Tried to fix reverse PTR by upgrading with host, now even they are recommending google workspace lol. reddit / selfhosted ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Dgb_iii · 2023-11-02 16:19 Hi All - I have corrected all issues with my email server that are under my control according to toolkits like mxtoolkit and dnslookup. The only thing I can not fix is the reverse PTR as I am using shared email provided by my host. This means my SMTP does not resolve back to my domain, and my emails are ending up in spam. At first I purchased VPS space from my host, but now even they are recommending just using something like Google Workspace. I know some of you will too - but the frustrating part is the point of this endeavor was to not be locked into the Google Workspace environment and pay the user account fee which I believe is $25 per created account monthly. $250 per month for email in an office of 10 blows me away when I can send emails just fine for free - but if that's the cost of getting them out of the spam folder, so be it. Anyway, outside of "don't host your own email" does anyone have any suggestions? I'm hitting a wall since I don't know enough to set up on VPS on my own, but know enough that I will not fix my spam issue by staying on shared email for reasons listed above. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ElevenNotes · 2023-11-02 16:28 Get a static IP from a reputable business IP range and let them set the PTR. I run my own MTA since over 15 years and never ended up on any spam list and I deliver more than 10'000 mails a day. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- No_Dragonfruit_5882 · 2023-11-02 17:04 This is the only perfect way to do it. If you buy vservers and another vserver sends spam, the whole ipv4 subnet block will end up marked as spam. Running my Emailhost for 14 Domains from a static Business home ip address and getting more or less half the Mails you get (without spam) Upvoted ---------------------------------------------------------------------- iamdadmin · 2023-11-02 17:18 Something like Mimecast to act as your edge? They do antispam, antimalware and all of that, handle your incoming and outgoing and IDK the cost these days but it's not like they're the only service that does this kinda thing, and I would assume it can be done cheaper than google workspace/o365. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Dgb_iii · 2023-11-02 17:25 Shew. Sounds like I have a lot to learn, better get started. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- No_Dragonfruit_5882 · 2023-11-02 17:40 Its a lot to learn for sure. But dont get discouraged, despite the 95% that tell you email hosting is not worth it. Everyone says you will waste a lot of lifetime when hosting mailservers. As i said 14 Domains using Mailcow and my Maintanance for the Server is: Each month 5 Minutes to see if there is an update + testing the Backup restore And once per year i check the whole server. Takes about 30 Minutes. I waste aprox. 1.5 Hours each Year to have Emails and shit running for 14 Domains. For me its totally worth it. You can even spent less time on the Server if you setup Auto Updates and Monitoring. ++ even if you decide to trash the Mailserver, you gained knowledge about Mailservers / IP Reputation / Spam Detection / Overall DNS shit. Trust me, i know too many IT Sysadmins that have no idea how anything works when it comes to Email. + Dont forget most Software have Mail notification, and usually you can Spot the Email geek within the first 5 seconds since he does not need to try every port that could be used to send Email. Hopefully that was not too much text, but i highly recommend you to keep going and collect knowledge. You never know when you need it. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- CatoDomine · 2023-11-02 17:54 >This means my SMTP does not resolve back to my domain, and my emails are ending up in spam. PTR record doesn't necessarily have to resolve to your domain, it just has to have a matching forward record, and preferably not be something generic that looks like a residential ip. For example: ool-1230480c.dyn.optonline.net. As others have mentioned you could get an ip from someone who knows what a PTR record is and has their range properly sub-delegated, and not shared with other VPSes. OR, you might consider some kind of SMTP relay service. I haven't used one in years, so I can't speak to which company might have the best reputation and deliverability numbers, but they are usually far more cost effective than MS365/Google, they charge based on the volume of outbound email usually. You would still handle incoming. **CAVEAT EMPTOR**: Some of these relay services might cater to email marketers and their ip reputation will suffer accordingly. I know this solution is not "Self Hosted", but if you are having problems with getting a dedicated static ip, or reverse DNS delegation, it could be a viable solution. I have done almost zero research but you might start by looking at these: ​ |smtp.com| |:-| |Amazon SES| |SendGrid.com| ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Dgb_iii · 2023-11-02 18:03 Thanks for this, I appreciate it. > ++ even if you decide to trash the Mailserver, you gained knowledge about Mailservers / IP Reputation / Spam Detection / Overall DNS shit. Trust me, i know too many IT Sysadmins that have no idea how anything works when it comes to Email. I am trying to learn all I can, I am self taught and learning solutions to problems as they present themselves to our 3 years old growing business. Trying on many hats lately and trying to learn but am enjoying tickling the parts of brain that I haven't engaged in a long time. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Dgb_iii · 2023-11-02 18:13 Thanks for the insight. >PTR record doesn't necessarily have to resolve to your domain, it just has to have a matching forward record, and preferably not be something generic that looks like a residential ip. Gotcha, so mine looks like: > 122.176.163.82.in-addr.arpa. Not sure if you can derive anything meaningful from that. Thank you for the other suggestions, I will look into them all. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Scared_Bell3366 · 2023-11-02 18:28 I haven't run a mail server in awhile, but the only place that rejected mail due to the reverse PTR was craig's list. I suspect your VPS has a poor reputation. I would go with u/ElevenNotes advice. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ElevenNotes · 2023-11-02 18:31 You can also use a reputable MTA to send mail on your behalf, that way the egress part is taken care by someone else. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- CatoDomine · 2023-11-02 18:39 >122.176.163.82.in-addr.arpa. $ dig -x 82.163.176.122 +noall +answer 122.176.163.82.in-addr.arpa. 1786 IN PTR sv99.ifastnet.com. $ dig +noall +answer sv99.ifastnet.com. sv99.ifastnet.com. 200 IN A 82.163.176.122 that looks good to me. reputation is "Neutral" as far as Talos is concerned [https://talosintelligence.com/reputation\_center/lookup?search=82.163 .176.122](https://talosintelligence.com/reputation_center/lookup?searc h=82.163.176.122) HOWEVER, that ip does appear to be listed on SORBS. You should file a request to delist. [https://mxtoolbox.com/SuperTool.aspx?action=blacklist%3a82.163.176.12 2&run=toolpage](https://mxtoolbox.com/SuperTool.aspx?action=blacklist% 3a82.163.176.122&run=toolpage) Is this a dedicated ip, or do you share with other VPSes? you can do other reputation lookups if you want, but that SORBS listing is going to impact deliverability pretty significantly. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- lunakoa · 2023-11-02 19:05 Yeah, I totally agree with you. I encourage people to set up an internal mail server, see what it takes. Its a great learning experience, I have done a workshop on setting up postfix and dovecot for local access. At the end I tell gave warnings like open relays, reputation, spam, DMARC, SPF etc. I did show one one of them how to use AWS with an EIP for external mail connectivity. But its been a while and I need to upgrade my presentation to use SES or google to forward mail. But you learn about DNS (MX records and autoconfig), certs, and smart gateways. There is some value to having a local mail system not connecting to the wider internet (archive via IMAP, large emails, testing apps etc)