Outlook 2013 error 552 SME Server

Outlook 2013 perpetuates an issue with the Test email that is sent when creating a new email account or profile.

The issue has been there since much older versions of Outlook (like Office 97) but was always allowed to error gracefully, report, and be ignored.

The issue is that the Test Email does not have a date in the header. After all why would we want a date on a test email? (dripping with sarcasm!) other than to make it compliant with internet standards (which apparently in the RFC the date is optional, common sense says that adding todays date cannot be that hard, but I digress.

So, Outlook 2013 now has no option to accept the failure becuase ‘the server must be faulty’.

The error is 552 no date in header or similar depending on which flavour of server is reporting it.

For SME Server this could be remedied by allowing no header emails from within the local network, which should not present an issue for spam (which assumes that spammers do not worry about dates either) as it is on the local interface and not opening it up to the public.

This is documented in the SME Server Wiki but it is a simple snippet for a custom template created like this:

mkdir -p /etc/e-smith/templates-custom/var/service/qpsmtpd/config/peers/local
cd /etc/e-smith/templates-custom/var/service/qpsmtpd/config/peers/local
echo “# 17check_basicheaders disabled by custom template” > 17check_basicheaders
signal-event email-update

The last command resets the mail handling and you should be ok to run the test from the local network. Remote connections, unless on the VPN, will not work as the external interface will continue to reject the message without the date.

Windows 2012 server and Public vs Private network change Location

First up I have to thank http://www.jenovarain.com/2012/09/server-2012-network-location/ for the starting point on this.

A Windows server without a domain was installed but it had both ethernet interfaces listed as Public networks which meant that specific firewall issues existed, including being unable to connect as a remote desktop user. Turning off the Windows software firewall was one option that did allow the RDP connection to be completed, but this was sub-optimal and not persistent after a reboot.

The above-mentioned URL held out the section of the Windows Server Tools that was needed to setup more open access to allow the user to change the network location from Public to Private.

  • In “Server Manager” open the “Tools” menu and select “Local Security policy”.
  • Select “Network List manager policies” in the console tree.
  • Open “All Networks” properties.
  • Change “Network location” to “User can change location”
  • Now reboot to apply the changes, or at a command prompt use gpupdate /force

But it did not work for me. What I found was that the existing network connection settings were not over-written with the global settings after the reboot.

In the same “Network List manager policies” section, I had to select the specific Network Location and apply the changes there as well. Once that was done, the location could be changed from Public to Private, and my server was accessible with the firewall turned on.

Internet Explorer and Google Search Provider: Australia

Switching from Bing to Google as a default Search Provider. This is one of those issues that has had me frustrated for a number of years, since IE9 in fact. The Google Search Provider was simply not available. Even the Google page tells me that all I need to do is go to the IE Tools -> Manage Add-ons -> Find More Search providers and I’ll be able to select Google. Nup, that just does not work.

Have a look at this screenshot from IE11 this morning (the same occurred with IE9 and IE10)

2014-03-23 11_29_17-Internet Explorer Gallery - Internet Explorer

See that there are two links for Bing and then eBay and Grays On-line Auctions.

If you search in the little search box for Google the only option is a Search Accelerator which is just not the Provider we are looking for.

But if you search the web for ‘Change Bing to Google’ you only ever find the same instructions. I wrote about this a while back and manually tracked down a Google Search Provider add-on link in this post.

With setting up a new install of Windows on a PC this morning I tried again and finally the ‘penny dropped’. If you look closely at the URL it is targeting EN-AU or English Australia and if we change that part of the URL to EN-US  and magic happens. We get a host of Search Providers that are not available by default on the EN-AU page.

EN-US url provides more Search Options than EN-AU

So if you are in Australia and want to change to Google or anything other than Bing then you need to modify the URL. All the links on the internet are correct but only if you live in or have your PC settings for EN-US.

Which WordPress Contact Form Plugin to use?

Reviewing the plethora of Contact Form plugins for WordPress is daunting.  I have looked at dozens of possible options.

This review is relatively brief and focuses on obvious contenders. The rest can be summarily dismissed:

Contact Form by ContactMe.com reads very well, with all the common features. The catch is that it requires registration at yet another software as a service provider that wants your name and email address and offers ‘features’ that are totally unneccessary for the purpose of a contact form. Not for me.

Custom Contact Forms is another that sounds promising when reading the blurb and it installs smoothly, but then the top line is “Are you looking for a more customizable, reliable, and secure contact form solution for WordPress? Try Gravity Forms” which says to me that this plugin is not reliable or secure or customisable? Just a weird approach to marketing. Did not go further as Gravity Forms is one I am also looking at and if this one promotes Gravity then who am I to argue?

Fast Secure Contact Form is anything but fast with screen after screen of options, fields, and settings in one very long page. While I started to trawl down the list, I was overwhelmed within 30 seconds and decided that it would require far too much thinking and effort when all I want is a simple ‘Contact Us’ page.

BotDetect CAPTCHA is not a contact form tool but a method of adding Captcha processes to an entire WordPress site. The issue is that the plugin install does not include the native Captcha library, which must be downloaded separately and only after registering your email address with the service provider, etc. I had hoped to build a contact form and add this, but it just gave me headaches trying to get it configured.

Contact Form With Captcha is a nice contact form but the Recaptcha process is difficult for some users as the distortion of the words can be too much. In fact I have deployed this one on a number of sites and this review is simply to find an alternative that provides flexibility in the Captcha options.

Contact Form 7 is the one I eventually went with as it provided an easier Captcha option.