I'm not root, can I use qmail?
Hello, I have a unique problem that doesn't seem to be covered by the documentation. I have a shell account on a system (not root). I would like to setup qmail as an SMTP server on port 2525. It would only be used for outgoing mail, not incoming mail. Does anyone know how I might go about implementing this? Can qmail be run in a daemon mode to listen to port 2525, instead of being started by /etc/inetd.conf? I know some C, so I'm able to perform minor hacks on the source code if necessary. -Philip Mak ([EMAIL PROTECTED])
Re: I'm not root, can I use qmail?
I have a shell account on a system (not root). I would like to setup qmail as an SMTP server on port 2525. It would only be used for outgoing mail, not incoming mail. In general, it is a strange idea to set up a mail gateway without notifying the root (even if it is for outgoing mails only). Your netadmin will set it up for you if it is really important. If he/she refuses, get an SMPT server address from outside and send your mail through that. Does anyone know how I might go about implementing this? Can qmail be run in a daemon mode to listen to port 2525, instead of being started by /etc/inetd.conf? Starting qmail by inetd (and using inetd at all) is 'a bit' outdated. I have three letters for you: LWQ. Good luck. Csaba __ This message went through virus scan at Trend Ltd. which stated the message was clean of viri appeared before 2001.06.20.
RE: I'm not root, can I use qmail?
On Fri, 22 Jun 2001, Tanuj Shah wrote: I would have thought, just install qmail somewhere in your home and use tcpserver for the listening on port 2525. Thanks; you solved part of the puzzle for me. On a test system where I have root access, I was able to run qmail as a send-only SMTP server on port 2525 using tcpserver. I can't get it to run on the system where I need it (and don't have root), though. qMail is hardwired to install into /var/qmail, and there seems to be no clean way of changing that. I managed to hack the Makefile so that when I did make setup check, it went into $HOME/var/qmail instead, but I think I did something wrong, because when I execute this command: csh -cf '$HOME/var/qmail/rc ' it does not start up the qmail-send, qmail-lspawn etc. processes. If I had root and qmail refused to start, I could read /var/log/messages, but as a normal user I can't read that file to see what the problem is. Does anyone have any ideas? (Is there a way to get it to print the errors to a file that I can read?) On Fri, 22 Jun 2001, Csaba Bobak wrote: In general, it is a strange idea to set up a mail gateway without notifying the root (even if it is for outgoing mails only). Your netadmin will set it up for you if it is really important. My account is on a commercial webhost. They allow us to run daemons in the background, but if I asked them to set it up for me it would be expensive. -Philip Mak ([EMAIL PROTECTED])
Re: I'm not root, can I use qmail?
On Fri, Jun 22, 2001 at 08:42:52AM -0400, Philip Mak wrote: On Fri, 22 Jun 2001, Tanuj Shah wrote: I would have thought, just install qmail somewhere in your home and use tcpserver for the listening on port 2525. Thanks; you solved part of the puzzle for me. On a test system where I have root access, I was able to run qmail as a send-only SMTP server on port 2525 using tcpserver. What is a send-only SMTP server? qmail-smtpd receives mail from the Internet and queues it; it doesn't send mail anywhere. I can't get it to run on the system where I need it (and don't have root), though. qMail is hardwired to install into /var/qmail, and there seems to be no clean way of changing that. Edit conf-qmail. I managed to hack the Makefile so that when I did make setup check, it went into $HOME/var/qmail instead, but I think I did something wrong, because when I execute this command: csh -cf '$HOME/var/qmail/rc ' it does not start up the qmail-send, qmail-lspawn etc. processes. If I had root and qmail refused to start, I could read /var/log/messages, but as a normal user I can't read that file to see what the problem is. You'll never be able to install and run qmail without root access because it requires installing qmail-queue setuid, and it requires running various other programs as users other than yourself. As a regular, non-root user, you can't create a setuid program and you can't run programs as other users. What exactly are you trying to accomplish? Chris PGP signature
Re: I'm not root, can I use qmail?
Philip Mak writes: On Fri, 22 Jun 2001, Tanuj Shah wrote: I would have thought, just install qmail somewhere in your home and use tcpserver for the listening on port 2525. Thanks; you solved part of the puzzle for me. On a test system where I have root access, I was able to run qmail as a send-only SMTP server on port 2525 using tcpserver. I can't get it to run on the system where I need it (and don't have root), though. qMail is hardwired to install into /var/qmail, and there seems to be no clean way of changing that. I managed to hack the Makefile so that i guess you should read the INSTALL file. the first advice is: * The qmail home directory, normally /var/qmail. To change this directory, edit conf-qmail now. so you just have to change the first line of conf-qmail to change the install location. it does not start up the qmail-send, qmail-lspawn etc. processes. If I had root and qmail refused to start, I could read /var/log/messages, but as a normal user I can't read that file to see what the problem is. Does anyone have any ideas? (Is there a way to get it to print the errors because you cant configure splogger, you have to use another logging tool. perhaps its possible to run multilog (http://cr.yp.to) as normal user. if, you could handle your logs with multilog. My account is on a commercial webhost. They allow us to run daemons in the background, but if I asked them to set it up for me it would be expensive. good luck. regards, philipp Philipp Steinkrüger Technik Oberberg Online Tel.: +49 2261 814240 Fax: +49 2261 814919 www.oberberg.net [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: I'm not root, can I use qmail?
On Fri, 22 Jun 2001, Chris Johnson wrote: What is a send-only SMTP server? qmail-smtpd receives mail from the Internet and queues it; it doesn't send mail anywhere. By send-only, I mean that this SMTP server is not intended for receiving e-mail to be delivered to local users. It will only be used by Listar (a mailing list manager) to send out e-mail. I do have sendmail installed on the system, but sendmail doesn't handle massive mailing lists (this one has 3000 users) that efficiently. Edit conf-qmail. Ahh, so that's the correct way to change the installation directory... You'll never be able to install and run qmail without root access because it requires installing qmail-queue setuid, and it requires running various other programs as users other than yourself. As a regular, non-root user, you can't create a setuid program and you can't run programs as other users. Hmm... would it be feasible for me to comment out all the code in the program that changes its user id? For what I want to do, I don't need any special privileges; the only thing I need qmail to do is to relay mail to remote SMTP servers. What exactly are you trying to accomplish? I am trying to setup qmail to send out messages for Listar. When Listar sends it a message, its job is to relay that message to the remote SMTP servers of the recipients. That's all. -Philip Mak ([EMAIL PROTECTED])
Re: I'm not root, can I use qmail?
Philip Mak [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: What exactly are you trying to accomplish? I am trying to setup qmail to send out messages for Listar. When Listar sends it a message, its job is to relay that message to the remote SMTP servers of the recipients. That's all. So use something other than qmail; you don't need 95% of its functionality. nullmailer comes to mind if you can cause mail injection to happen through a sendmail wrapper. It would probably also be simpler to get nullmailer to run without root access than qmail. Charles -- --- Charles Cazabon[EMAIL PROTECTED] GPL'ed software available at: http://www.qcc.sk.ca/~charlesc/software/ ---
Re: I'm not root, can I use qmail?
Chris Johnson [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: You'll never be able to install and run qmail without root access because it requires installing qmail-queue setuid, and it requires running various other programs as users other than yourself. As a regular, non-root user, you can't create a setuid program and you can't run programs as other users. Some minor hackery of the qmail code (e.g., setuid()) and properly setting conf-users and conf-qmail should do the trick. I haven't tried it, though. However, I'd be suprised if running an MTA on a nonstandard port didn't violate the ISP's Terms of Service. -Dave
Re: I'm not root, can I use qmail?
On Fri, Jun 22, 2001 at 09:33:34AM -0400, Philip Mak wrote: I am trying to setup qmail to send out messages for Listar. When Listar sends it a message, its job is to relay that message to the remote SMTP servers of the recipients. That's all. Why don't you use your Web Host's MTA? --Adam
