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SMTP Reverse DNS Resolution

What you see when your domain has this problem
Reverse DNS Resolution Failed Details area Ignore
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More Information About Smtp Reverse Dns Resolution

We were unable to perform a reverse lookup (PTR) on the IP Address of your mail server.  This is a problem because many organizations will not accept email from a server without a PTR record.

We recommend performing a Reverse Lookup on the IP Address for your mail server to try to find the cause of the error. You will need to contact your ISP and ask them to setup a correct PTR record for you. You should ask that this record be the same as the hostname of your mail server.  We also recommend configuring your server to include this name in your SMTP banner.

Additional Information

When a sending server makes a connection to the recipient server, the recipient server notes the sending IP address and performs a reverse lookup, called a PTR lookup, named after the type of DNS record used. If the result of the reverse lookup matches the result of a forward DNS Lookup, then it's much more likely that the message is legitimate. If the IP address doesn't match, it's much more likely that the sending address was spoofed and therefore much more likely that it's unwanted and could be considered spam. 

An additional test that can be performed is an SMTP Banner check which compares the hostname announced by the server upon initial connection with the forward and reverse lookups.

Only the organization which controls an IP can configure PTR records. PTR record queries are sent to the owner of the IP address which is the ISP, unlike other DNS queries which are sent to the DNS server of whoever owns the domain.

Are you managing your email delivery?

Email delivery is more than running an email server, or regularly checking for blacklists. To really ensure you customers get your email, you need to setup SPF, DKIM and DMARC. If you aren't manage your DMARC configuration and responses from email providers, you don't know if your customers are getting your email.

MxToolbox is YOUR expert on email deliverability. MxDelivery Center can help you setup and analyze your DMARC, DKIM and SPF to give you the insight you need to make email configuration changes and get your emails to your customer's.
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