Package updates | All installed packages are up to date | | |
Hi, I’m posting this in Help, since I’m managing a remote dedicated server for the first time in my life. So far everything is running OK. Virtualmin is working like a charm and all servers are up and running. My problem is with email:
Email can be sent by and received on our remote Virtualmin servers to email address on the same Virtualmin servers. Email can be sent by the Virtualmin servers to email addresses on outside servers, but it is not received on those outside servers. There are no error-messages, the email is just not received.
This is the situation:
Both sub-servers have email enabled and I created a user and an email address for both.
Sending and receiving email between the servers in Virtualmin is no problem.
Outside our remote Virtualmin server I’m using Thunderbird as an email-client, version 128.12.0esr (“Nebula”). Thunderbird is running on Ubuntu 24.04 Desktop.
Thunderbird is also taking care of the email sent by and received on our remote hosted website.
The email address used for the main server email is using IMAP port 143 and SMTP port 465. The complete email address is used as the ‘username’ (just using ‘admin’ doesn’t work). Using SMTP port 587 doesn’t work for some reason for the main server.
The email address used for the sub-server uses IMAP port 993 and SMTP port 587 and it points to the Virtualmin sub-server email-server. I have no clue why I need different ports.
Email sent by email accounts outside the Virtualmin server system can be sent and received by the Virtualmin email accounts without a problem.
Our remote dedicated server has a static IP, but our local computer, using Thunderbird is connected with dynamic IP’s.
Checking the systemlog in Webmin gave me the following results (last two email attempts):
Jul 24 19:33:47 postfix/smtpd[517101]: disconnect from unknown[81.30.107.29] ehlo=1 auth=0/1 rset=1 commands=2/3
Jul 24 19:33:47 postfix/smtpd[517101]: lost connection after AUTH from unknown[81.30.107.29]
Jul 24 19:33:47 postfix/smtpd[517101]: warning: unknown[81.30.107.29]: SASL LOGIN authentication failed: authentication failure, sasl_username=remote3
Jul 24 19:33:47 saslauthd[45793]: : auth failure: [user=remote3] [service=smtp] [realm=] [mech=pam] [reason=PAM auth error]
Jul 24 19:33:47 saslauthd[45793]: DEBUG: auth_pam: pam_authenticate failed: Authentication failure
Jul 24 19:33:44 saslauthd[45793]: pam_unix(smtp:auth): authentication failure; logname= uid=0 euid=0 tty= ruser= rhost=
Jul 24 19:33:44 saslauthd[45793]: pam_unix(smtp:auth): check pass; user unknown
Jul 24 19:33:44 postfix/smtpd[517101]: connect from unknown[81.30.107.29]
There are no error-messages given by Thunderbird, so somehow the email is relayed to ‘where-ever’??
Your provider may be blocking outbound email. If you set this server up at home, that is almost certainly the case. Check your mail queue. You’ll probably find those messages there along with any relevant delivery information.
The log entries you’ve shown are unrelated to the problem you’ve described. Those would result in an authentication error in the mail client.
We need to see the log entries related to the actual problem you’re trying to solve.
Specifically, we want to see the successful authentication for your sending user, the mail being queued, and then whatever happens immediately after that. Probably a timeout if port 25 isn’t available, but could be other things.
The most likely culprit for these symptoms is no port 25. So, check that.
Try connecting to some mail server with telnet to see if the right things happen.
telnet mail.virtualmin.com 25
If it times out, you don’t have port 25, and thus you don’t have a mail server. You’ll need to use a relay service or talk to your hosting provider.
Thanks Joe, that brought me further, since indeed I couldn’t get a port 25 connection when trying the telnet connection from the remote server, where the Virtualmin servers are installed on, it timed out. Getting a port 25 connection from our local desktop was no problem at all. I guess I will have to ask Hetzner (where the server is) to open up port 25 for our server. Thanks!
Hi, unfortunately opening up port 25 didn’t do the trick. Thunderbird still can’t send email from the Virtualmin servers to outside servers. I tried 465 and 587, both denied relay. Sending mail from within the Virtualmin sever (so not using Thunderbird from outside the server) is no problem, those messages are received.
Edit: I don’t know if it means anything, but even in the message that was received through Thunderbird, directly from within the Virtualmin server the header in Thunderbird stated " 0.1 DKIM_INVALID DKIM or DK signature exists, but is not valid".
Edit: I think I’m one step further; I changed “Configuring outgoing SMTP connections” in Email Settings to “IP address 157.xxx.xx.xx” (with the actual IP of course), but it is handled as ‘Junk’ by Thunderbird (even after ‘telling’ Thunderbird it’s not). So, hopefully the last part of my problem would be changing a setting somewhere to make sure Thunderbird accepts the messages not being Junk.
Edit: Mail is being received, with Thunderbird - SMTP 465, encrypted - mail on server directed to server IP. So far, so good. Somehow the subject field is not recognized by Thunderbird, when messages are received, but that’s a very minor thing.
This sounds more like a problem with Thunderbird (its setup or even an add-on, like using end-to-end encryption).
Especially having ruled out port 25.
So the problem is that messages sent from Usermin to a recipient using the
client program Thunderbird are not being received?
if sent to say a Gmail recipient, do they arrive?
I am also curious about
or has this more to do with what/how the email is being sent? is this some application rather than using Usermin.
Hi, port 25 is open now and after setting email on the server to my domain’s IP address, mail is actually being received in Thunderbird, outside the Virtualmin server environment. Only problem left is that it is handled by Thunderbird as Junk. I’m using SMTP 465, with encryption and digital signature with an OpenPGP published key.
Sounds like something was installed, if you do a standard virtualmin install and don’t go off roading with any mail related setings usermin runs without any errors, did you install virtualmin using the install script or did you install webmin first then add the virtualmin module ?
Nope, clean script install on a clean ubuntu-server installation and no additional software installed in the virtualmin server environment. No error-messages anymore, but also no usermin email users and/or folders. All email (server) user and email folders are in the regular virtualmin cp.
Slight correction, there is only one user and that’s root. I’m not using root for email, I’m using a second user ‘admin’. That’s the login I meant, sorry. So, the edit user in the regular virtualmin screen has the admin user and the ‘owner’ as user, which I don’t use.
Funny thing is, that after some adjustments (mentioned above) I’m actually able to receive messages sent from virtualmin servers, through thunderbird and it’s not sent to the junk-folder anymore. There is only one thing left and that’s that thunderbird somehow doesn’t recognize the text in the subject-field.
