Very Computer

Hi,

I'am Massimiliano Panichi. I have a problem
with my sendmail deamon. I have a private
LAN, with no access to Internet. When I try to
send an e-mail message to another user on
another host in the LAN, the deamon doesn't work.
It give me an error. HOST NAME LOOKUP FAILURE.

I don't understand this error message because the
computer have all the host information in the
local /etc/hosts file. It try a DNS server to lookup the name
and it don't receive answer because it doesn' t exist. After
this it should see in the /etc/hosts file to find the
IP address. I use Linux 2.0.20 and Sendmail 8.7.5.

Please help me!

Massimiliano

--
Eng. Massimiliano Panichi
via Ronco Corto 4
50143 Florence (Italy)
Tel +39-55-7321963

| I don't understand this error message because the
| computer have all the host information in the
| local /etc/hosts file. It try a DNS server to lookup the name
| and it don't receive answer because it doesn' t exist. After
| this it should see in the /etc/hosts file to find the
| IP address. I use Linux 2.0.20 and Sendmail 8.7.5.

Read the man page on /etc/resolv.conf. You want to go to the host
file, although I thought it would if you left the file out.

Setting up a DNS is a short job, too.
--

"As a software development model, Anarchy does not scale well."
                -Dave Welch

Quote:> Read the man page on /etc/resolv.conf. You want to go to the host
> file, although I thought it would if you left the file out.

Quote:> Setting up a DNS is a short job, too.

    [courtesy cc of this posting sent to cited author via email]

The FEATURE(nodns) doesn't do anything anymore in 8.7.*. The first feature
should be enough (it is enough on my FreeBSD UUCP-only site).

Quote:> the simplest solution is to recompile sendmail without DNS at all.
> I use it on non-connected machines and leaves (null clients). Just
> add -DNAMED_BIND=0 in the Makefile. You'll have a lighet executable
> as well :-)

Quote:> It will not work since sendmail doesn't use gethosybyname (which in
> turn reads a config file telling it to use DNS or not) for everything,
> it can also make direct DNS calls.

1. you have a SMART_HOST,

2. you use nocanonify.

Quote:> Yes, setting up a false DNS may be simpler and very useful for the
> LAN.

: Hi,

: I'am Massimiliano Panichi. I have a problem
: with my sendmail deamon. I have a private
: LAN, with no access to Internet. When I try to
: send an e-mail message to another user on
: another host in the LAN, the deamon doesn't work.
: It give me an error. HOST NAME LOOKUP FAILURE.

Perhaps you should try adding this line in /etc/hosts.conf:

order hosts,bind

I hope that this helps.

Hi!

Quote:> > with some features (no_canonify and no_dns if I remember well) but

> FEATURE(nocanonify)

> The FEATURE(nodns) doesn't do anything anymore in 8.7.*. The first feature
> should be enough (it is enough on my FreeBSD UUCP-only site).

Anton.

in comp.mail.sendmail:

Quote:> > > with some features (no_canonify and no_dns if I remember well) but

> > FEATURE(nocanonify)

> > The FEATURE(nodns) doesn't do anything anymore in 8.7.*. The first feature
> > should be enough (it is enough on my FreeBSD UUCP-only site).

> What can I do if I have some local Network with local Unix hosts
> dial-up IP. Internal mail transfer via SMTP, but External mail over
> UUCP,
> And all Unix hosts use local Name server.

VERSIONID(...)
OSTYPE(....)

define(`SMART_HOST', `uucp-dom:your_uucp_internet_provider')

MAILER(uucp)
MAILER(smtp)
LOCAL_RULE_0
`# If found from (internal) DNS, use (e)smtp'

This simple assumes that if host is found from DNS it is reachable via SMTP
and if it is not, then use smart host. Error mailer prevents mail looping
between your_uucp_internet_provider and your.gateway.host in cace of when
it is directed to unknow.your.domain. Replace uucp-dom with correct mailer.
I assume that class $=m includes your domain.

In other hosts you can use:

VERSIONID(...)
OSTYPE(....)

define(`SMART_HOST', `your.gateway.host')

MAILER(smtp)

You can use LOCAL_RULE_0 in here, but it is not necessary.

Disclaimer: I know nothing from UUCP.

Quote:> > turn reads a config file telling it to use DNS or not) for everything,
> > it can also make direct DNS calls.

I'm annoyed by not being able to get immediate delivery of mail across a
local LAN using conformant private IP addresses:

 ------------
|  INTERNET  |
 ------------
      |
      |
      | (PPP)
      |
      |
(158.152.29.162)
 ------------                 (Ethernet)                  ------------
|    LINUX   |-------------------------------------------|     SUN    |
 ------------ (192.168.0.1)                 (192.168.0.2) ------------

This Linux box does not do IP forwarding. It runs a caching nameserver
and is primary nameserver for 127.0.0.1 and 'localhost', but it is *NOT*
a nameserver for it's *own* domain - my ISP does that. Mail from the
sun to the linux sits in /var/spool/mqueue until I connect to internet,
even though both the sender and the recipient are on the ethernet.
Omitting the 'OI' does not change this unfortunately.

Quote:> > Yes, setting up a false DNS may be simpler and very useful for the
> > LAN.
> Even if you're connected from time to time with PPP, having a caching-only
> named is useful to avoir unnecessary traffic. Being primary for
> 127.in-addr.arpa. and 255.in-addr.arpa. is useful too.

Can anyone help please?

Alexis
--
FlintOpenroadcyclingPersonaBel&SebastianBeethovenfriezePushRadioragtimeTime
*  Alexis Huxley   http://www.danae.demon.co.uk/   Life's always blowing  *

aloneEnoLinuxRilkeU-klubBeauty!PushSeefeelStarryblueComputerloveLehmannHope

 > > > turn reads a config file telling it to use DNS or not) for
 > > > everything, it can also make direct DNS calls.
 >
 > In fact there is a 'OI' option in sendmail.cf that controls
 > this. But no where in the documentation, including the
 > O'Reilly Sendmail book, can I find a clear explanation of how
 > this works. If including 'OI' means 'use DNS', does 'no OI'
 > mean 'use resolver(3)'? Obviously the latter is not implied by
 > the former.

As of sendmail 8.7, the 'I' option changed meaning.  The I option
now sets flags in the resolver.  The contents of your service
switch file determines whether you use the DNS or not.
Read the RELEASE_NOTES file and the sendmail operations manual
for more details.

Quote:> > > > turn reads a config file telling it to use DNS or not) for
> > > > everything, it can also make direct DNS calls.

> > In fact there is a 'OI' option in sendmail.cf that controls
> > this. But no where in the documentation, including the
> > O'Reilly Sendmail book, can I find a clear explanation of how
> > this works. If including 'OI' means 'use DNS', does 'no OI'
> > mean 'use resolver(3)'? Obviously the latter is not implied by
> > the former.

>As of sendmail 8.7, the 'I' option changed meaning.  The I option
>now sets flags in the resolver.  The contents of your service
>switch file determines whether you use the DNS or not.
>Read the RELEASE_NOTES file and the sendmail operations manual
>for more details.

putte:~/src $ cat /etc/service.switch
hosts files
aliases files

Once I created this file all was well.

/mark

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