Sendmail configurator Introduction Your _L_i_n_u_x computer can send and receive mail from different sources. It can do much more than that: It can be a mail gateway between dif­ ferent networking technologies (Uucp and TCP/IP). It can manage mail­ ing lists. 11.. TTaasskkss When configuring a _L_i_n_u_x computer running Sendmail you must/can do the following things CCoonnffiigguurree bbaassiicc iinnffoorrmmaattiioonn You must minimally specify the intended purpose of your computer, mail wise: Is it a workstation or the mail server ? What is the domain used for email ? ... CCoonnffiigguurree ssppeecciiaall ((ddoommaaiinn)) rroouuttiinngg You can setup exception in the routing. If you know a short cut to a specific site or domain, you can tell _S_e_n_d_m_a_i_l here. This is especially needed to connect _u_u_c_p sites to the Internet. CCoonnffiigguurree ccoommpplleexx ((uusseerr)) rroouuttiinngg This let you do mail routing based on the the user and domain destination. This way it is possible to handle mail to a domain one way and do some exception for few user of this domain. This feature is not a replacement for normal user alias although it performs at first sight the same thing. MMaassqquueerraaddiinngg rruulleess You can define filters replacing the sender/domain of a mail by another sender and or domain. This is handy for some mail broken gateway which send email with a bogus return address. If your Linus server is in the path, you can fix it! MMaaiill ttoo ffaaxx ggaatteewwaayy This allows your server to route email message to your fax engine. It supports various access control rules. Mail to fax offers the universal protocol for faxing from a computer. Easy to use and usable by any user/operating system. VViirrttuuaall eemmaaiill ddoommaaiinn A virtual email domain lets you set one independent user list per domain, on the same server. Further each virtual email domain may have its own administrator(s). This ability ease the management of user accounts since each domain has its own list. Further, virtual email domain may be moved from server to server very easily to balance the load. A must for large organization and ISPs... SSeettttiinngg uusseerr aalliiaass Some users may want to receive their email under different names, or you want to set a "pseudo" user and direct the mail of this user to a real user. Good examples are postmaster, info and support. VViirrttuuaall ddoommaaiinn uusseerr aalliiaasseess Virtual domain have their own user aliases list. GGeenneerraattee //eettcc//sseennddmmaaiill..ccff _S_e_n_d_m_a_i_l is configured using the file /etc/sendmail.cf. This file contains pretty complex configuration commands looking much more like a programming language than a configuration file. For this reason, this file is not edit by Linuxconf, but generated from scratch all the time. When using this menu option, Linuxconf prompts you to make sure you really want to generated this file. If you do various modification in the sendmail configuration using Linuxconf, it will suggest you to generate a new sendmail.cf to make those config changes active. See the comments at the beginning of /etc/sendmail.cf to see how it is built and how manual modifications may be done (expert only!). SSeettttiinngg rreejjeecctteedd sseennddeerrss This dialog lets you enter the email addresses, domains and IP numbers from which you never want to receive email. SSeettttiinngg rreellaayy ffoorr bbyy IIPP You can enter the hosts and networks for which you accept to relay mail. You generally enter here your own IP networks where there are some other sendmail servers and user workstations. SSeettttiinngg rreellaayy ffoorr bbyy NNaammee Same as above, except that you enter hosts and domains here, not IP numbers. SSeettttiinngg rreellaayy ttoo hhoossttss You enter the names, IP numbers, networks, and domains to which you accept to relay. 22.. AAlltteerrnnaattiivvee ttoo SSeennddmmaaiill Sendmail is not always needed. Here are some reason why you may want Sendmail or not. · There is already a mail server in your organization and it is reachable over the local network. You don't need Sendmail. Use a mail program (user interface) which support the SMTP and POP or IMAP protocols. · Your computer talk _U_U_C_P with other computers (using a modem) and you want to exchange email. Use _S_e_n_d_m_a_i_l here. 33.. NNoottee ttoo nneeww _I_n_t_e_r_n_e_t uusseerrss Most _I_n_t_e_r_n_e_t providers will setup a POP account on their server for you. You will have to connect once in a while to grab your mail. In this case _S_e_n_d_m_a_i_l and _U_U_C_P shine. Ask your provider for a _U_U_C_P account also. This is especially true if you are part of a small organization. This will provide a personal account on your server for everyone in your group and your computer will forward/receive email to/from your provider. Off course, nothing beats a permanent connection on the _I_n_t_e_r_n_e_t...