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Lightsail vs non-AWS providers
I have a Lightsail low end vps (1gb 1cpu 80gb ssd) hosting phpbb. It works perfectly for several years already. There is no problem sending out registration emails to new users through the gmail free smtp server. phpbb can automatically update in control panel. wget is working on this vps.
I have several vpses and several dedis of another provider which is highly recommended here. I like this provider's price, performance, support, and reputation. I really hope this provider can grow healthily and not affected by my post. Also, I don't think that the issues are this provider's fault. So I assume in this post that this provider is aliased as Ace.
Initially, I had no issues and enjoyed high quality high spec dedis and vpses. However, after several months, I notice that something weird happened. On one of my dedis, my phpbb cannot send registration emails to new users through the free gmail smtp server. wget is not working for the drupal site. Automatic update in drupal's control panel is deactivated. On another vps, for a django-based app, the registration emails to new users through the free gmail smtp server are invalid. Because there is no way to turn off email registration, the app is not useful due to this issue. I had to delete this vps.
After some reading, I hypothesize that the ip ranges of my dedis and vpses are contaminated, possibly due to the wild behavior of some neighbors and the consequent curfew on the whole neighborhood.
I am thinking to implement two technical measures to solve the issues mentioned above.
Buy mxroute or mailcheap or other smtp providers to replace the free google smtp server.
Buy new ip addresses to replace the old ip addresses on my dedis and vpses.
Here are the questions to my fellow LETers:
Is my hypothesis valid? What are the other possibilities?
Are the two technical measures viable? Are there better ways to handle these issues?
I really hope that I can solve these technical issues. Otherwise, I have to go back to the Lightsail route, which is about 10 times more expensive than Ace. Lightsail's support is not as good as Ace neither. I really hate going back that way. But if I cannot solve these issues, I have no choice but to go back to Lightsail.
Thank you all in advance.
Comments
Some providers have issues with IP's, mostly OVH-based providers. One provider with good IP's is @LittleCreek imo
OP needs to stop drinking, I still can’t make sense what wget has to do with free Gmail servers and whatnot.
You need to tell us about your issues in detail. What doesn’t work? What error messages do you see?
I use wget to download phpbb and drupal new versions.
I use google free smtp server to send out registration emails.
These are two issues. Apparently not related. But may be caused by the same cause.
It's less of an issue with IP rep now. Even Contabo can send emails fine if you have it setup properly.
Do you have any guides?
Usually a smtp relay service I believe
Seems that google is providing some smtp relay service. Not sure if it works though.
https://support.google.com/a/answer/2956491?hl=en
To be clear, majorly I experience three issues on my Ace dedi and one issue on my Ace vps:
1. On Ace dedi, phpbb can not send out registration email. I set up gmail smtp server in phpbb's control panel. I set up the same way on lightsail's phpbb site, email registration works perfectly. Both installations use the same version of phpbb, the same addons, different themes only.
2. On Ace dedi, wget -d does not work to download phpbb or drupal. The debug information says that the ftp site cannot be reached. On the same dedi, I can wget google or other app sites to download files. On lightsail's vps, I can wget both phpbb and drupal sites. Other users tested on other servers and wget worked on both drupal and phpbb sites.
3. On Ace dedi, on phpbb and drupal's control panels, automatic update is not working. On lightsail's vps, this works fine.
4. On my Ace vps with a djano-based app, email registration suddenly does not work. I don't have lightsail instance with the same app, so I don't have comparison.
I experience these issues only after I successfully install phpbb and drupal and django-based app on the Ace's dedi and vps for like half a year. There was no issue at the beginning. Otherwise, I will notice because I used wget to get the latest version of phpbb and drupal for initial installation.
You need to check your logs.
When you send mail, check your logs and test deliverability , there are plenty of guides.
Further, if phpbb and drupal are not auto updating, check respective app's forum or knowledgebase.
And there are plenty of services which can test your IP against blacklists, that should give you headstart if IPs are "contaminated". May be you can use some sanitizer to de-contaminate them.
And if you are really worried about mail, use AWS SES, its cheap and works.
Thank you very much for the great suggestions.
I checked my Ace IPs on some website to see if on the blacklists, but seems all are OK. It confuses me. Like this one: http://www.uceprotect.net/en/rblcheck.php
I checked AWS SES, not sure how to use it. I will research more.
I actually posted on phpbb and drupal's community sites and asked why. Other users just posted that auto updating and wget work on their sites. No further suggestions.
For SES, create account, verify your domain (steps are there) or you can also verify single address. Now you can either use their API (if supported by - for drupal ) or use simple SMTP credential, again can be generated on SES. Read their doc, some video tutorials, invest some time and effort, you will get it working.
For wget and updates, it could be firewall, wrong path or anything , again depending upon app you are using. Had used phpbb and drupal ages ago so I won't dive into it, but someone who is regularly using might resolve easily.
Thank you for the instruction. Best regards,
What's the exact error message you get?
Can you ping the server it's trying to download from?
The wget -d debug information says that the drupal or phpbb site can not be reached. After three times of unsuccessful trials, it stops. Right now I cannot access my Ace server, so that I can not post the exact screen printout here.
Thank you for your interest.