I think that an additional comment might be worth mentioning here. It has to do with the syntax of user%domain.com. Keep in mind that the % sign is listed as one of the host delimiters that IMail recognizes. If this was eliminated then it would not translate it to [EMAIL PROTECTED] The only issue here would be your Netscape messenger users will need to something other than the % in their Virtual Host Login Setup like the # or the & and make sure whichever you use is still a valid host delimiter.
Eric S ----- Original Message ----- From: "Smart Business Lists" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Sanford Whiteman" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Friday, May 31, 2002 12:30 PM Subject: Re: [IMail Forum] Open relay problem with Imail > Sanford, > > Thursday, May 30, 2002 you wrote: > > SW> In what situations would relaying for the backup be a requirement? > > That's easy enough. The case where someone has 2 IMAIL servers, A > and B, and each on separate networks. A is backup for B and B is > backup for A. > > I did test this too and you have to put both machines's IP in each > other's ACL to make the backup work. > > I just tested this whole thing again, too, just to remind myself what > happens. > > I have a primary server A_domain and backup B_domain. > I send a message to b_domain with rcpt_to written as > "name%C_domain@A_domain". > B_domain accepts this message because it is a backup for A_domain. > B_domain sends the message on to A_domain. > A_domain then sends the message to "name" at C_domain. > > That is in the case where B_domain is also in the ACL of A_domain. > > I have not tested Eric's solution of removing B_domain from the ACL of > A_domain but I assume Eric has tested this and that he is correct. > > Regardless, there is something puzzling about the way in which IMAIL > handles the percent-sign e-mail address. > > If you have an address like "account@A_domain" then a message to that > address should be delivered to "account" on "A_domain". > > In the IMAIL case and where "account" has a percent sign in it the > IMAIL backup server (B_domain in my example) is perfectly capable of > parsing the address, determining the domain (A_domain), looking in the > HOSTS file to find A_domain's IP address, and checking the ACL to see > if relaying is allowed for A_domain. So it seems to me that IMAIL > really does know how to find the domain for this address. It makes > sense that the part of the address that is not the domain is the > account name. > > B_domain cannot ascertain if "account" is a valid account on A_domain > so B_domain simply sends on the message at the first opportunity. > > So in my opinion there is nothing wrong up to this point and certainly > it is demonstrated that IMAIL can determine the domain of the address. > > But now A_domain server receives the message which is still addressed as > "account@A_domain". But "account" actually looks like this: > > "account2%C_domain" > > What should happen it seems to me is that IMAIL should check to see if > this entire account name exists for the A_domain and if it does it > then should deliver the message. If the account name does not exist > then it should bounce it. > > And this is what happens in the situation where you send the same > message to the A_domain server directly and not from the backup mail > server. > > But in the case where the message is sent from the backup mail server > IMAIL treats the account name as a new message address. At least in > the case where the backup mail server (B_domain) is authorized as a > relaying address for the A_domain (or if no relaying restrictions > exist) then IMAIL on A_domain will endeavor to deliver the message to > "account2" at the C_domain. qed. > > I'm surprised IMAIL handles the message differently where there is no > ACL for the backup. > > Regardless the fact remains that IMAIL is handling the ACCOUNT part of > the address differently when it is received from a backup mail server > and when it has a percent sign in it. > > This seems incorrect to me and I personally would still classify it as > a "bug" or at least a decidedly strange feature. > > It is an interesting issue at any rate. > > Terry > > > Please visit http://www.ipswitch.com/support/mailing-lists.html > to be removed from this list. > > An Archive of this list is available at: > http://www.mail-archive.com/imail_forum%40list.ipswitch.com/ > > Please visit the Knowledge Base for answers to frequently asked > questions: http://www.ipswitch.com/support/IMail/ > Please visit http://www.ipswitch.com/support/mailing-lists.html to be removed from this list. An Archive of this list is available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/imail_forum%40list.ipswitch.com/ Please visit the Knowledge Base for answers to frequently asked questions: http://www.ipswitch.com/support/IMail/
