sending mail on lan...

[Dan Shoop]

On Aug 3, 2007, at 12:03 PM, Jerry LeVan wrote:

> Hmmm,
>
> Running lookupd in interactive mode shows that it knows all about
> the machines on the lan that are listed in the /etc/hosts file.
>
> It appears to me that I really need a "caching nameserver" on the
> machines.

No, you need FQDNs if you plan on sending mail with domain names.

> Apple does supply named and a named.conf file in /etc and has a  
> launchd file
> to turn the rascal on.
>
> There are more config files in /var/named.
>
> Can some kind soul offer some guidance on how to add the machines on
> my subnet to the appropriate config files.

If you aren't well versed in DNS then this is not something that you  
should be fooling around with since it can impact more than just your  
machine(s). Consult your hostmaster for your zone.

That said, both the "Grasshopper" and "Opossum" books are recommended  
from O'Reilly, the former being the canonical tome and the latter  
providing excellent recipes for deployments. They are "DNS and BIND"  
and "The DNS Cookbook" respectively. There's also a very good chapter  
in "Essential Systems Administration" that covers DNS /very/ well.

> I noticed in the sharing setup that the panel insists that ".local"
> be appended to the name...

No, this is Bonjour. This is the mDNS name for the machine.

> I modfied the /etc/hosts file to use "local" instead of "localdomain"
> and set the mydomain entry in the postfix.conf file from localdomain
> to local and reloaded postfix.

:sigh:

That is a huge mistake. .local is already in use by Bonjour. DO NOT  
do this.


> Sending mail to server.local now gets and additional MX error
>
> Aug  3 09:48:55 mbp postfix/qmgr[3040]: 5C522148AFF:  
> from=<jerry at mbp.local>, size=293, nrcpt=1 (queue active)
> Aug  3 09:48:59 mbp postfix/smtp[3041]: 5C522148AFF:  
> to=<jerry at server.local>, relay=none, delay=4,
> status=deferred (Host or domain name not found. Name service error  
> for name=server.local type=MX: Host not found, try again)
>
> if I name the domain "localdomain I get an error like:
> Aug  2 20:42:41 mbp postfix/qmgr[5394]: CD1A11475A5:  
> from=<jerry at mbp.localdomain>, size=314, nrcpt=1 (queue active)
> Aug  2 20:42:41 mbp postfix/smtp[5883]: CD1A11475A5:  
> to=<jerry at server.localdomain>, orig_to=<jerry at server>, relay=none,  
> delay=0, status=bounced (Host or domain name not found. Name  
> service error for name=server.localdomain type=A: Host not found)
> Aug  2 20:42:41 mbp postfix/cleanup[5881]: EB8AB1475A7: message- 
> id=<20070803004241.EB8AB1475A7 at mbp.localdomain>
>
> I suspect I might have to add MX records also....

I think your problem here is that you really don't have an  
understanding of how mail, MTAs specifically, operates, nor how it  
relates to DNS. There's plenty of good reading online that you should  
consult, and the chapters in "Essential Systems Administration", the  
"armadillo" book has a very good overview. Consider consulting your  
postmaster and reading this book.

Once you understand how mail operates, then that would be a good time  
to start asking this list for more specific questions. But right now  
there's a whole $h!tload of backgrond stuff you need to know that is  
ill-suited for the list since there are better tutorials elsewhere  
and lists don't lend themselves to schooling.


-dhan

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Dan Shoop <shoop at iwiring.net>
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