Voicemail messages aren't being emailed to users

[bnob]

We have a Mitel 5000 system and have forward and copy setup for voice messages to be sent to the users email.  This had been working fine up until the last couple of days.  We haven't changed any settings on our Exchange server and other programs are still able to send email through SMTP.  I have put a few of the logs from the system below.  I have restarted the system with no change.  Any ideas what is causing the problems?


Mar 28 16:23:01 vismail exim[8831]: 1ULJLh-0002IR-00 <= mail@vismail.*****.local U=mail P=local S=652 T="Cron <mail@vismail>   if [ -x /usr/sbin/exim -a -f /etc/exim/exim.conf ]; then /usr/sbin/exim -q ; f"Mar 28 16:23:01 vismail exim[8831]: 1ULJLh-0002IR-00 == root@vismail.*******.local <mail@vismail.*****.local> T=local_delivery defer (13): Permission denied: cannot create /var/spool/mail/rootMar 28 16:23:01 vismail exim[8831]: 1ULJLh-0002IR-00 FrozenMar 28 16:23:32 vismail exim[8890]: 1ULJMB-0002JO-00 <= vismail@*****.com U=root P=local S=86343 T="[0:04] Message for MB 4061 from x 4093 (******)"Mar 28 16:23:42 vismail exim[8891]: 1ULJMB-0002JO-00 == *****@******.com R=smarthost defer (-37): host lookup for mail.******.com did not complete (DNS timeout?)Mar 28 16:27:37 vismail exim[9384]: 1ULJQ8-0002RM-00 <= vismail@*****.com U=root P=local S=30422 T="[0:02] Message for MB 4066 from a caller at ********"Mar 28 16:27:47 vismail exim[9386]: 1ULJQ8-0002RM-00 == ****@*****.com R=smarthost defer (-37): host lookup for mail.******.com did not complete (DNS timeout?)

[NTEDave]

Looks like the 5000 can't resolve your Exchange server host name via your DNS  server.

If you ping the host name for your exchange server from a pc on the same LAN does it route to the correct ip?

[bnob]

Yeah,  everything appears to be resolving correctly.  We had a power outage a couple of days ago that took down all our servers at the time and since they were brought back up the emails haven't been coming through for voicemails. 

[acejavelin]

Mar 28 16:23:01 vismail exim[8831]: 1ULJLh-0002IR-00 <= mail@vismail.*****.local U=mail P=local S=652 T="Cron <mail@vismail>   if [ -x /usr/sbin/exim -a -f /etc/exim/exim.conf ]; then /usr/sbin/exim -q ; f"Mar 28 16:23:01 vismail exim[8831]: 1ULJLh-0002IR-00 == root@vismail.*******.local <mail@vismail.*****.local> T=local_delivery defer (13): Permission denied: cannot create /var/spool/mail/rootMar 28 16:23:01 vismail exim[8831]: 1ULJLh-0002IR-00 FrozenMar 28 16:23:32 vismail exim[8890]: 1ULJMB-0002JO-00 <= vismail@*****.com U=root P=local S=86343 T="[0:04] Message for MB 4061 from x 4093 (******)"Mar 28 16:23:42 vismail exim[8891]: 1ULJMB-0002JO-00 == *****@******.com R=smarthost defer (-37): host lookup for mail.******.com did not complete (DNS timeout?)Mar 28 16:27:37 vismail exim[9384]: 1ULJQ8-0002RM-00 <= vismail@*****.com U=root P=local S=30422 T="[0:02] Message for MB 4066 from a caller at ********"Mar 28 16:27:47 vismail exim[9386]: 1ULJQ8-0002RM-00 == ****@*****.com R=smarthost defer (-37): host lookup for mail.******.com did not complete (DNS timeout?)

So the DNS servers in the 5000's IP Settings can correctly resolve mail.******.com? And the 5000 can correctly access the DNS servers listed? The mail.mainlog entries are pretty self explanatory here as to the problem it is having, it is issuing a DNS query and not recieving ANY response, valid or otherwise.

Note that the "Permission denied: cannot create /var/... Frozen" is normal and not an issue here.

[bnob]

Mar 28 16:23:01 vismail exim[8831]: 1ULJLh-0002IR-00 <= mail@vismail.*****.local U=mail P=local S=652 T="Cron <mail@vismail>   if [ -x /usr/sbin/exim -a -f /etc/exim/exim.conf ]; then /usr/sbin/exim -q ; f"Mar 28 16:23:01 vismail exim[8831]: 1ULJLh-0002IR-00 == root@vismail.*******.local <mail@vismail.*****.local> T=local_delivery defer (13): Permission denied: cannot create /var/spool/mail/rootMar 28 16:23:01 vismail exim[8831]: 1ULJLh-0002IR-00 FrozenMar 28 16:23:32 vismail exim[8890]: 1ULJMB-0002JO-00 <= vismail@*****.com U=root P=local S=86343 T="[0:04] Message for MB 4061 from x 4093 (******)"Mar 28 16:23:42 vismail exim[8891]: 1ULJMB-0002JO-00 == *****@******.com R=smarthost defer (-37): host lookup for mail.******.com did not complete (DNS timeout?)Mar 28 16:27:37 vismail exim[9384]: 1ULJQ8-0002RM-00 <= vismail@*****.com U=root P=local S=30422 T="[0:02] Message for MB 4066 from a caller at ********"Mar 28 16:27:47 vismail exim[9386]: 1ULJQ8-0002RM-00 == ****@*****.com R=smarthost defer (-37): host lookup for mail.******.com did not complete (DNS timeout?)

So the DNS servers in the 5000's IP Settings can correctly resolve mail.******.com? And the 5000 can correctly access the DNS servers listed? The mail.mainlog entries are pretty self explanatory here as to the problem it is having, it is issuing a DNS query and not recieving ANY response, valid or otherwise.

Note that the "Permission denied: cannot create /var/... Frozen" is normal and not an issue here.

Every other computer I've tried that is on the same network and using the same DNS settings are able to resolve mail.*******.com correctly.  Is there something I can do from the phone system to test? 

[acejavelin]

Are the 5000 and the PCs in the same subnet and VLAN? Is the mail server you are using onsite or offsite (ie. is it really a .com or is it actually a .local)?

[super6]

I had something very sililar and found that my IMAP4 service wasn't running omn the eschnage server

[acejavelin]

I had something very sililar and found that my IMAP4 service wasn't running omn the eschnage server

"Copy & Forward" does not use the IMAP service, it only requires basic SMTP. Enhanced Integration requires the IMAP service.

One thing I would try is to go into the System IP Settings and set the DNS servers to 208.67.222.222 & 208.67.220.220 (OpenDNS) and reboot via software (do NOT pull the plug), then go back in and change them back to the corporate DNS servers and reboot again. Perhaps something in the network settings got corrupted even if it appears correct.

[bnob]

I had something very sililar and found that my IMAP4 service wasn't running omn the eschnage server

"Copy & Forward" does not use the IMAP service, it only requires basic SMTP. Enhanced Integration requires the IMAP service.

One thing I would try is to go into the System IP Settings and set the DNS servers to 208.67.222.222 & 208.67.220.220 (OpenDNS) and reboot via software (do NOT pull the plug), then go back in and change them back to the corporate DNS servers and reboot again. Perhaps something in the network settings got corrupted even if it appears correct.

I tried this suggestion and I'm still seeing the same errors in the log. 

[acejavelin]

I will ask one more time... Are the 5000 and the PCs in the same subnet and VLAN? Is the mail server you are using onsite or offsite (ie. is it really a .com or is it actually a .local)? When the DNS server the 5000 is accessing is resolving the mailservers name, is it getting an internal or external IP address?

[bnob]

I will ask one more time... Are the 5000 and the PCs in the same subnet and VLAN? Is the mail server you are using onsite or offsite (ie. is it really a .com or is it actually a .local)? When the DNS server the 5000 is accessing is resolving the mailservers name, is it getting an internal or external IP address?

Yes, PCs and 5000 are all on the same subnet.  We aren't using any VLANs.  Our Exchange server is onsite and is on the same server as the DNS.  When pinging mail.*******.com from the DNS server that I have the 5000 using, it pings the correct internal IP.

[acejavelin]

I am more than slightly befuddled then... Do you have entry in your DNS for the internal server name (ie. mail.domain.local) that you could change your mail settings to use that DNS instead of the .com address?

Also, as much as it pains to me to say this and I have scolded people for it on numerous occasions, you could try changing the field for SMTP E-Mail Server to the (GULP) server's internal IP address instead of the domain name... It is very bad practice but it could possibly verify that the Mitel and email server are at least talking to each other.

On another note, is NTP Time Synchronization working to an outside time server? (This would verify DNS connectivity for another site)

[bnob]

I got into the SSH connection earlier today and as expected, I can't ping the Exchange/DNS server.  I can ping any other devices on our network.  I'm going to be restarting our mail server this evening and doing some maintenance so I'm curious if that will resolve the issue.  I'll update once that has been done.  Very strange issue.

[acejavelin]

If that doesn't work, restart all your data switches... I know it sounds strange, but I have seen corrupted ARP tables in switches cause similar issues.

[bnob]

If that doesn't work, restart all your data switches... I know it sounds strange, but I have seen corrupted ARP tables in switches cause similar issues.

Resetting switches was going to be my next step, thankfully, restarting the mail server resolved the issue.  Thanks for all your help and suggestions.