Creating a catch all account

[Boblister]

I am having trouble generating a catch-all account on a semi dedicated account. I think I must be missing something or reading it wrong.

Primamry address is mail@domain.com and I created another at catch-all@domain.com
After a test of test@domain.com I find it bounces. Read the docs and it says

1. The first option is to "Send all unrouted e-mail for" a particular domain. Choose the domain you want to setup the "catch-all" email from the drop down menu.

2. Then choose one of the following options:

Forward to an email address etc...

Ok where is this. My pulldown on Email Accounts doesnt have anything like these options. If I do managed to get it configured will all mail not to mail@domain.com got to the catch-all mailbox or do I have to create yet another for catch-all to forward to?

Thanks.

[JPC-Masood]

Please read this old KB for the background info:

http://www.jaguarpc.com/support/kbase/789.html

And this new KB:

http://www.jaguarpc.com/support/kbase/818.html

In short, catchall is not supported any more because it is nothing but a big DOS (denial of service) loophole.

[jason]

Catch all accounts tend to just be huge spam collectors. A better approach is to just set up forwarders to specific addresses you want to watch. Legitimate mail to your domain will come to those 99.999% of the time. Unless you actually like filtering through ads for \/1@6r@ sent to gfjkdfghfkjkldkl@yourdomain.com, catchalls aren't very useful these days.

--Jason

[Boblister]

Thanks for that. I understand what you mean with the spam. The reason for multi email addresses is a system I setup a while back. When I put my email address to something I was enquiring about I used something unique like doubleglazing@domain.com and ebay@domain.com etc. So if I started getting spam addressed to one of those I knnew who had strated it and passed my address on. The problem is that when you have a dozen or more of these it gets that you need a catch-all. So my last hosting place sent everything and I used very good spam filtering in my email client. It looks like I need another approach.

I am not sure what you mean by setting forwarders to separate addresses. would that then allow me to pick up from just one email address. But generate accounts for the others?

[Boblister]

More reading and a bit further on...

I tried setting up a forwarder from one email address to another test@domain.com to mail@domain.com which is to my main email account. I didnt think it would work as I had not setup test@domain.com as an email account first. However it did forward to the main mail@domain.com account. So is this correct, I just need to setup some forwarders for some addresses on my domain but dont need to create the actual email accoun for them if I want to collect them in the one place.

If the default catchall address has been removed now. How are bogus emails handled. Are they treated like a :fail: so that they stay in the spammers mail queue or are they bounced still giving the server the work.

[JPC-Masood]

So is this correct, I just need to setup some forwarders for some addresses on my domain but dont need to create the actual email accoun for them if I want to collect them in the one place.

Yes that is correct.

If the default catchall address has been removed now. How are bogus emails handled. Are they treated like a :fail: so that they stay in the spammers mail queue or are they bounced still giving the server the work.

They stay in spammers mail queue.

[JPC-Masood]

So if I started getting spam addressed to one of those I knnew who had strated it and passed my address on.

In response to that, please read this KB: http://www.jaguarpc.com/support/kbase/801.html

[Ron]

Masood,

You can add to that KB article 801 that as email moves around the net, the email addresses can be harvested by middlemen third parties, so it's not just a trojan or a worm on your own computer or the other party.

[Gwaihir]

Ehm.. if some company got an e-mail address I gave them in the hands of a worm/trojan, it's still their responsibility..

I think the number of addresses harvested somewhere halfway across the net is and will remain extremely slim. They're just not valuable enough to warrant hacking into routers and all that.