e-mail system (sendmail/mail)

[gymnast]

hi everybody!

my situation:

i want to setup/configure my rs6000 (AIX) box to send and receive e-mails from a dns server.

it's like, i should be able to send and receive e-mails through an NT box. the reason for this - is that i got #s of dumb terminals and these terminals are being use to send and receive e-mails.

as far i can remember, default of AIX is that you'll be able to send out e-mail, but receiving is another issue.

'would appreciate receiving expert advise on how to do it.

 

[gymnast]

any suggestions here? takers?

i tried setting up and configuring sendmail.cf file, specially the Cw, DM part...

i was able to send and receive, but receiving is just a matter of clicking the reply button. i'm trying to find out what's the meaning of the following stanzas inside the file:

#Cw localhost $w $?m$w.$m$. YourHostAliases
#Cm $m YourOtherDomainNames
Cwlocalhost

 

[bjverzal]

The "w" and "m" macros override default host and comain names. You can change them if you wish, but leaving them commented out will let sendmail figure out the host and domain names by itself

Bill.

 

[bjverzal]

"comain names" should read "domain names". TYPO...

 

[gymnast]

thanks bill,

works fine now except that i'm not quite sure if i have to define all the local users (ID) in the /etc/aliases file.

sorry, i got the materials from IBM (attached below) site but not descriptive enough to apply in my system.
==========================================================

Change the Cw setting
You must tell sendmail to accept mail addressed to <user>@test.com. This is accomplished by changing the setting of the Cw macro in the sendmail.cf file.

Using your preferred editor, open the sendmail.cf file:
/etc/sendmail.cf

Find the following entries:
#Cw localhost $w $?m$w.$m$. YourHostAliases
#Cm $m YourOtherDomainNames
Cwlocalhost

Change to the following:
Cw localhost $w $?m$w.$m$. test.com
#Cm $m YourOtherDomainNames
#Cwlocalhost


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Remove the system's hostname in the &quot;from line&quot;
Now tell sendmail to remove the system's hostname in the from line. This is necessary to allow recipients to reply to messages sent out. Assume that the relay machine's full name is relay.test.com.

By default, any mail sent out from this relay will be from the following:

<user>@relay.test.com

The conventional method will have the from line display the message below:

<user>@test.com

You will need to make two changes to the sendmail.cf file for configuration.

Set the DM macro:
The original setting follows:

# who I masquerade as (null for no masquerading) (see also $=M) DM

Change this setting to the following:

DMtest.com

Modify a ruleset:
Original setting:

###################################################################
### Ruleset 94 -- convert envelope names to masqueraded form ###
###################################################################
S94
R$* < @ *LOCAL* > $* $: $1 < @ $j . > $2
#R$+ $@ $>93 $1 <-
[This last line may not be listed.]-----------
Change this to:
###################################################################
### Ruleset 94 -- convert envelope names to masqueraded form ###
###################################################################
S94
R$+ $@ $>93 $1

Save the /etc/sendmail.cf file.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Refresh the sendmail.cf file
Enter the following command:

refresh -s sendmail

This updates sendmail with the new configurations. If sendmail is not running, you need to check to see if it is active using the following command:

lssrc -s sendmail

Information similar to the following will be displayed.

Subsystem Group PID Status
sendmail mail 5424 active

If it is not active, start it up by issuing the following command:

startsrc -s sendmail -a &quot;-bd -q30m&quot;


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Create aliases
sendmail must be told where to send mail it receives for users that do not exist on the relay machine. This is done using the /etc/aliases file. For example, if a user has a username of John on machine nixon.test.com, we must add the following entry to this alias file:

john:john@nixon.test.com

NOTE: If you want a specific message to be delivered to more than one user, just add another alias separated by a comma and a space.

For example:

john:john@nixon.test.com, frank@venus.test.com

After saving the aliases file, you need to run:

newaliases

This rebuilds the alias database. Now, when mail is sent to john@test.com, it will be relayed to john@nixon.test.com.

NOTE: Other machines within the network should also revise their from lines to exclude the hostname. This is done by repeating step two on each host, followed by a refresh of the sendmail daemon. This is called masquerading and is necessary so that mail from john@nixon.test.com goes out as john@test.com. This will allow john to receive message replies.

i just need clarification from this doc.

1. can i attach file in sendmail?
2. do i have to define all users in /etc/aliases?
3. is there any parameters that i can use to fully read the complete e-mail address of the user who sent me reply? or sent me the e-mail?

any help highly appreciated...

 

[bjverzal]

Aliases are only necessary if you want the mail automatically routed to another mail system (perhaps Outlook/Exchange/Notes). For us, I do the following:

MAILER-DAEMON:root
postmaster:root
nobody: /dev/null
ssa_adm: root
wverzal:wverzal@komint.com
verzaw1:wverzal
cantone:cantone@komint.com
root:wverzal,cantone
kclee1:wverzal
sapusr:wverzal
op01:root

This way, all root mail is forwarded to both admins. In turn, the mail is forwarded to my notes because I specified a fully qualified Internet E-mail address.

Write back if you have more questions.

Bill.

 

[gymnast]

thank you bill...it works...

 

[gymnast]

bill,

it's working, yes! but i didn't confirm if the sysadmin did something to make it work. i just want clarification.

do i have to define my e-mail server in DNS server? 'just got confused.