After finally understanding the exim4 authentication setup - as root I am able to send email to my other mail box - I tried to send mail as tom and from mutt. No go. First, there were messages that exim4 could not write to the files /var/log/exim4/mainlog and paniclog - permission denied. I added tom to the Debian-exim group and the mail group. This had no effect. I then changed the file permissions from 640 to 666. That resolved the mainlog and paniclog problem. Next there was a message the exim4 could not write to the directory /var/spool/exim4/msglog - permission denied. Again I changed the directory permissions to 666. Now there was no protest but the messages were not received by my other mail box. Investigating I found that there were entries in mainlog stating the messages were frozen and messages in the msglog directory with 640 permissions and tom:tom ownership. Earlier frozen messages (from attempts to send mail as root while the authentication setup was incorrect) are owned by Debian-exim:Debian-exim. I don''t understand this at all. It seems to me that the standard installation should such that normal users can send and receive mail and root is prevented from doing so. What I have encountered is the other way around and I have yet find all the changes - or the best practice changes - which allow a normal user to send mail. Tom
Thomas H. George <lists at tomgeorge.info> wrote:> After finally understanding the exim4 authentication setup - as root I > am able to send email to my other mail box - I tried to send mail as tom > and from mutt. No go.> First, there were messages that exim4 could not write to the files > /var/log/exim4/mainlog and paniclog - permission denied.[...] Hello, Looks like you somehow either manually changed the permissions or changed the user id exim4 runs under. On a fresh installation /var/log/exim4 is 2750 Debian-exim:adm and /var/spool/exim4 is 0750 Debian-exim:Debian-exim. exim4 itself runs under the user Debian-exim. ametzler at argenau:~$ /usr/sbin/exim4 -bP | grep ''exim_[ug]'' exim_group = Debian-exim exim_user = Debian-exim cu andreas -- `What a good friend you are to him, Dr. Maturin. His other friends are so grateful to you.'' `I sew his ears on from time to time, sure''