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RAQS's avatar
RAQS
Icon for Cirrus rankCirrus
May 20, 2019
Solved

SMTP VIP - Redirect

Hi All,

 

Hope you are doing great.

 

I have SMTP VIP (10.11.72.86:25) currently it is resolving to smtp.ent.abc.net and i want to redirect this URL to smtp.ent.abc.com.

 

However, my understating is that i can redirect HTTP URL. But what we can do if we have SMTP VIP?

 

Regards,

ShashankS

application delivery
BIG-IP
  • JG's avatar
    JG
    May 20, 2019
    1. "Redirect" is normally an HTTP-specific term.
    2. You can make smpt.abc.com to have the same IP address as the virtual server's. You need to make sure, however, that the backend server can handle all these mail domains; for this is simply a TCP proxy and mail will be processed by the SMTP server at the back.

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  • JG's avatar
    JG
    Icon for Cumulonimbus rankCumulonimbus
    May 20, 2019

    You cannot "redirect" the SMTP traffic the way you do the HTTP traffic, for "redirect" is not a directive/part of the SMTP protocol.

     

    However, you can set up a virtual server with the address of 10.11.72.86 and a server pool containing smtp.ent.abc.com. That way, the traffic for 10.11.72.86 will be passed to smtp.ent.abc.com.

    • RAQS's avatar
      RAQS
      Icon for Cirrus rankCirrus
      May 20, 2019

      Hi JG,

       

      Thanks for reply. So, basically we cant redirect. If my understanding is correct then the option which you suggested is seems to be load balancing.

       

      Source IP ==> LB VIP ( 10.11.72.86:25) ==> Self IP ==> smtp.ent.abc.com.

       

      Regards,

      ShashankS

  • JG's avatar
    JG
    Icon for Cumulonimbus rankCumulonimbus
    May 20, 2019
    1. "Redirect" is normally an HTTP-specific term.
    2. You can make smpt.abc.com to have the same IP address as the virtual server's. You need to make sure, however, that the backend server can handle all these mail domains; for this is simply a TCP proxy and mail will be processed by the SMTP server at the back.
    • RAQS's avatar
      RAQS
      Icon for Cirrus rankCirrus
      May 20, 2019
      Thanks JG for your time and reply. So it means that no changes required at F5 (LTM) level. Only at the backend and at DNS level. Regards, ShashankS
    • RAQS's avatar
      RAQS
      Icon for Cirrus rankCirrus
      May 20, 2019
      Oki.. So can i make below conclusions:- We can do redirection only for those VIPs or application which are accessible via http or https ? And Secondly , if some other team is redirecting smtp.ent.abc.net to smpt.abc.com then what changes we should do at our end if VIP is configured on F5 as Ltm?. (My understanding is not to update anything) Thanks , ShashankS