MX lookup failed

Question

This is a part of my dns-zone file:

;; MX Records
mx.domain.de.   300 IN  MX  1   direct.domain.de.

;; CNAME Records
www.domain.de.  300 IN  CNAME   domain.de.
mail.domain.de. 300 IN  CNAME   domain.de.
direct.domain.de.   300 IN  CNAME   domain.de.

;; A Records (IPv4 addresses)
domain.de.  300 IN  A   5.**.**.***

After 24h i scanned my domain with http://mxtoolbox.com/SuperTool.aspx. I alway get this:

"No Records Exist". I use Cloudflare, so that is wrong with my dns-zone file? All works fine, expect the MX.

score 4 · Accepted Answer · answered Jan 11 '14 at 16:17

4

an MX record cannot be pointed to a CNAME. You need to create an A record for Your MX.

RFC 2181

10.3. MX and NS records

   The domain name used as the value of a NS resource record, or part of
   the value of a MX resource record must not be an alias. [....]

source: http://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2181.txt

answered Jan 11 '14 at 16:17

Bartłomiej Zarzecki

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read the whole RFC if You are setting the zone file yourself :) You may find more surprises :D – Bartłomiej Zarzecki Jan 11 '14 at 16:23

score 3 · Answer 2 · answered Jan 11 '14 at 19:31

3

In addition to the CNAME problem Bartłomiej pointed out, your MX record also has a "mx." prefix on the domain. This means it applies to email addressed to "name@mx.domain.de", not "name@domain.de". So, your MX section should simply be:

;; MX Records
domain.de.   300 IN  MX  1   domain.de.

answered Jan 11 '14 at 19:31

Gordon Davisson

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If i can, i would give you also a "right answear". thanks, now it works, really! :D – taito Jan 11 '14 at 22:26
I will mark as usefull myself :) I agree the record had to be adjusted too. – Bartłomiej Zarzecki Jan 12 '14 at 12:05

MX lookup failed

2 Answers2