Re: Postfix/Cyrus Forwarding Question
Dennis Putnam: I'm not sure if this is the right forum for this question but I don't know where else to start. I am running Postfix/Cyrus on the same server that contains user home directories. The forwarding mechanism (.forward) is, of course, working and I understand it. What I don't understand is how this mechanism works, or even if it does, when a user's home directory is on a different server than Postfix/Cyrus. In other words when Postfix/Cyrus does not have access to the user's home directory. Or is there some other delivery mechanism involved that I am missing? Thanks. Can someone explain if this can work and if, so how. If not, what do users do in that case? With Postfix, these files don't have to live in the user's home directory. You can specify an alternate location with the forward_path configuration parameter. Wietse
Re: Postfix/Cyrus Forwarding Question
Dennis Putnam wrote: I'm not sure if this is the right forum for this question but I don't know where else to start. I am running Postfix/Cyrus on the same server that contains user home directories. The forwarding mechanism (.forward) is, of course, working and I understand it. What I don't understand is how this mechanism works, or even if it does, when a user's home directory is on a different server than Postfix/Cyrus. In other words when Postfix/Cyrus does not have access to the user's home directory. Or is there some other delivery mechanism involved that I am missing? Thanks. Can someone explain if this can work and if, so how. If not, what do users do in that case? Postfix's local delivery agent (local) http://www.postfix.org/local.8.html handles the .forward file. If local is delivering the mail to the user's directory, it can see the .forward file and should handle it properly. If it can't see the user's home directories, it can't deliver the mail or read the forward file. However, delivery can be delegated to an alternate transport method or application, in which case local does nothing with the .forward file. If you're not sure how the mail is being delivered, it would be useful to follow a single message id in the maillog file and watch exactly what happens to it. Terry
Re: Postfix/Cyrus Forwarding Question
On Wed, Nov 25, 2009 at 11:27:18AM -0500, Dennis Putnam wrote: I am running Postfix/Cyrus I assume you mean Cyrus IMAP... on the same server that contains user home directories. With the local(8) transport delegating delivery via mailbox_transport. The forwarding mechanism (.forward) is, of course, working and I understand it. This assumes system users who have passwd file entries, and so by definition have home directories. What I don't understand is how this mechanism works, or even if it does, when a user's home directory is on a different server than Postfix/Cyrus. A system user's home directory is never on a different server, NFS, AFS and the like don't matter in this context, the home directory is still locally accessible. Perhaps you are looking to integrate Cyrus IMAP with virtual users. In other words when Postfix/Cyrus does not have access to the user's home directory. Or is there some other delivery mechanism involved that I am missing? You can change the forward_path setting to create .forward files for users (each owned by the user in question, or local(8) will not trust it), in a location different from the user's home directory. http://www.postfix.org/postconf.5.html#forward_path If the users don't have passwd file entries, then forwarding needs to be managed via aliases(5) or better yet virtual(5). http://www.postfix.org/postconf.5.html#alias_maps http://www.postfix.org/postconf.5.html#virtual_alias_maps http://www.postfix.org/ADDRESS_REWRITING_README.html http://www.postfix.org/VIRTUAL_README.html You can deliver to Cyrus IMAP via LMTP, after rewriting recipient addresses in virtual(5) into a domain that is routed to a suitable transport(5). -- Viktor. Disclaimer: off-list followups get on-list replies or get ignored. Please do not ignore the Reply-To header. To unsubscribe from the postfix-users list, visit http://www.postfix.org/lists.html or click the link below: mailto:majord...@postfix.org?body=unsubscribe%20postfix-users If my response solves your problem, the best way to thank me is to not send an it worked, thanks follow-up. If you must respond, please put It worked, thanks in the Subject so I can delete these quickly.
Re: Postfix/Cyrus Forwarding Question
Hi Wietse, Thanks for the reply. I'm not sure I completely understand. Is the forward_path a directory on the mail server or a path to the remote users' home? Is that a per user or system setting (e.g. users' home directories may be on different servers)? I'm guessing that the forward_path is on the mail server. If that is the case, from the users' perspective, how do they handle forwarding? On Nov 25, 2009, at 11:37 AM, Wietse Venema wrote: Dennis Putnam: I'm not sure if this is the right forum for this question but I don't know where else to start. I am running Postfix/Cyrus on the same server that contains user home directories. The forwarding mechanism (.forward) is, of course, working and I understand it. What I don't understand is how this mechanism works, or even if it does, when a user's home directory is on a different server than Postfix/Cyrus. In other words when Postfix/Cyrus does not have access to the user's home directory. Or is there some other delivery mechanism involved that I am missing? Thanks. Can someone explain if this can work and if, so how. If not, what do users do in that case? With Postfix, these files don't have to live in the user's home directory. You can specify an alternate location with the forward_path configuration parameter. Wietse Dennis Putnam Sr. IT Systems Administrator AIM Systems, Inc. 11675 Rainwater Dr., Suite 200 Alpharetta, GA 30009 Phone: 678-240-4112 Main Phone: 678-297-0700 FAX: 678-297-2666 or 770-576-1000 The information contained in this e-mail and any attachments is strictly confidential. If you are not the intended recipient, any use, dissemination, distribution, or duplication of any part of this e-mail or any attachment is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please notify the sender by return e-mail and delete all copies, including the attachments.
Re: Postfix/Cyrus Forwarding Question
Hi Viktor, Thanks, that clears up a few things. It appears that this applies to individual users via the $name parameter. It is not clear how to handle many users (surely I can't list everyone) which may be on different servers. Is there a wild card format and/or a default? Can the path be set to a mounted filesystem that contains the user home directories? If no mount, how does the user create/maintain the .forward file in that alternate location? On Nov 25, 2009, at 11:42 AM, Victor Duchovni wrote: On Wed, Nov 25, 2009 at 11:27:18AM -0500, Dennis Putnam wrote: I am running Postfix/Cyrus I assume you mean Cyrus IMAP... on the same server that contains user home directories. With the local(8) transport delegating delivery via mailbox_transport. The forwarding mechanism (.forward) is, of course, working and I understand it. This assumes system users who have passwd file entries, and so by definition have home directories. What I don't understand is how this mechanism works, or even if it does, when a user's home directory is on a different server than Postfix/Cyrus. A system user's home directory is never on a different server, NFS, AFS and the like don't matter in this context, the home directory is still locally accessible. Perhaps you are looking to integrate Cyrus IMAP with virtual users. In other words when Postfix/Cyrus does not have access to the user's home directory. Or is there some other delivery mechanism involved that I am missing? You can change the forward_path setting to create .forward files for users (each owned by the user in question, or local(8) will not trust it), in a location different from the user's home directory. http://www.postfix.org/postconf.5.html#forward_path If the users don't have passwd file entries, then forwarding needs to be managed via aliases(5) or better yet virtual(5). http://www.postfix.org/postconf.5.html#alias_maps http://www.postfix.org/postconf.5.html#virtual_alias_maps http://www.postfix.org/ADDRESS_REWRITING_README.html http://www.postfix.org/VIRTUAL_README.html You can deliver to Cyrus IMAP via LMTP, after rewriting recipient addresses in virtual(5) into a domain that is routed to a suitable transport(5). -- Viktor. Disclaimer: off-list followups get on-list replies or get ignored. Please do not ignore the Reply-To header. To unsubscribe from the postfix-users list, visit http://www.postfix.org/lists.html or click the link below: mailto:majord...@postfix.org?body=unsubscribe%20postfix-users If my response solves your problem, the best way to thank me is to not send an it worked, thanks follow-up. If you must respond, please put It worked, thanks in the Subject so I can delete these quickly. Dennis Putnam Sr. IT Systems Administrator AIM Systems, Inc. 11675 Rainwater Dr., Suite 200 Alpharetta, GA 30009 Phone: 678-240-4112 Main Phone: 678-297-0700 FAX: 678-297-2666 or 770-576-1000 The information contained in this e-mail and any attachments is strictly confidential. If you are not the intended recipient, any use, dissemination, distribution, or duplication of any part of this e-mail or any attachment is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please notify the sender by return e-mail and delete all copies, including the attachments.
Re: Postfix/Cyrus Forwarding Question
On Wed, Nov 25, 2009 at 11:56:41AM -0500, Dennis Putnam wrote:
Thanks, that clears up a few things. It appears that this applies to
individual users via the $name parameter.
There is no $name parameter. That is a generic place-holder for any of
the parameters above it, to explain that you can use ${extension?foo}
or ${extension:bar} (for example) to handle the case when there is
(or is not) an address extension.
It is not clear how to handle
many users (surely I can't list everyone) which may be on different
servers. Is there a wild card format and/or a default?
What do you mean on different servers? The forward_path specifies
a local file on the Postfix server's filesystem which contains
the .forward content for each user. Various ${parameters}, as part
of this setting, make the path user-dependent.
Can the path be set to a mounted filesystem that contains the user
home directories? If no mount, how does the user create/maintain the
.forward file in that alternate location?
If you want users to edit their own .forward files with vi, emacs,
ed, ... Give them home directories on the mail server, use NFS if
that's sufficiently reliable, and the security risk is acceptable.
[ Please don't top-post, and reply to each paragraph in-line with the
original text quoted with , as above ].
--
Viktor.
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If my response solves your problem, the best way to thank me is to not
send an it worked, thanks follow-up. If you must respond, please put
It worked, thanks in the Subject so I can delete these quickly.
Re: Postfix/Cyrus Forwarding Question
Hi Viktor,
My bad, I was referring to this line in the documentation when I used $name:
$user
The recipient's username.
In any case I think the light is starting to glow, albeit dimly.
The examples in the documentation are not very helpful. Is there someplace I
can look for better ones?
When I say on different servers, perhaps I need to better explain the
environment we plan. User home directories are on a SAN while the mail server
is not. The home directories are served out by a pair of SAN file servers and
users are distributed between them for some semblance of load balancing. While
ultimately all the home directories are on the same SAN LUN, the logical path
to them will be on different servers.
If I understand this correctly, I can set the forward_path to a directory on
the mail server (not sure what the syntax would look like based on the
examples). The hierarchy of that directory is not clear but one way or another
each user has a unique .forward file of some form. In order to maintain it I
can create scripts that access those files via 'ssh' or 'scp' or some such
mechanism.
How far off am I?
On Nov 25, 2009, at 12:12 PM, Victor Duchovni wrote:
On Wed, Nov 25, 2009 at 11:56:41AM -0500, Dennis Putnam wrote:
Thanks, that clears up a few things. It appears that this applies to
individual users via the $name parameter.
There is no $name parameter. That is a generic place-holder for any of
the parameters above it, to explain that you can use ${extension?foo}
or ${extension:bar} (for example) to handle the case when there is
(or is not) an address extension.
It is not clear how to handle
many users (surely I can't list everyone) which may be on different
servers. Is there a wild card format and/or a default?
What do you mean on different servers? The forward_path specifies
a local file on the Postfix server's filesystem which contains
the .forward content for each user. Various ${parameters}, as part
of this setting, make the path user-dependent.
Can the path be set to a mounted filesystem that contains the user
home directories? If no mount, how does the user create/maintain the
.forward file in that alternate location?
If you want users to edit their own .forward files with vi, emacs,
ed, ... Give them home directories on the mail server, use NFS if
that's sufficiently reliable, and the security risk is acceptable.
[ Please don't top-post, and reply to each paragraph in-line with the
original text quoted with , as above ].
--
Viktor.
Disclaimer: off-list followups get on-list replies or get ignored.
Please do not ignore the Reply-To header.
To unsubscribe from the postfix-users list, visit
http://www.postfix.org/lists.html or click the link below:
mailto:majord...@postfix.org?body=unsubscribe%20postfix-users
If my response solves your problem, the best way to thank me is to not
send an it worked, thanks follow-up. If you must respond, please put
It worked, thanks in the Subject so I can delete these quickly.
Dennis Putnam
Sr. IT Systems Administrator
AIM Systems, Inc.
11675 Rainwater Dr., Suite 200
Alpharetta, GA 30009
Phone: 678-240-4112
Main Phone: 678-297-0700
FAX: 678-297-2666 or 770-576-1000
The information contained in this e-mail and any attachments is strictly
confidential. If you are not the intended recipient, any use, dissemination,
distribution, or duplication of any part of this e-mail or any attachment is
prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please notify the sender by
return e-mail and delete all copies, including the attachments.
Re: Postfix/Cyrus Forwarding Question
On Wed, Nov 25, 2009 at 12:41:37PM -0500, Dennis Putnam wrote: If I understand this correctly, I can set the forward_path to a directory No, not a directory a file, and not a file, but a set of files, one for each user. The hierarchy of that directory is not clear The construction of the .forward path is entirely up to you. You can list multiple patterns, the first one found to exist will be used. This allows extension-specific .forward files to be used when available. -- Viktor. Disclaimer: off-list followups get on-list replies or get ignored. Please do not ignore the Reply-To header. To unsubscribe from the postfix-users list, visit http://www.postfix.org/lists.html or click the link below: mailto:majord...@postfix.org?body=unsubscribe%20postfix-users If my response solves your problem, the best way to thank me is to not send an it worked, thanks follow-up. If you must respond, please put It worked, thanks in the Subject so I can delete these quickly.
Re: Postfix/Cyrus Forwarding Question
Victor Duchovni:
On Wed, Nov 25, 2009 at 12:41:37PM -0500, Dennis Putnam wrote:
If I understand this correctly, I can set the forward_path to a directory
No, not a directory a file, and not a file, but a set of files, one
for each user.
For example I remember from historic times something like:
forward_path = /var/forward/$user
With address extensions turned on, it would look like:
forward_path = /var/forward/${user}${recipient_delimiter}${extension},
/var/forward/${user}
But, the latter is untested.
Wietse
Re: Postfix/Cyrus Forwarding Question
I belive the best way to way to to this is to use sieve k - Dennis Putnam dennis.put...@aimaudit.com wrote: I'm not sure if this is the right forum for this question but I don't know where else to start. I am running Postfix/Cyrus on the same server that contains user home directories. The forwarding mechanism (.forward) is, of course, working and I understand it. What I don't understand is how this mechanism works, or even if it does, when a user's home directory is on a different server than Postfix/Cyrus. In other words when Postfix/Cyrus does not have access to the user's home directory. Or is there some other delivery mechanism involved that I am missing? Thanks. Can someone explain if this can work and if, so how. If not, what do users do in that case? Thanks. Dennis Putnam Sr. IT Systems Administrator AIM Systems, Inc. 11675 Rainwater Dr., Suite 200 Alpharetta, GA 30009 Phone: 678-240-4112 Main Phone: 678-297-0700 FAX: 678-297-2666 or 770-576-1000 The information contained in this e-mail and any attachments is strictly confidential. If you are not the intended recipient, any use, dissemination, distribution, or duplication of any part of this e-mail or any attachment is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please notify the sender by return e-mail and delete all copies, including the attachments.
