SMTP blocked when sending from V5.6 - ECO 2 but not v5.4

[Clark Powell]

If I send smtp email from our 3 VMS systems running HP TCP/IP V5.4 - ECO 7 OpenVMS V7.3-2, my email is accepted by my personal ISP. If I send email from our 5 VMS systems running HP TCP/IP V5.6 - ECO 2 OpenVMS V8.3, the mail is rejected by the ISP. The mail is sent via our mail hub. After three days I get the message back saying it was rejected by my ISP. Otherwise the message appears in my email in seconds.

There are small variations in the tcpip/smtp setup from machine to machine BUT the only consistant difference between the ones that send and the ones that don't is the version of TCPIP Services. I could add headers, smtp config, etc to this message, but at this point I thought I would just state the question simply to see if anyone know of a known problem between the two versions smtp. If not I will include the headers and smtp setups.

thanks
Clark Powell

[EdgarZamora_1]

So the emails are definitely going out. Check your sender address (is your sender address different when compared between the systems being accepted and the systems being rejected?) Some mail systems will reject messages if the sender's domain name (including your system nodename if it was included) is not resolvable publicly.

[Steven Schweda]

> [...] BUT the only consistant difference
> [...]

Probably not, but we can't see any of the
message headers or the reject message from
your ISP, so it's a bit difficult for us
non-psychics to intuit what the problem might
be.

> I could add [...]

I suspect that you'll need to. (You could
get lucky. Often, assembling the data in an
orderly way reveals the problem.)

[Clark Powell]

I have figured out the difference between smtp in tcpip 5.4 and 5.6 or at least I have identified why my vms mail is being rejected by my ISP. Setting TCPIP$SMTP_LOG_LEVEL=3 I compared TCPIP$SMTP_LOGFILE.LOG between systems with mail that were accepted and systems with mail rejected. What I found was that the two version were acting on the logical, "TCPIP$SMTP_FROM" = "William.C.Powell@vmmc.org" differently.

Whether this difference is due to version level or due to some setup parameter is a question I am submiting to you all.

The reason that my mail from tcpip v5.6 systems is rejected is because it uses the actual domain name for for the "Return-Path:"
and this is not resolvable on the internet.
The v5.4 system are using the TCPIP$SMTP_FROM to deturmine the "Return-Path:".

File SYSDISK2:[SPGWCP]TCPIP$SMTP_LOGFILE.LOG;120
102 Return-Path: William.C.Powell@vmmc.org
103 Date: Mon, 6 Oct 2008 15:35:42 -0700 (PDT)
104 Message-Id: <08100615354267_14458@alphab.vmmc.org>
105 From: William.C.Powell@vmmc.org
******
File SYSDISK2:[SPGWCP]TCPIP$SMTP_LOGFILE.LOG;76
103 Return-Path: spgwcp@alphax.vmmc.org
104 Date: Mon, 6 Oct 2008 15:32:49 -0700 (PDT)
105 Message-Id: <08100615324913_21C07DAC@alphax.vmmc.org>
106 From: William.C.Powell@vmmc.org

So what do you all think? Is this due to a setup parameter or a change in v5.6 source code?

[Steven Schweda]

show logical TCPIP$SMTP_*

> The v5.4 system are using the
> TCPIP$SMTP_FROM to deturmine the
> "Return-Path:".

I know nothing, but I read that:

TCPIP$SMTP_PROHIBIT_USER_HEADERS Disables
outbound alias processing. This prevents the
use of the TCPIP$SMTP_FROM logical.

http://h71000.www7.hp.com/doc/83final/6526/6526pro_043.html

[Clark Powell]

Here is a sample set of smtp logicals. The TCPIP$SMTP_ENABLE appears to be an artifact of a previous version but doesn't consistantly appear with respect to tcpip version or what is written in "Return-Path"
As you can see the list of logicals is short and not indicating the difference in behaviour I have observed between v5.4 and v5.6.

(LNM$PROCESS_TABLE)
"TCPIP$SMTP_FROM" = "William.C.Powell@vmmc.org"
(LNM$SYSTEM_TABLE)
"MAIL$PROTOCOL_SMTP" = "TCPIP$SMTP_MAILSHR"
"TCPIP$SMTP_COMMON" = "SYS$SPECIFIC:[TCPIP$SMTP]"
"TCPIP$SMTP_ENABLE" = ".1.."
"TCPIP$SMTP_LOG_LEVEL" = "4"

[Clark Powell]

Here is the word from HP engineering:

Yes, the two versions of SMTP images handle the TCPIP$SMTP_FROM logical differently. 5.4 puts the logical in the 102 Return-Path: and 5.6 doesn't; 5.6 puts the actual user, node and domain name in that field which is why mail from 5.6 would never be acknowledged if the node and domain name are not resolvable. Word is that the behavior of 5.6 is incorrect so it will be fixed in the next eco. Till then, another work around is to put the TCPIP$SMTP_FROM in these brackets as shown:
$ DEF TCPIP$SMTP_FROM -
""

If the address is in those brackets <>, the smtp image will put the address in the return path.

I award 10 points to HP support for figuring this out for me.

[Steven Schweda]

Thanks for the report.

> I award 10 points to HP support for
> figuring this out for me.

Deduct them from HP engineering for putting
in the unrequested, undocumented change.