Can't send mail with mutt, using sendmail. TIA

Sendmail's on my system, but I don't use it. I'm trying to use it now
that I use mutt, though. In the .muttrc file, I put
sendmail="/usr/bin/sendmail" but it doesn't send. Actually, it sends, but
gets returned to my system.

Please help.

Naota

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(E-Mail Removed) - > (remove 'S P A M')

On Fri, 28 Nov 2003 18:41:47 GMT, Naota <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> Sendmail's on my system, but I don't use it. I'm trying to use it now
> that I use mutt, though. In the .muttrc file, I put
> sendmail="/usr/bin/sendmail" but it doesn't send. Actually, it sends, but
> gets returned to my system.

Is "/usr/bin/sendmail" a correct path (usually it is /usr/sbin/sendmail,
but on some systems users can only use /usr/lib/sendmail symlink)?

Even if you do have a correct path for your system, you may need to
configure sendmail (especially if your PC does not have a valid internet
hostname). What does the bounce error and/or your mail log say (a
filename containing 'mail' in /var/log)?

--
David Efflandt - All spam ignored http://www.de-srv.com/

On Fri, 28 Nov 2003 22:07:49 +0000, David Efflandt wrote:

> Is "/usr/bin/sendmail" a correct path (usually it is /usr/sbin/sendmail,
> but on some systems users can only use /usr/lib/sendmail symlink)?
>
> Even if you do have a correct path for your system, you may need to
> configure sendmail (especially if your PC does not have a valid internet
> hostname). What does the bounce error and/or your mail log say (a
> filename containing 'mail' in /var/log)?

In /var/log/maillog it says

Nov 28 23:38:31 wonderland sm-mta[20416]: hAT4cUo2020414: hAT4cVo2020416:
DSN: Data format error
Nov 28 23:38:31 wonderland sm-mta[20416]: hAT4cVo2020416:
to=<anithen@wonderland>, delay=00:00:00, xdelay=00:00:00, mailer=local,
pri=31609, dsn=2.0.0, stat=Sent

The bounce error says:

From: Mail Delivery Subsystem <MAILER-DAEMON@wonderland>
Subject: Returned mail: see transcript for details

[-- Attachment #1 --]
[-- Type: text/plain, Encoding: 7bit, Size: 0.5K --]

The original message was received at Fri, 28 Nov 2003 23:38:30 -0500
from localhost [127.0.0.1]

----- The following addresses had permanent fatal errors -----
<(E-Mail Removed)>
(reason: 553 5.1.8 <anithen@wonderland>... Domain of sender address
+anithen@wonderland does not exist)

----- Transcript of session follows -----
... while talking to flmx02.mgw.rr.com.:
>>> MAIL From:<anithen@wonderland> SIZE=585
<<< 553 5.1.8 <anithen@wonderland>... Domain of sender address
+anithen@wonderland does not exist
501 5.6.0 Data format error

[-- Attachment #2 --]
[-- Type: message/delivery-status, Encoding: 7bit, Size: 0.3K --]

Reporting-MTA: dns; wonderland
Received-From-MTA: DNS; localhost
Arrival-Date: Fri, 28 Nov 2003 23:38:30 -0500

Final-Recipient: RFC822; (E-Mail Removed)
Action: failed
Status: 5.1.8
Diagnostic-Code: SMTP; 553 5.1.8 <anithen@wonderland>... Domain of sender
+address anithen@wonderland does not exist Last-Attempt-Date: Fri, 28 Nov
2003 23:38:30 -0500

[-- Attachment #3 --]
[-- Type: message/rfc822, Encoding: 7bit, Size: 0.8K --]

Thanks much for taking interest in my question. I've tried
/usr/sbin/sendmail and /usr/bin/sendmal, /usr/bin/sendmail, but to no
gain. Something tells me I'll need to point something to my smtp server,
but don't know what/how.

Hope it's a rc file somewhere.

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On Sat, 29 Nov 2003 05:28:54 +0000, Naota wrote:

> I've tried
> /usr/sbin/sendmail and /usr/bin/sendmal, /usr/bin/sendmail, but to no
> gain.

The last should've been /usr/lib/sendmail. Typo
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(E-Mail Removed) - > (remove 'S P A M')

Naota <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> On Sat, 29 Nov 2003 05:28:54 +0000, Naota wrote:
>
> > I've tried
> > /usr/sbin/sendmail and /usr/bin/sendmal, /usr/bin/sendmail, but to no
> > gain.
>
> The last should've been /usr/lib/sendmail. Typo

You mean /usr/bin/sendmal?

Anyway, why are you doing this? You won't get anywhere unless you
configure sendmail, and nothing you have said here indicates that you
have, or that you have the faintest clue that you have to, so one
would suspect that you need to go back to level 0 install sendmail
for dummies and test and make sure that you have sendmail working.

Peter

On Sat, 29 Nov 2003 13:50:12 +0000, P.T. Breuer wrote:

> You mean /usr/bin/sendmal?

No. I mean /usr/lib/sendmail. Someone in this thread mentioned that some
systems only allow running sendmail from /usr/lib/sendmail, so I tried
it, along with /usr/sbin/sendmail and /usr/bin/sendmail. Also on this
thread are both the error messages in /var/log/maillog and the bounce
error from when the mail I tried sending was returned.

> Anyway, why are you doing this? You won't get anywhere unless you
> configure sendmail, and nothing you have said here indicates that you
> have, or that you have the faintest clue that you have to, so one would
> suspect that you need to go back to level 0 install sendmail for dummies
> and test and make sure that you have sendmail working.

Sendmail came with my distro (slackware 9.1), and I thought it best to
work with it/get used to it. My problem is that I've never noticed it
doing anything or could find a use for it until I started using mutt. It
starts upon boot with the command "/usr/sbin/sendmail -L sm-mta -bd -q25m"
and "/usr/sbin/sendmail -L sm-msp-queue -Ac -q25m". When I installed
Debian for a friend, there was sendmail configuration (prompt Q/A based)
during the install. There were great options, like being able to point
out your smtp server, to direct system messages to an email address, etc.

So, there's something called "sendmail for dummies"? google.com/linux
doesn't point to a program like that, but maybe it's in sendmail.org's
documentation.

Also, the following changes in my .muttrc now allow me to send mail:

set hostname="wonderland"
set envelope_from
set from="(E-Mail Removed)"

I'm going to change that eventually. There's something I saw that will
change the envelope based on who's mail I'm replying to, since I often get
mail from a number of different mailboxes.

Another thing is even though I can send mail with mutt now, it's
abnormally slow--like 3 minutes to send a one word mail. I know that
isn't right.


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Naota <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> On Sat, 29 Nov 2003 13:50:12 +0000, P.T. Breuer wrote:
>
> > You mean /usr/bin/sendmal?
>
> No. I mean /usr/lib/sendmail.

Then why did you not correct it from /usr/bin/sendmal to
/usr/lib/sendmail?

(hint: you'll get it if you read your piece enough times to see it once).


> Someone in this thread mentioned that some
> systems only allow running sendmail from /usr/lib/sendmail, so I tried

Nonsense. You misunderstand. You mean that it only IS in
/usr/lib/sendmail. The place YOU are makes no difference.

> it, along with /usr/sbin/sendmail and /usr/bin/sendmail. Also on this

Then you really ought not to have written /usr/bin/sendmal?

> thread are both the error messages in /var/log/maillog and the bounce
> error from when the mail I tried sending was returned.

Irrelevant.

> > Anyway, why are you doing this? You won't get anywhere unless you
> > configure sendmail, and nothing you have said here indicates that you
> > have, or that you have the faintest clue that you have to, so one would
> > suspect that you need to go back to level 0 install sendmail for dummies
> > and test and make sure that you have sendmail working.
>
> Sendmail came with my distro (slackware 9.1), and I thought it best to

So now you get to have to configure it.

> work with it/get used to it. My problem is that I've never noticed it
> doing anything or could find a use for it until I started using mutt. It
> starts upon boot with the command "/usr/sbin/sendmail -L sm-mta -bd -q25m"

That's irrelevant. Except surely you mean "q3m". Every 25mins is a bit
infrequent to do a send!

> and "/usr/sbin/sendmail -L sm-msp-queue -Ac -q25m". When I installed
> Debian for a friend, there was sendmail configuration (prompt Q/A based)
> during the install. There were great options, like being able to point
> out your smtp server, to direct system messages to an email address, etc.

Sure. Just as there is in slackware. It doesn't take a genius!

> So, there's something called "sendmail for dummies"? google.com/linux

Yep. You read the sendmail instructions.

> doesn't point to a program like that, but maybe it's in sendmail.org's
> documentation.

It certainly is. Though I wouldn't read anything on sendmail.org unless
you like being confused by generally irrelevant over-abstract information.
Configuring sendmail is easy. You want to generate a standard
sendmail.cf for your config. Slackware always used to ask you at
install what kind of a sendmail config you wanted (connected to the
net, standalone, etc.) and generate it. You can do it yourself. You
will likely want a config in which smarthost points to your ISP and
you masquerade mail as coming from your ISP. I.e. two variables to set.

You are "supposed" to do this via an mc file, but I find the mc files
completely obscurantist, and I much prefer to edit the sendmail.cf file
directly, as I can see directly there exactly what I am changing, and
what its effects are.


> Also, the following changes in my .muttrc now allow me to send mail:
>
> set hostname="wonderland"

Well, that's not a valid hostname, unless you have some further
resolution elsewhere on your system.

> set envelope_from
> set from="(E-Mail Removed)"

Well, that's masquerading a bit better.

> Another thing is even though I can send mail with mutt now, it's
> abnormally slow--like 3 minutes to send a one word mail. I know that
> isn't right.

I REALLY suggest you stop messing around and just configure sendmail.
And it also looks as though your networking is messed up, probably
though not having set a FQDN as hostname, via hosts resolution.

Peter

On Sat, 29 Nov 2003 19:20:13 +0000, P.T. Breuer wrote:

> That's irrelevant. Except surely you mean "q3m". Every 25mins is a bit
> infrequent to do a send!

Hey, that's what the command says; I pasted it.

> Yep. You read the sendmail instructions.

I've read through the documentation, but can't find a clear way to
configure it. That's why I'm posting here.

And why does my networking look messed up? I set hostname="wonderland"
because wonderland is the name of this machine on this LAN. I thought it
was all set up well. Everything in /etc/hosts is in order.

If I'm reading the wrong documentation and probably just need to have
smarthost point to my ISP and masquerade mail as coming from the ISP, what
documentation should I be looking at and how do I set those two variables?
I've looked at the .mc files and the sendmail.cf file, but don't see
where I'd set the variable. Maybe the documentation you look at will help
a little more.

Peter, I catch the drift of annoyance or even hostility coming from you
and don't understand. Even though you've been a sendmail master for
years--handling thousands of accounts and editing those blasted .cf files
raw deftly--doesn't mean everyone else is. It's easy for you, but kind of
difficult for me. I mostly use my computer for video editing, cd burning,
gimp, web design, bash, irc/usenet/bittorrent, ssh, and the seldom
enjoyment of a game, whether it be online or off line. That shouldn't
make me less of a user/poster than you, since I don't know exactly what to
do about a freaking sendmail problem. Don't take that as my way of
telling you that I shouldn't have to try or read. I've tried and read. Now
I'm trying to find answers from people who know a little more about
sendmail. It's a damn obscure program that I, right now, just need for
sending mail with smtp-server.tampabay.rr.com. Maybe documentation better
than sendmail's man page and more superior to what's found on sendmail.org
was nicely given to you by loved ones or your magical way of searching the
web surpasses that of the average person, but I can't find anything but
irrelevant text when I try to find what I need.

I want to stop messing around and configure sendmail. How about some
helpful links and/or examples? You seem rather resourceful about this,
Peter.

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On Sat, 29 Nov 2003 16:51:34 GMT, Naota <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> Also, the following changes in my .muttrc now allow me to send mail:
>
> set hostname="wonderland"
> set envelope_from
> set from="(E-Mail Removed)"

I imagine set hostname is only if it should append that hostname to your
local username as email address (username@wonderland) which would not be a
valid return address outside your system because wonderland does not
resolve. So you should probably comment that out (or remove it).
Fortunately the 'set from' and 'set envelope_from' appear to override
that.

You may still have trouble sending mail to some destinations due to your
server identifying itself by a name that does not resolve (wonderland), or
if your reverse name or IP are blocked by any lists.

--
David Efflandt - All spam ignored http://www.de-srv.com/