Return to mh-mts.rf CVS log

Up to [CSRG BSD Unix] / 43BSD / contrib / mh / conf / doc

Annotation of 43BSD/contrib/mh/conf/doc/mh-mts.rf, revision 1.1.1.1

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

This archive runs on limited infrastructure. Preserving old code on modern bandwidth. Automated agents are requested to crawl responsibly.