Email Issues

[Big Game Hunter]

Hi Everybody

Does anyone know what this means:

Program = ORDERSCR, Program version = 22690 , HTTP Server = Apache/1.3.41 , Return code = 999 , Date and Time = 2011/03/28 14:03, Internal Errors = Error returned from SMTP server (4: <jzMZjYQ1sK8ftE+JbWqDFPy88Sl09jiQuImYERI=>: Recipient address rejected: Relay access denied

We are having a huge email issue at the moment, where the website is not sending emails. Actinic and Fasthosts are blaming eachother at this point and I'm getting nowhere.

Please help..... :mad:

[leehack]

Very rare to have hosting problems when using actinic and fasthosts (oh the irony) .
Check the list of emails in the operations menu, might be full and causing problems. You might need to empty it, make sure you don't send them, you'll be inundated with panicced buyers.

[Mike Hughes]

Very rare to have hosting problems when using actinic and fasthosts (oh the irony) .


Cheeky so and so. It took me a while to notice the blank text and I was wondering how you could say this with a straight face.

This looks very odd. The error message suggests that you're not using Authentication for SMTP and it could be that fasthosts now require it.

Mike

[Mike Hughes]

Does anyone know what this means:

Program = ORDERSCR, Program version = 22690 , HTTP Server = Apache/1.3.41 , Return code = 999 , Date and Time = 2011/03/28 14:03, Internal Errors = Error returned from SMTP server (4: <jzMZjYQ1sK8ftE+JbWqDFPy88Sl09jiQuImYERI=>: Recipient address rejected: Relay access denied

We are having a huge email issue at the moment, where the website is not sending emails. Actinic and Fasthosts are blaming eachother at this point and I'm getting nowhere.


Are you sure this is the problem? Your error logs suggest this has been going on since August last year. Surely email has worked since then?

Mike

[Big Game Hunter]

Hi Mike and Lee

Lee I know what you saying, trust me. I could do with going somewhere for the rest of time where i never come across a cms, Ethernet cable and credit card.

When you say the operations menu, are you referring to the processing system. We don't use actinic to process orders.

Mike I have tried the following:
1. Tried using authentication with an advanced mail box.
2. Changed the hosting server.
3. Tried a different email address.
4. Reverted scripts to original scripts.
5. Sent 5 snapshots to actinic and:

Swore a lot at fasthosts while listening to them say that they have run their own test scripts and I should go back to Actinic.

I am about to launch an all out war on these guys.

[leehack]

The operations menu across the top when in actinic. In between design and marketing.

[Big Game Hunter]

Mike

As shocking as this may sound. No. It hasn't sent a single email in months. I have spent hours on this.

http://www.sportsballshop.co.uk/acatalog/error.err

If you have a look through those logs you will see where I have been making the changes. Any help would be massively appreciated.

[Big Game Hunter]

Just tried your idea Lee. Just said there are no emails to send. Thoroughly stumped now. You guys are the only help I have left. All other party's have thrown their hands up in the air.

[leehack]

The list emails > failed is empty?

[Mike Hughes]

Ouch.

What's interesting is that this one from mid-december show email was still working on at least one site:

Program = ORDERSCR, Program version = 22690 , HTTP Server = Apache/1.3.41 , Return code = 999 , Date and Time = 2010/12/14 16:36, Internal Errors = Error returned from SMTP server (4: 5.1.3 <matthew.xxxxxxxxx@ntlworld,com>... Invalid route address


(I blanked the customers surname).

Clearly something is broken somewhere. Can you go back to what you think is the correct email settings and run a network test. What response do you get and what settings are you using?

Mike

PS. This could take a while to work out but probably can't get any more painful than it already is. Are you sure you don't want to switch to another host as an easy get out. Are you on a dedicated server? I can't remember.

[Big Game Hunter]

Hi Mike

I have tried everything with the settings even reverted to old snapshots. I will run a test as soon as I have done this upload then post the results.

This is on a shared platform, not dedicated. We would change hosts gladly, but after a few days research we couldn't find anybody in UK that would facilitate our needs.

I know it will take while still. Just appreciate the help.

[Sean Williams]

This is on a shared platform, not dedicated. We would change hosts gladly, but after a few days research we couldn't find anybody in UK that would facilitate our needs. .

Could you say how your needs differ from the norm?
Surely Actinic Hosting is the place to look as an (unbroken) Actinic ecommerce site is 100% guaranteed to work there?

[Big Game Hunter]

Hi Sean

You would think so, but the price is a factor as well. We run up to 150 websites at a time, which is a huge cost if hosting with Actinic. The Americans have cracked what we need, just you can't host on American servers seo wise.

[Mike Hughes]

I'm pretty sure we've discussed this before. Many of us are happy to host with 1and1 (even though they're in germany) as long as we have .co.uk addresses. I do notice that some of yours are .coms though.

I've heard some people recommending nublue reseller hosting, although Darren says PayPal callbacks fail as they don't have all the modules installed.

Mike

[NormanRouxel]

Sometimes you get relaying denied type errors if your email sender doesn't recognise the From or Reply To addresses. Make sure that they are valid (Settings / Business Settings / Company/Contact). I.e. from the same domain as the hosted website.

[Big Game Hunter]

Hi Guys

Thought I would try something, to eliminate the hosting angle of this issue. I uploaded the website to an entirely different domain and server. I then placed an order and got an error on the log file. It's a different error which is interesting.

Program = ORDERSCR, Program version = 22690 , HTTP Server = Apache/1.3.41 , Return code = 999 , Date and Time = 2011/03/29 09:14, Internal Errors = Error returned from SMTP server (3: 5.5.4 <jzMZjYQ1sK8ftE+JbWqDFPy88Sl09jiQuImYERI=>... Domain name required for sender address jzMZjYQ1sK8ftE+JbWqDFPy88Sl09jiQuImYERI=

What's your thoughts?

[Mike Hughes]

It is very strange that there's a garbled bit of 'content' in the smtp response.

The key questions I would have are:

- What are your smtp settings?
- What email address are you using (i.e. is it 'on domain')
- have you changed any of the perl scripts? Perhaps tried a mod to get email working?

Mike

[Big Game Hunter]

Hi Mike

I have attached my network settings for you to have a look at . We haven't done anything out of the ordinary? Really lost on this one.

[NormanRouxel]

Reread my post #15. Tell us what you've got in Settings / Business Settings / Company/Contact / Email Address.

[Big Game Hunter]

Hi Norman

Just had a look. All details match, no differences there?

[Duncan Rounding]

Perhaps the reason you got a different error whilst on the testing domain is because the email address and domain don't match as per Norman's post 15. The live error may be relating to something different. You may be creating a red herring.

[Mike Hughes]

Is this test site actually on actinictesting.co.uk or is that a made up name?

The thing is that to try and work out what the problem is we need to see what's being used so we can look at the various options and try and investigate the cause. Otherwise we're just guesing in the dark and if the solution was obvious you'd have had a solution by now.

Mike

[Big Game Hunter]

Hi Mike

It's live on actinictesting.co.uk or sportsballshop.co.uk either of them don't work. But they are the same site essentially on 2 different servers.

I have quadruple checked all the settings and they all seem perfect. I think there's a damaged perl script somewhere, but I can't work out where.

[Duncan Rounding]

You could try using a default store with the same domain and email settings as a test to eliminate scripts.

[Big Game Hunter]

so you think the software is corrupt?

Or you think the domain tags are wrong?

[Big Game Hunter]

How would you do that without overwriting the existing website? I can see the logic. Just not sure how I would do that without overwriting the existing website?

Sorry I know I'm being dumb.

[Duncan Rounding]

I'd be very surprised if the software is corrupt but a default store would help eliminate scripts and email addresses etc. Not sure what else to suggest to be honest.

[Duncan Rounding]

How would you do that without overwriting the existing website? I can see the logic. Just not sure how I would do that without overwriting the existing website?

Sorry I know I'm being dumb.

Upload in Test Mode

[Big Game Hunter]

Knew I was being dumb. There we have it. thanks Norman

[Big Game Hunter]

Worked!!!!!!!!!!

Good Idea. Ok so we have a working test system, but a dead live system. Any ideas?

[Mike Hughes]

The other things I'd try is:

Using the www.sportsballshop.co.uk site:

1. Check your contact email address within Actinic is set to 'sales@sportsxxxxshop.co.uk'
2. Send yourself an email from actinic to something like 'admin@sportsxxxxshop.co.uk'

Where xxxx=ball

This should eliminate any relaying concerns so you might get a different error mesage.

I'd also try doing the same using smtp authentication.

Mike

[Duncan Rounding]

Now try uploading their store in Test Mode and try it.

If that fails then try doing a purge and refresh (in Test Mode) and Check delete perl scripts. Make sure you backup any script changes though as this will restore the scripts to the originals.

[Big Game Hunter]

Hi Mike / Duncan

I am trying both your ideas now. Will keep you posted.

[Big Game Hunter]

tried both those ideas. No change. :mad:

That's irritating. was hoping that would fix it.

[Big Game Hunter]

hang on. I was testing the wrong site. I found the test area and this is interesting:

General Script Error
Error: Unsupported index version for "../acatalog/test/acatalog/oldprod.fil". Expected 258. Found 14128.

Not sure what that means. I have done a web purge in test mode as well on this.

[Big Game Hunter]

This is the latest reply from Actinic if it helps:

Hi Shannon,

I have tested your snapshot with my test server settings and I can get emails to my email address. I have also looked at your error log online and have found the follow issues with it.

Program = ORDERSCR, Program version = 22690 , HTTP Server = Apache/1.3.41 , Return code = 999 , Date and Time = 2010/08/08 12:03, Internal Errors = Error returned from SMTP server (3: 5.5.4 <jzMZjYQ1sK8ftE+JbWqDFPy88Sl09jiQuImYERI=>... Domain name required for sender address jzMZjYQ1sK8ftE+JbWqDFPy88Sl09jiQuImYERI=
)
Program = ORDERSCR, Program version = 22690 , HTTP Server = Apache/1.3.41 , Return code = 999 , Date and Time = 2010/08/08 12:03, Internal Errors = Error returned from SMTP server (3: 5.5.4 <jzMZjYQ1sK8ftE+JbWqDFPy88Sl09jiQuImYERI=>... Domain name required for sender address jzMZjYQ1sK8ftE+JbWqDFPy88Sl09jiQuImYERI=
)
Program = SearchSc, Program version = 22655 , HTTP Server = Apache/1.3.41 , Return code = 999 , Date and Time = 2010/08/09 15:14, Internal Errors = Error opening configuration file ../acatalog/prompt.fil. No such file or directory

Basically your web server needs to have relaying enabled on their server for actinic to generate the auto generate order confirmation emails. This has been confirmed with my team leader and dev.


I have contacted fasthosts and they have confirmed that this is working on the webserver. Again we going in circles.

[Mike Hughes]

Basically your web server needs to have relaying enabled on their server for actinic to generate the auto generate order confirmation emails. This has been confirmed with my team leader and dev.

I'm not sure this is the answer.

Relaying is the process which allows an smtp server to send emails from a domain it isnt on. If you were sending emails from 'shannon(at)sportsballshop.co.uk' via the actinictesting.co.uk smtp server then that would be relaying. Sending the same email from an smtp server on sportsballshop.co.uk wouldn't need relaying. That's why we keep asking you to make sure the email address you're using is 'on domain'.

On the other hand if you're sending email via the fasthosts smtp server then that is relaying but normally the host keeps a list of domains it hosts and allows those to send emails. AFAIK this is what fasthosts do as they say this:

To prevent spam being sent through our webservers there are certain restrictions in place when sending email from webscripts.

1) Email must be sent to, or from, an email address hosted by Fasthosts. An email address hosted by Fasthosts is not the same as a domain name hosted by Fasthosts. If your domain's MX record points to another email provider, it will not count as being hosted by Fasthosts.

2) All outbound email must be routed through our outgoing email servers or it will not be delivered, it is not possible to send email from a script directly to a third party SMTP server.

3) We limit the number of emails you can send in any thirty second period and any ten minute period.

This helps us to prevent spammers from using our servers and improves the service we can provide to you.

Outgoing mail servers

All mail scripts running on Fasthosts webservers should use either smtp.fasthosts.co.uk or 127.0.0.1 as the outgoing mail server. Please consult the documentation for your scripting language or component to find out how to set this correctly.


127.0.0.1 is the same as 'localhost' so that shouldn't be a problem.

Your MX records point back to your domain and fasthosts livemail servers so that all looks OK too.

The things that tells me this could well be a red herring are:

1. Normally, the smtp rejected response for relaying gives the email address its rejecting. In this case it looks like random characters.

2. Didn't you say the test site worked on fasthosts server? It couldn't do that if there was a fundamental problem with the email servers.

Mike

[Big Game Hunter]

Hi Mike

Thank you for your detailed answer. I have attached my network settings and verified my business settings in the previous post to show everyone that the details are 100% right. That's why we are stumped here?

What I did was load a snapshot into a new installation and loaded it onto a new server and that didn't work. This is why I'm getting very frustrated with the actinic support team because they seem to be ignoring where I say that i have proved it's an actinic issue.

What's more interesting is that this problem seems to be spreading. I now have 3 websites within actinic that are now giving the same error. There is a damaged file somewhere that is corrupting these websites. I just can't work out which one it is.

[Mike Hughes]

If we assume that there might be a damaged file somewhere that's causing the problem then I would:

1. Compact and repair the database.
2. Copy over a fresh set of perl scripts. I think they're in the original folder and this should give you the same scripts as the default site you tested with. There should be no problems from this as I believe you don't have any script modifications.
3. Check the email address in Actinic is 'on domain'.

Do a full site refresh.

Mike

PS. have you confimed that the default site does run OK on fasthosts or was that running on another host?

[Big Game Hunter]

Thank you Mike for your last post. It did help us identify what the problem was in the end.

Just for everybody's reference, it was the Actinic.pm that had got corrupted in the site and original folder. I installed a standalone actinic installation, got that file and replaced the corrupted files. Sorted.

Thank you everybody for all your help. We actually only found that solution by dredging the community and saw a post from Norman that's about 5 years old.

Thank you again and hopefully this post will help someone in the future if they have the same issue.

[Mike Hughes]

It's good to see you've solved this one. It's always looked like an odd problem and the solution explains so much of the strange things that were happening.

Well done.

Mike

[Duncan Rounding]

It's interesting that the file could become corrupt yet still partially work. Was the file truncated or was the code changed?