Sendmail Installation and Initial Configuration

First, we want to remove all the RPM stuff. A general note here. We are removing the RPMs, because we want to write all of the articles from the perspective of a generic Linux distribution as much as possible. True, we rely on the default file structure and general layout of Red Hat; however, by removing the RPMs and compiling/installing from source, we feel these articles are more useful. OK. On to removing the sendmail RPMs and related files:

[root@srv-34 /root]# rpm -qa | grep sendmail
sendmail-8.11.2-14
sendmail-cf-8.11.2-14
[root@srv-34 /root]# rpm -e sendmail-cf-8.11.2-14
[root@srv-34 /root]# rpm -e sendmail-8.11.2-14
error: removing these packages would break dependencies:
smtpdaemon is needed by fetchmail-5.7.4-4
smtpdaemon is needed by mutt-1.2.5i-9
[root@srv-34 /root]# rpm -e fetchmail-5.7.4-4
[root@srv-34 /root]# rpm -e mutt-1.2.5i-9
[root@srv-34 /root]# rpm -e sendmail-8.11.2-14
[root@srv-34 /root]#

All gone. Now let’s extract the latest sendmail from sendmail.org:

[root@srv-34 /root]# cd /usr/local/src
[root@srv-34 src]# ls
sendmail.8.11.4.tar.gz
[root@srv-34 src]#
[root@srv-34 src]# tar -xzf *.gz
[root@srv-34 src]# ls
sendmail-8.11.4  sendmail.8.11.4.tar.gz
[root@srv-34 src]# cd send*
[root@srv-34 sendmail-8.11.4]#

Now let’s build sendmail:

[root@srv-34 sendmail-8.11.4]# sh Build
Making all in:
/usr/local/src/sendmail-8.11.4/libsmutil
.
.
.
cc -O -I. -I../../sendmail   -I../../include  -DNEWDB  -DNOT_SENDMAIL      -c -o vacation.o vacation.c
cc -o vacation   vacation.o      ../libsmdb/libsmdb.a ../libsmutil/libsmutil.a
-ldb -lresolv -lcrypt -lnsl -ldl
groff -Tascii -man vacation.1 > vacation.0 || cp vacation.0.dist vacation.0
make[1]: Leaving directory `/usr/local/src/sendmail-8.11.4/obj.Linux.2.4.2-2.i586/vacation'
[root@srv-34 sendmail-8.11.4]#

All good. Now what we want to do is build a config.cf file and copy it to /etc/mail.

[root@srv-34 sendmail-8.11.4]# cd cf/cf
[root@srv-34 cf]#
[root@srv-34 cf]# ls
Build              generic-bsd4.4.mc       generic-solaris2.cf  Makefile
chez.cs.mc         generic-hpux10.cf       generic-solaris2.mc  python.cs.mc
clientproto.mc     generic-hpux10.mc       generic-sunos4.1.cf  s2k-osf1.mc
cs-hpux10.mc       generic-hpux9.cf        generic-sunos4.1.mc  s2k-ultrix4.mc
cs-hpux9.mc        generic-hpux9.mc        generic-ultrix4.cf   tcpproto.mc
cs-osf1.mc         generic-linux.cf        generic-ultrix4.mc   ucbarpa.mc
cs-solaris2.mc     generic-linux.mc        huginn.cs.mc         ucbvax.mc
cs-sunos4.1.mc     generic-nextstep3.3.cf  knecht.mc            uucpproto.mc
cs-ultrix4.mc      generic-nextstep3.3.mc  mail.cs.mc           vangogh.cs.mc
cyrusproto.mc      generic-osf1.cf         mail.eecs.mc
generic-bsd4.4.cf  generic-osf1.mc         mailspool.cs.mc
[root@srv-34 cf]#
[root@srv-34 cf]# cat generic-linux.mc
divert(-1)
#
# Copyright (c) 1998, 1999 Sendmail, Inc. and its suppliers.
#       All rights reserved.
# Copyright (c) 1983 Eric P. Allman.  All rights reserved.
# Copyright (c) 1988, 1993
#       The Regents of the University of California.  All rights reserved.
#
# By using this file, you agree to the terms and conditions set
# forth in the LICENSE file which can be found at the top level of
# the sendmail distribution.
#
#
#
#  This is a generic configuration file for Linux.
#  It has support for local and SMTP mail only.  If you want to
#  customize it, copy it to a name appropriate for your environment
#  and do the modifications there.
#
divert(0)dnl
VERSIONID(`$Id: generic-linux.mc,v 8.1 1999/09/24 22:48:05 gshapiro Exp $')
OSTYPE(linux)dnl
DOMAIN(generic)dnl
MAILER(local)dnl
MAILER(smtp)dnl
[root@srv-34 cf]#
[root@srv-34 cf]# mkdir /etc/mail
[root@srv-34 cf]#
[root@srv-34 cf]# mkdir /var/spool/mqueue
[root@srv-34 cf]#
[root@srv-34 cf]# cp generic-linux.mc config.mc
[root@srv-34 cf]# sh Build config.cf
Using M4=/usr/bin/m4
rm -f config.cf
/usr/bin/m4 ../m4/cf.m4 config.mc > config.cf || ( rm -f config.cf && exit 1 )
chmod 444 config.cf
[root@srv-34 cf]#
[root@srv-34 cf]# cp config.cf /etc/mail/sendmail.cf
[root@srv-34 cf]#

We need to go back a couple of directories to the root of the sendmail source tree and install sendmail:

[root@srv-34 cf]# cd ..
[root@srv-34 cf]# cd ..
[root@srv-34 sendmail-8.11.4]# sh Build install
Making all in:
/usr/local/src/sendmail-8.11.4/libsmutil
.
.
.
install -c -o bin -g bin -m 444 vacation.0 /usr/man/man1/vacation.1
install: cannot create regular file `/usr/man/man1/vacation.1': No such file or directory
make[1]: *** [install-docs] Error 1
make[1]: Leaving directory `/usr/local/src/sendmail-8.11.4/obj.Linux.2.4.2-2.i586/vacation'
make: *** [all] Error 2
[root@srv-34 sendmail-8.11.4]#

Hmmmm… Notice how the path for the man pages is wrong? They should be in /usr/share/man. What we can do to solve this is to copy /usr/local/src/sendmail-8.11.4/devtools/OS/Linux to /usr/local/src/sendmail-8.11.4/devtools/Site/site.config.m4, and edit it so that we have:

[root@srv-34 Site]# pwd
/usr/local/src/sendmail-8.11.4/devtools/Site
[root@srv-34 Site]# ls
Linux  README  site.config.m4
[root@srv-34 Site]# cat site.config.m4
#       $Id: Linux,v 8.18.4.3 2000/12/14 01:04:46 rand Exp $
define(`confDEPEND_TYPE', `CC-M')
define(`confMANROOT', `/usr/share/man/man')
define(`confLIBS', `-ldl')
define(`confEBINDIR', `/usr/sbin')
APPENDDEF(`confLIBSEARCH', `crypt nsl')
define(`confLD', `ld')
define(`confMTLDOPTS', `-lpthread')
define(`confLDOPTS_SO', `-shared')
define(`confSONAME',`-soname')
ifelse(confBLDVARIANT, `DEBUG',
dnl Debug build
`
define(`confOPTIMIZE',`-g -Wall')
',
dnl Optimized build
confBLDVARIANT, `OPTIMIZED',
`
define(`confOPTIMIZE',`-O')
',
dnl Purify build
confBLDVARIANT, `PURIFY',
`
define(`confOPTIMIZE',`-g -Wall')
',
dnl default
`
define(`confOPTIMIZE',`-O')
')
[root@srv-34 Site]#

Now, we can try again. We need to use the -c option because we changed the configuration:

[root@srv-34 sendmail-8.11.4]# sh Build -c -f /usr/local/src/sendmail-8.11.4/devtools/Site/site.config.m4 install
Making all in:
/usr/local/src/sendmail-8.11.4/libsmutil
Configuration: pfx=, os=Linux, rel=2.4.2-2, rbase=2, rroot=2.4, arch=i586, sfx=, variant=optimized
.
.
.
-ldb -lresolv -lcrypt -lnsl -lcrypt -lnsl -ldl
install -c -o bin -g bin -m 555 vacation /usr/bin
groff -Tascii -man vacation.1 > vacation.0 || cp vacation.0.dist vacation.0
install -c -o bin -g bin -m 444 vacation.0 /usr/share/man/man1/vacation.1
make[1]: Leaving directory `/usr/local/src/sendmail-8.11.4/obj.Linux.2.4.2-2.i586/vacation'
[root@srv-34 sendmail-8.11.4]#

OK. That worked. We need to create an empty (for now) local-host-names file:

[root@srv-34 mail]# cat /dev/null > local-host-names

Let’s go over to srv-33 and do the same thing, but this time we will run a mail daemon. We need to create a /etc/aliases.db file. For now, we will just create an empty /etc/aliases and run newaliases:

[root@srv-33 /root]# cat /dev/null > /etc/aliases
[root@srv-33 /root]# newaliases
/etc/mail/aliases: 0 aliases, longest 0 bytes, 0 bytes total
[root@srv-33 /root]#

Let’s start the daemon manually:

[root@srv-33 sendmail-8.11.4]# sendmail -bd -q30m

Now, on srv-34… First, let’s send mail:

[root@srv-34 log]# sendmail u-1@srv-33
test from srv-34
.

Now, let’s check the logs on srv-34:

[root@srv-34 log]#
[root@srv-34 log]# cat /var/log/maillog
.
.
.
Jun 11 13:49:15 srv-34 sendmail[10794]: f5BKmwd10794: from=root, size=19, 
class=0, nrcpts=1, msgid=<200106112048.f5BKmwd10794@srv-34.signalq.com>, 
relay=root@localhost
Jun 11 13:49:15 srv-34 sendmail[10796]: f5BKmwd10794: to=u-1@srv-33, 
ctladdr=root (0/0), delay=00:00:17, xdelay=00:00:00, mailer=esmtp, pri=30019,
relay=srv-33.signalq.com. [10.50.100.51], dsn=2.0.0, stat=Sent (f5BKlg906302i
Message accepted for delivery)
[root@srv-34 log]#

OK. Let’s get our mail via pine on srv-34, logging on to the u-1 account on srv-33 via IMAP:

[root@srv-34 sendmail-8.11.4]# pine
PINE 4.33   MESSAGE TEXT               Folder: INBOX  Message 3 of 3 ALL
Return-Path: oot@srv-34.signalq.com>
Received: from srv-34.signalq.com (srv-34.signalq.com [10.50.100.53])
by srv-33.signalq.com (8.11.4/8.11.4) with ESMTP id f5BKlg906302
for -1@srv-33.signalq.com>; Mon, 11 Jun 2001 13:47:42 -0700
Received: (from root@localhost)
by srv-34.signalq.com (8.11.4/8.11.4) id f5BKmwd10794
for u-1@srv-33; Mon, 11 Jun 2001 13:48:58 -0700
Date: Mon, 11 Jun 2001 13:48:58 -0700
From: root oot@srv-34.signalq.com>
Message-Id: <200106112048.f5BKmwd10794@srv-34.signalq.com>
test from srv-34
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We can see this stuff on srv-33’s logs:

[root@srv-33 mail]# cat /var/log/maillog
Jun 11 13:47:42 srv-33 sendmail[6302]: f5BKlg906302: from=oot@srv-34.s
ign alq.com>, size=302, class=0, nrcpts=1, msgid=<200106112048.f5BKmwd10794@c
allisto .signalq.com>, proto=ESMTP, daemon=MTA, relay=srv-34.signalq.com [10.5
0.100.53]
Jun 11 13:47:42 srv-33 sendmail[6303]: f5BKlg906302: to=<u-1@srv-33. signalq.com="">, delay=00:00:00, xdelay=00:00:00, mailer=local, pri=30026, dsn=2.0.
0, stat=Sent
Jun 11 13:48:26 srv-33 imapd[6305]: imap service init from 10.50.100.53
Jun 11 13:48:32 srv-33 imapd[6305]: Authenticated user=u-1 host=srv-34.s
ignalq.com [10.50.100.53]

Let’s start sendmail automatically by adding: /usr/sbin/sendmail -bd -q30m to the bottom of /etc/rc.d/rc.local.

Do note that we have configured very little here, and we have not addressed security issues. We will cover this in other articles.

Sendmail Installation and Initial Configuration

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