Hiya Szilveszter. On 01/10/2010, Szilveszter Ciurdar <[email protected]> wrote: > > Yes, exim is another one (default MTA on debian). You can skip the > Courier/Dovecot step...I didn't know OpenSMTPD had that feature.
So, I might be right in thinking that smtpd can put mail into the "usual" place where people access it. If it can then that keeps things simpler. > That's probably mbox format in /var/mail. The location can vary depending on > OS...such as /var/spool/mail. I've got the idea that the spool is for the queue of mail actively being processed (maybe incoming but certainly outgoing). At least that's the way I read it. In other words on OpenBSD mail that has been processed always goes to maildir or mbox but mail that's waiting to be sent (or received as well maybe) has a copy sitting in the spool. I do know that Windows has a spool for printing and it's the queue of active jobs that fills up and empties as print jobs are done. Once all jobs are done the spool is empty and if there's a job that hasn't completed (might be stuck) the first place to check is the spool. > Each user has one file with all their mail > inside, sort of like a database. With Maildirs, it is more like a directory > structure where you can see individual messages inside (may not be > human-readable). Yep. I had a look earlier and the mbox seems to be a text file with email for one user collected in the file. It looks like plain text. For instance if I look at /var/mail I see a file called root which contains mail for me. It's a header followed by a body and then another header followed by a body and so on. If I login as root and type "mail" I see a list of what looks to be the exact same headers which I can use to read each individual message. Presumably this list comes from the aforementioned text file. > > I don't know procmail. I think most people use it to filter their mail. > You can do this with Thunderbird too. Since, most people are attached to > using a web interface to check their mail, you could also install > SquirrelMail or RoundCube Webmail. Yes I saw a recommendation to choose RoundCube for it's appealing interface (it does look nice). I used to use SquirrelMail years ago. It's reasonably functional and was one of my thoughts for what I would do. Then again, I'll avoid any software I don't specifically have to use. Best wishes. > >> Date: Fri, 1 Oct 2010 16:02:30 +0930 >> Subject: Re: IMAP or POP and SMTPD >> From: [email protected] >> To: [email protected] >> >> Hi Szilveszter, >> >> On 01/10/2010, Szilveszter Ciurdar <[email protected]> wrote: >> > >> > Hi, >> > >> > OpenSMTPD is an MTA (sendmail, qmail, postfix are others) so it routes >> > mail >> > to other mail servers until it reaches the destination's domain's >> > mailserver. >> >> Cool. The more I hear these terms the better. >> MTA is Mail Transfer Agent. >> >> I have seen that a lot of people use either sendmail or postfix and I >> think I've seen recommendations to use qmail and maybe something >> called exim. >> I do know that sendmail at the moment is the default MTA on OpenBSD (I >> have to change this in rc.conf.local to get smtpd cracking and also >> edit /etc/mailer.conf as per the smtpd man page). >> >> > Once there, I think you also need to install Courier or Dovecot >> > to serve it to people's Maildirs. >> >> So even though smtpd has this - smtpd.conf(5) ... >> deliver to maildir path >> Mail is added to a maildir. Its location, path, may >> contain format specifiers that are expanded before use >> (see above). If path is not provided, then ~/Maildir >> is >> assumed. >> >> deliver to mbox >> Mail is delivered to the local user's system mailbox >> in >> /var/mail. >> ... these are not the same in terms of maildir or mbox as far as the >> end user is concerned? >> >> > IMAP is preferred since you can have a >> > laptop and desktop with Thunderbird (MUA) and your mail will be in sync. >> > With POP, you run the risk of some guy pulling his email off the server >> > and >> > saving it locally. >> >> Yep I spent a few hours reading here and there about POP and IMAP. >> I haven't used an email client in years (I'm a gmailer) but I remember >> I used to have choice. >> >> > Here is a good guide using Postfix: >> > http://www.kernel-panic.it/openbsd/mail/ >> >> Yes, I've been through that more than once. >> It's difficult to keep attention. I try to absorb it so I can figure >> out how I can transfer that to smtpd. It's very specific though. I'm >> reading it again. >> >> > Use what you know. >> >> Unfortunately (surely it's obvious) I know very little. >> >> I am trying hard to figure out if I can do what I want with smtpd or >> whether I need to use other programs. >> Learning how to do things with procmail or whatnot and then findng out >> I didn't need to will probably only add to the confusion. >> To me it seems like it could be very simple - I could accept mail via >> smtpd and deliver it to maildir or mbox via smtpd and then >> authenticate users via smtpd (or via an OpenBSD account tied to >> /var/mail/user). Etcetera. >> Simple right? >> >> Best wishes. >> >> - Hide quoted text - >> >> >> Date: Fri, 1 Oct 2010 08:54:26 +0930 >> >> Subject: IMAP or POP and SMTPD >> >> From: [email protected] >> >> To: [email protected] >> >> >> >> Hiya. >> >> >> >> I'm in the process of setting up a few domains on OpenBSD. >> >> This means DNS, Apache and email. >> >> I've climbed the DNS and Apache mountains and currently climbing up >> >> the mail summit. >> >> I've never done this before and have a few questions. >> >> >> >> I'm pretty sure I want to use OpenSMTPD - it seems to be the future >> >> and simple enough for me. I've spent some time reading the man pages >> >> and looking at the misc archives but if there's a pressing reason not >> >> to use it I'm ears (okay it's not production ready but this is a hobby >> >> box ... and 4.8 is a few weeks away). >> >> >> >> I expect a handful of clients at remote locations to use an email >> >> client (either Thunderbird or most likely Outlook) to be able to >> >> access their mail on the server (received from the internet) and to >> >> able to send mail through the server. >> >> >> >> As far as I understand it I have a choice of POP or IMAP and that POP >> >> does not synchronize changes from the client onto the server whereas >> >> IMAP can. >> >> Does this affect whether I need to install any other software? >> >> I.e. if I use POP can I get away with smtpd on it's own or do I need >> >> to install other software? >> >> If I use IMAP do I need to install other software? >> >> >> >> I notice there are two different methods of storing mail on the >> >> server, either in an mbox (where email to a user is a concatenated >> >> text file) or to a maildir where emails are individual files. >> >> As far as I understand it, smtpd will output in either of these ways. >> >> Apart from the robustness point of view, do either of these two affect >> >> whether POP or IMAP is used by clients? >> >> Do either of these (mbox or maildir) affect whether I need to use >> >> additional software? >> >> >> >> I think I can do the incoming mail configuration but I'm not sure >> >> (conceptually) how to do outgoing. >> >> Unless I make an open relay I need some way to authenticate users (and >> >> also authenticate them access their "inbox" to read their mail). >> >> I notice there's a secrets database that's used to authenticate from >> >> the OpenBSD box to an external server (gmail for instance). >> >> Can it also be used to authenticate external mail clients "logging in" >> >> to read their mail and to send mail through the OpenBSD server? >> >> Failing that I would need to setup user accounts that are tied down to >> >> a maildir with mail sending priviliges, correct? >> >> >> >> I know that there are other programs I should be contending with >> >> (spamd for example) to keep the load off and do virus scanning (via >> >> procmail maybe) and whatnot. >> >> It will probably be an uphill battle for me and I'll content myself >> >> with being able to at least get legitimate mail through and accessible >> >> for the time being. >> >> If it's at all possible to do this with one set of manpages to read I >> >> might have a fighting chance and get to the other stuff later. >> >> Please let me know if I'm on the moving in the right direction. >> >> >> >> Best wishes. >> >> _______________________________________________ >> >> Openbsd-newbies mailing list >> >> [email protected] >> >> http://mailman.theapt.org/listinfo/openbsd-newbies >> > >> _______________________________________________ >> Openbsd-newbies mailing list >> [email protected] >> http://mailman.theapt.org/listinfo/openbsd-newbies > _______________________________________________ Openbsd-newbies mailing list [email protected] http://mailman.theapt.org/listinfo/openbsd-newbies
