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