MH-TAILOR(5) [nmh-1.0.4] (MH.6.8) MH-TAILOR(5)
NAME
mh-tailor, mts.conf - mail transport customization for nmh
message handler
SYNOPSIS
/usr/freeware/lib/nmh/etc/mts.conf
DESCRIPTION
The file /usr/freeware/lib/nmh/etc/mts.conf defines run-time
options for those nmh programs which interact (in some form)
with the message transport system. At present, these (user)
programs are: ap, conflict, inc, msgchk, msh, post, rcvdist,
and rcvpack.
Each option should be given on a single line. Blank lines
and lines which begin with `#' are ignored. The options
available along with default values and a description of
their meanings are listed below:
localname:
The hostname nmh considers local. It should typically
be a fully qualified hostname. If this is not set,
depending on the version of UNIX you're running, nmh
will query the system for this value (e.g., uname,
gethostname, etc.), and attempt to fully qualify this
value.
If you are using POP to retrieve new messages, you may
want to set this value to the name of the POP server,
so that outgoing message appear to have originated on
the POP server.
localdomain:
If this is set, a `.' followed by this string will be
appended to your hostname.
This should only be needed, if for some reason nmh is
not able to fully qualify the hostname returned by the
system (e.g., uname, gethostname, etc.).
clientname:
This option specifies the host name that nmh will give
in the SMTP HELO (and EHLO) command, when posting mail.
If not set, the default is to use the host name that
nmh considers local (see localname above). If this
option is set, but empty, no HELO command will be
given.
Although the HELO command is required by RFC-821, many
SMTP servers do not require it. Early versions of
Page 1 (printed 2/1/01)
MH-TAILOR(5) [nmh-1.0.4] (MH.6.8) MH-TAILOR(5)
SendMail will fail if the hostname given in the HELO
command is the local host. Later versions of SendMail
will complain if you omit the HELO command. If you run
SendMail, find out what your system expects and set
this field if needed.
systemname:
This option is only used for UUCP mail. It specifies
the name of the local host in the UUCP domain. If not
set, depending on the version of UNIX you're running,
nmh will query the system for this value. This has no
equivalent in the nmh configuration file.
mmdfldir: /var/mail
The directory where maildrops are kept. If this option
is set, but empty, the user's home directory is used.
This overrides the default value chosen at the time of
compilation.
mmdflfil:
The name of the maildrop file in the directory where
maildrops are kept. If this is empty, the user's login
name is used. This overrides the default value (which
is empty).
mmdelim1: \001\001\001\001\n
The beginning-of-message delimiter for maildrops.
mmdelim2: \001\001\001\001\n
The end-of-message delimiter for maildrops.
masquerade:
This directive controls three different types of email
address masquerading. The three possible values, which
may be specified in any combination on the line,
separated by spaces, are "draft_from", "mmailid", and
"username_extension".
"mmailid" was the only type of masquerading in the
original MH package, and apparently stands for
"masquerade mail identification". This type of
masquerading keys off of the GECOS field of the passwd
file. When enabled, nmh will check if the user's
pw_gecos field in the passwd file is of the form:
Full Name <fakeusername>
If it is, the internal nmh routines that find the
username and full name of that user will return
"fakeusername" and "Full Name" respectively. This is
useful if you want the messages you send to always
appear to come from the name of an MTA alias rather
Page 2 (printed 2/1/01)
MH-TAILOR(5) [nmh-1.0.4] (MH.6.8) MH-TAILOR(5)
than your actual account name. For instance, many
organizations set up "First.Last" sendmail aliases for
all users. If this is the case, the GECOS field for
each user should look like:
First [Middle] Last <First.Last>
"username_extension", when specified on the
"masquerade:" line, allows a second type of username
masquerading. If the user sets the $USERNAME_EXTENSION
environment variable, its value will be appended to the
actual login name. For instance, if I am
dan@company.com, and I set $USERNAME_EXTENSION to
"-www", my mail will appear to come from
"dan-www@company.com". This is meant to interact with
qmail's "user-extension" feature, where mail sent to
user-string will be delivered to user. Likewise, those
using versions of sendmail for which "plussed user"
processing is active can set $USERNAME_EXTENSION to
"+string". These MTA features are useful because they
allow one to use different email addresses in different
situations (to aid in automatic mail filtering or in
determining where spammers got one's address) while
only actually having a single account. Note that
$USERNAME_EXTENSION is only appended to the username
when post is generating "[Resent-]From:" lines and the
SMTP envelope "From:". inc, for instance, will not try
to read from a maildrop file called "dan-www" (to
recall the earlier example).
"draft_from" controls the most powerful type of address
masquerading. Normally, when a user explicitly
specifies a "From:" header in a draft, nmh uses it
rather than constructing its own. However, to
discourage email forgery, the SMTP envelope "From:" and
a "Sender:" header are set to the user's real address.
When "draft_from" is turned on, though, the envelope
"From:" will use the address specified in the draft,
and there will be no "Sender:" header. This is useful
when a user wants to pretend to be sending mail
"directly" from a remote POP3 account, or when remote
mail robots incorrectly use the envelope "From:" in
preference to the body "From:" (or refuse to take
action when the two don't match). Note that the MTA
may still reveal the user's real identity (e.g.
sendmail's "X-Authentication-Warning:" header).
maildelivery: /usr/freeware/lib/nmh/maildelivery
The name of the system-wide default .maildelivery file.
See slocal (1) for the details.
everyone: 200
Page 3 (printed 2/1/01)
MH-TAILOR(5) [nmh-1.0.4] (MH.6.8) MH-TAILOR(5)
The highest user-id which should NOT receive mail
addressed to everyone.
noshell:
If set, then each user-id greater than everyone that
has a login shell equivalent to the given value (e.g.,
/bin/csh) indicates that mail for everyone should not
be sent to them. This is useful for handling admin,
dummy, and guest logins.
SMTP support
These options are only available if you compiled nmh with
the /smtp support.
hostable: /usr/freeware/lib/nmh/etc/hosts
The exceptions file for /etc/hosts used by post to try
to find official names. The format of this file is
quite simple:
1. Comments are surrounded by sharp (`#') and
newline.
2. Words are surrounded by white space.
3. The first word on the line is the official name
of a host.
4. All words following the official names are
aliases for that host.
servers: localhost \01localnet
A lists of hosts and networks which to look for SMTP
servers when posting local mail. It turns out this is
a major win for hosts which don't run an message
transport system. The value of servers should be one
or more items. Each item is the name of either a host
or a net (in the latter case, precede the name of the
net by a \01). This list is searched when looking for
a smtp server to post mail. If a host is present, the
SMTP port on that host is tried. If a net is present,
the SMTP port on each host in that net is tried. Note
that if you are running with the BIND code, then any
networks specified are ignored (sorry, the interface
went away under BIND).
SendMail
This option is only available if you compiled nmh to use
SendMail as your delivery agent.
sendmail: /usr/lib/sendmail
The pathname to the sendmail program.
Page 4 (printed 2/1/01)
MH-TAILOR(5) [nmh-1.0.4] (MH.6.8) MH-TAILOR(5)
Post Office Protocol
This option is only available if you have compiled nmh with
POP support enabled (i.e., --enable-pop).
pophost:
The name of the default POP service host. If this is
not set, then nmh looks in the standard maildrop areas
for waiting mail, otherwise the named POP service host
is consulted.
BBoards Delivery
This option is only available if you compiled nmh with
bbdelivery: on.
bbdomain:
The local BBoards domain (a UCI hack).
BBoards & The POP
These options are only available if you compiled nmh with
bboards: pop and pop: on.
popbbhost:
The POP service host which also acts as a BBoard
server. This variable should be set on the POP BBoards
client host.
popbbuser:
The guest account on the POP/BB service host. This
should be a different login ID than either the POP user
or the BBoards user. (The user-id ftp is highly
recommended.) This variable should be set on both the
POP BBoards client and service hosts.
popbblist: /usr/freeware/lib/nmh/etc/hosts.popbb
A file containing of lists of hosts that are allowed to
use the POP facility to access BBoards using the guest
account. If this file is not present, then no check is
made. This variable should be set on the POP BBoards
service host.
BBoards & The NNTP
This option is only available if you compiled nmh with
bboards: nntp and pop: on.
nntphost:
The host which provides the NNTP service. This
variable should be set on the NNTP BBoards client host.
Page 5 (printed 2/1/01)
MH-TAILOR(5) [nmh-1.0.4] (MH.6.8) MH-TAILOR(5)
File Locking
A few words on locking: nmh has several methods for creating
locks on files. When configuring nmh, you will need to
decide on the locking style and locking directory (if any).
The first controls the method of locking, the second says
where lock files should be created.
To configure nmh for kernel locking, define FLOCK_LOCKING if
you want to use the flock system call; define LOCKF_LOCKING
if you want to use the lockf system call; or define
FCNTL_LOCKING if you want to use the fcntl system call for
kernel-level locking.
Instead of kernel locking, you can configure nmh to use dot
locking by defining DOT_LOCKING. Dot locking specifies that
a file should be created whose existence means locked and
whose non-existence means unlocked. The name of this file
is constructed by appending .lock to the name of the file
being locked. If LOCKDIR is not specified, lock files will
be created in the directory where the file being locked
resides. Otherwise, lock files will be created in the
directory specified by LOCKDIR.
Prior to installing nmh, you should see how locking is done
at your site, and set the appropriate values.
FILES
/usr/freeware/lib/nmh/etc/mts.conf nmh mts configuration file
PROFILE COMPONENTS
None
SEE ALSO
mh-mts(8), post(8)
DEFAULTS
As listed above
CONTEXT
None
Page 6 (printed 2/1/01)
