mailx rookie help

[steeltown89]

I am a rookie to UNIX and mailx and I am trying to send mail out accross our network to an outside email address from a Sun Solaris 5.8 server (mailx version is 5.0).

mailx -s &quot;subject&quot; whoever@anywhere.com < testfile.txt

This server has never been configured to send mail. I looked at the sendmail.cf file and noticed there is nothing for the: &quot;Smart&quot; relay host (may be null)
DS

I know I need something after the DS; what to put is a mystery to me. I know how to edit files but I'm not sure what I should be putting in for the mailhost.

We use Outlook here at work and I do know the Exchange server names and IP's. I've tried to telnet to our Exchange server using port 25 and I get a prompt but I don't know what to do beyond that.

1) What do I put in for Smart relay host?
2) Do I need a hosts file too?
3) Do I need to enable anything else to send mail out to the internet?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Rhinokiller]

Don't edit the sendmail.cf directly, use the sendmail.mc file.
1. Smart_HOST is set up as follows in your sendmail.mc:
define(`SMART_HOST', `smtp.gateway.com')
this simply states all nonlocal mail should be forwarded to an smtp gateway for processing.
2. Yes you need a local-hosts-file .This should include all the aliases for your mail server.
3. You need a valid domain name & MX to send mail to the internet. You will also need to edit your access file to allow mail relaying for your domain and for mail seen as &quot;local&quot; by the mail server.

Cogito Ergo Sum - Non Compos Mentis

 

[steeltown89]

Thanks for the reply Rhinokiller!
I'm not sure what you mean by MX.
1. What does MX mean?
2. Where is sendmail.mc? I found sendmail.cf in /etc/mail, but I don't see sendmail.mc anywhere.

By the way this email traffic is only one direction, I just need to send text files out to an Internet address. No incoming mail is neccessary as I won't be checking the root mailbox anyway.

Thanks again!

 

[Rhinokiller]

MX = Mail Exchanger - it identifies your mail server on the internet. Even if you are just sending mail out to the internet you really do need a valid domain name & MX. This can be done using a &quot;domain literal&quot; configuration in Sendmail but I advise against it.
What version of sendmail r u running (if you telnet to port 25 on your sendmail server you should see it there) ?

Cogito Ergo Sum - Non Compos Mentis

 

[steeltown89]

senmail 8.11.6 + Sun/8.11.6
I don't connect directly to the Internet, I have to go through an smtp server which I now have in the sendmail.cf file and I put an entry into the hosts file to resolve this name for the smtp server.

Now it connects with the server but I don't think it can find it's way back to my Sun box. I'm trying to figure out how to add the MX.

 

[Rhinokiller]

Don't bother with the MX stuff now, your smtp gateway (ISP) is probably doing it for you.

Cogito Ergo Sum - Non Compos Mentis

 

[steeltown89]

I got it to work! Thanks for your help. I had a bogus entry in my hosts file that had an incorrect &quot;nickname&quot;. Once I took out the wrong domain name and put in the correct one it started working.

Thanks again for the help!