Test Outbound Email works, but CiviMail emails don't

[Alweth]

Hi. When I "Save & Send Test Email" in my outbound email settings, I receive the email fine, but when I "Send a Test Mailing" it says the message has been sent, but I never receive it. Finally, when I actually schedule the mailing and run the cron job, it changes teh mailing from "Scheduled" to "Completed" but nobody receives the mail. Where could I be going wrong?

[Donald Lobo]

what do your mail logs tell you?

also check:

http://www.google.com/search?q=mail+smtp+debug+site%3Aforum.civicrm.org&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

lobo

[Eileen]

Hi there,

This is the symptom that people who haven't set up a site key correctly get. It wasn't required in earlier versions but has been since 2.2.

[Alweth]

lobo, I don't have access to my mail logs, but this is what I get when I Send a Test Mailing after I turned debug on on in the SMTP file:

Code: [Select]

DEBUG: Recv: 220-ans75.midphase.com ESMTP Exim 4.69 #1 Tue, 04 Aug 2009 10:27:21 -0500
DEBUG: Recv: 220-We do not authorize the use of this system to transport unsolicited,
DEBUG: Recv: 220 and/or bulk e-mail.
DEBUG: Send: EHLO www.mydomain.com

DEBUG: Recv: 250-ans75.midphase.com Hello ans75.midphase.com [69.4.224.56]
DEBUG: Recv: 250-SIZE 52428800
DEBUG: Recv: 250-PIPELINING
DEBUG: Recv: 250-AUTH PLAIN LOGIN
DEBUG: Recv: 250-STARTTLS
DEBUG: Recv: 250 HELP
DEBUG: Send: AUTH LOGIN

DEBUG: Recv: 334 VXNlcm5hbWU6
DEBUG: Send: Y2l2aWNybSt0ZXN0MTUzOS5vcmc=

DEBUG: Recv: 334 UGFzc3dvcmQ6
DEBUG: Send: Q25WcTxJNEYsYTNC

DEBUG: Recv: 235 Authentication succeeded
DEBUG: Send: MAIL FROM:<b.14.17.64d55c7b209260b0@mydomain.com>

DEBUG: Recv: 250 OK
DEBUG: Send: RCPT TO:<my@email.com>

DEBUG: Recv: 550-Verification failed for <b.14.17.64d55c7b209260b0@mydomain.com>
DEBUG: Recv: 550-No Such User Here
DEBUG: Recv: 550 Sender verify failed
DEBUG: Send: RSET

DEBUG: Recv: 250 Reset OK

DEBUG: Send: QUIT

DEBUG: Recv: 221 ans75.midphase.com closing connection
Here's what I get when I successfully send via the "Outbound Email" settings page:

Code: [Select]

DEBUG: Recv: 220-ans75.midphase.com ESMTP Exim 4.69 #1 Tue, 04 Aug 2009 10:27:21 -0500
DEBUG: Recv: 220-We do not authorize the use of this system to transport unsolicited,
DEBUG: Recv: 220 and/or bulk e-mail.
DEBUG: Send: EHLO www.mydomain.com

DEBUG: Recv: 250-ans75.midphase.com Hello ans75.midphase.com [69.4.224.56]
DEBUG: Recv: 250-SIZE 52428800
DEBUG: Recv: 250-PIPELINING
DEBUG: Recv: 250-AUTH PLAIN LOGIN
DEBUG: Recv: 250-STARTTLS
DEBUG: Recv: 250 HELP
DEBUG: Send: AUTH LOGIN

DEBUG: Recv: 334 VXNlcm5hbWU6
DEBUG: Send: Y2l2aWNybSt0ZXN0MTUzOS5vcmc=

DEBUG: Recv: 334 UGFzc3dvcmQ6
DEBUG: Send: Q25WcTxJNEYsYTNC

DEBUG: Recv: 235 Authentication succeeded
DEBUG: Send: MAIL FROM:<b.14.17.64d55c7b209260b0@mydomain.com>

DEBUG: Recv: 250 OK
DEBUG: Send: RCPT TO:<my@email.com>

DEBUG: Recv: 550-Verification failed for <b.14.17.64d55c7b209260b0@mydomain.com>
DEBUG: Recv: 550-No Such User Here
DEBUG: Recv: 550 Sender verify failed
DEBUG: Send: RSET

DEBUG: Recv: 250 Reset OK

DEBUG: Send: QUIT

DEBUG: Recv: 221 ans75.midphase.com closing connection
Comparing it, it seems like the failing mailings are trying to send from a gibberish address. Do you have any idea why or where I could change that?

If this doesn't get me any clues, I'll try and see if I can get the email logs.

Eileen,
Does CiviCRM update the status of mailings to Completed even when the Cron hasn't been run? If so, that is very bad behavior. Nevertheless, for these three other reasons, I don't think that's the problem:

1) I have created a key without any special symbols and added it to the configuration file, which is what I'm using.
2) I get no key error when I run the cron, unlike when I tried to run it originally without a key. However, I have, since then, turned authentication off, because I'm using Standalone, so I don't know how that affects it.
3) Perhaps most importantly, mailings that don't seem to use the cron, like "Send a Test Mailing" also don't work.

[Eileen]

This Reply to address - or VERP address is part of CiviCRM's ability to process bounces. There is a unique code for each e-mail and they should all wind up in the 'catch all' e-mail address. CiviCRM will use the address used to determine which e-mail bounced.

DEBUG: Recv: 550-Verification failed for <b.14.17.64d55c7b209260b0@mydomain.com>

It appears that your hosting provider has deliberately block mail from being sent out where the 'reply to' address is not a valid mailbox it supports - probably as part of it's spam control. You'll need to check with them.

[Eileen]

Although - I would have thought the FROM address should be different from the REPLY TO address. I just tested and the address that shows as FROM on a test from CiviCRM is the one I set here

civicrm/contact/domain&action=update&reset=1

[Alweth]

Eileen, thanks for the help. The address that I have put in the FROM field on the page you specified is "civicrm@mydomain.com". But CiviMail tries to send from the same FROM address in the debug info, even if I check the "Override VERP address?" checkbox. Could this be undesigned behavior? I will try turning off-bounce handling features and see if I am able to get around it that way. I'm also going to try talking to my host provider.

[Eileen]

It may be that it is the 'REPLY TO' Field being checked in the debug - not the FROM field. This could be an anti-spam measure

[civijim]

Hey there - were you able to get around this? I am getting the following on bluehost. SMTP settings are fine, just civimail that's giving the problem..
Thank you.
Jim

Code: [Select]

DEBUG: Recv: 220-box496.bluehost.com ESMTP Exim 4.69 #1 Wed, 11 Nov 2009 20:05:26 -0700 DEBUG: Recv: 220-We do not authorize the use of this system to transport unsolicited, DEBUG: Recv: 220 and/or bulk e-mail. DEBUG: Send: EHLO riverpool.org DEBUG: Recv: 250-box496.bluehost.com Hello localhost [127.0.0.1] DEBUG: Recv: 250-SIZE 52428800 DEBUG: Recv: 250-PIPELINING DEBUG: Recv: 250-AUTH PLAIN LOGIN DEBUG: Recv: 250-STARTTLS DEBUG: Recv: 250 HELP DEBUG: Send: AUTH LOGIN DEBUG: Recv: 334 VXNlcm5hbWU6 DEBUG: Send: aW5mb0ByaXZlcnBvb2wub3Jn DEBUG: Recv: 334 UGFzc3dvcmQ6 DEBUG: Send: Zmxvd3RocnUyMDA5 DEBUG: Recv: 235 Authentication succeeded DEBUG: Send: MAIL FROM: DEBUG: Recv: 250 OK DEBUG: Send: RCPT TO: DEBUG: Recv: 550-Verification failed for DEBUG: Recv: 550-No Such User Here DEBUG: Recv: 550 Sender verify failed DEBUG: Send: RSET DEBUG: Recv: 250 Reset OK DEBUG: Send: QUIT DEBUG: Recv: 221 box496.bluehost.com closing connection

[RicardoDavis]

@CiviJim:  I'm having the same problem on Bluehost.com.  I'm discussing with tech support now.

[RicardoDavis]

After a somewhat frustrating couple of days with Bluehost tech support, the root problem has been found by Brian Shaughnessy:

I chatted with tech support and they don’t support either a catchall account or plus addressing, which basically means we can’t handle bounce processing there.

I recommend you create a free Gmail account for use in bounce processing. I have found that works quite nicely, as Gmail supports plus addressing and it’s very easy to setup. Once you get it setup, adjust your mail account settings, use IMAP, and then you need to make one more adjustment. In the Gmail account, setup a filter that forwards all spam to the inbox. Because of the unique hash values, Gmail typically views the bounce emails as spam, which means they skip the inbox and aren’t processed by CiviCRM.

Since civijim and I were able to use CiviMail before the 11th, I strongly suspect that someone tightened up their mail server environment so that their policy of "no catchall accounts" and "no bounce processing" was actually enforced.  (A [smite] on Bluehost for not taking the opportunity to help their customers by restoring the functionality.  )