Linux mail server

[HaoDr]

Hi everyone,
My network consists of a Linux box and many Microsoft Windows 9x PCs. Now I intend to set the Linux box as Mail server so that other Microsoft Windows 9x PCs can use email service . Please tell me that Linux built-in sendmail program can deal with this issue. If that how I can creat email account with sendmail program ? Sendmail 's email account also Linux box's users ? Or I have to install another email server software such as Netscape Mail server ? And tell me the different between sendmail program and Netscape mail servers.
Thanks very much.
HaoDr

 

[StarTAC]

if u have installed Linux u should have sendmail on the distro CDs... sendmail will handle all your SMTP needs, ensuring u send and receive e-mails from/to your own mail server...

however, you will also need a POP3 agent which u will use to download your e-mail off the server... with linux u have several options.. but the best would be popper or qpopper.. also, found on your distro CDs.....

good luck..

AKNIT

 

[HaoDr]

At first, thanks a lot for your help.
Do you mean a Linux mail server is a Linux box running two daemons: Sendmail (SMTP) and POP3 daemons ? and email accounts of this mail server are also "normal" accounts, I mean we can these accounts to login this Linux box ? Previously, I used Microsoft windows NT, and I installed Mdaemon mail server, I create email accounts and they are NOT "normal" user accounts in this Windows NT box, so I wonder whether the Linux system operates the same or not ?
And the last question, could you tell me some best programes I should use as POP3 agent running at the same time with Sendmail program ? If I install Netscape mail server, does this program run both functions : SMTP and POP3, and email accounts created by this program are also "normal" accounts ( I mean we can use these accounts to login into Mail server Linux box beside using them for email only ?

Hao Dr

 

[ifincham]

Hi,

Normally you would add email users in such a way that they can't logon - i.e. by specifying a non-existent shell environment instead of bash/csh etc.

For example :

/sbin/useradd -s /bin/false mailuser1
(adds user mailuser1 but gives a shell of '/bin/false' so they can't logon)
then set the password ... (as root)
/sbin/passwd mailuser1
(enter password as prompted)

Now, as long as you have a pop3 daemon active as well as the sendmail daemon you would configure the win client software (outlook express or whatever) to point to the name or ipaddress of the linux server, port 110 (pop3) for inbound and port 25 (smtp) for outbound. Their pop3 logon would be user 'mailuser1' or whatever from the above example and their password whatever you set it to.

If you have Redhat, the pop3 server is included (rather confusingly) in the imap rpm. So you would install the imap rpm and then do '/sbin/chkconfig ipop3 on' to active it under xinetd. It should now all work. (config of pop3 for other linux distros would probably be different).

Regards