Author: Rhian D. Block
rhian@vazoom.net
Ok, this question came up before and I was just asked it again today. Say your configuring an Active Directory domain, and you use the recommended method of a domain.local scheme. Your exchange (email) server is also in this .local domain structure so its name to the world when it communicates is MAIL.DOMAIN.LOCAL and furthermore email headers will also show your internal naming scheme
Received: from mail.domain.local ([207.172.xx.xx])
Here's the problem. There may be cases where the recipients mail server denies an SMTP communication as it verifies the legality of the .local extension. Also, antispam software on the recipient may possibly start blocking messages from your mail server which is not good. We know this isn't the valid Fully Qualified Domain name and it is the very reason why it was chosen in the first place so as not to conflict in the Active Directory environment with any real world domains of your own on the Internet.
So if you want to change the name of your server to a valid Internet address when it communicates with other mail servers do the following. This is for Exchange Server 2003 however Exchange 2000 may be similar although I will have to check into it. !! Remember !! This does not change the actual name of your mail server internally. It only changes what your mail server tells the recipient mail server its name is. You could even make it something totally fake, but I suggest making it the same as the Primary MX server for your domain.
To change it simply go into the Exchange 2003 System Manager > Servers > 'Expand the Correct Server' > Protocols > SMTP > Right click the Default SMTP Virtual Server Icon and select Properties
From the dialog menu that appears:
Click the Delivery Tab
At the bottom click Advanced
Change the Fully Qualified Domain Name Listed.
(This is what your server expresses itself as in a HELO of EHLO communication)
(Yours may say mail.domain.local ... change it to .com or whatevever)
Finally reboot the server and it should do the trick.
To test you could send an email from your exchange server to another email account on another domain and take a look at the mail headers. It should show the information you provided in the previous steps.