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1 <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2 Final//EN"> |
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4 <META NAME="GENERATOR" CONTENT="SGML-Tools 1.0.9"> |
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5 <TITLE> VMailMgr FAQ</TITLE> |
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8 </HEAD> |
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9 <BODY> |
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10 <H1> VMailMgr FAQ</H1> |
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11 |
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12 <H2>Bruce Guenter |
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13 <A HREF="mailto:bruceg@em.ca">mailto:bruceg@em.ca</A>, |
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14 Dan Kuykendall |
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15 <A HREF="mailto:dan@kuykendall.org">mailto:dan@kuykendall.org</A></H2> v1.0, 23 April 2000 |
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16 <P><HR> |
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17 <EM> VMailMgr Frequently Asked Questions.</EM> |
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18 <HR> |
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19 <H2><A NAME="s1">1. Building and Installing</A></H2> |
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20 |
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21 <H2>1.1 What compiler and libraries do I need to build vmailmgr?</H2> |
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22 |
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23 <P>You will need a working C and C++ compiler and linker. You will not |
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24 need any C++ libraries. The package is being developed under Linux |
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25 using egcs and glibc version 2, and may rely on some gcc/g++ |
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26 extensions. |
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27 <H2>1.2 Does vmailmgr work with shadow passwords?</H2> |
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28 |
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29 <P>This package should work without changes both with and without |
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30 shadow passwords as long as the shadow password libraries are |
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31 present when this package is built. The `configure' script will |
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32 detect what method of shadow passwords are being used and the |
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33 programs will be built accordingly. |
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34 <H2>1.3 Does vmailmgr support IMAP?</H2> |
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35 |
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36 <P>Yes, vmailmgr supports Courier-IMAP. Some minor steps are needed to |
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37 make them work, the steps are in the next section of this file. |
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38 <H2><A NAME="s2">2. Setup and Configuration</A></H2> |
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39 |
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40 <H2>2.1 What other software is needed to run vmailmgr?</H2> |
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41 |
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42 <P>VMailMgr is based around qmail's handling of virtual users, and as |
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43 such requires qmail for its operation. If you wish to use the `init' |
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44 file to start/stop vmailmgrd or are installing the RPM package, |
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45 supervise-scripts version 2.2 (or later, available at |
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46 <A HREF="http://em.ca/~bruceg/supervise-scripts/">http://em.ca/~bruceg/supervise-scripts/</A>) and daemontools 0.60 |
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47 (or later, available at |
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48 <A HREF="http://em.ca/~bruceg/rpms/daemontools/">http://em.ca/~bruceg/rpms/daemontools/</A>) packages are |
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49 required. If you need to use the <CODE>vmailmgrd</CODE> daemon, you |
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50 will also need the <CODE>unixserver</CODE> program, from the ucspi-unix |
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51 package, available at |
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52 <A HREF="http://em.ca/~bruceg/ucspi-unix/">http://em.ca/~bruceg/ucspi-unix/</A>. |
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53 <P>If you want to use the autoresponse feature, I recommend the use of |
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54 my own autoresponder program, <CODE>qmail-autoresponder</CODE> available |
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55 at |
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56 <A HREF="http://em.ca/~bruceg/qmail-autoresponder/">http://em.ca/~bruceg/qmail-autoresponder/</A>. |
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57 <H2>2.2 How do I record the output of vmailmgrd with syslog?</H2> |
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58 |
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59 <P>Output from vmailmgrd can be recorded by either splogger (part of |
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60 qmail) or with the logger that comes with several flavours of |
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61 UNIX. To use splogger, pipe the output of vmailmgrd into the command |
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62 `splogger vmailmgrd'. This will timestamp each entry and tag them |
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63 with the word `vmailmgrd'. By default, splogger logs to facility 2 |
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64 (mail). To use logger, pipe the output of vmailmgrd into the |
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65 comamand `<CODE>logger -t vmailmgrd -p mail.notice</CODE>'. See the |
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66 respective man pages of these two programs for more information. |
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67 <P>Note: The use of syslog for logging messages is strongly discouraged |
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68 due to problems with inefficent and buggy implementation of syslog. |
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69 <H2>2.3 How do I record the output of vmailmgrd with multilog?</H2> |
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70 |
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71 <P>Make a directory into which the output will go, for example |
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72 `<CODE>/var/log/vmailmgrd</CODE>'. Pipe the output of vmailmgrd into the |
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73 command `<CODE>multilog t /var/log/vmailmgrd</CODE>'. See the |
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74 documentation for multilog for more information on how to adjust its |
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75 output. |
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76 <H2>2.4 How do I setup VMmailMgr IMAP support?</H2> |
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77 |
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78 <P>VMailMgr supports Courier-IMAP, but Courier-IMAP does not auto |
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79 detect VMailMgr. This means that some minor work is required for |
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80 making the two work together. |
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81 <UL> |
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82 <LI>You must copy `<CODE>/usr/local/bin/authvmailmgr</CODE>` to |
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83 `<CODE>/usr/lib/courier-imap/libexec/authlib/authvmailmgr</CODE>`.</LI> |
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84 <LI>Then modify the `<CODE>AUTHMODULES</CODE>` statement in |
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85 `<CODE>/usr/lib/courier-imap/etc/imapd.config</CODE>` and add |
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86 `<CODE>authvmailmgr</CODE>` as the first authentication module.</LI> |
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87 </UL> |
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88 <H2>2.5 Upgrading from Previous Versions</H2> |
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89 |
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90 <P>If you are upgrading from an older version, you may need to make |
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91 some changes to your system before or after doing the upgrade. The |
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92 following table outlines the necessary changes. Note that you need |
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93 to follow the instructions for all later versions of the software. |
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94 <P>If you are upgrading from version: |
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95 <DL> |
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96 <DT><B>0.96.6 or earlier</B><DD><P>The `vmailmgrd' daemon needs to be run by unixserver, as opposed |
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97 to being a stand-alone program previously. |
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98 <DT><B>0.96.2 or earlier</B><DD><P>Make sure the `vmailmgrd' daemon and vmailmgr CGIs are disabled |
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99 before upgrading, and upgrade them along with the main |
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100 package. Changes were made to the daemon interface that will |
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101 cause adding users and aliases to flake out. As well, the |
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102 listdomain interface was completely redone. |
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103 <P> |
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104 <DT><B>0.94 or earlier, using the POP bulletin facility</B><DD><P>The POP bulletin facility has been moved into a stand-alone |
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105 program that needs to be executed through `checkvpw-postsetuid'. |
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106 <P> |
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107 <DT><B>0.93 or earlier</B><DD><P>If you do not use the CGIs, you no longer need to run the |
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108 `vmailmgrd' daemon. |
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109 <P> |
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110 <DT><B>0.92.2 or earlier</B><DD><P>The configuration changed from reading a single file to reading a |
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111 set of files in a directory. Read the configuration documentation |
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112 and run the program `vconf2dir'. |
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113 <P> |
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114 <DT><B>0.90.2 or earlier</B><DD><P>The name of the user to which mail to an unknown user is |
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115 delivered changed from `*' to `+'. If you were using this |
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116 feature, either change all your domains to accomodate this |
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117 change, or set the `default-username' config file to contain `*'. |
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118 <P> |
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119 <DT><B>0.88 or earlier</B><DD><P>The file format of the virtual password tables has changed from |
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120 plain text files to CDB tables. You will need to suspend local |
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121 deliveries before upgrading, and run the program `vpasswd2cdb' as |
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122 each base user after upgrading, before re-enabling local |
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123 deliveries. |
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124 </DL> |
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125 <H2>2.6 How do I configure qmail+patches to use vmailmgr for POP?</H2> |
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126 |
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127 <P>Put the string `<CODE>checkvpw</CODE>' into the file |
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128 `<CODE>/etc/qmail/control/checkpassword</CODE>' and restart pop3d by |
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129 typing `<CODE>/etc/rc.d/init.d/pop3d restart</CODE>'. |
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130 <H2>2.7 How do I allow clients to relay SMTP through me?</H2> |
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131 |
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132 <P>Download and install relay-ctrl from |
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133 <A HREF="http://em.ca/~bruceg/relay-ctrl/">http://em.ca/~bruceg/relay-ctrl/</A>. |
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134 It works with vmailmgr, for both POP3 and IMAP clients. |
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135 <H2><A NAME="s3">3. Usage</A></H2> |
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136 |
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137 <H2>3.1 I can only use one IP address. How do I log in as a virtual user?</H2> |
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138 |
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139 <P>There are two ways to log in without using multiple IP addresses. |
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140 <P>The first way is to log in as `userSEPvirtual.domain.org', where |
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141 `user' is the mailbox name of the virtual user, SEP is one of `@' or |
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142 `:' (by default, this is configurable in the |
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143 `<CODE>/etc/vmailmgr/</CODE>' directory), and |
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144 `<CODE>virtual.domain.org</CODE>' is the virtual domain's name, as |
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145 listed in `<CODE>/var/qmail/control/virtualdomains</CODE>'. |
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146 <P>The second way is to use the internal form of the mailbox name -- |
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147 that is, `<CODE>baseuser-user</CODE>', where `<CODE>user</CODE>' is the same |
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148 as above, and `<CODE>baseuser</CODE>' is the username of the managing |
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149 user. |
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150 <P>Example: `<CODE>/var/qmail/control/virtualdomains</CODE>' contains |
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151 <PRE> |
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152 testdomain.org:testuser |
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153 </PRE> |
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154 |
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155 User `<CODE>testuser</CODE>' exists, and has set up a virtual mailbox |
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156 with the name `<CODE>v</CODE>'. The `<CODE>separators</CODE>' variable in |
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157 `<CODE>/etc/vmailmgr/</CODE>' contains `<CODE>@:</CODE>'. This virtual user |
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158 could log in as `<CODE>v@testdomain.org</CODE>', |
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159 `<CODE>v:testdomain.org</CODE>', or `<CODE>testuser-v</CODE>'. |
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160 <P> |
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161 <P> |
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162 <H2>3.2 How do I get all misdirected mail sent to me?</H2> |
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163 |
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164 <P>In the `<CODE>vmailmgr/</CODE>' configuration directory, there is an |
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165 entry called `<CODE>default-username</CODE>'. If mail to a virtual |
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166 domain does not match any users or aliases in that domain, it is |
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167 delivered to the name listed in this configuration item if it exists |
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168 (which defaults to `<CODE>+</CODE>'). To make this deliver to you, |
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169 simply type: |
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170 <PRE> |
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171 vaddalias + me |
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172 </PRE> |
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173 <H2><A NAME="s4">4. Troubleshooting</A></H2> |
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174 |
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175 <H2>4.1 Bind error message from vmailmgrd.</H2> |
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176 |
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177 <P>If vmailmgrd reports `<CODE>vmailmgrd: bind: no such file or |
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178 directory</CODE>' when you start it up, it means that can't create its |
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179 socket file. By default, it will try to create the socket file |
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180 `<CODE>/tmp/.vmailmgrd</CODE>'. You must ensure that `<CODE>/tmp</CODE>' is |
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181 writable, or that the socket is created in some other place by |
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182 setting `<CODE>socket-file</CODE>' in the configuration. |
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183 <H2>4.2 Error sending to an alias: qmail-queue exited with an error!</H2> |
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184 |
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185 <P>If qmail reports "deferral: vdeliver: qmail-queue exited with an |
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186 error!", check where your qmail is installed. On Debian systems, |
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187 you will need to type "<CODE>ls -s /usr/sbin /var/qmail/bin</CODE>", |
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188 since they've installed the qmail binaries into /usr/sbin. |
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189 <H2>4.3 Running vmailmgrd fails.</H2> |
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190 |
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191 <P>When run by itself, vmailmgrd will report "<CODE>Timed out waiting for |
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192 remote</CODE>". vmailmgrd needs to be run from unixserver, part of |
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193 the ucspi-unix package available at |
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194 <A HREF="http://em.ca/~bruceg/ucspi-unix/">http://em.ca/~bruceg/ucspi-unix/</A>. |
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195 <H2>4.4 POP3 or IMAP logins take 30 seconds or longer.</H2> |
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196 |
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197 <P>This is almost certainly a DNS lookup problem. Make sure that DNS |
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198 lookups aren't timing out, that lookups on all your IP addresses |
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199 aren't failing, and that you can lookup remote addresses as well. |
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200 <P>If you are using 'tcpserver' for the head end to qmail-pop3d, then you |
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201 may want to the following 2 switches to the command line: <CODE>-R</CODE> |
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202 and <CODE>-H</CODE>. The former prevents tcpserver from attempting to |
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203 obtain TCPREMOTEINFO from the remote host. This eliminates an "ident" |
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204 lookup that may be being blocked or silently dropped by a firewall. |
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205 The latter prevents tcpserver from doing a DNS lookup on the remote |
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206 IP. |
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207 <H2><A NAME="s5">5. Miscellaneous</A></H2> |
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208 |
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209 <H2>5.1 How do I get in contact with other users?</H2> |
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210 |
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211 <P>There is a mailing list run by the author. To subscribe, send an |
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212 e-mail (content and subject line is ignored) to |
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213 <A HREF="mailto:vmailmgr-subscribe@lists.em.ca">mailto:vmailmgr-subscribe@lists.em.ca</A>. |
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214 <P>Remember that if you have a problem that you want us to diagnose, we |
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215 need to know the following important details: |
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216 <OL> |
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217 <LI>The output of `<CODE>qmail-showctl</CODE>` </LI> |
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218 <LI>The contents of the vmailmgrd log for the attempt you are |
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219 trying to diagnose</LI> |
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220 <LI>The contents of the qmail and smtpd logs for a failed delivery |
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221 attempt</LI> |
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222 <LI>The contents of the pop3d logs for a failed login attempt</LI> |
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223 <LI>The complete command line with which vmailmgrd and qmail-pop3d |
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224 was invoked</LI> |
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225 </OL> |
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226 |
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227 Please do not contact the author directly with vmailmgr questions. |
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228 <H2>5.2 Are development version of vmailmgr available anywhere?</H2> |
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229 |
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230 <P>Yes, they are available through anonymous CVS. |
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231 To access the CVS server, set your <CODE>CVSROOT</CODE> to |
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232 <CODE>:pserver:cvs@bruce-guenter.dyndns.org:/CVS</CODE>, log in with an |
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233 empty password, and check out the <CODE>vmailmgr</CODE> module. |
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234 <H2>5.3 How does incoming email get handled?</H2> |
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235 |
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236 <P>Incoming email is first received by the qmail SMTP daemon and |
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237 inserted into the qmail queue. Then `<CODE>qmail-send</CODE>' examines |
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238 the email envelope (which details the recipient address or |
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239 addresses) to determine how to dispatch the message. It looks up the |
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240 domain name of each recipient in |
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241 `<CODE>/var/qmail/control/virtualdomains</CODE>', and prefixes the user |
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242 name with the string that it finds. It then looks up the resulting |
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243 user name in the system password table (or in |
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244 `<CODE>/var/qmail/users/cdb</CODE>' if it exists) to find the base user |
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245 name and home directory (which I will call `<CODE>$HOME</CODE>'). It |
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246 then looks for the file `<CODE>$HOME/.qmail-VIRTUAL</CODE>'. If that's |
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247 not found, it looks for the file `<CODE>$HOME/.qmail-default</CODE>', |
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248 which will contain an instruction to pipe the message to |
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249 `<CODE>vdeliver</CODE>'. |
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250 <P>This is where vmailmgr first enters the picture. The virtual user |
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251 name is sent to `vdeliver' through environment variables. It looks |
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252 in the configuration files (in `<CODE>$HOME/.vmailmgr</CODE>' and then |
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253 in `<CODE>/etc/vmailmgr</CODE>') to determine the location of the |
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254 password table, and looks up the virtual user name in the table to |
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255 determine delivery instructions. If the name is not found, the |
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256 message is bounced and delivery ends. Otherwise, it then looks for |
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257 the `<CODE>vdeliver-predeliver</CODE>' script in the configuration |
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258 directories (in reverse order) and executes any that are found. It |
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259 then delivers the message to all the listed destinations -- an |
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260 optional mailbox directory and zero or more forwarding |
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261 addresses. Finally, it looks for the `<CODE>vdeliver-postdeliver</CODE>' |
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262 script and executes any that are found. |
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263 <H2>5.4 How does outgoing email get handled?</H2> |
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264 |
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265 <P>Outgoing email is not handled by vmailmgr. For details on outgoing |
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266 email handling, check the qmail documentation. |
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267 <H2>5.5 What about security of CGI and PHP functions?</H2> |
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268 |
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269 <P>The socket used by the daemon is a UNIX-domain socket (as opposed to |
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270 Internet-domain), meaning you need local access on the computer to |
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271 open up a connection. The path for this socket is run-time |
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272 configurable. |
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273 <P>The daemon forks a new connection for each connection, up to a |
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274 configurable maximum (at which point it stops listening, IIRC, I |
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275 should verify this). The idea of threading has been completely |
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276 discarded to avoid a bug in a command creeping in and makeing the |
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277 whole server break. |
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278 <P>The protocol spoken over the socket is explicitly bounded to at most |
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279 64kB of data, and all data is prefixed by a size. Static-sized |
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280 buffers are only used with static-sized reads, and therefore can't be |
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281 overflowed with stack-smashing tricks. |
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282 <P>The daemon commands setuid to the appropriate user as soon as the base |
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283 user has been verified, to avoid doing any more than necessary as |
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284 root, as well as to avoid the possibility of tricking the daemon into |
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285 reading a file another user wouldn't normally have access to. |
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286 <P>To help avoid DoS on the local computer, a 1-second alarm is set as |
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287 soon as the connection is received, and is only cleared once all the |
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288 data has been read. If it takes longer than 1 second to read the data |
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289 from the socket, the server process exits. |
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290 <H2>5.6 What are the differences between vmailmgr and vpopmail?</H2> |
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291 |
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292 <P>The primary difference between vmailmgr and vpopmail is the use of |
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293 base users. With vmailmgr there is one base user for each virtual |
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294 domain. With vpopmail, there is one base user for the entire |
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295 virtual domain system. |
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296 </BODY> |
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297 </HTML> |