Server on blacklist need help

[360webfirm]

Hello to you all. I realized that my VPS is on a blacklist for our server IP and our host says that they can provide a new IP not in same network as the individual IP is clean, but the network is the issue which still effects my server. OR do a clean install of server with new IP but I will lose all data.

This is the blacklist's the server IP is on.

UCEPROTECTL2
UCEPROTECTL3

1. Can we use an outside source for email and change the MX records such as 365 or another provider for email without it causing issues or will the server IP for the website still cause the email to be blacklisted as I believe they blacklist by domain, not email IP.

2. Is it possible to change the IP of the email server in c panel or will this still result in being backlisted due to the server IP being blacklisted.

3. Is it difficult to just change the server IP as the host is suggesting.

4. The host also gave another option for reinstalling the complete server with new IP, but I would lose all data and have to add all sites back which I think is way too much and a lot of sites would be down for a while.

5. Is there any other choice I could make in order to get this resolved?

I am running Almalinux and C Panel on my VPS. Again, I am very strict with email and spamming and its not the individual server IP, bur rather the network that is causing these blacklist issues.

Thank you all for your help with this, I really appreciate it.

 

[cPRex]

Hey there! I thought we covered most of this in the other thread? I'll go through and answer in order to ensure nothing is missed:

Q 1. Can we use an outside source for email and change the MX records such as 365 or another provider for email without it causing issues or will the server IP for the website still cause the email to be blacklisted as I believe they blacklist by domain, not email IP.
A: Using a smart host would be a good way to workaround this issue. Details on how to configure that can be found here:

https://support.cpanel.net/hc/en-us/articles/360052412573-How-to-configure-a-third-party-smarthost

All email would come from the smart host, although the original IP would be in the mail headers. It depends how sensitive the mail recipient is, but usually this is not something that is blocked.

Q 2. Is it possible to change the IP of the email server in c panel or will this still result in being backlisted due to the server IP being blacklisted.
A: This one we did cover, and would work well.

Q 3. Is it difficult to just change the server IP as the host is suggesting.
A: It's not difficult to change everything, but you'd need to plan accordingly. For example, if you use local DNS servers you'd want to drop the TTLs several days in advance so your DNS propagation time is low.

Q 4. The host also gave another option for reinstalling the complete server with new IP, but I would lose all data and have to add all sites back which I think is way too much and a lot of sites would be down for a while.
A: Instead of performing a reinstall, I would request a separate machine so you could migrate the content over. That would be much easier than trying to back it up and restore it to the same system after the install is complete, and would minimize or eliminate downtime.

Q 5. Is there any other choice I could make in order to get this resolved?
A: Not really. UCEProtect isn't well respected by most in the hosting industry, but it still gets used by some larger providers. If you're on the level 2 or 3 blacklist, it's really up to your host to resolve this as they likely have an entire range of IPs blocked.

 

[360webfirm]

Can I please ask you what the most popular way of doing this is and what you would do if you were me?

 

[cPRex]

Option 2 for sure - just change the IP of the mailserver. Quick, easy, and you can always remove the change or change it again if necessary.

 

[360webfirm]

Your always here to help and I really respect you for all your knowledge and support as it’s always you helping everyone ! Thanks again for everything

 

[cPRex]

Awwww, thanks so much for the kind words! Happy to help the community!

 

[360webfirm]

Option 2 for sure - just change the IP of the mailserver. Quick, easy, and you can always remove the change or change it again if necessary.

Good morning!

I got a reply from my host, and they say for some odd reason that I am already using 2 IPs for my server that I cannot use another. This is strange as I thought you could have more than 2 IPs added to a VPS. I also have other servers with more than 4 IP's and even one with two IPs from different networks that I use for nameservers. They sent me a few emails, one saying yes another saying sorry the previous email was wrong. I am very confused now because of their replies.

I am using Alma Linux with C Panel, am I mistaken to say that I should be able to add extra IPs to this server on different networks (or we will be in same boat) and one I can assign to mail server in C panel? What I thought was correct, I am doubting it due to all their emails saying this and that. They want me to change the complete main server IP or to reinstall the complete server and lose all my data and must migrate which I really don’t want to do as my clients are upset at changing so often due to cost plus CentOS 7 not being supported in future.

 

[kssuhesh]

If you get a new IP, it is good to set that new IP for sending emails will be good to go. Make sure you will configure the IP properly to avoid getting it blacklisted again. Like set proper rDNS and other standards. Also follow the cPanel documentation to avoid going abuse emails from the server as well.

How to Prevent Email Abuse | cPanel & WHM Documentation

This document outlines some of the best practices that you can follow to avoid email abuse on your cPanel & WHM server.

docs.cpanel.net

Reloading the server is not a solution unless your server is root hacked. But you need to carefully monitor the server and do periodic audits to make sure the accounts are clean and they are not sending spam/abuse emails from the server. If you monitor it for few months will fix all your issues, if it is purely due to your server.

Another solution is use some external mail filtering services like Spamexperts or mail channels for your outgoing emails. Go through their pricing and check whether it is feasible for you. But preferring the first option and choose the paid one, only if the first one is not working for you.

 

[360webfirm]

My Server IP is NOT the issue and is super clean, its the network which causing issues for my server IP and this is the Host issue.

This is their reponse this morning.

Thank you very much for your e-mail.

1. On our Cloud VPS servers you can have only 1 additional IP address. Only on VDS or a Dedicated Server you can have more than one additional IP addresses. As you currently have one additional IP address, a second one cannot be offered and purchased for your VPS, unfortunately.

2. This is the best option we can offer you at the moment:

We can provide you with a new IP address, and you can configure it as the new primary IP address on your server. The former IP address needs to be removed from your network configuration completely in order to avoid any complications in the future. As explained before, we will move this IP address into quarantine and take all necessary measures to remove it from the hidden blacklist. When this is done, we will continue using the IP address, and when it comes to this, the IP address must not be configured on your server anymore; saying this we only want to give you some background on the situation.

As mentioned above, the new IP which we will provide you needs to be configured on your server as the new primary IP address and the former one needs to be removed from your network configuration completely.

If you wish to proceed, kindly let us know. This will be done free of charge, as mentioned before.

We are looking forward to hearing from you.

I would change the IP no issue if I thought it was not a big deal and it would go smooth. My worries is that if I mess up a configuration or file when doing this, I will be locked out or the server will come un responsive. I wish I could find complete simple instructions on how to do this.

 

[cPRex]

From a cPanel standpoint, there is no limit to the number of IPs you can add to the system. Any limits there would be imposed by your hosting provider.

The Exim change is simple, but if you're changing the server IP in general it would be best to have your host help with that process as every machine and network configuration is a bit different.

 

[360webfirm]

Good day, just a question. I am in the process of moving to A2 Hosting for my self managed VPS. I am just testing the waters now and thier IP was not clean at first and they changed it right away for me, so now I have clean IPs. My question is have you ever seen this before from security advisor information section?

The system cannot update the kernel: Cannot update this system’s kernel.

The kernel is using 4.18.0 so its updated, but this scares me a little as I need to be able to update this when a new kernel comes out. Any ideas on this?

 

[cPRex]

If you have a VPS server, you may not have enough control to be able to update the kernel. On some VPS systems this has to be handled by the server admin with access to the containers.

 

[360webfirm]

Server admin, you mean The Host provider?

 

[cPRex]

In this case, yes, the overall VPS admin, and not the WHM/cPanel admin.

 

[360webfirm]

thanks yet again.