Uf da! Sendmail under Debian!

[Dave Laird]

Good morning, everyone,

Having just installed both MySQL and Sendmail on my test boxen, I can
pretty easily see what James was saying about Sendmail yesterday. Setting
this up as an unpublished MTA, without an MX record, could be really
interesting. I might even consider doing it just to "get my hands dirty"
and see what other surprises there are, with an eye to the fact this might
even break things in the process. It's a different ball game that I am
looking at, which may or may not be a good thing.

MySQL, on the other hand, has a configuration unlike any I have ever seen,
and I've been using it as a database backend for nearly a decade. What is
funny is that it is probably one of the safest installs I've ever seen,
because *most* Linux installs install MySQL's daemon "wide open", that is
in a state where anyone can access data providing no one has set up a
proper root password. Debian does it one better, and disables network
access to the daemon until someone comes along and configures my.cnf
properly.

I'm going to have to RTFM before I do much with either of these vital
server components, but I can see where Debian also is really picky about
applications that are SETUID root. As we learned in RedHat 8.0, that is
probably a REALLY good thing. Fascinating.

Dave

[James Vahn]

Hey, as a "victim" of repeated Red Hat nonsense, at least what Debian
*tried* to do was better than Red Hat by a long shot. Not only that, it
appears to be working and doesn't improperly relay. ;-)

But I don't think Debian has anything to properly and completely
configure sendmail. Remove the sendmail.mc and run sendmailconfig.
Horrible.

Not like the package maintainer is asleep or something (he turned loose
some 30 updates last year) but he doesn't appear concerned about the
lack of hand holding... cf.README is your friend.


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[Dave Laird]

Good morning, James...

Post by James Vahn

Hey, as a "victim" of repeated Red Hat nonsense, at least what Debian
*tried* to do was better than Red Hat by a long shot. Not only that, it
appears to be working and doesn't improperly relay. ;-)

But I don't think Debian has anything to properly and completely
configure sendmail. Remove the sendmail.mc and run sendmailconfig.
Horrible.

Yes, I admit that would be frightening.

Post by James Vahn
Not like the package maintainer is asleep or something (he turned loose
some 30 updates last year) but he doesn't appear concerned about the
lack of hand holding... cf.README is your friend.

Just because it was where I first learned how to configure sendmail, I
looked in the CF directory a short while ago, and sure enough! The same
.cf samples that I originally used nearly a decade ago are still there,
today, pretty much untouched. However, nothing prepared me for the five
minute configuration and run scenario using Debian. Of course, it *must*
be said that you have to have a real domain name for it to work, but
Jack-in-the-Cave may be traveling this road sometime soon. Watch and see.
;-)

First I have to teach him the art of the CLI. <-- secret code, don't you
know? 8-)

Dave

[James Vahn]

Post by Dave Laird
today, pretty much untouched. However, nothing prepared me for the five
minute configuration and run scenario using Debian. Of course, it *must*
be said that you have to have a real domain name for it to work, but
Jack-in-the-Cave may be traveling this road sometime soon. Watch and see.

On the other hand mail readers don't really need sendmail. I like using
sendmail because the reader can connect to *it*, instead of some far away
place. It's faster and easier to use. Let sendmail and fetchmail (and
procmail and spamassassin) background the chores out of sight. As to needing
a real domain name, just point fetchmail at his ISP for POP3/IMAP mail
pickup, or anywhere else that supports POP3/IMAP. (kharma.net ?)

Post by Dave Laird
First I have to teach him the art of the CLI. <-- secret code, don't you
know? 8-)

"apt-cache search webin" found webmin-sendmail for me. So whudya know bout
that. I gave it a brief run, it's reeealll slow, javascript, its own server.
https://localhost:10000

But there it is, all that masquerading stuff with spam control thrown
in for good measure. Point and click GUI glory. :-)


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