my server was unable to send emails to hotmail account. each time it bounces with the following, is anybody familiar with this error?

(reason: 550 Your e-mail was rejected for policy reasons on this gateway. Reasons for rejection may be relate...se note: if you are an end-user please contact your E-mail/Internet Service Provider for assistance.)

----- Transcript of session follows -----
... while talking to mx1.hotmail.com.:
>>> MAIL From:<xxxx@mydomain.com> SIZE=1846
<<< 550 Your e-mail was rejected for policy reasons on this gateway. Reasons for rejection may be related to content such as obscene language, graphics, or spam-like characteristics (or) other reputation problems. For sender troubleshooting information, please go to http://postmaster.msn.com. Please note: if you are an end-user please contact your E-mail/Internet Service Provider for assistance.
554 5.0.0 Service unavailable

___________________________

I have spf records (added last night), i have reverse dns records, my ip is not listed as spam source, and i aint sending emails that look like spam.

http://support.msn.com/eform.aspx?productK...&ct=eformts

yes i contacted msn, they replied this:

"I don't see anything offhand that would be preventing your mail from reaching our customers."

they asked me to go to dnsreport and clear the "Open DNS servers" failure that the server is facing. I'll do it later and see if this helps at all. I mean i have other boxes without any problems sending mails to hotmail, and they have a similar configuration.

Open DNS Server failure on dnsreport is a serious security issue? so much so that hotmail blocks my server ip??

No. Wouldn't stop the mail either way.

> Open DNS Server failure on dnsreport is a serious security issue? so much so that hotmail blocks my server ip??

That was a stupid answer from their technician. The reason for the block is given in the first error message you posted. Contact them again until you get someone who knows WTF they are talking about.

Every time I've seen this problem its been Hotmail blocking the IP address or IP range that the email is coming from.

Yes i told them that, but they keep asking me to clear the failed remarks on dnsreport

I have done that and still IT DOES NOT WORK!!!

I told them that they have blocked my IP somewhere in their system, I asked them to check...

They suggested me to look at the http://postmaster.msn.com and resolve the issue. They deemed that sufficient to solve all the problems?? annoying me!!!

They suggested that I sign up with Smart Network Data Services. Fine, I signed up and I found nothing wrong with my IP Address.

LASTLY, SenderScore Certified Mail Program!! They want me to pay fees just so my clients could send mails to hotmail? http://www.senderscorecertified.com/fees.html



[SlZE="SUPER BIG"]NO WAY! I AINT CRAZY.[/SlZE]

Ah yes. Welcome to the machine......
Is any one out there?

Best bet is walking through a send manually. Then emailing the log to them(buffer and /var/log/maillog entry). Then asking them to look on their end at the mail servers logs for a failure or success notice. Try and get them to paste it to you, so you know they actually looked.

acider,

I am having the same exact problem. It started for me on 2-5-2007 and they keep telling me the block is off but I cannot send emails to hotmail or msn. They insist I have a dns issue now but I manage another server with the same exact settings only different IP and I can send to hotmail just fine.

They originally blocked an entire IP range and have said they have cleared that block to my IP address.

Have you resolved your problem?

Marty

Hi Moegal, this is my side of the story...

I ordered a new server recently from The Planet. Unfortunately for me, this box was flagged as a spam source almost immediately by CBL because it is an Ensim box. For those who do not know why CBL would blacklist Ensim boxes, read the link below. (For those customer service persons or techs at Hotmail / MSN, i dunno which side of our solar system u live in, but you've got to read and know more about what's happening around you! There is no excuse that you guys didn't know. If you do not know, then don't block!)
http://forum.ensim.com/showthread.php?t=16653

My IP was blacklisted at CBL for 3 days until I found the solution at:
http://onlinesupport.ensim.com/TWKB/ViewCa...nowledgeID=2331

Just when I thought that it all had ended, there it came another problem that the server was unable to send any mails to Hotmail. All mails would be returned like this:
____________________________________________

----- The following addresses had permanent fatal errors -----
<username@hotmail.com>
(reason: 550 Your e-mail was rejected for policy reasons on this gateway.
Reasons for rejection may be relate...se note: if you are an end-user please
contact your E-mail/Internet Service Provider for assistance.)

----- Transcript of session follows -----
... while talking to mx4.hotmail.com.:
>>> MAIL From:<username@mydomain.com> SIZE=827
<<< 550 Your e-mail was rejected for policy reasons on this gateway. Reasons for
rejection may be related to content such as obscene language, graphics, or spam-like
characteristics (or) other reputation problems. For sender troubleshooting
information, please go to http://postmaster.msn.com. Please note: if you are an
end-user please contact your E-mail/Internet Service Provider for assistance.
554 5.0.0 Service unavailable
____________________________________________

I contacted Hotmail, they couldn't find any reasons why my mails wouldn't go through. So they suggested that I cleaned up all the failed errors at dnsreport. I did as requested, fixing the common "open DNS servers" issue, plus added a valid spf record, in the hopes of solving the issue as soon as possible.

Still, mails got bounced from Hotmail servers. I was angry and asked Hotmail to fetch a supervisor or an experienced tech to look into the issue urgently. Finally, they admitted that they have put a block to my IP because it appeared as SPAM for 3 days at http://www.trustedsource.org during last week.

They are slow in responding, so over the few days various techs handled the issue with me. One tech would say that there been spikes over the last 10 days and asked that I cleaned up my system. No matter how hard I tried to explain to them that it was an Ensim / CBL issue, they wouldn't listen but keep slamming that my server had already sent out spams.

The other tech from Hotmail would slam my server in a different way. She said this "Your IP has been blocked because too many Hotmail customers have actively flagged e-mails from your IP as Junk Mail". I asked her for proof, please. She replied this "I understand that you must be frustrated. We are working diligently to assist with the email deliverability issues you are experiencing, thank you."

I have checked all my mailllogs and found nothing about my server being exploited to send out spams. I have also signed up for http://postmaster.live.com/snds and found NO records of Hotmail customers actively flagging emails from my IP as Junk Mail there. HENCEFORTH SHE IS LYING! She replied me with her assumptions and imagination, not based on proof.

11 days now, Hotmail is still refusing to lift the ban! 11 days now and still counting. How efficient is Hotmail / MSN?

I warn you guys if your Ensim server has not been fixed, do it soon. I have lost confidence in the way Hotmail handles mail issues. Yes I have already informed some of my clients to reply to their clients' Yahoo or Gmail instead.

Acider,

Thanks. I just checked and now my hotmail finally works. This all started on Monday Feb 5th so I feel your pain. I have around 80 domains but so far only 2 users have complained. I am sure others have seen their mail bounce and are not happy about it.

I just kept complaining. Each time someone at msn would say fix my dns and it should work. I finally pleaded that the block must still be on. I manage another server on a different IP with the same settings and same dns problems and it could send just fine.

Essentially I pleaded the following case:

Can you please see if there is a block to the IP range that may be superseding the unblock of ip xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx. Or see if xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx has really been unblocked.

So, either the block finally came off or they never removed the block before or the range block overrides the unblock of a single IP within a range. I suspect the range block overrides everything. So with they blocked xxx.xxx.xxx.*, nothing from that range can be unblocked. But I may never know.

Good luck, If I can help, let me know.

Marty

hi moegal,

since you mentioned that it was a ban on an ip block/range, i guess they lifted the ban quickly for you because your ip didn't have any bad record.

for my case, my ip was listed at CBL for 3 days due to the Ensim issue. they wrongly accused me that i had sent out spams and refused to study my case. or rather, they are inproficient in knowing what's going on with Ensim/CBL.

their reply messages are almost always the same, that is if your ip appeared in color red before, you must had spammed others.

i sent them an email 3 days ago asking what do they need to lift the ban for the ip, they never replied

i'll send them an email again later...

______________________

from this case, i can come these conclusion:

1) hotmail do look at http://www.trustedsource.org for your ip history, so if your ip has some ugly record, then good luck to you and wait till they remove the ban for you. even if you got a new box and was assigned a bad ip address, then note that trustedsource take about 1 to 2 months before they update your new record. you might remain banned by hotmail cos they dun really know how else to resolve the issue for you.

2) hotmail sucks, when you send an email with vcf address book information, it might get into the junk folder of hotmail, chances are 50/50%. when u construct some mails that are too short (or look like spams), thats it it has to go to the junk folder. i aint sure if spf record really helps, i conducted the tests with a few other providers and my own box, i added valid spf records and it still didnt do very well.

3) the snds tool is useful, but at the same time will pose some security issues. nobody owns the ip forever. imagine someone who had your ip before you and gaining access to what your server has sent out, ew~~~

What I did was to add a SPF record to my DNS and then emailed senderid@microsoft.com telling them so. I included my IP address and hostname in the email. After a couples of emails with them, I´m able to send to Hotmail users again. It took me about a week the whole process.

My SPF records looks like: domain.com 14400 IN TXT "v=spf1 a mx -all"

Here you´ll find a wizard: http://www.microsoft.com/mscorp/safety/con...enderid/wizard/

Hope this helps.

Ed



.

a little strange

Hello,

I am facing the same problem too in one of my servers. The IP address of the server is not blacklisted anywhere. How can I contact Hotmail to remove my IP from their blacklist.

Open a ticket, describe the situation and request that it be passed to abuse.