[Xeo]

I want to start up the OSXS mail server but I need a few things from it first. I want to set up mail forwards so something like webmaster@domain.com points to a completely different e-mail address. Do I have to have the user "webmaster" on the server for this to work? I want to do this for quite a few names forwarding to all different addresses and I don't want to force these user accounts and home directories on the server if they aren't even going to log in to get the mail.

How can I set up a mailing list. Ideally, I want to store several e-mail addresses in a text file and have something like list@domain.com forward the e-mail to each address in that text document. Is there special software I need for this to work?

How well does the POP3 and IMAP mail work? I haven't tried it but if you set it up using Server Admin, does it work the same on the client end as any other POP3 or IMAP server? I suppose I can't just set up e-mail users without them being able to login on the server.

I want this to be as painless as possible. I wish I could do all this with a few text files. Specify the names the server will see and what e-mail addresses it needs to forward to. Alas, it seems it's more difficult in that I'm force to create all new users for each address I want.

TIA for any help.

[Maneki Neko]

OH SWEET BABY JESUS NO.

Don't use AMS for SMTP. Use something else. AMS is an open relay, and has numerous other problems. Sendmail, postfix, etc. should handle your needs nicely. No GUI configuration interface, but no spam headaches.

[Xeo]

OK, so what about as an incoming mail server? I'm not even sure if I need an SMTP server at all. All I want is to easily make mailing lists.

Is Mailman any good? Is it easy to use?

[Xeo]

OK. I have user@domain.com now working. I figured that part all out. Using the GUI, I can specify either POP3 and/or IMAP or mail forwarding to a single address. That's half the battle. Now, how can I do the list part? I want to forward a single e-mail to multiple addresses. I tried using the sendmail.cf file to point to an aliases file and tried to add aliases to that file, then running "newaliases" but it's not working.

I'm happy I have the 1 to 1 e-mail forwarding working. Now I just need help with the 1 to many part. Any ideas?

[Jellytussle]

If you've reached the point of running Sendmail, you're half way to ditching AMS. This is a GOOD thing, as it is basically shyte (although today's 10.1.3 Server update purports to fix the open relay issue). You could probably compile and use Majodomo, but if that's a bit heavy duty, why not set up Sendmail to deliver locally to /var/mail, and the use procmail to forward to your list? man procmail should help here.

I run a couple of Mac OS X servers with Sendmail, UW-IMAP, procmail, and Squirrelmail webmail (over SSL) and it's great - dead secure and totally stable. I am by no means a *nix guru, I've just picked it up as i went along over the last couple of years (from X server 1.0) so i may not have the best solution for you. If you have money to spend, people make great claims for Communigate Pro, $500 gets you 50 users and 5 lists.

[Camelot]

Originally posted by Xeo:
<STRONG>OK. I have user@domain.com now working. I figured that part all out. Using the GUI, I can specify either POP3 and/or IMAP or mail forwarding to a single address. That's half the battle. Now, how can I do the list part? I want to forward a single e-mail to multiple addresses. I tried using the sendmail.cf file to point to an aliases file and tried to add aliases to that file, then running "newaliases" but it's not working.
</STRONG>

Alias support is disabled by default in sendmail (at least, as shipped from Apple). Uncomment the line

#O AliasFile=/etc/mail/aliases

in /etc/mail/sendmail.cf and HUP sendmail to enable alias support

<STRONG>I'm happy I have the 1 to 1 e-mail forwarding working. Now I just need help with the 1 to many part. Any ideas?</STRONG>[/QUOTE]

You can use aliases to forward to many users Either separate the forwarding addresses with commas in the RHS:

listname: user@domain1.com, user2@domain2.com, user3@domain3.com

or if the names are in a separate mail file, use includes:

listname: :include:/path/to/file

However, I wouldn't recommend this unless for a small number of users. Aliases have no support for user administration (i.e. users cannot subscribe or unsubscribe themselves), no digests, etc., etc.

Majordomo works will with sendmail and handles all the major list features.

LetterRip Pro is the BEST Mac OS mail list software. The Mac OS X version is in beta right now. It's not free but it makes list administration a breeze.

(fixed typo)

[ 02-21-2002: Message edited by: Camelot ]

[Xeo]

It's not for regular mailing lists as you would think. It's for a mandatory mailing list for our mug. I like the idea of being able to include a separate file. That's exactly what i want. A simple text file. I can use PHP to do the rest.

OK. I need to be more clear though. I DID edit sendmail.cf and uncommented that line. It didn't work though. I'm still clicking the "Start Mail service" button in Server Admin. I set it to sendmail instead of SMTP but it's not working.

The 1 to 1 e-mail forwarding is done via the GUI. I open a user's name, go to "Mail Service" in the drop down menu and select the "forward" radio button. I enter an e-mail address and all is well.

I was just happy I set up my DNS server correctly so the @domain.com part actually gets to the server.

So how can I screw the AppleMailService and go strictly with sendmail? What do I need to do to make that happen?

[Xeo]

OK, nevermind. I figured out how to start sendmail and I figured out the alias files. This is exactly what I needed. I now have a few text files with all the addresses a particular address should send to.

The best part about aliases is I didn't have to create the users at all. I can specify a name and an e-mail it should forward to. Much easier than what I initially thought.

Thanks for the help.