Re: IBM i as email relay

[Jim Franz <franz9000@xxxxxxxxx>]

A couple questions,
is the service started at strtcp?       -   Autostart server . . . . . . .
.   *YES
or is the smtp service freshly started?
and was this its 1st contact after service started?
Over the years i've noticed 1st contact is a decent delay (like maybe the
strtcpsvr *smtp not starting everything needed) but 2nd and on is
reasonable response (http server does this as well so in testing
performance i don't measure 1st few transactions).. This creates a problem
if starting a service, sending batch of trans out, then ending service..
Jim Franz

On Wed, Aug 7, 2024 at 12:38 PM Jeff Crosby <jlcrosby@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:

> Good Afternoon,
>
> V7R5 pretty up to date on PTFs.
>
> In preparation for no longer using gmail for email relay we're working with
> a vendor to use a different relay.  It so happens that the password is 69
> characters long.
>
> We have a couple Brother all-in-one devices that we (not often) email
> documents to employees.  They cannot handle passwords over 32 characters.
> Also, our Tripplite UPS cannot handle passwords over 64 characters.  No
> problem, I thought.  We'll just point them to the IBM i (in the cloud) and
> the IBM i can relay.
>
> I found this article from some fly by night author (haha):
>
> https://www.kisco.com/ibm-i-security-tips/ibm-i-smtp-relay-controls-2.html
>
> I used ADDSMTPLE to add 3 *ACCEPT entries:
>
> IP Address    Subnet Mask
> 192.168.0.0    255.255.0.0
> 10.100.0.167    255.255.0.0
> 10.46.0.2          255.255.255.255
>
> I point the Brother email settings to our IBM i internal IP address and try
> a test email.
>
> Using port 25 gives this error at the Brother device
>
> "Communication with the specified send e-mail server failed. It is possible
> that the network is busy or there is some problem. Please try again later."
>
> Using port 587 gives this error:
>
> "The specified send e-mail server cannot be found. The Send E-mail Server
> doesn't exist or the specified host doesn't support the service. Check the
> Send E-mail Server name and port number."
>
> Which leads me to believe that I am reaching the IBM i when using port 25
> because the error is different.
>
> I also tried it with the IBM i email relay to the not recommended
> ALWRLY(*ALL) in case I fubared the ADDSMTPLE stuff.  Same errors.
>
> A support person had me install Putty and connect to the IBM i on port 25.
> Got a blank screen with no welcome message.  We did the same thing with the
> service we're going to be using and got a welcome screen that said the
> service was ready.  The support person felt that the IBM i was not
> listening on port 25.
>
> However, the Work with IPv4 Connection Status screen shows that it is.
>
>       Remote           Remote  Local
>  Opt  Address           Port    Port  Idle Time  State
>       *                     *     21  020:47:45  Listen
>       *                     *     23  001:36:23  Listen
>       *                     *     25  000:04:35  Listen
>
> I then tried with port 26 and got a "connection refused" message.  So I
> think I am connecting on port 25.
>
> I'm guessing the issue is on our IBM i, but don't know what else to look
> at.
>
> Suggestions?
>
> Thanks.
>
> --
>
>
> *Jeff Crosby*
> Senior Vice President
> UniPro FoodService/Dilgard
> P.O. Box 13369
> Ft. Wayne, IN 46868-3369
> 260-422-7531
> direct.dilgardfoods.com
>
> The opinions expressed are my own and not necessarily the opinion of my
> company.  Unless I say so.
> --
> This is the Midrange Systems Technical Discussion (MIDRANGE-L) mailing list
> To post a message email: MIDRANGE-L@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> To subscribe, unsubscribe, or change list options,
> visit: https://lists.midrange.com/mailman/listinfo/midrange-l
> or email: MIDRANGE-L-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Before posting, please take a moment to review the archives
> at https://archive.midrange.com/midrange-l.
>
> Please contact support@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx for any subscription related
> questions.