# Incoming e-mail not received
**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/incoming-e-mail-not-received/217636
**Category:** Self-hosting
**Created:** [February 9, 2022, 9:48am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/incoming-e-mail-not-received/217636 "2022-02-09T09:48:24Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@JustinSjouw](https://meta.discourse.org/u/JustinSjouw)
#### Post date: [February 9, 2022, 9:48am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/incoming-e-mail-not-received/217636/1 "2022-02-09T09:48:25Z")
Hi There,
I have setup a Discourse environment per the standard Docker container and added the mail-receiver container.
When I look at [https://mxtoolbox.com/](https://mxtoolbox.com/) my domain [community.mountainbikemuseum.net](http://community.mountainbikemuseum.net) also points to the right IP address of my server.
On the mail-receiver container no information seems to be logged, the last line of ./launcher logs mail-receiver
looks like this:
Feb 09 08:54:24 ubuntu-mail-receiver postfix/master[1]: daemon started – version 3.5.6, configuration /etc/postfix
And "./launcher logs mail-receiver | grep receive-mail " does not show any information.
When I send an e-mail to an address @community.mountainbikemuseum.net nothing shows in the admin panel under the “rejected” section.
What could I look at next?
Thanks,
Justin
---
### Author:  [@IAmGav](https://meta.discourse.org/u/IAmGav)
#### Post date: [February 9, 2022, 2:25pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/incoming-e-mail-not-received/217636/2 "2022-02-09T14:25:01Z")
step 1) can you log into the mailbox and confirm that the mail there ?
step 2) is your pop3 settings saved in admin \> settings
step 3) the email address in enter in the category \> settings \> email section
---
### Author:  [@JammyDodger](https://meta.discourse.org/u/JammyDodger)
#### Post date: [February 9, 2022, 2:32pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/incoming-e-mail-not-received/217636/3 "2022-02-09T14:32:28Z")
I think the mail-receiver needs manual polling rather than pop3:
> [@Configure direct-delivery incoming email for self-hosted sites with Mail-Receiver](https://meta.discourse.org/t/configure-direct-delivery-incoming-email-for-self-hosted-sites-with-mail-receiver/49487/1):
>
> Enable the “manual polling” setting, rather than “pop3 polling”
---
### Author:  [@JustinSjouw](https://meta.discourse.org/u/JustinSjouw)
#### Post date: [February 9, 2022, 5:54pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/incoming-e-mail-not-received/217636/4 "2022-02-09T17:54:05Z")
Yes. I can confirm that I have enabled manual polling via the admin interface. I should not have to do a rebuild after that right?
Anyway, the result (or rather lack thereof) is the same unfortunately.
---
### Author:  [@IAmGav](https://meta.discourse.org/u/IAmGav)
#### Post date: [February 9, 2022, 5:56pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/incoming-e-mail-not-received/217636/5 "2022-02-09T17:56:43Z")
did you follow my steps ?
---
### Author:  [@JammyDodger](https://meta.discourse.org/u/JammyDodger)
#### Post date: [February 9, 2022, 6:51pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/incoming-e-mail-not-received/217636/6 "2022-02-09T18:51:38Z")
As you’ve got the `Feb 09 08:54:24 ubuntu-mail-receiver postfix/master[1]: daemon started – version 3.5.6, configuration /etc/postfix` log, but you don’t get a rejected email, it makes me think the problem could be in the [DNS section of the guide](https://meta.discourse.org/t/direct-delivery-incoming-email-for-self-hosted-sites/49487#dns-setup-3).
---
### Author:  [@Justinvolved](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Justinvolved)
#### Post date: [February 9, 2022, 6:56pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/incoming-e-mail-not-received/217636/7 "2022-02-09T18:56:19Z")
Hi Gavin,
I do not use pop3 but the incoming e-mail server as described here: [Configure direct-delivery incoming email for self-hosted sites with Mail-Receiver](https://meta.discourse.org/t/direct-delivery-incoming-email-for-self-hosted-sites/49487)
Regarding your 3 steps:
1 there is no mailbox so I cannot login to it, the mail should be directly picked up by the service in the additional container right?
2 is set manual polling (instead of pop3)
3 not sure i quite understand this step
Thanks,
Justin
---
### Author:  [@JammyDodger](https://meta.discourse.org/u/JammyDodger)
#### Post date: [February 9, 2022, 6:56pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/incoming-e-mail-not-received/217636/8 "2022-02-09T18:56:54Z")
> [@Justinvolved](#):
>
> 3 not sure i quite understand this step
I think that step is for creating topics by email.
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### Author:  [@Justinvolved](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Justinvolved)
#### Post date: [February 9, 2022, 7:02pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/incoming-e-mail-not-received/217636/9 "2022-02-09T19:02:32Z")
Ok then I think I do not need step 3 for now.
What more is there to check dns wise if the mxtoolbox check gives the right IP nr for the mail domain?
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### Author:  [@JammyDodger](https://meta.discourse.org/u/JammyDodger)
#### Post date: [February 9, 2022, 7:25pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/incoming-e-mail-not-received/217636/10 "2022-02-09T19:25:40Z")
Apart from checking over your DNS MX records manually (and double checking the guide), I’m not sure. I’ve only set the mail-receiver up a handful of times, and it’s been pretty plain-sailing every time (not to rub it in). When I check the mx:community.mountainbikemuseum.net mx record it says its not the fully qualified domain name, so I can’t tell if the mx records are pointing to the right place. (Edit: I put a www. in front 🙂 It’s inconclusive, but looks similar to my working one. I’ve sent a test email to it just on the offchance)
@IAmGav may be on to something that I can’t spot, so hopefully he can give you a bit more detail about those steps.
Just to confirm, you’re the OP with another account?
I’ll throw in a link to the [Troubleshooting](https://meta.discourse.org/t/direct-delivery-incoming-email-for-self-hosted-sites/49487#troubleshooting-5) section for good measure. 🤞
---
### Author:  [@IAmGav](https://meta.discourse.org/u/IAmGav)
#### Post date: [February 9, 2022, 7:42pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/incoming-e-mail-not-received/217636/11 "2022-02-09T19:42:22Z")
I just set this up myself and mine is working.
I activated 2 settings in settings \> email
- manual polling enabled
- email in
check those 2
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### Author:  [@Justinvolved](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Justinvolved)
#### Post date: [February 9, 2022, 9:19pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/incoming-e-mail-not-received/217636/12 "2022-02-09T21:19:56Z")
Yes, I forgot I already created my account with my GitHub login, so now I have 2 accounts, I will delete the other one.
I think it might be a firewall Issue. Do you know which ports should be opened for incoming traffic, 143 for IMAP?
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### Author:  [@IAmGav](https://meta.discourse.org/u/IAmGav)
#### Post date: [February 9, 2022, 9:34pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/incoming-e-mail-not-received/217636/13 "2022-02-09T21:34:56Z")
you dont setup pop3 or imap for this.
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### Author:  [@JammyDodger](https://meta.discourse.org/u/JammyDodger)
#### Post date: [February 9, 2022, 10:53pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/incoming-e-mail-not-received/217636/14 "2022-02-09T22:53:25Z")
Having a [little search](https://meta.discourse.org/search?q=Mail-receiver%20port), it seems to suggest the mail-receiver uses port 25, and that some providers can block this. It’s also possible you have something else interfering. I’m afraid I don’t have much experience of this though. Is there anything unusual about your set-up?
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### Author:  [@Justinvolved](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Justinvolved)
#### Post date: [February 9, 2022, 11:53pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/incoming-e-mail-not-received/217636/15 "2022-02-09T23:53:22Z")
It is solved. I managed to create a different thread in the process 🧐
[https://meta.discourse.org/t/re-incoming-e-mail-not-received/217717/4?u=justinvolved](https://meta.discourse.org/t/re-incoming-e-mail-not-received/217717/4)
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### Author:  [@JammyDodger](https://meta.discourse.org/u/JammyDodger)
#### Post date: [February 10, 2022, 5:54am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/incoming-e-mail-not-received/217636/16 "2022-02-10T05:54:28Z")
That’s great. 👍 I can’t access that topic - do you mind sharing what the problem/resolution was?
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### Author:  [@Justinvolved](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Justinvolved)
#### Post date: [February 10, 2022, 7:43am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/incoming-e-mail-not-received/217636/17 "2022-02-10T07:43:47Z")
It was the firewall, after I opened up SMTP the e-mail comes in. So if not for the firewall it was indeed a very smooth install 🙂 Thanks for the help!
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### Author:  [@JammyDodger](https://meta.discourse.org/u/JammyDodger)
#### Post date: [February 10, 2022, 8:07am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/incoming-e-mail-not-received/217636/18 "2022-02-10T08:07:47Z")
I shall remember that for if it crops up again. 🙂👍
Is there anything that could be added to the [guide](https://meta.discourse.org/t/direct-delivery-incoming-email-for-self-hosted-sites/49487) that would have made this less painful?
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### Author:  [@Justinvolved](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Justinvolved)
#### Post date: [February 10, 2022, 11:41am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/incoming-e-mail-not-received/217636/19 "2022-02-10T11:41:49Z")
I think in the troubleshooting section at point 2
**Did the e-mail even make it to `mail-receiver` ?**
It would be nice to add a line to check if there is a firewall that blocks incoming smtp traffic, ideally maybe even link to something describing the exact ports that should be open. (I have a firewall config panel that automatically adds 25, 587 and 465, but would be nice to know what the mail-receiver is actually listening on)
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### Author:  [@pfaffman](https://meta.discourse.org/u/pfaffman)
#### Post date: [February 10, 2022, 12:15pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/incoming-e-mail-not-received/217636/20 "2022-02-10T12:15:24Z")
> [@Justinvolved](#):
>
> think it might be a firewall Issue. Do you know which ports should be opened for incoming traffic
That’s likely it.
25 for smtp
[Next page](https://meta.discourse.org/t/incoming-e-mail-not-received/217636.md?page=2)