What''s the best way to find out what the debconf alternatives in /etc/exim4/update-exim4.conf.conf are and what they mean? I know I could run dpkg-reconfigure, but that makes me a little nervous. I also recall that the clues it offered were a bit terse, given my relative ignorance about email. I''ve been looking in /var/cache/debconf/templates.dat, but that''s practically unreadable. I suspect there''s a clever way to get the info, but I don''t know it, and haven''t discovered it reading the debconf man pages. Also, as I said, I was hoping for a bit more info than the dialogs provide. BACKGROUND (with a few more questions!) In case anyone wants to help with the next step, I''m looking to do two things. First, I want to listen on an additional port (local only) so I can distinguish fetchmail deliveries from other local sources. And I want my outbound SMTP to relay through another system. Inbound will come from fetchmail (ugh). I think I can figure these things out in time... Some of these changes may be temporary, e.g., until my system gets a fully qualified domain name (yes, things are a mess). I''m using the second port so I can tell fetchmail from other, more authentically local, mail and adjust spam scanning accordingly. I sent an earlier message about that, but doubt it got to the list. In my old setup, incoming mail was relayed directly to me, retaining the original envelope info and permitting meaningful delivery time scanning. Outbound mail went straight out (some servers now reject me because I lack a FQDN). Thanks. -- Ross Boylan wk: (415) 514-8146 185 Berry St #5700 ross@biostat.ucsf.edu Dept of Epidemiology and Biostatistics University of California, San Francisco San Francisco, CA 94107-1762 hm: (415) 550-1062
On Wed, 2005-09-14 at 14:40 -0700, Ross Boylan wrote:> What''s the best way to find out what the debconf alternatives > in /etc/exim4/update-exim4.conf.conf are and what they mean? > > I know I could run dpkg-reconfigure, but that makes me a little nervous. > I also recall that the clues it offered were a bit terse, given my > relative ignorance about email. > > I''ve been looking in /var/cache/debconf/templates.dat, but that''s > practically unreadable. I suspect there''s a clever way to get the info, > but I don''t know it, and haven''t discovered it reading the debconf man > pages. Also, as I said, I was hoping for a bit more info than the > dialogs provide.The update-exim4.conf man page has a lot of this information; sorry I didn''t notice that sooner. However, it''s still a bit cryptic, particularly about the implications of the configuration type selected.
On Wed, Sep 14, 2005 at 03:11:16PM -0700, Ross Boylan wrote:> The update-exim4.conf man page has a lot of this information; sorry I > didn''t notice that sooner. However, it''s still a bit cryptic, > particularly about the implications of the configuration type selected.If you don''t tell us what''s bad, we can''t fix it. Patches appreciated. Greetings Marc -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Marc Haber | "I don''t trust Computers. They | Mailadresse im Header Mannheim, Germany | lose things." Winona Ryder | Fon: *49 621 72739834 Nordisch by Nature | How to make an American Quilt | Fax: *49 621 72739835
[I sent an earlier response, but it seems to have vanished amidst my mail troubles.] On Thu, 2005-09-15 at 07:54 +0200, Marc Haber wrote:> On Wed, Sep 14, 2005 at 03:11:16PM -0700, Ross Boylan wrote: > > The update-exim4.conf man page has a lot of this information; sorry I > > didn''t notice that sooner. However, it''s still a bit cryptic, > > particularly about the implications of the configuration type selected. > > If you don''t tell us what''s bad, we can''t fix it. > > Patches appreciated. >I can''t patch what I don''t understand :) But I can tell you what I don''t understand. The main thing is dc_eximconfig_configtype The main configration type. One of "internet", "smarthost", "satellite", "local", "exim3manual" or "none". What do the different choices mean? For starters, "smarthost" means the system uses a smarthost, or it is a smarthost? How do the choices affect the meaning, interpretation, or necessity of defining the other variables? In some cases (e.g., dc_readhost, dc_hide_mailname) a dependency is explicitly noted, but in others (dc_relay_*, dc_smarthost) I have a feeling it may matter as well. How does dc_readhost and dc_hide_mailname interact with each other and with address rewriting, /etc/host, and /etc/mailname?
On Wed, Sep 28, 2005 at 03:03:16PM -0700, Ross Boylan wrote:> [I sent an earlier response, but it seems to have vanished amidst my > mail troubles.] > On Thu, 2005-09-15 at 07:54 +0200, Marc Haber wrote: > > On Wed, Sep 14, 2005 at 03:11:16PM -0700, Ross Boylan wrote: > > > The update-exim4.conf man page has a lot of this information; sorry I > > > didn''t notice that sooner. However, it''s still a bit cryptic, > > > particularly about the implications of the configuration type selected. > > > > If you don''t tell us what''s bad, we can''t fix it. > > > > Patches appreciated. > > > I can''t patch what I don''t understand :) But I can tell you what I > don''t understand. > > The main thing is > dc_eximconfig_configtype > The main configration type. One of "internet", "smarthost", > "satellite", "local", "exim3manual" or "none". > What do the different choices mean? For starters, "smarthost" means the > system uses a smarthost, or it is a smarthost? > > How do the choices affect the meaning, interpretation, or necessity of > defining the other variables? In some cases (e.g., dc_readhost, > dc_hide_mailname) a dependency is explicitly noted, but in others > (dc_relay_*, dc_smarthost) I have a feeling it may matter as well. > > How does dc_readhost and dc_hide_mailname interact with each other and > with address rewriting, /etc/host, and /etc/mailname?I begin to understand what you mean. Documenting this is, however, a major effort which is probably not possible in less than 20 KBytes. Greetings Marc -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Marc Haber | "I don''t trust Computers. They | Mailadresse im Header Mannheim, Germany | lose things." Winona Ryder | Fon: *49 621 72739834 Nordisch by Nature | How to make an American Quilt | Fax: *49 621 72739835