Unix mail command internals


 
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# 1  
Old 09-15-2011
Unix mail command internals

Hi all ,

I wanted to know how does a 'mail' command works in unix. Does it use an smtp server internally ?
How and where it is configured then ? I am trying to google out the same , but not getting much help.

Any suggestions with be of great help.

- Andy
# 2  
Old 09-15-2011
What do you mean by "use an smtp server internally" ?
mail behaviour I believe depends on how it is implemented...
# 3  
Old 09-15-2011
Don't we need an smtp server to send out a mail .. What I meant was how does mail command sends out mails. How it is implemented internally. What do we need to do to set it up ?
# 4  
Old 09-15-2011
I suppose normally port 25 open...
mail was out before all our fancy Internet protocols in early ages boxes used to communicate via uucp and mail used it...
What OS you are on may help you know, I work mostly on HP (then solaris and aix...) and lately on linux servers and you do see some differences...
I would look if you dont have a /etc/mail directory, then if you have a sendmail.cf file that needs configuring...
I let others continue the discussion now
# 5  
Old 09-15-2011
How email's mostly used now is way different from how it originally worked. SMTP used to be something email servers used to push email to other email servers, not something clients used.

Client A would dial directly into a shell on server B, and send a message, ultimately, through sendmail, which talks directly to the server's own mail-transport agent(MTA). If the destination was on the same server, the email would be directly transferred to the recipient's maildir folder without any networking required at all. If the destination was on server C, the MTA would eventually need to open an SMTP connection elsewhere to transfer it. (It needn't do so instantly. It needn't do so directly, either. It might send to server E, which would forward to server C, etc.) Client D would dial into server C and check their local maildir folder for files to see if any mail had arrived.

In short, commandline mail didn't use an SMTP server -- commandline mail was an SMTP server. That's mostly how it remains.

Once home computers started getting network access, users were able to access POP and SMTP and IMAP to get mail remotely instead of directly shelling into your mail server, but the design of UNIX MTA's still reflects having local mail for local users.

There's lots and lots of different MTAs now. With few exceptions, they all look the same on the surface -- they all give you a commandline sendmail program to send mail with, etc. Many of them still even use configuration files based on ones the venerable sendmail server used -- even though their capabilities can be radically different. I suspect that's why trying to configure an MTA has involved so much brain damage for me. Others have suggested that the damage was there already Smilie

If all you want to do is have sendmail forward to existing email addresses somewhere else, I wouldn't bother setting up a full-fledged MTA. ssmtp is a tiny sendmail replacement which doesn't do any MTA duties at all, its sendmail command directly connects to remote SMTP servers of your choosing, like an ordinary email client would.

Last edited by Corona688; 09-15-2011 at 01:55 PM..
This User Gave Thanks to Corona688 For This Post:
# 6  
Old 09-15-2011
Thanks a lot Corona688 for the info .. Really helpful , can you refer me some links or books if possible about the same, in case you know some..
 
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