I have not been able to setup exim4 so that I can send mail from Mutt over a Verizon DSL connection. After trying numerous configurations I am confused by the distinction, if any, between the outgoing SMTP server and the Smarthost. Certainly this is elementary but after studying README.Debian.gz and exim4-doc-html and learning to use a number of exim4 command options and logging options I still can''t get an exim4 setup that works. I start from the known working Mozilla setup: Account Name: lists Your Name: Thomas H. George email address: lists@tomgeorge.info POP mail server server name: mail.tomgeorge.info port 110 user name: lists@tomgeorge.info Outgoing Server (SMTP) Settings server name: outgoing.verzison.net port 25 Use TLS if available user name: dryden The first time this setup is used it asks for the password for lists@tomgeorge.info. It does not require the password for the Verizon DSL account. I try to duplicate this setup for exim4 by running dpkg-reconfigure exim4-config: Split configuration into small files?: No mail sent by smarthost; received via SMTP or fetchmail System mail name: tomgeorge.info IP address to listen to: 127.0.0.1 Other destinations for which mail is accepted: Left Blank Machines to relay for: Left Blank Machine handling outgoing mail for this host (smarthost): outgoing.verizion.net Hide local name in outgoing mail: No Keep number of DNS-queries minimal: No In addition I have edited the file /etc/exim4/passwd.client adding a line outgoing.verizion.net:dryden:OurPassword With this setup and log_selector = +all tail of mainlog ends with 2006-01-16 09:48:39 End queue run: pid=11451 2006-01-16 09:58:51 cwd=/home/tom 7 args: sendmail -oem -oi -f lists@tomgeorge.info -- mail@tomgeorge.info 2006-01-16 09:58:51 1EyVop-0002zl-Nz <= lists@tomgeorge.info U=tom P=local S=442 id=20060116145851.GA11507@tomgeorge.info T="From Mutt" from <lists@tomgeorge.info> for mail@tomgeorge.info 2006-01-16 09:58:51 cwd=/var/spool/exim4 3 args: /usr/sbin/exim4 -Mc 1EyVop-0002zl-Nz 2006-01-16 09:58:52 1EyVop-0002zl-Nz == mail@tomgeorge.info R=smarthost T=remote_smtp_smarthost defer (-53): retry time not reached for any host FAQ A0608 in exim4-doc-html says this is not an error but this is all I get. After trying many variations of this setup I have three days of test messages to my other mailbox in the queue and every transmission results in this message. Please straighten me out on this problem. Tom George PS I have learned to delete messages in the queue with the command exim4 -Mrm <message id> and to retreive the message id''s with exim4 -bp but I can''t find a way delete a range of messages. Is there such a beast?
Alex King wrote:>On Mon, Jan 16, 2006 at 10:44:47AM -0500, Thomas H. George wrote: > > >>I have not been able to setup exim4 so that I can send mail from Mutt >>over a Verizon DSL connection. After trying numerous configurations I >>am confused by the distinction, if any, between the outgoing SMTP server >>and the Smarthost. Certainly this is elementary but after studying >>README.Debian.gz and exim4-doc-html and learning to use a number of >>exim4 command options and logging options I still can''t get an exim4 >>setup that works. I start from the known working Mozilla setup: >> >>Account Name: lists >>Your Name: Thomas H. George >>email address: lists@tomgeorge.info >>POP mail server >>server name: mail.tomgeorge.info port 110 >>user name: lists@tomgeorge.info >>Outgoing Server (SMTP) Settings >>server name: outgoing.verzison.net port 25 Use TLS if available >>user name: dryden >> >>The first time this setup is used it asks for the password for >>lists@tomgeorge.info. It does not require the password for the Verizon >>DSL account. >> >>I try to duplicate this setup for exim4 by running dpkg-reconfigure >>exim4-config: >> >>Split configuration into small files?: No >>mail sent by smarthost; received via SMTP or fetchmail >>System mail name: tomgeorge.info >>IP address to listen to: 127.0.0.1 >>Other destinations for which mail is accepted: Left Blank >>Machines to relay for: Left Blank >>Machine handling outgoing mail for this host (smarthost): >>outgoing.verizion.net >>Hide local name in outgoing mail: No >>Keep number of DNS-queries minimal: No >> >>In addition I have edited the file /etc/exim4/passwd.client adding a >>line >> >>outgoing.verizion.net:dryden:OurPassword >> >>With this setup and log_selector = +all tail of mainlog ends with >> >>2006-01-16 09:48:39 End queue run: pid=11451 >>2006-01-16 09:58:51 cwd=/home/tom 7 args: sendmail -oem -oi -f >>lists@tomgeorge.info -- mail@tomgeorge.info >>2006-01-16 09:58:51 1EyVop-0002zl-Nz <= lists@tomgeorge.info U=tom P=local >>S=442 id=20060116145851.GA11507@tomgeorge.info T="From Mutt" from >><lists@tomgeorge.info> for mail@tomgeorge.info >>2006-01-16 09:58:51 cwd=/var/spool/exim4 3 args: /usr/sbin/exim4 -Mc >>1EyVop-0002zl-Nz >>2006-01-16 09:58:52 1EyVop-0002zl-Nz == mail@tomgeorge.info R=smarthost >>T=remote_smtp_smarthost defer (-53): retry time not reached for any host >> >>FAQ A0608 in exim4-doc-html says this is not an error but this is all I >>get. After trying many variations of this setup I have three days of >>test messages to my other mailbox in the queue and every transmission >>results in this message. >> >>Please straighten me out on this problem. >> >>Tom George >> >>PS I have learned to delete messages in the queue with the command >>exim4 -Mrm <message id> and to retreive the message id''s with exim4 -bp >>but I can''t find a way delete a range of messages. Is there such a beast? >> >> >> >No, not to my knowledge. > >The problem shown in the logs above, "retry time not reached for any >host" means that there were errors and exim is waiting before it trys >again. What may well have happened is that you originally had a bad >config for a while and it couldn''t send to your smarthost, so it marked >it as bad. Then each time you change the config and send another >message, it doesn''t re-check sending, it is still waiting for a timeout. > >If there is still one or more validly addressed mails in the queue, you >should try to send one of them manually: > >exim4 -v -M <message-id> > >That will force exim to try to deliver the message, regartdless of the >timeout value. Adding -v will cause it to print the SMTP conversation >out. > >Now if this doesn''t work, cange the config and try again. But instead >of sending a new message each time, pick one from the queue and re-try >it with exim4 -M <message-id>, or send one to get it in the first and do >the exim4 -M thing. > >Cheers, > >Alex > > > >This helped but I am still stumped. I am fairly sure the verizon authenication is right because one of my changes clearly caused it to be rejected. The problem now is a message "No MAIL FROM command has been issued." Indeed just before this there is a line: SMTP>> MAIL FROM: <> SIZE = 2258 I thought the problem might be with my .muttrc but I tried sending mail directly from exim4 with the same result. Where might the MAIL FROM command be? Tom George
On Tue, Jan 17, 2006 at 05:07:08PM -0500, Thomas H. George wrote:> This helped but I am still stumped. I am fairly sure the verizon > authenication is right because one of my changes clearly caused it to be > rejected.Can you verify from the debug output whether your exim tries to reject, and whether the authentication is successful?> The problem now is a message "No MAIL FROM command has been issued." > Indeed just before this there is a line: > > SMTP>> MAIL FROM: <> SIZE = 2258That looks quite valid. Can you please verify with telnet or swaks whether verizon is willing to accept a bounce from your machine after you have authenticated? They have some pretty strange e-mail policies, so I would be willing to believe that they might not allow their customers to send out bounces.> I thought the problem might be with my .muttrc but I tried sending mail > directly from exim4 with the same result.How do you try sending directly from exim4?> Where might the MAIL FROM command be?One possible explanation of this question is that you don''t have knowlegde about how SMTP works. Please substantiate the question. 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
Thomas H. George
2006-Jan-18 23:35 UTC
[Pkg-exim4-users] Debian Exim Setup Problem - Solved
On the 9th Sridar M. A. wrote (in a message I printed out but erased):
"The passwd_client seems to be Debian specific but it did not work. I
edited /etc/exim4/conf.d/30_exim4-config_examples to include the login
id and password. Just including below the relevant section:
plain:
driver = plaintext
public_name = PLAIN
client_send = ^user@mylog.org^secret
#.ifndef . . .
.
.
.
#.endif"
I tried this at the time without success not realizing that his choice
of file to edit was appropriate when using a split configuration. After
floudering around wildly and asking a lot of dumb questions it finally
dawned on me that I was not using a split configuration. Accordingly I
went to /etc/exim4, ran grep -n plain: exim4.conf.template, used vi to
edit at the line number adding a line client_send =
^our_user_name@verizon.net^our_password and commenting out all the lines
of the if statement, and then ran update-exim4.conf. After this mail
from Mutt was sent with no problem.
Of course, this hack does not solve the problem with the Debian script.
I am working at learning bash scripting and may study that if statement
as part of my education but not yet. In the meantime sending mail from
Mutt works but I have become increasingly comfortable in working from
Mozilla.
Tom George
As my old physics professor said of experimental physicists: "Dumb but
plodders"
On Wed, Jan 18, 2006 at 05:35:03PM -0500, Thomas H. George wrote:> On the 9th Sridar M. A. wrote (in a message I printed out but erased):As this message didn''t show up on the list, he probably didn''t want the private communication to be public. Posting private mail on a a public mailinglist is usually frowned upon.> "The passwd_client seems to be Debian specific but it did not work.Alas. How exact can an error report be?> I tried this at the time without success not realizing that his choice > of file to edit was appropriate when using a split configuration. After > floudering around wildly and asking a lot of dumb questions it finally > dawned on me that I was not using a split configuration.Did you read the documentation?> Of course, this hack does not solve the problem with the Debian script.And not answering the questions I asked in my answer to your question is not going to solve it either.> I am working at learning bash scripting and may study that if statement > as part of my education but not yet.Which if statement? 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
Thomas H. George
2006-Jan-19 14:14 UTC
[Pkg-exim4-users] Debian Exim Setup Problem - Solved
Marc Haber wrote:>On Wed, Jan 18, 2006 at 05:35:03PM -0500, Thomas H. George wrote: > > >>On the 9th Sridar M. A. wrote (in a message I printed out but erased): >> >> > >As this message didn''t show up on the list, he probably didn''t want >the private communication to be public. Posting private mail on a a >public mailinglist is usually frowned upon. > > >The printout shows he replied to the debian-users list in response to my posting "Can''t Get Exim4 Setup Right" This was before I read all the documentation and did not yet know of the pkg-exim4-users list. .I tried this at the time without success not realizing that his choice>>of file to edit was appropriate when using a split configuration. After >>floudering around wildly and asking a lot of dumb questions it finally >>dawned on me that I was not using a split configuration. >> >> > >Did you read the documentation? > > >It was by reading the documentation that I became aware that he was editing a file used by the split configuration.>>Of course, this hack does not solve the problem with the Debian script. >> >> > >And not answering the questions I asked in my answer to your question >is not going to solve it either. > > >Marc, I apologize, I did not mean to not answer your questions. When I found none of my previous efforts had authenticated the connection I thought the issue was moot. You asked, This helped but I am still stumped. I am fairly sure the verizon> authenication is right because one of my changes clearly caused it to be > rejected.Can you verify from the debug output whether your exim tries to reject, and whether the authentication is successful?>> The problem now is a message "No MAIL FROM command has been issued." >> Indeed just before this there is a line: >> >> SMTP>> MAIL FROM: <> SIZE = 2258 > >That looks quite valid. Can you please verify with telnet or swaks whether verizon is willing to accept a bounce from your machine after you have authenticated? They have some pretty strange e-mail policies, so I would be willing to believe that they might not allow their customers to send out bounces. I have never used telnet or swaks. I just checked apt-cache show swaks and I see it is a very powerful tool. If it would be helpful I will install it and try to test the verizon response.>> I thought the problem might be with my .muttrc but I tried sending mail >> directly from exim4 with the same result. > >How do you try sending directly from exim4? I simply executed the command exim4 -v mail@tomgeorge.info. A blank line followed on which I entered text. A second blank line appeared on which I entered a period. This now works and the text message is delivered to my mailbox.>> Where might the MAIL FROM command be? > >One possible explanation of this question is that you don''t have knowlegde about how SMTP works. Please substantiate the question. Correct. I don''t know how SMTP works. I am working at learning bash scripting and may study that if statement>>as part of my education but not yet. >> >> > >Which if statement? > > >.ifndef AUTH_CLIENT_ALLOW_NOTLS_PASSWORDS. client_send = "${if !eq{$tls_cipher}{}{\ ^${extract{1}{::}\ {${lookup{$host}lsearch*{CONFDIR/passwd.client}{$value}fail}}}\ ^${extract{2}{::}\ {${lookup{$host}lsearch*{CONFDIR/passwd.client}{$value}fail}}}\ }fail}" .else. client_send = "^${extract{1}{::}{${lookup{$host}lsearch*{CONFDIR/passwd.client}{$value}fail}}}^${extract{2}{::}{${lookup{$host}lsearch*{CONFDIR/passwd.client}{$value}fail}}}" .endif. My editing has been a little choppy, I hope this helps. Regards, Tom George
Hi, your quoting is erratic. It is very hard to read your message. Please get acquainted with the customs on e-mail lists. I have severely edited down your message to make my answer at least marginally readable. On Thu, Jan 19, 2006 at 09:14:33AM -0500, Thomas H. George wrote:> Can you verify from the debug output whether your exim tries to > reject, and whether the authentication is successful?You didn''t write that.> That looks quite valid. Can you please verify with telnet or swaks > whether verizon is willing to accept a bounce from your machine after > you have authenticated? They have some pretty strange e-mail policies, > so I would be willing to believe that they might not allow their > customers to send out bounces.You didn''t write that as well.> How do you try sending directly from exim4?Neither did you write this.> I simply executed the command exim4 -v mail@tomgeorge.info. A blank line > followed on which I entered text. A second blank line appeared on which I > entered a period. This now works and the text message is delivered to my > mailbox.That is good news. Issue solved?> One possible explanation of this question is that you don''t have > knowlegde about how SMTP works. Please substantiate the question.Again, you didn''t write that.> Correct. I don''t know how SMTP works.Please get acquainted with the tools you''re using on the public Internet. If you don''t know how E-Mail works, you''re going to be abused, and you don''t have the knowledge to prevent that. At your current level of knowledge, please consider to refrain from running an SMTP server on the Internet.> I am working at learning bash scripting and may study that if statement > > >>as part of my education but not yet. > >> > >> > > > >Which if statement? > > > > > > > > .ifndef AUTH_CLIENT_ALLOW_NOTLS_PASSWORDS. > client_send = "${if !eq{$tls_cipher}{}{\ > ^${extract{1}{::}\ > {${lookup{$host}lsearch*{CONFDIR/passwd.client}{$value}fail}}}\ > ^${extract{2}{::}\ > {${lookup{$host}lsearch*{CONFDIR/passwd.client}{$value}fail}}}\ > }fail}" > .else. > client_send = > "^${extract{1}{::}{${lookup{$host}lsearch*{CONFDIR/passwd.client}{$value}fail}}}^${extract{2}{::}{${lookup{$host}lsearch*{CONFDIR/passwd.client}{$value}fail}}}" > .endif.That configuration snippet is not a script. And bash never sees it. 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