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1.1 ! root 1: .\" @(MHWARNING) ! 2: .TH MH\-MTS 8 "April 22, 1986" MH [mh.6] ! 3: .UC 6 ! 4: .SH NAME ! 5: mh\-mts \- the MH interface to the message transport system ! 6: .SH SYNOPSIS ! 7: .in +.5i ! 8: .ti -.5i ! 9: SendMail ! 10: ! 11: .ti .5i ! 12: MMDF (any release) ! 13: ! 14: .ti .5i ! 15: stand\-alone ! 16: .in -.5i ! 17: .SH DESCRIPTION ! 18: \fIMH\fR can use a wide range of message transport systems to deliver mail. ! 19: Although the \fIMH\fR administrator usually doesn't get to choose which MTS ! 20: to use (since it's already in place), ! 21: this document briefly describes the interfaces. ! 22: ! 23: When communicating with \fISendMail\fR, ! 24: \fIMH\fR always uses the SMTP to post mail. ! 25: Depending on the \fIMH\fR configuration, ! 26: \fISendMail\fR may be invoked directly (via a \fIfork\fR and an \fIexec\fR), ! 27: or \fIMH\fR may open a TCP/IP connection to the SMTP server on the localhost. ! 28: ! 29: When communicating with \fIMMDF\fR, ! 30: normally \fIMH\fR uses the \*(lqmm\(ru\*(rq routines to post mail. ! 31: However, depending on the \fIMH\fR configuration, ! 32: \fIMH\fR instead may open a TCP/IP connection to the SMTP server on the ! 33: localhost. ! 34: ! 35: When using the stand\-alone system (\fBNOT\fR recommended), ! 36: \fIMH\fR delivers local mail itself and queues \fIUUCP\fR and network mail. ! 37: The network mail portion will probably have to be modified to reflect the ! 38: local host's tastes, since there is no well\-known practice in this area for ! 39: non\-4.2BSD hosts. ! 40: ! 41: If you are running a 4.2BSD UNIX system, ! 42: then it is felt that the best interface is achieved by using either ! 43: \fISendMail\fR or \fIMMDF\fR with the SMTP option. ! 44: This gives greater flexibility. ! 45: To enable this option you append the /smtp suffix to the mts option in the ! 46: \fIMH\fR configuration. ! 47: This yields two primary advantages: ! 48: First, ! 49: you don't have to know where \fIsubmit\fR or \fISendMail\fR live. ! 50: This means that \fIMH\fR binaries (e.g., \fIpost\fR\0) ! 51: don't have to have this information hard\-coded, ! 52: or can run different programs altogether; ! 53: and, ! 54: second, you can post mail with the server on different systems, so you don't ! 55: need either \fIMMDF\fR or \fISendMail\fR on your local host. ! 56: Big win in conserving cycles and disk space. ! 57: Since \fIMH\fR supports the notion of a server search\-list in this respect, ! 58: this approach can be tolerant of faults. ! 59: ! 60: There are four disadvantages to using the SMTP option: ! 61: First, only 4.2BSD UNIX is supported. ! 62: Second, you need to have an SMTP server running somewhere on any network your ! 63: local host can reach. ! 64: Third, this bypasses any authentication mechanisms in \fIMMDF\fR ! 65: or \fISendMail\fR. ! 66: Fourth, ! 67: the file \fB/etc/hosts\fR is used for hostname lookups ! 68: (although there is an exception file). ! 69: In response to these disadvantages though: ! 70: First, 4.2BSD UNIX is the best UNIX around for networking. ! 71: When other UNIXes get TCP/IP and real networking, ! 72: \fIMH\fR can be modified. ! 73: Second, there's got to be an SMTP server somewhere around if you're in the ! 74: Internet or have a local network. ! 75: Since the server search\-list is very general, ! 76: a wide\-range of options are possible. ! 77: Third, ! 78: SMTP should be fixed to have authentication mechanisms in it, like POP. ! 79: Fourth, ! 80: \fIMH\fR won't choke on mail to hosts whose official names it can't verify, ! 81: it'll just plug along ! 82: (and besides ! 83: if you enable the BERK or DUMB configuration options, ! 84: \fIMH\fR ignores the hosts file altogether). ! 85: .Fi ! 86: ^@(MHETCPATH)/mtstailor~^tailor file ! 87: .Pr ! 88: None ! 89: .Sa ! 90: \fIMMDF\-II: A Technical Review\fR, ! 91: Proceedings, Usenix Summer '84 Conference ! 92: .br ! 93: \fISENDMAIL \-\- An Internetwork Mail Router\fR ! 94: .br ! 95: mh\-tailor(8), post(8) ! 96: .De ! 97: None ! 98: .Co ! 99: None ! 100: .Bu ! 101: The @(MHETCPATH)/mtstailor file ignores the information in the \fIMMDF\-II\fR ! 102: tailoring file. ! 103: It should not. ! 104: .En
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