[SOLVED] Exim & Dovecot

FortressMvelez · 07-12-2013, 05:01 PM

Hello,

I have a test server I am using to learn how to install things such as a LAMP install, Exim and Dovecot. I have installed httpd, mysql, php, exim and dovecot as I followed the documentation for each one. Everything seemed to install with no issues and everything else seems to be working but exim and dovecot. After installed dovecot, it said to run the following command:

Code:

echo "Hello me" | mailq -s "Dovecot test" $USER

When I do I get the following error:

Code:

exim abandoned: unknown, malformed, or incomplete option -s

I looked on google for the answer but nothing I have seen worked or matched what I had on my server. Just to note, I have not did any configuration just the installation which I believe can cause this but I am not to sure. Any help or direction to solve this would be greatly appreciated as I am learning and never tried to do this before.

Thank you!!!

Kustom42 · 07-12-2013, 05:18 PM

Well the first issue I see here is that you are passing your echo to "mailq" and not "mail". That won't work lol

Try passing it to mail and see what the mail logs/stderr report. I don't see a whole lot wrong with your command assuming $USER is a valid environment variable(which it should be by default).

Kustom42 · 07-12-2013, 05:20 PM

Might I also suggest you take a look at installing "mutt" if you will be sending mail from the cli? It seems to work much better for me and does not replace exim or whatever your MTA is. It has easier support for things such as sending attachments and supports additional environment variables such as spoofing the from address if that is needed.

FortressMvelez · 07-12-2013, 05:38 PM

Hello,

I have tried the command with mail and got the following:

Code:

[root@server1 ~]# echo "Hello me" | mail -s "Dovecot test" aevtech
-bash: mail: command not found

I tried to see if I could install "mail" from yum but I guess I do not have the correct repository set up for it and I am trying to install something with the incorrect name:

Code:

[root@server1 ~]# yum install mail
Loaded plugins: fastestmirror
Loading mirror speeds from cached hostfile
epel/metalink                                                                                                                                                                                |  12 kB     00:00     
 * base: mirror.lug.udel.edu
 * epel: ftp.osuosl.org
 * extras: mirror.trouble-free.net
 * updates: mirror.es.its.nyu.edu
base                                                                                                                                                                                         | 3.7 kB     00:00     
epel                                                                                                                                                                                         | 4.2 kB     00:00     
extras                                                                                                                                                                                       | 3.4 kB     00:00     
updates                                                                                                                                                                                      | 3.4 kB     00:00     
Setting up Install Process
No package mail available.
Error: Nothing to do

I never set anything up like this before in terms of mail to send and receive from a server. I just figured I give it a shot and see how far I can get. So with the "mutt", would I have to uninstall dovecot or anything else to use that or I can install it and just do a chkconfig and turn off the other things?

Thanks again for your help!

Kustom42 · 07-12-2013, 05:48 PM

Lets explain what these are first.

You have an MUA, MTA and an MDA.

MUA = Mail User Agent. This is the mail or mutt commmand you send your echo to to generate an email to be sent. You also use this view emails, from teh Linux CLI this could be "mutt" or "mail" or hundreds of other binaries, on windows think of Microsoft Outlook.

MTA = Mail Transfer Agent. This is exim in your above example, this actually looks up the dns information of the recipients email address and contacts teh remote host to transfer, or deliver, the email.

MDA = This would be dovecot from your above example, this is a server which listens for incoming messages and delivers them to the individuals email box.

In this case you already have an MTA and an MDA but you have no MUA to generate the emails and read them.

To answer your question you will do nothing to Exim and Dovecot. Leave them on as they are two pieces out of the three that you need to work.

http://en.kioskea.net/contents/116-h...ks-mta-mda-mua

Your yum command is valid but you didnt try to install the right thing.

I can tell you what it is but this is good quick learning experience to figure it out. The yum package may nto always be the binary name you are trying to use, but yum provides a way of searching for this.

Code:

yum provides "*/mail"

This will search through all of the yum packages and look at their filelists for anything that provides mail in a folder path above root.

Now just because "*/mail" may end up matching too many things as there are quite a few out there.

The answer is:

Code:

yum install mailx

FortressMvelez · 07-12-2013, 06:08 PM

Hello,

That worked!!! Thank you so much!

I have installed squirrel mail so I guess I would have to figure out how to make e-mail accounts with the domain name I have pointed to that test server! Not sure if I have to do anything else now besides that but thank you so very much for your help!!! Very much appreciated!!!

Thanks!!!