Email troubleshooting checklist for escalation

If you believe your email is not functioning as it should, DreamHost support needs specific information in order to assist. This article provides you with a checklist of items that support must have in order to troubleshoot your issue. The following types of email issues are covered in this article:

• Sending/receiving/connectivity issues
• Delay issues
• If mail was not received

Once the information that is described in the following is gathered, proceed to the Contact Support page to submit your support request.

• Error message – Describe the exact error you see in the client, including any error codes. Paste the error you see into your support request.
• Email address – The address you’re using when the issue occurs.
• Source IP (i.e., customer's IP) – You can get this at whatismyipaddress.com.
• Provider – The ISP you are using such as Verizon or Comcast.
• Email client (name and version number)  – Examples include Webmail, Outlook 2021, Thunderbird 78.10.1, and Mac Mail version 14.0.
• OS and version number – What operating system (and version number) or device are you using?
• Port # – What are the ports that you are using? View the Email Client Configuration article for details.
• SSL – Are you using secure ports for incoming and outgoing connections?
• Protocol – Are you using IMAP or POP3 for incoming mail? View the POP3 vs IMAP article for further details.
• Authentication – Are you using password authentication for outgoing mail?
• Time – Time of the error including your timezone (or, timenow).
• Traceroute – Perform a Traceroute to your mail server. You can identify which mail server you are on by visiting the Data Center page.
• Server name – View the following article for instructions on how to locate your mail servername.
• How to find your mail servername

DreamHost support needs the following:

• Full email headers – View the Viewing email headers article for instructions on how to obtain these.
• Time – The time the email was sent and received including timezone (or, timenow).
• Addresses – Sending address and receiving address
• Where was the email sent from? – Was the email sent from the web server using phpmail/sendmail and so on or via email client?
• Mail server – Which mail server are you on? You can identify which mail server you are on by visiting the Data Center page.

• Addresses – The email address that sent the email and address to which the email was sent.
• Time – The date and time the email address was sent including timezone (or, timenow).