Hey if you're getting this email I actually just fixed it, but I'm not completely sure why. I'm using bind 8.10 with multiple domains being dns'ed through it. The dns *was* working properly through a direct connection at my university, but seems to be failing me now. The hosts file was (and still is) as listed below. I thought the alias "nerdulator" would expand to the fqdn nerdulator.nerdulator.net, but apparently it doesn't? I finally fixed the problem by adding the last alias shown in the zone entry file below, so now the host resolves properly to the external query "nslookup nerdulator.nerdulator.net". mitvma.mit.edu mailserver also accepts the "EHLO nerdulator.nerdulator.net" command without timing out. So the new question is... why didn't the hosts file resolve the name properly in the first place? I thought since the order was "hosts,bind" that upon a dns request it would first run through the hosts file, then only upon not finding a match would proceed to check with Bind for a match. Thanks for your response! I've been working on this for a few days before I could even post anything about the problem, and was beginning to wonder if I was in fact going insane. Then I read the post about how 0.999999999 == 1 and everything fell back into place lol. --- resolv.conf file ---- order: hosts, bind nameserver: ns1.nerdulator.net --- hosts file --- ::1 localhost.nerdulator.net. localhost 127.0.0.1 localhost.nerdulator.net. localhost 12.169.226.68 nerdulator.net. nerdulator --- zone entry --- $TTL 86400 @ IN SOA @ webmaster.nerdulator.net. ( 1 ; serial 28800 ; refresh 7200 ; retry 604800 ; expire 86400 ; ttl ) IN NS ns1.nerdulator.net @ IN A 12.169.226.68 www IN CNAME nerdulator.net. ns1 IN CNAME nerdulator.net. ... a few more irrelevant aliases .... nerdulator IN CNAME nerdulator.net. ---- end ---- ----- Original Message ----- From: "Shawn Wilton" To: Sent: Wednesday, May 19, 2004 12:10 AM Subject: Re: [OT:] Sendmail and the PICLIST > Sounds like an issue with your dns setup. Care to post that and perhaps > we can at least confirm that it's correct. Also, what version of dns > are you using? > > > Shawn Wilton > Junior in CpE > MicroBiologist > > Phone: (503) 881-2707 > Email: shawn@black9.net > > http://black9.net > > Robert B. wrote: > > I moved my server to a different location (now behind a router) and am now > > running into problems with Sendmail sending messages through the > > mitvma.mit.edu domain. It seems to be a problem with the piclist server > > trying to reverse-lookup my mail host. For reference, my server's domain is > > "nerdulator.net" and the machine's name is "nerdulator". > > > > EHLO nerdulator.net gives a proper response, but > > EHLO nerdulator.nerdulator.net gives a timeout error, as well as > > EHLO anything.whatever > > > > Is this a problem anybody else has had? I got around it by just changing > > the system's hostname to "nerdulator.net" with no computer name, but I > > understand that this is generally a bad idea for various reasons. > > > > Any sendmail gurus out there? Comments are appreciated. > > > > -- > > http://www.piclist.com hint: The PICList is archived three different > > ways. See http://www.piclist.com/#archives for details. > > -- > http://www.piclist.com#nomail Going offline? Don't AutoReply us! > email listserv@mitvma.mit.edu with SET PICList DIGEST in the body -- http://www.piclist.com#nomail Going offline? Don't AutoReply us! email listserv@mitvma.mit.edu with SET PICList DIGEST in the body