[Novalug] sending mail from debian etch via php script using mail()

[Norman Bird]

well I learned something new today:

http://www.spamhaus.org/pbl/query/PBL191978

how did I discover this interesting spamhaus project?. Well I installed
postfix as discussed, tested it and it didnt work. so naturally i checked
/var/log/mail.log and it said this:

Feb 13 12:56:02 localhost postfix/smtp[7159]: 9889A6C8C17A: to=<info at xxx.com>,
relay=mx.xxx.com[65.254.x.x:25, delay=0.63, delays=0.25/0.01/0.37/0,
dsn=4.0.0, status=deferred (host mx.xxx.com[65.254.x.x] refused to talk to
me: 554 impinc01.yourhostingaccount.com NO UCE error: R6.1: 98.233.x.x is on
the Spamhaus blacklist. Please visit: http://www.spamhaus.org)

Mail was being sent but being REFUSED for being on a list run by
spamhaus.org. They have several different databases. one is called PBL or
policy block list, which is a list of IP's that are automatically blocked
from sending emails AT ALL, due  to the policy of the owner or ISP, in this
case Comcast. TComcast will allow business clients who pay $99 a month, to
get IP's which are not blocked, but a regular home user can not. At least I
don't see how. So I have to use my hosting service to run this newsletter
application I am working on. Of course if It works good enough I may just
invest in a business IP. But like I said, I learned something new today and
wanted to share it.

In the end it's all about stopping spam so... ...Spamhaus really hates
spammers, check out their site, it's like spammers are terrorists, they are
tracking down people internationally and locking them up.

thanks

Norm

On Fri, Feb 13, 2009 at 10:45 AM, Oscar Merida <oscar at oscarm.org> wrote:

> You have at least two options:
> 1) install a mail server like postfix, exim, etc. apt-get install postfix
> should do the trick and provide the "sendmail" binary that php expects.
> 2) Change your code to use a package like PEAR::Mail to send mail via
> another SMTP server that will relay mail for your server. (see
> http://us3.php.net/manual/en/function.mail.php)
>
> On Fri, Feb 13, 2009 at 10:22 AM, Norman Bird <steelpulsefan at gmail.com>wrote:
>
>> I feel this is debian related so i'm asking here. i have a php script
>> where mail is sent to user to let him know all went wll with his submission
>> via a form. after calling the mail() method or function in php all seems
>> well as there is no error reported using this code:
>>
>
> PHP snipped
>
>>
>>
>> Why isnt the mail being sent?
>> what can be the problem?
>> do i need to add something called sendmail?
>> what am I supposed to have installed  in order to send mail via a php
>> script?
>> how do I chech to see if it is install or configure?
>>
>> I am comfortable with the code part as I have done it successfully in
>> past, but I usuall upload it to a professional host, this is first time on
>> my own production enviornment and it may not be setup right.
>>
>> Hopefully this gives you an idea of wher I am at in this challange. thanks
>> for any help
>>
>> Norman
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>>
>>
>
>
> --
> Oscar Merida
> * http://OscarM.org - random thoughts on my blog
> * http://SoccerBlogs.net - your daily soccer feed
> * http://FutBoliviano.com - bolivian soccer, futbol de altura
>
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