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emails suddenly not working

  • alexpatton
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8 years 2 months ago #132011 by alexpatton
emails suddenly not working was created by alexpatton
I can not longer seem to send emails through a token procedure.

I have already deleted all tokens and restarted the process.

I have used SMTP with and without SSL. I have spoken with the host and I was hitting no limits on the host. This token list is 20 people.

I have turned debugging on and everything says accepted, but no emails are being delivered. I know this because I am a panel member and received no email. No invite, no reminder.

Extremely frustrating.

Any ideas? I can't initiate a survey without the ability to send emails.
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8 years 2 months ago #132015 by holch
Replied by holch on topic emails suddenly not working
My first guess would be the host. But as you checked with them, let's assume on that side everything is OK.

Now, without any change to your setup it seems extremely unlikely that a software just changes its behaviour.

What did you change/modify since last time that it worked? Any updates to Limesurvey? (What Limesurvey version are you running on anyway). Any updates to the server?

I answer at the LimeSurvey forum in my spare time, I'm not a LimeSurvey GmbH employee.
No support via private message.

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8 years 2 months ago #132024 by alexpatton
Replied by alexpatton on topic emails suddenly not working
Version 2.06+ Build 151109

hosted at hostgator.

When i send a reminder email and turn on SMTP debugging, this is the output.
The email appears to be accepting email, but this email is never delivered.
The only change was using a new template, but the email setting were not changed.

2016-02-23 19:32:40 SERVER -> CLIENT: 220-s6.websitewelcome.com ESMTP Exim 4.86 #2 Tue, 23 Feb 2016 13:32:40 -0600
220-We do not authorize the use of this system to transport unsolicited,
220 and/or bulk e-mail.
2016-02-23 19:32:40 CLIENT -> SERVER: EHLO survey.meerresearch.com
2016-02-23 19:32:40 SERVER -> CLIENT: 250-s6.websitewelcome.com Hello survey.meerresearch.com [192.185.83.211]
250-SIZE 52428800
250-8BITMIME
250-PIPELINING
250-AUTH PLAIN LOGIN
250 HELP
2016-02-23 19:32:40 CLIENT -> SERVER: AUTH LOGIN
2016-02-23 19:32:40 SERVER -> CLIENT: 334 VXNlcm5hbWU6
2016-02-23 19:32:40 CLIENT -> SERVER: bWVlcnJlc2VhcmNoQG1lZXJyZXNlYXJjaC5jb20=
2016-02-23 19:32:40 SERVER -> CLIENT: 334 UGFzc3dvcmQ6
2016-02-23 19:32:40 CLIENT -> SERVER: TCF6enlwMTczMQ==
2016-02-23 19:32:40 SERVER -> CLIENT: 235 Authentication succeeded
2016-02-23 19:32:40 CLIENT -> SERVER: MAIL FROM:
2016-02-23 19:32:40 SERVER -> CLIENT: 250 OK
2016-02-23 19:32:40 CLIENT -> SERVER: RCPT TO:
2016-02-23 19:32:40 SERVER -> CLIENT: 250 Accepted
2016-02-23 19:32:40 CLIENT -> SERVER: DATA
2016-02-23 19:32:40 SERVER -> CLIENT: 354 Enter message, ending with "." on a line by itself
2016-02-23 19:32:40 CLIENT -> SERVER: Date: Tue, 23 Feb 2016 13:32:40 -0600
2016-02-23 19:32:40 CLIENT -> SERVER: To: Alex Patton
2016-02-23 19:32:40 CLIENT -> SERVER: From: Alex Patton
2016-02-23 19:32:40 CLIENT -> SERVER: Subject: =?utf-8?B?UmVtaW5kZXIgdG8gcGFydGljaXBhdGUgaW4gYSBzdXJ2ZXk=?=
2016-02-23 19:32:40 CLIENT -> SERVER: Message-ID:
2016-02-23 19:32:40 CLIENT -> SERVER: X-Priority: 3
2016-02-23 19:32:40 CLIENT -> SERVER: X-Mailer: PHPMailer 5.2.8 ( github.com/PHPMailer/PHPMailer/ )
2016-02-23 19:32:40 CLIENT -> SERVER: X-surveyid: 555115
2016-02-23 19:32:40 CLIENT -> SERVER: X-tokenid: OLMqEmKdq98IfeC
2016-02-23 19:32:40 CLIENT -> SERVER: X-Surveymailer: Meer Research Emailer (LimeSurvey.sourceforge.net)
2016-02-23 19:32:40 CLIENT -> SERVER: MIME-Version: 1.0
2016-02-23 19:32:40 CLIENT -> SERVER: Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8
2016-02-23 19:32:40 CLIENT -> SERVER: Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
2016-02-23 19:32:40 CLIENT -> SERVER:
2016-02-23 19:32:40 CLIENT -> SERVER: Dear Alex,
2016-02-23 19:32:40 CLIENT -> SERVER:
2016-02-23 19:32:40 CLIENT -> SERVER: Recently we invited you to participate in a survey.
2016-02-23 19:32:40 CLIENT -> SERVER:
2016-02-23 19:32:40 CLIENT -> SERVER: We note that you have not yet completed the survey, and wish to remind you that the survey is still available should you wish to take part.
2016-02-23 19:32:40 CLIENT -> SERVER:
2016-02-23 19:32:40 CLIENT -> SERVER: The survey is titled:
2016-02-23 19:32:40 CLIENT -> SERVER: "Gainesville City Elections Update"
2016-02-23 19:32:40 CLIENT -> SERVER:
2016-02-23 19:32:40 CLIENT -> SERVER: "As the Gainesville City Elections gather steam and ballots are being cast, it is time to update our past predictions. "
2016-02-23 19:32:40 CLIENT -> SERVER:
2016-02-23 19:32:40 CLIENT -> SERVER: To participate, please click on the link below.
2016-02-23 19:32:40 CLIENT -> SERVER:
2016-02-23 19:32:40 CLIENT -> SERVER: Sincerely,
2016-02-23 19:32:40 CLIENT -> SERVER:
2016-02-23 19:32:40 CLIENT -> SERVER: Alex Patton (MeerResearch@meerreseach.com)
2016-02-23 19:32:40 CLIENT -> SERVER:
2016-02-23 19:32:40 CLIENT -> SERVER:
2016-02-23 19:32:40 CLIENT -> SERVER: Click here to do the survey:
2016-02-23 19:32:40 CLIENT -> SERVER: survey.meerresearch.com/survey/index.php...qEmKdq98IfeC&lang=en
2016-02-23 19:32:40 CLIENT -> SERVER:
2016-02-23 19:32:40 CLIENT -> SERVER: If you do not want to participate in this survey and don't want to receive any more invitations please click the following link:
2016-02-23 19:32:40 CLIENT -> SERVER: survey.meerresearch.com/survey/index.php...oken=OLMqEmKdq98IfeC
2016-02-23 19:32:40 CLIENT -> SERVER:
2016-02-23 19:32:40 CLIENT -> SERVER: .
2016-02-23 19:32:40 SERVER -> CLIENT: 250 OK id=1aYIhM-000I91-H9
2016-02-23 19:32:40 CLIENT -> SERVER: QUIT
2016-02-23 19:32:40 SERVER -> CLIENT: 221 s6.websitewelcome.com closing connection
All emails were sent.
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8 years 1 month ago #132063 by jelo
Replied by jelo on topic emails suddenly not working
The logfile isn't showing any issues. Hostgator is using Cpanel, right? Only an admin of the email server can check what happened to the emails after they were added to the queue. It looks like a delivery problem between the emailservers.

The meaning of the word "stable" for users
www.limesurvey.org/forum/development/117...ord-stable-for-users
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8 years 1 month ago - 8 years 1 month ago #132139 by alexpatton
Replied by alexpatton on topic emails suddenly not working
Here is the log file from Hostgator. (attached)

closed by QUIT seems to be the issue.

It is fair to say that HostGator has been compromised?
Last edit: 8 years 1 month ago by Mazi. Reason: removed attachment -> please do not include files with email addresses
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8 years 1 month ago #132165 by jelo
Replied by jelo on topic emails suddenly not working
You're exposing email addresses of your potential survey respondents via the log file.
I have asked the moderator to remove the file.

The exim log file shows no problems.
Why do you think "Closed BY QUIT" is an issue? That is the normal ending of a SMTP session.

The meaning of the word "stable" for users
www.limesurvey.org/forum/development/117...ord-stable-for-users
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8 years 1 month ago #132170 by alexpatton
Replied by alexpatton on topic emails suddenly not working
I apologize for the log, boneheaded move. Should have known better.

I think the issue is that HG has had some of their servers compromised and they are being blocked by google and other large domains. I escalated the issue three times and was told "These messages being rejected is due to your domain not having any SPF authentication. " We've turned that on and will see if that addresses the issue.
It is frustrating because NOTHING changed with the procedure or set up, except the emails not being delivered.
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8 years 1 month ago #132173 by jelo
Replied by jelo on topic emails suddenly not working
When it comes to mail server I would be careful to call the server compromised.
Mostly there are mail accounts of users abused by third party. The maintainer of the server isn't the one to blame.

If the SPF records are invalid or missing it can be an issue. It seems to me that you haven't a simple webhosting account but a VPS or something else. There are at least three types of exim log files. mainlog, paniclog and rejectlog.
If the server completely managed by Hostgator the SPF records should be fixed by them.

If a email is sent and blocked by the destination mailserver, exim will sent you an email and log the issue.
You should check your email settings in Limesurvey to ensure that the bounce email adress is valid.

The meaning of the word "stable" for users
www.limesurvey.org/forum/development/117...ord-stable-for-users
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8 years 1 month ago #132183 by alexpatton
Replied by alexpatton on topic emails suddenly not working
I am so frustrated.

I have a simple shared server reseller account. Again, 20/30 days ago I was having no issues. That is what leads me to believe the server has been blacklisted or being blocked.

Ive used mxtools and the domain I sending from is not blacklisted.

So appears the emails are being sent, but NOTHING is hitting any of the 20 recipients email inboxes. (I have follow up with them) It is like they are going into a black hole.

1) I have asked HG for assistance, but can't seem to resolve the problem. even after adding SPF
i've tried with and without SSL, i've checked the bounce settings, nothing is being bounced.
2) I attempted to switch to AWS SES email, but can not get that to work either. Even though I have verified the email address multiple times through SES, the connection authenticates correctly and then errors out saying the email address is not verified. I have made sure of case sensitive issues and that doesn't appear to be an issue.

BTW, thank you for your help. I am extremely frustrated.
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8 years 1 month ago #132187 by alexpatton
Replied by alexpatton on topic emails suddenly not working
This appears to be whacky. When i log into the email interface and send an email, the emails are being delivered.
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8 years 1 month ago #132190 by berritorre
Replied by berritorre on topic emails suddenly not working
Hmmm, sometimes providers block the sending of emails that are generated by tools. E.g. for our company email a tool like Limesurvey could not use the SMTP server. Not sure how they do it though.
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8 years 1 month ago #132193 by alexpatton
Replied by alexpatton on topic emails suddenly not working
:cheer: :cheer:

I got it to work, and it was a stupid, stupid error.

The email settings were correct.
However, when I set up the survey, I mis-spelled the email address with a typo.
This mismatch was causing the email to be blocked.
Once the typo was corrected the emails went through!
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