mail_intro(7)mail_intro(7)NAMEmail_intro - Introductory information on the Tru64 UNIX mail system
DESCRIPTION
The Tru64 UNIX mail system enables you to exchange mail with other
users on your system, as well as with other systems connected to your
local network and with users on other networks (provided your system
and network are connected to other networks).
Mail System Concepts
Mail systems consist of the following components: User agent - The user
agent provides the interface through which you interact with the mail
system. Generally, the user interface enables you to create, send,
receive, read, save, and manage your mail messages.
Tru64 UNIX provides the following user agents: CDE's Mailer -
For further information, see the Common Desktop Environment:
User's Guide . Mail or mailx - For further information, see the
Command and Shell User's Guide. The Rand Message Handling pro‐
gram (MH) - For further information, see the mh(1) and xmh(1X)
reference pages. Transport agent - The transport agent provides
an interface between the user agents and the delivery agents.
The sendmail command is a transfer agent. Delivery agent - The
delivery agent provides the mechanism for delivering the mail
messages to end users, systems, and networks. The binmail and
deliver commands are delivery agents for standard mail and IMAP
mail, respectively.
In Tru64 UNIX, the sendmail program acts as both the transport and
delivery agent. It does so by implementing the Simple Mail Transfer
Protocol (SMTP), which is the specification for the Internet's delivery
agent.
Initially standards did not exist for mail addresses and computer net‐
works. Many different address formats and network protocols exist.
Mail programs must interact with different network protocols, as well
as recognize and reformat different mail address formats. Fortunately,
these difficulties were recognized and standards, such as the Standard
for the Format of ARPA Internet Text Messages (RFC 822) and The Domain
Naming Convention for Internet User Applications (RFC 819), emerged. A
mail program still must recognize addresses in various formats and com‐
municate with different network protocols. The sendmail program
addresses these issues through the use of the sendmail.cf configuration
file.
The Sendmail Configuration File
The sendmail.cf configuration file provides the sendmail program with
the information to perform the following tasks: Choose delivery agents
Use address rewriting rules Define mail header information Perform some
routing
When it starts, the sendmail program reads the sendmail.cf configura‐
tion file. The information in the sendmail.cf configuration file
enables sendmail to rewrite the addresses of mail it receives into the
address form expected by the mail delivery agent. It also enables send‐
mail to set parameters and arguments to the mail delivery program.
The configuration file contains information that is used for the fol‐
lowing functions: Define message precedence for mail delivery Define
administrative IDs to override the sender's address Define message
headings Define the mail program to use Set options used by the send‐
mail command
The default Tru64 UNIX configuration file (located in /var/adm/send‐
mail/sendmail.cf) is adequate for most standalone systems. However, if
you plan to connect your system to a network, you will have to modify
the sendmail.cf file.
Tru64 UNIX provides the mailconfig and mailsetup utilities, which you
can use to create mail configuration files. If you prefer to manipulate
the configuration file manually, you should use the m4 macros provided
for this purpose. (See the sendmail.m4(8) reference page.)
For more information on configuring mail, see the Network Administra‐
tion: Services manual.
SEE ALSO
Commands: binmail(1), mailconfig(8), mailsetup(8), mailx(1), send‐
mail(8), sendmail.m4(8)
Files: sendmail.cf(4)
Network Administration: Services
Standard for the Format of ARPA Internet Text Messages (RFC 822) The
Domain Naming Convention for Internet User Applications (RFC 819) UNIX
System Administration Handbook, Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall,
Inc., 1989.
mail_intro(7)
