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Mail Services Files and Programs

Files for the mail service are located in three directories: /bin, /etc/mail, and /usr/lib. Users' mailboxes are located in the /var/mail directory. Table 7 lists the mail services programs.

Table 7 The Components of Mail Services

Command or File

Description

$OPENWINHOME/bin/mailtool

MUA.

.sendmailvars.org_dir

NIS+ version of sendmailvars table.

/etc/default/sendmail

Store options used to start sendmail. This command is new in the Solaris 8 release. In previous releases, sendmail options were added to the init script. Because you no longer need to edit init scripts to add sendmail options, upgrading systems is easier. See Chapter 2, "Customizing sendmail Configuration Files" for more information.

/etc/mail/aliases

Mail-forwarding information.

/etc/mail/main.cf

Sample configuration file for main systems.

/etc/mail/sendmail.cf

Configuration file for mail routing.

/etc/mail/sendmail.subsidiary.cf

Sample configuration file for subsidiary systems.

/etc/mail/sendmailvars

Table that stores macro and class definitions for lookup from sendmail.cf file.

/usr/bin/mail

MUA.

/usr/bin/mailq

Symbolic link to /usr/lib/sendmail that is used to print the headers of messages in the mail queue.

/usr/bin/mailstats

File that stores mail statistics generated by sendmail into /etc/mail/sendmail.st (if present).

/usr/bin/mailx

MUA.

/usr/bin/mconnect

Connect to the mailer for address verification and debugging.

/usr/bin/newaliases

Symbolic link to /usr/lib/sendmail that is used to rebuild the database for the mail aliases file.

/usr/bin/praliases

Display aliases in the /etc/mail/aliases file as key:value pairs. You can also specify an argument on the command line to display a matching key:value pair.

/usr/dt/bin/dtmail

CDE window-based MUA.

/usr/dt/bin/dtmaillpr

CDE electronic mail messaged print filter.

/usr/lib/mail.local

Delivery agent that delivers mail to mailboxes.

/usr/lib/sendmail

MTA.

/usr/lib/smrsh

Limit the number of commands that can be used to run the "|program" syntax of sendmail. This freeware sendmail restricted shell is new in the Solaris 8 release.

/usr/sbin/in.comsat

Mail notification daemon.

/usr/sbin/syslogd

Daemon that implements the UNIX logging subsystem. sendmail sends logging information to this subsystem.


NOTE

Sites that used DNS with older releases of Solaris used the /usr/lib/sendmail.mx file to access mail exchange records. In the Solaris 8 release, this functionality is included in sendmail, and the /usr/lib/sendmail.mx file has been removed. You can configure the DNS nameservice with the /etc/nsswitch.conf file.

With sendmail version 8.9.3, you can use the /etc/mail directory to store tables that you activate with various m4 FEATURE macros.

You can create tables such as the following.

  • /etc/mail/genericstable
  • /etc/mail/mailertable
  • /etc/mail/virtusertable
  • /etc/mail/userdb

For example, to reference the /etc/mail/mailertable map, you include the following line in your .mc file.

FEATURE(´mailertable', ´hash -o /etc/mail/mailertable')dnl

See http://www.sendmail.org/m4/cf-readme.txt and Chapter 2, "Customizing sendmail Configuration Files" for more information on the purpose of each of these files.

Table 8 shows the contents of the /usr/lib/mail directory. These subdirectories are used with sendmail version 8.9.3 to customize and "compile" the sendmail configuration file. Refer to Chapter 2, "Customizing sendmail Configuration Files" for more information.

Table 8 Contents of the /usr/lib/mail Directory

Directory

Description

m4

General support routines. These very important routines process .mc files so that they can be used as configuration files. Do not change these routines without very careful consideration.

cf

Configuration files. The files have .mc suffixes, and must be processed with the m4 macro processor to be complete. The resulting output has a .cf suffix.

ostype

Definitions describing a particular operating system type. Use the OSTYPE macro in the .mc file to reference operating system types. Examples include "bsd4.3", "bsd4.4", "sunos3.5", and "sunos4.1".

domain

Definitions describing a particular domain. Use the DOMAIN macro in the .mc file to reference domains. Domain definitions are site dependent; for example, "CS.Berkeley.EDU.m4" describes hosts in the CS.Berkeley.EDU subdomain.

mailer

Descriptions of mailers. Use the MAILER macro in the .mc file to reference mailer descriptions.

sh

Shell scripts used when building the .cf file from the .mc file in the cf subdirectory.

feature

Special features that you might want to include. Use the FEATURE macro to reference special features.


Table 9 shows the contents of the /bin directory that are used for mail services.

Table 9 Contents of the /bin Directory That Are Used for Mail

Name

Type

Description

mail

File

A mail user agent.

mailcompat

File

A filter to store mail in SunOS 4.x mailbox format.

mailq

Link

Link to /usr/lib/sendmail.

mailstats

File

Mail statistics generated by the /etc/mail/sendmail.st file (if present).

mailx

File

A mail user agent.

newaliases

Link

Link to /usr/lib/sendmail that is used to rebuild the database for the mail aliases file.


Table 10 shows the contents of the /etc/mail directory.

Table 10 Contents of the /etc/mail Directory

Name

Type

Description

Mail.rc

File

Default settings for the mailtool user agent.

aliases

File

Mail-forwarding information.

aliases.dir

File

Binary form of mail-forwarding information (created by running newaliases).

aliases.pag

File

Binary form of mail-forwarding information (created by running newaliases).

mailx.rc

File

Default settings for the mailx user agent.

main.cf

File

Sample configuration file for main systems.

sendmail.cf

File

Configuration file for mail routing.

sendmail.hf

File

Help file used by the SMTP HELP command.

sendmail.pid

File

File containing the /usr/lib/sendmail -b -q1h command.

sendmail.st

File

The sendmail statistics file. (If this file is present, sendmail logs the amount of traffic through each mailer.)

sendmailvars

File

Table that stores macro and class definitions for lookup from sendmail.cf.

sendmailvars.org_dir

Table

NIS+ version of sendmailvars table.

subsidiary.cf

File

Sample configuration file for subsidiary systems.


Table 11 shows the mail files in the /usr/lib directory.

Table 11 Mail Files in the /usr/lib Directory

Name

Description

mail.local

Mailer that delivers mail to mailboxes.

sendmail

The routing program, also known as the mail transport agent.


Spooling directories for delivered mail are located in the /var/mail directory, as shown in Table 12. Mail that has not been delivered is stored in the /var/spool/mqueue directory.

Table 12 Contents of the /var/mail Directory

Name

Type

Description

mailbox1

File

Mailboxes for delivered mail.

mailbox2

File

Mailboxes for delivered mail.

mailbox3

File

Mailboxes for delivered mail.


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