> I decided to give it a go
> with disaster results. It just did'nt work at all!
OK, the first thing to realise is that you have just installed a fairly
significant chunk of code - many packages. It is vital to isolate problems
so that we can work out what's actually going wrong - "It just did'nt work
at all" does not tell us anthing about what works and what doesn't, unless
you have 100% failure of every piece of code you installed (which I do not
believe for a moment).
> I was trying to get it working by using a free domain name from
> dyndyns, which for examples sake was bob.ath.cx
Don't do examples. No-one can test your installation if we don't know what
you're actually trying to install.
> and I named the mailserver
> to that as the guide said use your example domain here but it wouldn't
> work.
*What* wouldn't work? Did the mailserver refuse the name? If so, how? What
did you try to do to effect it, and what results did you actually *see*?
> I later read that you need to have a domain with an MX record?
You should.
> Mail
> Exchanger in order for it to work? I have already scoured some other linux
> forums and found that others have got postfix working by using a
> combination
> of dyndns and a domain name.
The MX record has nothing to do with the software you use to create a mail
server; it's a signpost on the Internet to tell other mail servers where
to put your mail.
> I own a domain with 123reg.co.uk and lets say
> for arguments sake that its www.bob.co.uk.
It isn't. That belongs to Bob Harrison, and he probably doesn't want you
using his domain.
> On the control panel at
> 123reg.co.uk it does allow you to change the MX records but i'm not sure
> what I need to do?
You should set the MX record(s) to point to the machines that handle your
mail. Note that these should be in FQDN format, not dotted-quad (so
"beer.org.uk", not "91.84.48.107").
> My setup is currently using a broadband router which I have a dyndyns name
> attached to.
There's no attachment; the name is just a signpost. Dyndns is a way to
make sure that the signpost keeps pointing to the right place, even though
the machine itself keeps moving.
TBH, I wouldn't set up a mailserver like that; I'd get a static IP. But
that won't stop you doing what you're trying to do, it just might make
mail delivery more difficult to some domains.
> I was wondering if I need to do this in order to get it to work?
>
> 1) Point the dyndns domain name to my router and foward all the mail
> server
> ports to the internal mail server which has the ip address of
> 192.168.1.250.
That's two steps. The second of these should happen before the first - but
both are near the end of the installation (i.e. after you know your MTA is
up and working).
The phrase "Point the dyndns domain name to my router" is also somewhat
ambiguous; what you really want to do is to create an A record that maps a
hostname (e.g. mail.yourdomain.example.com) to your IP address (probably
using dyndns), and then an MX record directing mail to that hostname.
> 2) Point the 123reg bob.co.uk domain to the router as well
I don't really know what you mean by that, nor why you think it is
different from the above.
> 3) Edit the MX record on the 123reg domain to point to the dyndns name and
> give it a priority of 10?
Again, that's the same thing.
But what you need to do long before any if this is to get your mailserver
built and working. Sort out the connection to the rest of the world once
you've actually got something to connect...
> Now with no.3 do I have to completed remove the other MX records and just
> keep my one, or can I keep the other ones there and put mine in as well?
> This is what is confusing me?
MX records *should* be tried in numerical order - lowest first. If you
have multiple possible destinations, your mail may be sent to different
places, depending on the availability of your server. In the early days of
email, this was a good way to effect failover when hosts weren't
continually available - these days, it works predominantly as a spam
attractor.
> Then theres the actual server itself. When I name the FQDN (Fully
> Qualified
> Domain Name) as I understand it to be, do I put in bob.co.uk?
It depends what your domain is called, and what you want to call the
machine in question.
> I'm also a bit
> confused about the local name for the machine and should this play a part
> when I set it up as well. For example if I called the machine mserver
> would
> the domain name I would have to use be something like mserver.bob.co.uk ?
If you owned that domain, it would. You don't, and you shouldn't use it.
> I'm really confused as you can see as this part of it is a bit beyond me
Read up on DNS. It's vital to understand it if you're going to get
internet services working properly. And it's also pretty easy, too - but
you do need to be accurate.
> I
> can even setup my mailserver test box with SSH so that anyone that is good
> at this stuff could possibly have a look?
You'll learn a lot more if you get it working yourself.
Vic.
