SMTP Authentication - again

[robinsomes]

Regarding my previous thread on email sending, "problems emailing from site"; it's clear that Actinic does support SMTP Authentication, but does anyone know whether it uses the SMTP AUTH request in order to achieve it, or whether some other protocol is used?

Logs of the communication with our SMTP server suggest that an SMTP AUTH request is not being made, despite Authentication/username/pwd being enabled in Actinic's Network Settings.

MTIA,
Robin

[I-CC]

Actinic uses the standard SASL SMTP Authentication method.

What type of server are you using and MTA for the SMTP?

[robinsomes]

Actinic uses the standard SASL SMTP Authentication method.

What type of server are you using and MTA for the SMTP?

Sorry for the delay in replying - I've been away a few days. We are using a dedicated SMTP relay server from Gradwell, see:

http://www.gradwell.com/products/hosting_smtp_relay.php

which requires the SMTP AUTH command to negotiate the login, on port 25 or 225. More details on the setup on that page.

The Actinic Web Site Analysis SMTP report runs:

Get host name...
Host name is 'www.pisces-conservation.com'
DNS lookup...
OK
Create socket address...
OK
Create socket...
OK
Connecting to socket...
OK
The connect message from the SMTP server...
220 lon-mail-4.gradwell.net ESMTP ready (Gradwell gwh-smtpd 1.227) Tue, 18 Jul 2006 12:05:44 +0100
Sent: HELO www.pisces-conservation.com
250 lon-mail-4.gradwell.net Hello node-5.186k.co.uk ([212.85.249.135])
Sent: MAIL FROM:<onlineorders@pisces-conservation.com>
250 Sender ok
Sent: RCPT TO:<onlineorders@pisces-conservation.com>
550 Relaying denied - please see http://www.gradwell.com/support/relay-denied [lon-mail-4]
450 Unexpected EOF - closing connection
SMTP Test failed
_____ End of SMTP Test ____

The log suggests (to me at least) that, either the SMTP AUTH command isn't being used, or the communication is failing before the point where it is used.

Any ideas?

MTIA
Robin

[I-CC]

Strange one - first thing is to check with the hosting provider of the smtp that it is working for the server (www) site to connect, might be some checks they can do.

Also. Have you tried placing in

localhost

into the smtp server field without any username and password to see if the www servers local MTA can relay without needing to go elsewhere?

[robinsomes]

Strange one - first thing is to check with the hosting provider of the smtp that it is working for the server (www) site to connect, might be some checks they can do.

Also. Have you tried placing in

localhost

into the smtp server field without any username and password to see if the www servers local MTA can relay without needing to go elsewhere?

Thanks for the reply. I've tested Gradwell's SMTP Relay using our office email, and it works as it should that way. Regarding the connection from Actinic's script, they say:

"I have found your posting on the forum, and looking at what you have posted the script is not sending any authorisation requests. The script is connecting to the server, then trying to send the mail immediatly which will fail. "

One thing occurs to me - which I have raised with Actinic email help but not yet received a reply. When I switched from our own ISP's server to SMTP Relay, I simply changed the relevant details in Network Settings, rather than running through all the settings from scratch using the Wizard. Is it possible this would make a difference? Unfortunately, when I run through the Wizard now, the entire process hangs with a “The wizard received an unexpected exception while testing the web server’s Perl environment. The server returned an invalid or unrecognised response. Try again later” error at the email settings phase, so I'm unable to complete the Wizard. Is it possible to edit the exported settings file by hand, and re-import it?

Regarding your second point, we have also tried our own ISPs mail system, repeatedly, using both the IP address of the SMTP server, and 'localhost'. Unfortunately, while both the offline test in Actinic, and the Mailform page on the website, appear to have sent mails, no mails ever arrive at their destination. The ISP hold the view that it's down to the CGI scripts, and therefore no concern of theirs.

Many thanks,
Robin

[I-CC]

Hmmmmmmmmmmmm - well dont know what to tell you then...

If you have all of the settings correct in the network settings whilst using localhost and the mails are being sent, but never received, then this would point to maybe some SPF (Sender Policy Framework) blocking it maybe (that is a big maybe if the MTA is SPF aware).

If whilst using the Authenitcated SMTP, with a username and password that works from remote outlook does not work from the site, then suggests a connection or routing issue to the smtp server, but only your hosts could diagnose this.

Afraid if localhost is not an option and smtp auth does not work because it says it is invalid, then lost to assist, as the smtp auth is correct in how it works, so saying the scripts are wrong seems extremely unlikely to me.

I would suggest raising a support ticket direct with Actinic to see if they can suggest anything, but like I say, unlikely it is a script or anything with the software and more likely routing or server issue.

[robinsomes]

Hmmmmmmmmmmmm - well dont know what to tell you then...
<...>
If whilst using the Authenitcated SMTP, with a username and password that works from remote outlook does not work from the site, then suggests a connection or routing issue to the smtp server, but only your hosts could diagnose this.
<...>
I would suggest raising a support ticket direct with Actinic to see if they can suggest anything, but like I say, unlikely it is a script or anything with the software and more likely routing or server issue.

I've already been having a lengthy conversation on a support ticket, and got almost - but not quite - nowhere. What has emerged from that is, that (from the SMTP test log quoted in full above) despite "Username and Password Required" being enabled, Catalog seems not to be authenticating properly. The first line of the SMTP negotiation is:

Sent: HELO www.pisces-conservation.com

For a proper authenticated login, it should be using EHLO instead of HELO, and then proceed with AUTH LOGIN and the username/password.

I've just telnetted directly to the Gradwell server, done an AUTH login and sent an email, so I'm fairly certain the server side of it works OK.

So the crucial question is, why is Catalog not authenticating properly? As an auxiliary question, the server requires username/pwd to be Base64 encoded; does Catalog do the encoding, or do I need to enter them in their encoded form?

MTIA
Robin

[I-CC]

Dont know about base encoding (above my head), but all I know is we have hundreds of Actinic sites using the SMTP authentication, connecting to sasl2 specified smtp daemons, and they work fine, along with the rest which stick to the easier option of localhost, which works just as well, so if your smtp server requires something different, then another chat with Actinic support might be on the cards to discover if the encoding is applied or available.