From cc6be82b333cb1d9690c630fb173f8fb4599b2b0 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Frans Pop Date: Thu, 28 Dec 2006 02:27:58 +0000 Subject: The unavoidable typo... --- en/post-install/mail-setup.xml | 245 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ en/post-install/post-install.xml | 1 + 2 files changed, 246 insertions(+) create mode 100644 en/post-install/mail-setup.xml (limited to 'en/post-install') diff --git a/en/post-install/mail-setup.xml b/en/post-install/mail-setup.xml new file mode 100644 index 000000000..cf07478af --- /dev/null +++ b/en/post-install/mail-setup.xml @@ -0,0 +1,245 @@ + + + + + Setting Up Your System To Use E-Mail + + +Today, email is a very important part of many people's life. As there are +many options as to how to set it up and having it set up correctly is +important for some Debian utilities, we will try to cover the basics in +this section. + + + +There are three main functions that make up an e-mail system. First there is +the Mail User Agent (MUA) which is the program a user +actually uses to compose and read mails. Then there is the Mail +Transfer Agent (MTA) that takes care of transferring messages +from one computer to another. And last there is the Mail +Delivery Agent (MDA) that takes care of delivering incoming mail +to the user's inbox. + + + +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. + + + +On Linux and Unix systems mutt is historically a very +popular MUA. Like most traditional Linux programs it is text based. It is +often used in combination with exim or +sendmail as MTA and procmail as MDA. + + + +With the increasing popularity of graphical desktop systems, the use of +graphical e-mail programs like GNOME's evolution, +KDE's kmail or Mozilla's thunderbird +(in Debian available as icedove + + +The reason that thunderbird has been renamed to +icedove in Debian has to do with licencing issues. +Details are outside the scope of this manual. + + +) is becoming more popular. These programs combine the function +of a MUA, MTA and MDA, but can — and often are — also be used +in combination with the traditional Linux tools. + + + + + Default E-Mail Configuration + + +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 + + +Examples are: cron, quota, +logcheck, aide, … + + + can send important notices by e-mail to inform the system +administrator of (potential) problems or changes. + + + +For this reason the packages exim4 and +mutt will be installed by default (provided you +did not unselect the standard task during the installation). +exim4 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 + + +The forwarding of mail for root to the regular user account is configured +in /etc/aliases. If no regular user account was created, +the mail will of course be delivered to the root account itself. + + +. + + + +When system e-mails are delivered they are added to a file in +/var/mail/account_name. +The e-mails can be read using mutt. + + + + + + Sending E-Mails Outside The System + + +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. + + + +If you would like exim4 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. + + + +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 exim4 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). + + + +However, in that case you may need to configure individual utilities to +correctly send e-mails. One such utility is reportbug, +a program that facilitates submitting bug reports against Debian packages. +By default it expects to be able to use exim4 to +submit bug reports. + + + +To correctly set up reportbug to use an external mail +server, please run the command reportbug --configure +and answer no to the question if an MTA is available. You +will then be asked for the SMTP server to be used for submitting bug reports. + + + + + + Configuring the Exim4 Mail Transport Agent + + +If you would like your system to also handle external e-mail, you will +need to reconfigure the exim4 package + + +You can of course also remove exim4 and replace +it with an alternative MTA/MDA. + + +: + + +# dpkg-reconfigure exim4-config + + + + +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. + + + +Next you will be presented with several common mail scenarios. Choose the +one that most closely resembles your needs. + + + + + +internet site + + +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. + + + + + +mail sent by smarthost + + +In this scenario your outgoing mail is forwarded to another machine, +called a smarthost, 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. This option is suitable for dial-up users. + + + + + +mail sent by smarthost; no local mail + + +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. + + + + + +local delivery only + + +This is the option your system is configured for by default. + + + + + +no configuration at this time + + +Choose this if you are absolutely convinced you know what you are +doing. This will leave you with an unconfigured mail system — +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. + + + + + + + +If none of these scenarios suits your needs, or if you need a finer +setup, you will need to edit configuration files under the +/etc/exim4 directory after the installation is +complete. More information about exim4 may be +found under /usr/share/doc/exim4; the file +README.Debian.gz has additional details about +configuring exim4. + + + + 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; -- cgit v1.2.3