Postfix relay=none, ... status=deferred (Host or domain name not found...

Question

Hi,
I actually posted this question 2 weeks ago but under the wrong topic. So, first of all wanted to apologise for double-posting... but since no one replied, I thought I'd try again under the right topic.
I've been trying to solve this all day today (that was Feb 26th). I used to be able to send emails but for some reason it does not work anymore. At first I thought it was a problem with php (I use entropy pack php 5.2.6) but after searching the topic, I think it is a problem with my network. BTW OS is 10.5.5 and Postfix version 2.4.3
First of all, after computer restart, I don't think postfix starts automatically
Running 'sudo postfix start' gives me:
postfix/postfix-script: starting the Postfix mail system
Looking at '/var/log/mail.log' I find:
Feb 27 12:51:04 AMs-MBP postfix/qmgr331: AA70A7A7C77: from=<[email protected]>, size=842, nrcpt=1 (queue active)
Feb 27 12:52:19 AMs-MBP postfix/smtp456: AA70A7A7C77: to=<[email protected]>, relay=none, delay=3437, delays=3362/0.02/75/0, dsn=4.4.3, status=deferred (Host or domain name not found. Name service error for name=email.com type=MX: Host not found, try again)
Running 'sudo postfix check' does not give me any errors
Checking my '/etc/resolv.conf' it has nameserver 192.168.1.1
Running 'ifconfig | grep netmask | grep -v 127.0.0.1 | awk {'print $2'}L' gives:
192.168.1.5
Checking http://switch.richard5.net/2006/08/19/fatal-open-lock-file-pidmasterpid/ and running 'launchctl list' gives me a long list but no item matches org.postfix.master
Running 'ps aux|grep postfix' gives
AM 546 0.3 0.0 599820 468 s000 S+ 1:41pm 0:00.00 grep postfix
_postfix 331 0.0 0.0 599816 824 ?? S 11:56am 0:00.04 qmgr -l -t fifo -u
root 329 0.0 0.0 600784 752 ?? Ss 11:56am 0:00.11 /usr/libexec/postfix/master
_postfix 519 0.0 0.0 599768 752 ?? S 1:36pm 0:00.01 pickup -l -t fifo -u
Running 'postconf inet_interfaces' at first gave me
inet_interfaces = localhost
which I changed to All in '/etc/postfix/main.cf'
I looked at http://www.postfix-book.com/debugging.html
Running 'telnet localhost 25' gives me
Trying ::1...
telnet: connect to address ::1: Connection refused
Trying fe80::1...
telnet: connect to address fe80::1: Connection refused
Trying 127.0.0.1...
Connected to localhost.
Escape character is '^]'.
220 AMs-MBP.local ESMTP Postfix
quit
221 2.0.0 Bye
Connection closed by foreign host.
But running 'telnet 10.1.2.233 25' gives me
Trying 10.1.2.233...
telnet: connect to address 10.1.2.233: Operation timed out
telnet: Unable to connect to remote host
Running 'ping 134.169.9.107' takes a long time. After a while I stop it and get:
PING 134.169.9.107 (134.169.9.107): 56 data bytes
^C
o
+ 134.169.9.107 ping statistics ---
28 packets transmitted, 0 packets received, 100% packet loss
I have not idea what the problem is and/or how to fix it. I know the messages get to the postfix daemon but for some reason they do not continue on their way.
Please, does anyone have an idea of how to fix this?
TIA,
Elle

Answer 1

Dynamic IP addresses with DynDNS Updater (or equivalent) makes it pretty darned reliable, particularly if you buy DynDNS' Mailhop Forward service, which prevents the likes of roadrunner.com and aol.com from blocking mail coming from your server just because it lives in dynamicIP-land. Way cheaper than paying your ISP extra for a static IPA, too, and totally acceptable for low-volume, residential-based servers for personal not-for-profit use.
Regarding reliable delivery to a dynIPA server, you are only at risk of non-receipt for perhaps a few minutes immediately following when your ISP rotates your WAN IPA, until DynDNS Updater (or equivalent) updates the DynDNS (or equivalent) servers with your new WAN IPA. But that's really not a problem because I think all, well, okay, most, smtp servers will queue for a redelivery attempt if the initial delivery attempt just happens to occur at that time.
I wouldn't suggest this practice for high-volume enterprise-class servers or for people trying to run a bootleg mail server business for profit (besides, the ISP would shut it down as an abuse of terms of service, anyways), but for low-volume, residential-based servers for personal use and enjoyment, which I suspect is the case for the O.P., I can't say that I find anything unreliable about my dynamic IP-based mail server.