Re: This is WAY off topic, but...

["M . Thielker" <balsa t-data com>]

Hi,

On 2001.09.18 03:58 Raven wrote:
> ...how do you set up a mail server that receives mail from the Internet
> and
> distributes it to users on an internal net?
> 
Well, this really is a MUA related list, what you want is a MTA...
...but, here goes....

> I have:
> 	1) a static IP
GoodThing

> 	2) a domain name registered (ravenslakeconsulting.com)
GoodThingToo

> 	3) an internal net, using IP-MASQ successfully.
That's not really relevant at this stage.

> 	4) and enough firewall to keep things calm, mischief-wise.
You'll need that, too!

> 
> I realize that part of the process is telling Network Solutions to change
> my DNS entry to my new IP, but I'm not sure where to go from there.
> 
Right. First you have to get the MTA set up, then have proper MX records.

Install the most recent BIND you can find, preferably from an RPM that makes
things easier. I will assume that you did.
Install the MTA of your choice, sendmail, qmail, mmdf or whatever.
Configuring that goes beyond the scope of an email on this list, but there's
list for each of those MTAs, and NGs, too... I prefer the good old MMDF, but
it doesn't do ESMTP, just plain SMTP.
Then, get, from your ISP, the forwarding MTA's address and the backup MTAs
name, as well as the ISPs DNS server IP.
The forwarding MTA is needed for configuration of your MTA, so keep it handy
when you do that.
Next, log in as root.
Enter:
# chkconfig --add named
# chkconfig named on

Edit /etc/named.conf

in the options section, add

forwarders {
	<your forwarding DNS address>;
};

within the options braces.

Exit the editor.

Change dir to /var/named

Either create a master zone from scratch, or transfer the existing zone.
For the latter, find your current DNS server:

host -v -t ns com. <your ISPs DNS IP>

this will give a list of MX records. Pick one of the IPS (it will be a root
server) than do

host -v -t ns ravenslakeconsulting.com. <the DNS IP>

This will yield yet another NS record, and a few IPs

then do

named-xfer -f named.ravenslakeconsulting.com -z ravenslakeconsulting.com -s
0 <the new IP>

If all goes well, you should have a file named
named.racenslakeconsulting.com.

If not, RTFM some more.

in /etc/named.conf, add this to the end of the file:

zone "ravenslakeconsulting.com" {
	type master;
	file "named.ravenslakeconsulting.com";
};

Exit the editor

run /etc/rc.d/init.d/named start

Watch /var/log/messages for errors or warnings. If there are any, read "man
named" or "man named.conf" and correct them.

Test yout MTA by either telnetting to port 25 and doing a manual SMTP
session or use a SMTP-enabled version of Balsa to send an email to yourself.

If it's not part of your MTA already, install a pop3 server (popper).

Try to retrieve that email using pop3.

If you get it back, you're set.

Install Balsa on your internal network to use the MTA's server IP as the
SMTP server and also as the POP3 server.

Have your ISP host a secondary name server for your zone. For DNS delegation
you will need 2 name servers, located in _different_ class C networks.

Finally, give those 2 IPs to internic to use as DNS IPs. Allow up to one
week for the root server update and emails should start coming in.

Beware of spammers, I urgently recommend testing that your MTA will accept
emails for destinations other than your own domain from the internal network
only. Otherwise, you may soon find your MTA sending 10000s of emails to AOL
addresses or somesuch.

You may also want to use some sort of anti-spam wrapper for the SMTP daemon
part of your MTA.

That's it, in a nutshell. This assumes much, you need to be a quite capable
sysadmin to do any of these things, I really can't go into more detail here,
this is, after all, an offtopic post....

Melanie