problem with mail it puts everything in the dead letter

darkone66669 · 04-04-2008, 09:27 AM

At the command line I type mail <username> hit enter put in the subject hit enter then type the message hit enter and then Ctrl-D and hit enter. I just trying to get it working so I can use it to send messages to other users on this system doesn't need to be able to go over the internet. I can send to root just fine and root receives just fine but try to send to anyone else and its just another dead letter does anybody know what could be causing this?

blacky_5251 · 04-05-2008, 06:09 PM

Have you looked at the mail log file? /var/log/maillog

Perhaps post the contents of the file so we can help more.

darkone66669 · 04-05-2008, 06:30 PM

Apr 5 07:57:41 c-24-56-212-246 sendmail[2321]: alias database /etc/aliases rebuilt by root
Apr 5 07:57:41 c-24-56-212-246 sendmail[2321]: /etc/aliases: 76 aliases, longest 10 bytes, 765 bytes total
Apr 5 07:57:41 c-24-56-212-246 sendmail[2326]: starting daemon (8.14.2): SMTP+queueing@01:00:00
Apr 5 07:57:42 c-24-56-212-246 sm-msp-queue[2337]: starting daemon (8.14.2): queueing@01:00:00
Apr 5 16:59:05 c-24-56-212-246 sendmail[2322]: alias database /etc/aliases rebuilt by root
Apr 5 16:59:05 c-24-56-212-246 sendmail[2322]: /etc/aliases: 76 aliases, longest 10 bytes, 765 bytes total
Apr 5 16:59:05 c-24-56-212-246 sendmail[2327]: starting daemon (8.14.2): SMTP+queueing@01:00:00
Apr 5 16:59:06 c-24-56-212-246 sm-msp-queue[2338]: starting daemon (8.14.2): queueing@01:00:00
Apr 5 19:12:17 c-24-56-212-246 sendmail[2321]: alias database /etc/aliases rebuilt by root
Apr 5 19:12:18 c-24-56-212-246 sendmail[2321]: /etc/aliases: 76 aliases, longest 10 bytes, 765 bytes total
Apr 5 19:12:18 c-24-56-212-246 sendmail[2326]: starting daemon (8.14.2): SMTP+queueing@01:00:00
Apr 5 19:12:18 c-24-56-212-246 sm-msp-queue[2337]: starting daemon (8.14.2): queueing@01:00:00
Apr 5 19:18:00 c-24-56-212-246 sendmail[3118]: m35NI0iv003118: from=Colin, size=31, class=0, nrcpts=1, msgid=<200804052318.m35NI0iv003118@c-24-56-212-246.chrlmi.cablespeed.com>, relay=Colin@localhost
Apr 5 19:18:00 c-24-56-212-246 sendmail[3119]: m35NI0ce003119: <Cj@c-24-56-212-246.chrlmi.cablespeed.com>... User unknown
Apr 5 19:18:00 c-24-56-212-246 sendmail[3118]: m35NI0iv003118: to=Cj, ctladdr=Colin (500/500), delay=00:00:00, xdelay=00:00:00, mailer=relay, pri=30031, relay=[127.0.0.1] [127.0.0.1], dsn=5.1.1, stat=User unknown
Apr 5 19:18:00 c-24-56-212-246 sendmail[3119]: m35NI0ce003119: from=<Colin@c-24-56-212-246.chrlmi.cablespeed.com>, size=31, class=0, nrcpts=0, proto=ESMTP, daemon=MTA, relay=localhost.localdomain [127.0.0.1]

blacky_5251 · 04-05-2008, 06:32 PM

Try "mail Cj@localhost" instead of "mail Cj". Does that help?

Have you considered using postfix instead of sendmail?

darkone66669 · 04-05-2008, 06:50 PM

doesn't work how do you switch to postfix

blacky_5251 · 04-05-2008, 07:49 PM

There are a few RPM you will need to download/install - postfix and system-switch-mail.noarch. The later provides a tool that lets you switch your MTA from sendmail to postfix and back again if you want.
Don't forget to turn sendmail off and turn postfix on :-

Code:

service sendmail stop
chkconfig sendmail off
service postfix start
chkconfig postfix on

If you're not that keen on editing config files, then I suggest you download and install Webmin. It provides a web-based interface to your server.

darkone66669 · 04-09-2008, 06:36 AM

I'm currious why it gives me user unknown in the log. How does sendmail lookup users on the same system maybe it doesnt have the proper access...hmm