Very Computer

Hi,

I have a stand-alone Linux system and from tine to time I dialup to my PPP
account to download new mail and news. The sendmail.cf which I am using now
allows me to send mail to localhost with or without PPP connection. Mail for
remote sites is returned with an error 'Nameserver: unrecoverable error'
when there is no PPP connection; it is sent when the PPP connection is up
and the name server of the site maintaining my PPP account is available.
What I plan is to

* dialup
* download all new mail via pop or something similiar
* hangup
* answer and send all mail (the mail should get queued)
* dialup
* do a sendmail -q

In sendmail.cf I have not insisted on using BIND, because I have no name
server running locally and insisting on BIND would return all mail to
localhost as undeliverable. As I said, mail to a remote site is returned as
undeliverable when the name server is not available. I gets queued when I
add the remote site to /etc/hosts, but this is braindead. Obviously,
sendmail thinks that if the name server is not available and the remote site
is not listed in /etc/hosts there will never ever be a chance to deliver the
mail.

Maybe someone has an appropriate sendmail.cf available that does the simple job.
I really would appreciate some help because I saw the O'Reilly book.

With kind regards,
Michael Marte

PS. I'm using sendmail 8.6.12.

: Hi,

: I have a stand-alone Linux system and from tine to time I dialup to my PPP
: account to download new mail and news. The sendmail.cf which I am using now
: allows me to send mail to localhost with or without PPP connection. Mail for
: remote sites is returned with an error 'Nameserver: unrecoverable error'
: when there is no PPP connection; it is sent when the PPP connection is up
: and the name server of the site maintaining my PPP account is available.
: What I plan is to

: * dialup
: * download all new mail via pop or something similiar
: * hangup
: * answer and send all mail (the mail should get queued)
: * dialup
: * do a sendmail -q

: In sendmail.cf I have not insisted on using BIND, because I have no name
: server running locally and insisting on BIND would return all mail to
: localhost as undeliverable. As I said, mail to a remote site is returned as
: undeliverable when the name server is not available. I gets queued when I
: add the remote site to /etc/hosts, but this is braindead. Obviously,
: sendmail thinks that if the name server is not available and the remote site
: is not listed in /etc/hosts there will never ever be a chance to deliver the
: mail.

: Maybe someone has an appropriate sendmail.cf available that does the simple job.
: I really would appreciate some help because I saw the O'Reilly book.

: With kind regards,
: Michael Marte

: PS. I'm using sendmail 8.6.12.

I am also interested in such a config-file. Please post it here !
Thanks in advance
Andi

: : Hi,

: : I have a stand-alone Linux system and from tine to time I dialup to my PPP
: : account to download new mail and news. The sendmail.cf which I am using now
: : allows me to send mail to localhost with or without PPP connection. Mail for
: : remote sites is returned with an error 'Nameserver: unrecoverable error'
: : when there is no PPP connection; it is sent when the PPP connection is up
: : and the name server of the site maintaining my PPP account is available.
: : What I plan is to

: : * dialup
: : * download all new mail via pop or something similiar
: : * hangup
: : * answer and send all mail (the mail should get queued)
: : * dialup
: : * do a sendmail -q

: : In sendmail.cf I have not insisted on using BIND, because I have no name
: : server running locally and insisting on BIND would return all mail to
: : localhost as undeliverable. As I said, mail to a remote site is returned as
: : undeliverable when the name server is not available. I gets queued when I
: : add the remote site to /etc/hosts, but this is braindead. Obviously,
: : sendmail thinks that if the name server is not available and the remote site
: : is not listed in /etc/hosts there will never ever be a chance to deliver the
: : mail.
: : [...]
: : PS. I'm using sendmail 8.6.12.

I had the same problem initally with my box. I've now changed to the
Sendmail+IDA package which works brilliantly, and I definately recommend
you install this asap. It makes configuring Sendmail a doddle.

Hope you get it sorted...

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
--

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

I believe I have the setup you're looking for.  eg if you send mail and
it isn't for a user on your system, it is to be queued and sent when you
start your ppp connection.

All I needed to do to achieve this was edit the sendmail.cf file and put
in a relay host (in my case my worksite).  Sendmail itself is started at
bootime with it processing the queue every 15 minutes.  When I start ppp
it will automatically send the queued mail to my worksite and then onto
the net.  Replies to those emails will queue at my worksite until I next
login and then pass them onto my local box.

For me all that achieved this was putting in the relay host.

--------------
Nigel Longmire