IPv6 in the SMTP Outgoing Service | Axigen Documentation

Updated: February 4, 2021

In the default configuration, Axigen does not use the IPv6 network when sending outgoing messages. However, this behavior can be changed to make Axigen use IPv6 by using the CLI interface.

There is a CLI configuration option in the SMTP outgoing context that controls if Axigen uses IPv6 when sending outgoing messages.

delivery via MX happens over IPv6 (query AAAA) only if enabled in config
delivery via smart host IP address happens over IPv6 irrespective of config (because sysadmin has written an IPv6 address in the smart host config)
delivery via smart host name happens over IPv6 (query AAAA) only if enabled in config

SMTP Outgoing Delivery Mechanism

Axigen prefers the IPv4 network because its configuration capabilities cannot allow the provisions described in RFC 6724 (e.g. handling broken IPv6).

Axigen's outgoing delivery mechanism is described below:

if a smart host is used and the smart host is in IP format (e.g. [2a02:XXXX:YYYY::226:bbff:fe1a:757e])
1. delivery is attempted to the specified IP address (be it IPv4 or IPv6)
if s smart host is used and the smart host is a name (e.g. smarthost.axigen.net )
1. MX records are retrieved for the smart host name
  1. if no MX records are found
    1. A records are retrieved and added with increasing priority (first added A entry has priority 1, the second 2 and so on)
    2. if IPv6 is enabled for SMTP outgoing AAAA records are retrieved and added with increased priority (following the A records above)
  2. if MX records are found
    1. if the found MX record is of type A (IPv4) it is added as relay
    2. if the found MX record is of type AAAA (IPv6) and IPv6 is enabled for SMTP outgoing it is added as relay
if s smart host is not used normal MX delivery takes place