Why is an eMail to [email protected] not possible ?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Tim Tuples
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Tim Tuples

We have a deidcated server with a fixed IP (e.g =202.34.123.45)
and a running mail server but NO domain associated with it.

I tried to send several times from serveral mail accounts from all over the world
emails to an eMail account on this server (e.g. to [email protected]).
Unfortunately this doens't work.

The SMTP mail delivery system seems to need a domain name and NOT an IP. Why?

For web pages I can write http://202.34.123.45
Why is such a trick not possible for emails ?

Tim
 
As far as I know that's just not a valid email address and no email client
will accept it. I think that RFC822 defines what a valid email is and
name@IP-Address isn't one of the valid formats.
 
I think it is possible to receive messages sent to addresses with that
format. You do need to add that 'domain' to your recipient policies, and
make sure that anyone who will be receiving such messages has that address,
ie [email protected], listed specifically as an SMTP email address in
Active Directory.

-Peter
 
In
Tim Tuples said:
We have a deidcated server with a fixed IP (e.g =202.34.123.45)
and a running mail server but NO domain associated with it.

I tried to send several times from serveral mail accounts from all
over the world emails to an eMail account on this server (e.g. to
[email protected]). Unfortunately this doens't work.

The SMTP mail delivery system seems to need a domain name and NOT an
IP. Why?

For web pages I can write http://202.34.123.45
Why is such a trick not possible for emails ?

Tim
Click to expand...

What you're looking for is referred to as "acceptance of domain literals"
(see RFC1123). Without knowing anything about your mail server, I couldn't
possibly guess how to set it up (nor whether your senders' servers will like
it, even if you do).

Seriously, I would just register a domain name and start using it. It
doesn't cost much, and if this server isn't just a plaything//lab/home
server, it's well worth it.

PS: I noticed you'd set the followup-to to a single group, the
winxp.network_web one - if you want people to be able to participate in the
thread, best not to do that. At any rate, this isn't a WinXP issue.
 
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