[comp.mail.sendmail] bsd4.3 sendmail and smtp mailers

jlb@apollo.uucp (Joel Breazeale) (07/20/88)

I recently began using SMTP via a mailer which uses Aegis
mailboxes.  The mailer is invoked using:

   Mmbx, P=/usr/lib/mailer/mbxsmtp, F=msDFMuCX, A=mbxsmtp -n //$h           

Firstly:

   I'd like to know if anyone else uses SMTP via a mailer (not [IPC]).
   I'd like to get a description of what the mailer uses to support SMTP.

Secondly:

   Occasionally, the mailer fails due to various problems and exits with
   a status of EX_TEMPFAIL	which is 75, which means that sendmail is
   supposed to try again later.

   Unfortunately, sendmail returns a copy of the message when the mailer
   exits with a "75" even though it does requeue the message.  The message
   I get looks like this:

      Received: by apollo.UUCP id AB10811; Thu, 7 Jul 88 16:28:56 edt
      From: MAILER-DAEMON (Mail Delivery Subsystem)
      Subject: Returned mail: Deferred
      To: jlb
      
         ----- Transcript of session follows -----
      451 jlb@mc.lcs.mit.edu... reply: read error
      554 smtpquit reply error: stat 75
      
         ----- Unsent message follows -----
      Received: by apollo.UUCP id AA10811; Thu, 7 Jul 88 16:28:56 edt
      ...

   Does anyone know how to stop the returned messages (or is this the
   way bsd4.3 sendmail is supposed to work)?

Finally:

   What mailer flags do you use with your SMTP mailer (again, not [IPC])?


Thanks in advance for your help,
Joel Breazeale

Internet: jlb@apollo.com
UUCP:     {mit-eddie,decwrl!decvax,attunix}!apollo!jlb

steve@eleazar.dartmouth.edu (Steve Campbell) (07/28/88)

In article <3d596f69.44e6@apollo.uucp> jlb@apollo.uucp (Joel Breazeale) writes:
>   I'd like to get a description of what the mailer uses to support SMTP.

I'm not sure I know what you mean.  Our non-[IPC] SMTP mailers are 
straightforward C implementations of the SMTP protocol described in
RFC 821.  The mailers talk the protocol on stdin/stdout.

>   Occasionally, the mailer fails due to various problems and exits with
>   a status of EX_TEMPFAIL	which is 75, which means that sendmail is
>   supposed to try again later.
>   Unfortunately, sendmail returns a copy of the message when the mailer
>   exits with a "75" even though it does requeue the message.  
>   Does anyone know how to stop the returned messages (or is this the
>   way bsd4.3 sendmail is supposed to work)?

You only use the exit codes like EX_TEMPFAIL from non-SMTP mailers.
Your SMTP mailer should always exit with zero status.  It should
indicate errors to sendmail by way of the appropriate SMTP error
response message, not by exit status.

>   What mailer flags do you use with your SMTP mailer (again, not [IPC])?

Here's an example of a mailer definition from our sendmail.cf:

Mdcts,	P=/usr/local/lib/kn_smtp,  F=mMDFn,  S=14,  R=24,
	E=\r\n, M=100000, A=kn_smtp -h $h

Hope this helps.
							Steve