Pkg exim4 users - Apr 2009 - defer (-21): appendfile: file or directory name … is not absolute

Hello,

using Debian and Exim 4 I extended /etc/update-exim4.conf.conf with this line:

MAILDIR_HOME_MAILDIR_LOCATION=''/var/mail/$local_part''

Unfortunately I receive an error message:

root at beispiel:~# echo "My letter" | mail -v -s "My
Subject" contoso
LOG: MAIN
  <= root at beispiel.de U=root P=local S=328
root at beispiel:~# delivering 1LtoeS-0003Ue-IH
R: system_aliases for contoso at beispiel.de
R: userforward for contoso at beispiel.de
R: procmail for contoso at beispiel.de
R: maildrop for contoso at beispiel.de
R: lowuid_aliases for contoso at beispiel.de (UID 1000)
R: local_user for contoso at beispiel.de
T: maildir_home for contoso at beispiel.de
LOG: MAIN
  == contoso at beispiel.de R=local_user T=maildir_home defer (-21):
appendfile: file or directory name
"''/var/mail/contoso''" is not
absolute

What is the problem?

L?on

L?on Dign?n <leon.dignon at gmail.com> wrote:
> using Debian and Exim 4 I extended /etc/update-exim4.conf.conf with
> this line:
> MAILDIR_HOME_MAILDIR_LOCATION=''/var/mail/$local_part''
> Unfortunately I receive an error message:
> root at beispiel:~# echo "My letter" | mail -v -s "My
Subject" contoso
[...]
> LOG: MAIN
>  == contoso at beispiel.de R=local_user T=maildir_home defer (-21):
> appendfile: file or directory name
"''/var/mail/contoso''" is not
> absolute
> What is the problem?
Removing the quotes ('') should work.

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''

On 2009-04-15 L?on Dign?n <leon.dignon at gmail.com> wrote:
[...]
> MAILDIR_HOME_MAILDIR_LOCATION=/var/mail/$local_part
> *** This problem is solved, but I have another problem now! ***
> Now I get this error message:
> >  == contoso at beispiel.de R=local_user T=maildir_home defer (13):
Permission denied: cannot create /var/mail/contoso
> But why?
Because the permission settings of the maildir_home transport are
customized for delivery to the users home directory. There the user
may generate new files/directories, which is why the transport is
simply run as the user. (No explicit setting, but simply because the
routers all have check_local_user set.)

OTOH on Debian /var/mail is usually 2775 root:mail (and you shouldn''t
change to anything else, since mail handling aopplications on Debian
usually exspect this setting.) To be able to generate a new
file/directory in /var/mail the process therefore needs to run as
group mail.

[...]
> I added
> > user = mail
> > group = mail
> to the transport "maildir_home". I do not know if this is a good
> solution. Maybe anybody can give me a comment to that.
Undo the permission change of /var/mail and drop the user setting,
delivering as the local_user is fine.
> I am wondering if I missed some "best practice" or "Debian
standard
> solution" for the whole /var/mail/username/ thing, since I cannot
> believe this configuration is rarely used.
I am not aware of this being a often used setup. Historically
/var/mail is used for mbox type mailboxes and programs expect these
there. Putting mdir stuff in a different location therefore is imho
natural. However my experience is very limited.

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''