Add extended section on email configuration (moved from using-d-i as exim4 now configures for "local mail only" by default)

2 files changed, 262 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/en/post-install/mail-setup.xml b/en/post-install/mail-setup.xml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..faf041b66
--- /dev/null
+++ b/en/post-install/mail-setup.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,261 @@
+<!-- retain these comments for translator revision tracking -->
+<!-- $Id$ -->
+
+ <sect1 id="mail-setup">
+ <title>Setting Up Your System To Use E-Mail</title>
+<para>
+
+Today, email is an important part of many people's life. As there are
+many options as to how to set it up, and as having it set up correctly is
+important for some Debian utilities, we will try to cover the basics in
+this section.
+
+</para><para>
+
+There are three main functions that make up an e-mail system. First there is
+the <firstterm>Mail User Agent</firstterm> (MUA) which is the program a user
+actually uses to compose and read mails. Then there is the <firstterm>Mail
+Transfer Agent</firstterm> (MTA) that takes care of transferring messages
+from one computer to another. And last there is the <firstterm>Mail
+Delivery Agent</firstterm> (MDA) that takes care of delivering incoming mail
+to the user's inbox.
+
+</para><para>
+
+These three functions can be performed by separate programs, but they can
+also be combined in one or two programs. It is also possible to have
+different programs handle these functions for different types of mail.
+
+</para><para>
+
+On Linux and Unix systems <command>mutt</command> is historically a very
+popular MUA. Like most traditional Linux programs it is text based. It is
+often used in combination with <command>exim</command> or
+<command>sendmail</command> as MTA and <command>procmail</command> as MDA.
+
+</para><para>
+
+With the increasing popularity of graphical desktop systems, the use of
+graphical e-mail programs like GNOME's <command>evolution</command>,
+KDE's <command>kmail</command> or Mozilla's <command>thunderbird</command>
+(in Debian available as <command>icedove</command><footnote>
+
+<para>
+The reason that <command>thunderbird</command> has been renamed to
+<command>icedove</command> in Debian has to do with licencing issues.
+Details are outside the scope of this manual.
+</para>
+
+</footnote>) is becoming more popular. These programs combine the function
+of a MUA, MTA and MDA, but can &mdash; and often are &mdash; also be used
+in combination with the traditional Linux tools.
+
+</para>
+
+  <sect2 id="mail-default">
+  <title>Default E-Mail Configuration</title>
+<para>
+
+Even if you are planning to use a graphical mail program, it is important
+that a traditional MTA/MDA is also installed and correctly set up on your
+Linux system. Reason is that various utilities running on the
+system<footnote>
+
+<para>
+Examples are: <command>cron</command>, <command>quota</command>,
+<command>logcheck</command>, <command>aide</command>, &hellip;
+</para>
+
+</footnote> can send important notices by e-mail to inform the system
+administrator of (potential) problems or changes.
+
+</para><para>
+
+For this reason the packages <classname>exim4</classname> and
+<classname>mutt</classname> will be installed by default (provided you
+did not unselect the <quote>standard</quote> task during the installation).
+<classname>exim4</classname> is a combination MTA/MDA that is relatively
+small but very flexible. By default it will be configured to only handle
+e-mail local to the system itself and e-mails addressed to the system
+administrator (root account) will be delivered to the regular user account
+created during the installation<footnote>
+
+<para>
+The forwarding of mail for root to the regular user account is configured
+in <filename>/etc/aliases</filename>. If no regular user account was created,
+the mail will of course be delivered to the root account itself.
+</para>
+
+</footnote>.
+
+</para><para>
+
+When system e-mails are delivered they are added to a file in
+<filename>/var/mail/<replaceable>account_name</replaceable></filename>.
+The e-mails can be read using <command>mutt</command>.
+
+</para>
+  </sect2>
+
+  <sect2 id="mail-outgoing">
+  <title>Sending E-Mails Outside The System</title>
+<para>
+
+As mentioned earlier, the installed Debian system is only set up to handle
+e-mail local to the system, not for sending mail to others nor for
+receiving mail from others.
+
+</para><para>
+
+If you would like <classname>exim4</classname> to handle external e-mail,
+please refer to the next subsection for the basic available configuration
+options. Make sure to test that mail can be sent and received correctly.
+
+</para><para>
+
+If you intend to use a graphical mail program and use a mail server of
+your Internet Service Provider (ISP) or your company, there is not really
+any need to configure <classname>exim4</classname> for handling external
+e-mail. Just configure your favorite graphical mail program to use the
+correct servers to send and receive e-mail (how is outside the scope of
+this manual).
+
+</para><para>
+
+However, in that case you may need to configure individual utilities to
+correctly send e-mails. One such utility is <command>reportbug</command>,
+a program that facilitates submitting bug reports against Debian packages.
+By default it expects to be able to use <classname>exim4</classname> to
+submit bug reports.
+
+</para><para>
+
+To correctly set up <command>reportbug</command> to use an external mail
+server, please run the command <command>reportbug --configure</command>
+and answer <quote>no</quote> to the question if an MTA is available. You
+will then be asked for the SMTP server to be used for submitting bug reports.
+
+</para>
+  </sect2>
+
+  <sect2 id="config-mta">
+  <title>Configuring the Exim4 Mail Transport Agent</title>
+<para>
+
+If you would like your system to also handle external e-mail, you will
+need to reconfigure the <classname>exim4</classname> package<footnote>
+
+<para>
+You can of course also remove <classname>exim4</classname> and replace
+it with an alternative MTA/MDA.
+</para>
+
+</footnote>:
+
+<informalexample><screen>
+# dpkg-reconfigure exim4-config
+</screen></informalexample>
+
+</para><para>
+
+After entering that command (as root), you will be asked if you want split
+the configuration into small files. If you are unsure, select the default
+option.
+
+</para><para>
+
+Next you will be presented with several common mail scenarios. Choose the
+one that most closely resembles your needs.
+
+</para>
+
+<variablelist>
+<varlistentry>
+<term>internet site</term>
+<listitem><para>
+
+Your system is connected to a network and your mail is sent and
+received directly using SMTP. On the following screens you will be
+asked a few basic questions, like your machine's mail name, or a list of
+domains for which you accept or relay mail.
+
+</para></listitem>
+</varlistentry>
+
+<varlistentry>
+<term>mail sent by smarthost</term>
+<listitem><para>
+
+In this scenario your outgoing mail is forwarded to another machine,
+called a <quote>smarthost</quote>, which does the actual job for
+you. The smarthost also usually stores incoming mail addressed to your
+computer, so you don't need to be permanently online. That also means
+you have to download your mail from the smarthost via programs like
+fetchmail.
+
+</para><para>
+
+In a lot of cases the smarthost will be your ISP's mail server, which
+makes this option very suitable for dial-up users. It can also be a
+company mail server, or even another system on your own network.
+
+</para></listitem>
+</varlistentry>
+
+<varlistentry>
+<term>mail sent by smarthost; no local mail</term>
+<listitem><para>
+
+This option is basically the same as the previous one except that the
+system will not be set up to handle mail for a local e-mail domain. Mail
+on the system itself (e.g. for the system administrator) will still be
+handled.
+
+</para></listitem>
+</varlistentry>
+
+<varlistentry>
+<term>local delivery only</term>
+<listitem><para>
+
+This is the option your system is configured for by default.
+
+</para></listitem>
+</varlistentry>
+
+<varlistentry>
+<term>no configuration at this time</term>
+<listitem><para>
+
+Choose this if you are absolutely convinced you know what you are
+doing. This will leave you with an unconfigured mail system &mdash;
+until you configure it, you won't be able to send or receive any mail
+and you may miss some important messages from your system utilities.
+
+</para></listitem>
+</varlistentry>
+</variablelist>
+
+<para>
+
+If none of these scenarios suits your needs, or if you need a finer
+grained setup, you will need to edit configuration files under the
+<filename>/etc/exim4</filename> directory after the installation is
+complete. More information about <classname>exim4</classname> may be
+found under <filename>/usr/share/doc/exim4</filename>; the file
+<filename>README.Debian.gz</filename> has additional details about
+configuring <classname>exim4</classname>.
+
+</para><para>
+
+Note that sending mail directly to the Internet when you don't have an
+official domain name, can result in your mail being rejected because of
+anti-spam measures on receiving servers. Using your ISP's mail server is
+preferred. If you still do want to send out mail directly, you may want to
+use a different e-mail address than is generated by default. If you use
+<classname>exim4</classname> as your MTA, this is possible by adding an
+entry in <filename>/etc/email-addresses</filename>.
+
+</para>
+  </sect2>
+ </sect1>
diff --git a/en/post-install/post-install.xml b/en/post-install/post-install.xml
index f444de205..68da25de8 100644
--- a/en/post-install/post-install.xml
+++ b/en/post-install/post-install.xml
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 &new-to-unix.xml;
 &orientation.xml;
 &further-reading.xml;
+&mail-setup.xml;
 &kernel-baking.xml;
 &rescue.xml;