Usually newer versions of sendmail are better, so I would encourage you to
upgrade. But I'd be surprised if that were the solution to your immediate
problem.
If I understand correctly your setup (hardly a certainty, as your
description is somewhat terse), the relay files aren't the source of your
problem. Relaying restrictions (an important security/anti-spam need) only
block mail that is neither from nor to a hostname in your domain. So if your
domain name info is set up correctly in sendmail, you should be fine on that
score.
Sine you haven't answered the questions I posed in my prior message, I can't
really offer any other suggestions as to what to look for. Except that you
say the mail is "apparently" being refused by the server. You shouldn't be
uncertain about this. So ...
1. Does sendmail respond on port 25?
2. Does sendmail log any problems with the messages that are not getting
through?
3. What do the bounces of these messages look like? Especially the routing
info (the Received: headers). Or do they vanish?
4. What is the hostname of the host that is having these problems? Are its
DNS records correct? Is it connected to the Internet 24/7?
As to POP3, I wasn't asking if you were running a POP3 server. I was asking
if you were **receiving**, not delivering, mail via POP3. I infer that you
aren't, but since I don't know your ISP arrangements, I can't be sure of
that from what you've said.
BTW, I'm adding linux-newbie back to the Cc: list for this exchange (and
leaving your reply intact instead of trimming it for reposting). These
discussions are better left on the list than taken private.
At 10:33 PM 6/15/99 -0500, Patrick James Fitzpatrick wrote:
>
>Ray,
>
>Thanks for your fast response to our posting on the newbie mailing list.
>
>We're not interested in setting up a POP server (yet), just the
>ability to send and receive mail on the unix machine (ie,
>using pine). We can send email from the machine, but messages sent to our
>machine are being refused by the server (apparently).
>
>We are using sendmail, version 8.8.7
>
>I've been doing some browsing, and possibly red hat 5.2
>has been set up to do this on purpose to prevent spammers.
>Possibly these files need to be set-up? (see below) . Or perhaps
>we should get the new rpm file for sendmail 8.9.x, which I've
>heard rumors is easier and has better security?
>
>All suggestions welcome.
>
>Pat Fitzpatrick
>
># file containing IP numbers of machines which can use our relay
>F{LocalIP} /etc/mail/ip_allow
>
># file containing names of machines which can use our relay
>F{LocalNames} /etc/mail/name_allow
>
># file containing names we relay to
>F{RelayTo} /etc/mail/relay_allow
>
>
>
># Configuration version number
>DZ8.8.7
>
>
>
>
------------------------------------"Never tell me the odds!"---
Ray Olszewski -- Han Solo
Palo Alto, CA 94303-3603 [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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