Need help?

Our experts have had an average response time of 13.14 minutes in February 2024 to fix urgent issues.

We will keep your servers stable, secure, and fast at all times for one fixed price.

How to resolve “550 Access denied – Invalid HELO name” error from Outlook (0x800ccc78), Windows Mail, etc in cPanel/WHM Exim mail servers

by | Nov 2, 2015

At Bobcares website support services, this is a common error we see in cPanel/WHM shared hosting servers. We’ve seen that strict anti-spam rules or lack of SMTP authentication usually cause this error.

The mail user reports the error:

Task user@domain.com – Sending reported error (0x800CCC78): ‘Cannot send the 
message. Verify the email address in your account properties. The server 
responded: 550 Access denied – Invalid HELO name (See RFC2821 4.1.1.1)

Corresponding entry in Exim logs say:

2014-09-24 07:06:31 H=isp-ip-dom.net [xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx] rejected MAIL 
: Access denied - Invalid HELO name (See RFC2821 4.1.1.1)

Given below are a few common causes for this error, and the solutions we provided for them.

See how our website support staff helps you!

Disabled SMTP authentication in mail clients

POP-before-SMTP was the first effective method to restrict SMTP server access to only valid users. It though had a few loop holes that allowed un-authorized individuals to send mail.

SMTP authentication solved all these problems, and is enabled by default in latest versions of cPanel/WHM. However, many mail clients do not have SMTP authentication enabled by default, and this causes the SMTP communication to break immediately after the initial “HELO” hand-shake.

This is the root cause of the “Invalid HELO name” error. In such cases, we explain the need for SMTP authentication and provide detailed steps to the web master to configure their mail client correctly.

[ Need help resolving email errors in your sites? Get assistance from our server experts to fix your website at affordable pricing. ]

Listed below are the steps we use to configure some common mail clients:

Microsoft Outlook

1. From the Menu Bar, Click Tools then Click E-mail Accounts
2. Select "View or change existing e-mail accounts" then Click "Next"
3. Select the Email account and click "Change"
4. Click "More settings"
5. Select the "Outgoing Server" tab
6. Select the box beside "My outgoing server (SMTP) requires authentication"
7. Select "Use same settings as my incoming email server"
8. Click OK, Next and then Finish.

NOTE : In Outlook 2010 and later, the Email account can be selected by going to Menu bar >> File >> Info tab >> Account Settings

Windows Mail

1. Go to Tools > Accounts. 
2. Select the "Mail" tab. 
3. Select the mail account and click "Properties." 
4. Go to the "Servers" tab, and check "My server requires authentication" under Outgoing Mail Server. 
5. Press "Settings," select "Use same settings as my incoming mail server," then press "OK" on the next two screens to save the changes, then press "Close".
6. Finally, restart Windows Mail.

Thunderbird

1. From the Menu Bar click Tools, then Account Settings
2. This will bring up the Account Settings window where you can click on Outgoing Server (SMTP) at the bottom of the list in on the left side of the window.
3. Select the appropriate outgoing server and click on Edit.
4. Make sure "Authentication method" is set to "Normal password"
5. Click OK to close the SMTP edit window and again on the Account Settings window.

Mac Mail

1. Within your application click Mail, Preferences, and then Accounts
2. Where it says Outgoing Mail Server (SMTP), click the drop down arrow and select "Edit SMTP Server List..."
3. Click the Advanced button and make sure Authentication is set to "Password."
4. Click OK to close the edit window

Improper SMTP authentication in PHP/Perl scripts

Most of the web applications have the capability to send mails. While the majority of them use /usr/sbin/sendmail to send mails, some can be configured to relay mails through an SMTP connection to the mail server.

Some web masters and developers miss out giving SMTP authentication information in the web application, leading to errors like below:

Warning: mail() [function.mail]: SMTP server response: 550 Access denied - Invalid HELO name (See RFC2821 4.1.1.1)

In such situations we help the web master in the troubleshooting which variables need to be edited to enable SMTP authentication.

[ You don’t have to lose your sleep over lost emails. Get our professional help to fix your mail errors in no time. ]

Enforcement of strict RFC compliant HELO

In an effort to combat spam, some web hosts enable strict checking of HELO. This causes some web application hosted on a inadequately configured dedicated IP to be denied mail relay access. In such cases, we help the web master get a fully RFC compliant IP and host name.

A variety of factors can lead to an error. At Bobcares website support services, we rely on systematic troubleshooting, that enables us to quickly and accurately resolve any email issue reported by customers.

 

Getting intermittent email errors?

No more delayed or undelivered emails. We'll fix your email errors in no time.

Click Now to resolve your email errors

var google_conversion_label = "Blp0CLCojHIQ0aD71QM";

0 Comments

Categories

Tags

Privacy Preference Center

Necessary

Necessary cookies help make a website usable by enabling basic functions like page navigation and access to secure areas of the website. The website cannot function properly without these cookies.

PHPSESSID - Preserves user session state across page requests.

gdpr[consent_types] - Used to store user consents.

gdpr[allowed_cookies] - Used to store user allowed cookies.

PHPSESSID, gdpr[consent_types], gdpr[allowed_cookies]
PHPSESSID
WHMCSpKDlPzh2chML

Statistics

Statistic cookies help website owners to understand how visitors interact with websites by collecting and reporting information anonymously.

_ga - Preserves user session state across page requests.

_gat - Used by Google Analytics to throttle request rate

_gid - Registers a unique ID that is used to generate statistical data on how you use the website.

smartlookCookie - Used to collect user device and location information of the site visitors to improve the websites User Experience.

_ga, _gat, _gid
_ga, _gat, _gid
smartlookCookie
_clck, _clsk, CLID, ANONCHK, MR, MUID, SM

Marketing

Marketing cookies are used to track visitors across websites. The intention is to display ads that are relevant and engaging for the individual user and thereby more valuable for publishers and third party advertisers.

IDE - Used by Google DoubleClick to register and report the website user's actions after viewing or clicking one of the advertiser's ads with the purpose of measuring the efficacy of an ad and to present targeted ads to the user.

test_cookie - Used to check if the user's browser supports cookies.

1P_JAR - Google cookie. These cookies are used to collect website statistics and track conversion rates.

NID - Registers a unique ID that identifies a returning user's device. The ID is used for serving ads that are most relevant to the user.

DV - Google ad personalisation

IDE, test_cookie, 1P_JAR, NID, DV, NID
IDE, test_cookie
1P_JAR, NID, DV
NID
hblid

Security

These are essential site cookies, used by the google reCAPTCHA. These cookies use an unique identifier to verify if a visitor is human or a bot.

SID, APISID, HSID, NID, PREF
SID, APISID, HSID, NID, PREF