mail_manual_setup(7) Miscellaneous Information Manual mail_manual_setup(7)
NAME
mail_manual_setup - Describes how to manually set up and start mail
DESCRIPTION
Manually setting up and starting your Tru64 UNIX mail system involves stopping and starting the sendmail utility, making changes to the
/var/adm/sendmail/sendmail.cf and /var/adm/sendmail/hostname.m4 files, and running the newaliases command. The following sections discuss
these tasks and also provide information about POP and IMAP mail.
Before you configure mail, your machine should be established on a local area network (LAN). If you want to use domain-based addressing,
you must also configure the Berkeley Internet Name Domain (BIND) service in your environment. Furthermore, if you want to distribute your
/var/adm/sendmail/aliases database (see aliases(4)) amongst the machines in your environment, you must configure the Network Information
Service (NIS). See the Network Administration guide, bind_intro(7), nis_intro(7) for more information about the BIND and NIS services.
Setting Up Your Mail System
Setting up your mail delivery system requires that you understand how the sendmail utility works and how to modify the /var/adm/send-
mail/sendmail.cf file and the m4 files.
The sendmail Utility
The sendmail utility is a general-purpose mail router that enables a user to send mail to users on the same and other systems. In most
cases, the mail utilities rely on sendmail to parse mail addresses and to resolve system aliases. Specifically, when a message is sent, the
message goes through the following delivery process: The mail utility passes the message to the sendmail utility. The sendmail utility
checks its aliases database for full expansion of system names. The sendmail utility parses the address of the receiver of the mail
according to a set of rules. If the message is going to a user on the same system as the sender, sendmail passes the message to the mail
utility for delivery. If the message is going to a user on a remote system, sendmail forwards the message to the sendmail utility (or the
equivalent utility for systems other than Tru64 UNIX) on the remote system by using one of the following protocols, as specified in the
address: DECnet
Used to send mail with DECnet (for example, host::user). uux
Used to send mail with the UNIX-to-UNIX Copy Program (UUCP) (for example, decosf!user). SMTP
Used to send mail with the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) facility (for example, user@decosf.dec.com).
Once the message arrives on the correct system, the sendmail (or equivalent) utility passes the message to the mail utility for
delivery to the receiver's mailbox.
The sendmail Configuration File
The sendmail configuration file, sendmail.cf, contains the instructions for how your mail is sent and delivered, and how it is parsed. This
file includes several tunable macros that you can modify to suit your environment, and one macro that you should be aware of but cannot
modify. For more information, see the sendmail(8) reference page.
Using m4 Files
Alternatively, you can use the mailconfig GUI or mailsetup script to fine tune your mail configuration. For more information, see the
mailconfig(8) and the mailsetup(8) reference pages and the Network Administration manual.
You can edit the /var/admin/sendmail/hostname.m4 file, modifying the define lines. The file contains comment lines (lines that begin with
dnl), that provide additional information. For example, the following define line specifies that RFC976-style addressing is disabled:
define (_RFC976, {})dnl To enable RFC976-style addressing, modify the line as follows: define (_RFC976, {T})dnl The T enables RFC976-style
addressing. After you edit the file, change to the /var/adm/sendmail directory and issue the following command:
# make -f Makefile.cf.hostname: This command generates a hostname.cf file. To use the new configuration, copy the hostname.cf file to send-
mail.cf and restart sendmail by using the /sbin/init.d/sendmail restart command.
For more information, see the m4(1) and sendmail.m4(8) reference pages.
User Configurable Mail Locking
Different mailers use different methods to lock mailbox files. Tru64 UNIX enables you to configure the locking style. To do this, use the
/usr/sbin/rcmgr set command to set MAILLOCKING in the /etc/rc.config.common file.
Valid values for MAILLOCKING are as follows: Specifies lockf. Specifies lockfile. Specifies Multi-channel Memo Distribution Facility
(MMDF). This applies to MH only. Specifies lockf. Specifies that both lockf and lockfile are used.
Restrictions
Spool files are locked while being modified by using the lockf call and by using a lock file (/var/spool/mail/$USER.lock). When spool
files are NFS-mounted the NFS lockd daemon should be running on both the client and server machine. Any user-added program that modifies
the spool area must use lockf, the lock file method of locking, or both.
ULTRIX Version 4.3 and earlier versions use lock file locking. Queue files (which reside in the /var/spool/mqueue directory) are locked
using lockf. Sharing mqueue over NFS is supported with NFS locking (lockd) enabled.
Starting the Mail System
To start the mail system, use the following procedure: Edit the /var/adm/sendmail/sendmail.cf file to change the macro definitions
described in the Network Administration. Issue the newaliases command to initialize the sendmail aliases database as follows:
# newaliases Stop the current sendmail process by using the following command:
# /sbin/init.d/sendmail stop Start the sendmail utility as follows:
# /sbin/init.d/sendmail start
Alternatively, steps 2 through 4 can be accomplished by using the restart option to the sendmail startup script as follows:
# /sbin/init.d/sendmail restart This command does the following: Initializes the sendmail aliases database Stops the current send-
mail process Starts the sendmail utility
Post Office Protocol
The Post Office Protocol (POP or POP3) is a client/server protocol that allows users to download their E-mail from a mail server to a
remote client. It is intended for users who prefer to access their E-mail in an offline mode, a mode that is used widely today by Internet
Service Providers (ISP) to provide E-mail services for their customers.
The operating system includes a POP3 server from Qualcomm Incorporated, which is fully installed and configured for you when you install
the OSFINET subset. Any users listed in the /etc/password file are subsequently enabled to receive POP mail, if they desire; however, you
can improve security on your mail server by implementating alternate passwords for their login authentication. See the Network Administra-
tion guide for more information on authentication and administering POP.
Internet Message Access Protocol
The Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP or IMAP4) is a client/server protocol that allows users access their mail messages on a server.
With it, a user can access his or her mail folders and manipulate the contents remotely without having to log into the server. In addi-
tion, the user can download a cache copy of selected messages from the server to a local system for offline browsing.
The most beneficial feature of IMAP is that it allows users to resychronize their cached mail folders on the local system with the mail
folders on the server. The latter can be especially useful for people who use different computers (at work, at home, or on the road) at
different times to access their messages. For example, if a user deletes mail from his computer at work, the change is automatically car-
ried over to his computer at home and his laptop during subsequent resychronizations.
The operating system includes the Cyrus IMAP4 Revision 1 server from Carnegie-Mellon University, which is fully installed and configured
for you when you install the OSFINET subset. See the Network Administration guide for information on configuring users, migrating users
from POP to IMAP mail, enabling alternate passwords, and administering IMAP.
RELATED INFORMATION
Commands: imapd(8), mail(1), mailconfig(8), mailx(1), pop3d(8), sendmail(8).
Files: aliases(4), imapd.conf(4), sendmail.cf(4).
Network: mail_intro(7).
System calls: syslog(3).
Network Administration delim off
mail_manual_setup(7)