There are several important things you should check regarding the PHP script handling the mails:

Ensure the very first line of the script is a hashbang (also called shebang). This is a special line which identifies the file as a PHP script. In most cases it should look like this:

#!/usr/bin/php -q

Make sure that there are no whitespaces or blank lines before the above line as this will be sent to the mail server, which will result in a bounced message. The -q option instructs PHP not to print its version either, since this will also result in a bounced message.

Make sure that the script permissions are set correctly. In most cases, you would simply need to change the permissions, either via your cPanel FileManager or an FTP client and set them to 755. This will make the script executable.

Check that your script has NO closing PHP tag (?>) in order to prevent any output being sent to the mail server.

You can find below a sample PHP script which handles piped messages. The script will read the input from the STDIN and then save the full message into a file called mail.txt in the same folder where it resides.


#!/usr/bin/php =q
/* Read the message from STDIN */
$fd = fopen("php://stdin", "r");
$email = ""; // This will be the variable holding the data.
while (!feof($fd)) {
$email .= fread($fd, 1024);
}
fclose($fd);
/* Saves the data into a file */
$fdw = fopen("mail.txt", "w+");
fwrite($fdw, $email);
fclose($fdw);
/* Script End */


DNS Propagation -

The way your browser gets to an internet website is through the Domain Name System, otherwise known as DNS. The reason you may not be able to see a DNS change (such as name server changes, or updating an A Record) is because of “DNS Propagation”. Unfortunately the Domain Name System is not perfect, and it does require time for updates because of its dynamic nature. Thankfully this system is dynamic otherwise you would never be able to change where your domain name pointed, and if you did, no one else would be able to see it.

All of your website lookups (for example going to google.com in firefox) are looked up through your Internet Service Provider’s “DNS Resolver”. The DNS resolver is managed by them (your ISP) so you don’t have to.  Your computer will connect to the DNS resolver they manage to check where a domain name points. If it is in the DNS cache they store on that server it will direct to that IP address and show you the website which is located on that IP address. However if the domain name is NOT listed in that cache they keep the DNS resolver will go and see where that domain name points. The process is as follows;

1. Your ISP’s DNS resolver will check the root servers to see where it needs to check for your domain name, this changes based on the the TLD (top level domain, ie. .com .net .org .biz)

2. Once it determines who the registrar is authoritative for the TLD, it then looks up via the Registrar (where the domain was purchased) what the name servers are. In this example the name servers will be ns1.bluehost.com and ns2.bluehost.com

3. During the DNS process here the name servers show everything about the domain name. The DNS resolver server is looking for the zone file. The zone file is a file that is located on the name servers that tells what the Arecords, Cnames, MX entries etc. are for the domain name you have looked up.

4. Now your ISP’s DNS resolver knows everything about that domain name, it basically copies the information from the name servers ns1.bluehost.com and ns2.bluehost.com.

5. The DNS resolver will cache this information it receives from ns1.bluehost.com and ns2.bluehost.com (generally for 4 – 24 hours). They do this so when their other customers go to the website it wont have to lookup the domain name again. However when people using a different ISP go to lookup the domain name they wont have this information so their ISP will have to do the same lookup and then cache the information likewise. That is exactly why your domain name can be working in some places and not working / showing the old site in other places.

If your ISP’s DNS resolver server already has the domains information it will bring you right to the domain name. Even though you may have made changes to your domain name through your DNS zone editor. Your ISP wont know that you made changes until the TTL(Time To Live) is expired for the domain name (generally 4 -24 hours). Then the DNS will be looked up again to obtain that change you made.

Hello, I have put together this website to help support people who have needs that exceed simple “fixes” for problems, or who need more advanced information including commands that can help speed things up and save time.