On Sat, 15 Mar 2003, Shawn wrote:
> > I just thought I'd share my experience with setting up my email server. > It's up and running finally - with SMTP and POP3 access to it. > > My experience shows that Suse 8.1 is very capable of becoming an email > server, but requires a deep understanding of the server configuration files. > The default installation will handle SMTP traffic fine, but getting > POP3/IMAP running on it was something I hadn't been able to get running > properly using the gui interfaces. Thanks for sharing, it's nice to know that there are others in the same boat. I too have been going through email configuration frustration, but not on my machine :) I've been using SuSE 8.1 for about 6 months now and love it and have been passing it on to friends and family. In turn, I have been learning more about the config files with each different senario my friends and family put SuSE through. Currently, I'm troubleshooting one system that intermittently gives "failure to connect to server mail" or "failure to connect to internet server" error messages. I don't know what the users are doing (there are two users). I tell them that it must be my fault because I don't know about a config file or its required permission level. I've been checking the permissions on related config files (I can't remember them right now, most of the time I get YAST to check or update them) to see if any of them should be protected with the root only permission. Of course, there always seems to be another config file in /etc that I don't know about or that I don't realize it's importance until I read the manual or google. Other things that I've checked are that the firewall is working, that the users SMTP and POP3 settings are correct, and for the intermittent internet connection problems (they are on ADSL) that the cookies are accepted with the user's permission. One more thing: it's a dual boot system and they have no problem connecting with Win98 - so the problem isn't the ISP (telus). I have noticed that the problem goes away after using YAST or accessing the internet through root (which I avoid doing for security reasons). I wanted to pass on a great tip that I won't take credit for. Jesse Kline gave it to me. Use Midnight Commander to edit hidden files or config files. It works wonders and efficiently. It's a terminal program (which also uses a mouse no less) and therefore gets you out of trouble if X11 or your GUI doesn't work. You can get into it several ways. Type: "mc" at console is one way. Another is to click the console session tab and the "Midnight Commander" or "Root Midnight Commander" (to change those permissions with CHMOD). MC has been solving many config problems for me, especially after reinstalling Gnome when it crashed after compiling a messenger program from freshmeat.com. I love MC and recommend it. The next thing to learn on my hit list is SSH so I can remotely troubleshoot the computers I'm helping to maintain. One dual boot system is on it's way to Vancouver in a couple weeks, so I'm working with a deadline. Got to go. Cheers, Peter Williams
