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1 .\" This file is automatically generated. Do not edit!
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2 .\" @(#)$Id$
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3 .SC MH-MTS 8
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4 .NA
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5 mh-mts \- the MH interface to the message transport system
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6 .SY
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7 SendMail
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8
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9 .ti .5i
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10 Zmailer
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11
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12 .ti .5i
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13 MMDF (any release)
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14
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15 .ti .5i
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16 stand\-alone
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17 .DE
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18 \fIMH\fR can use a wide range of message transport systems to deliver mail.
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19 Although the \fIMH\fR administrator usually doesn't get to choose which MTS
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20 to use (since it's already in place),
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21 this document briefly describes the interfaces.
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22
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23 When communicating with \fISendMail\fR,
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24 \fIMH\fR always uses the SMTP to post mail.
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25 Depending on the \fIMH\fR configuration,
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26 \fISendMail\fR may be invoked directly (via a \fIfork\fR and an \fIexec\fR),
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27 or \fIMH\fR may open a TCP/IP connection to the SMTP server on the localhost.
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28
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29 When communicating with \fIzmailer\fP,
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30 the \fISendMail\fP compatibility program is
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31 required to be installed in /usr/lib.
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32 \fIMH\fP communicates with \fIzmailer\fP
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33 by using the SMTP.
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34 It does this by invoking the \fB/usr/lib/sendmail\fP
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35 compatibility program directly, with the `\-bs' option.
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36
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37 When communicating with \fIMMDF\fR,
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38 normally \fIMH\fR uses the \*(lqmm\(ru\*(rq routines to post mail.
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39 However, depending on the \fIMH\fR configuration,
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40 \fIMH\fR instead may open a TCP/IP connection to the SMTP server on the
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41 localhost.
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42
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43 When using the stand\-alone system (\fBNOT\fR recommended),
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44 \fIMH\fR delivers local mail itself and queues \fIUUCP\fR and network mail.
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45 The network mail portion will probably have to be modified to reflect the
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46 local host's tastes, since there is no well\-known practice in this area for
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47 all types of UNIX hosts.
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48
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49 If you are running a UNIX system with TCP/IP networking,
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50 then it is felt that the best interface is achieved by using either
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51 \fISendMail\fR or \fIMMDF\fR with the SMTP option.
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52 This gives greater flexibility.
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53 To enable this option you append the /smtp suffix to the mts option in the
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54 \fIMH\fR configuration.
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55 This yields two primary advantages:
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56 First,
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57 you don't have to know where \fIsubmit\fR or \fISendMail\fR live.
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58 This means that \fIMH\fR binaries (e.g., \fIpost\fR\0)
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59 don't have to have this information hard\-coded,
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60 or can run different programs altogether;
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61 and,
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62 second, you can post mail with the server on different systems, so you don't
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63 need either \fIMMDF\fR or \fISendMail\fR on your local host.
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64 Big win in conserving cycles and disk space.
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65 Since \fIMH\fR supports the notion of a server search\-list in this respect,
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66 this approach can be tolerant of faults.
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67 Be sure to set \*(lqservers:\*(rq as described in
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68 mh\-tailor(8) if you use this option.
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69
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70 There are four disadvantages to using the SMTP option:
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71 First, only UNIX systems with TCP/IP are supported.
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72 Second, you need to have an SMTP server running somewhere on any network your
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73 local host can reach.
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74 Third, this bypasses any authentication mechanisms in \fIMMDF\fR
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75 or \fISendMail\fR.
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76 Fourth,
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77 the file \fB/etc/hosts\fR is used for hostname lookups
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78 (although there is an exception file).
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79 In response to these disadvantages though:
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80 First, there's got to be an SMTP server somewhere around if you're in the
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81 Internet or have a local network.
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82 Since the server search\-list is very general,
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83 a wide\-range of options are possible.
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84 Second,
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85 SMTP should be fixed to have authentication mechanisms in it, like POP.
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86 Third,
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87 \fIMH\fR won't choke on mail to hosts whose official names it can't verify,
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88 it'll just plug along
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89 (and besides
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90 if you enable the BERK or DUMB configuration options,
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91 \fIMH\fR ignores the hosts file altogether).
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92 .Fi
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93 ^/usr/local/mh/lib/mtstailor~^tailor file
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94 .Pr
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95 None
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96 .Sa
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97 \fIMMDF\-II: A Technical Review\fR,
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98 Proceedings, Usenix Summer '84 Conference
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99 .br
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100 \fISENDMAIL \-\- An Internetwork Mail Router\fR
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101 .br
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102 mh\-tailor(8), post(8)
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103 .De
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104 None
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105 .Co
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106 None
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107 .Bu
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108 The /usr/local/mh/lib/mtstailor file ignores the information in the \fIMMDF\-II\fR
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109 tailoring file.
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110 It should not.
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111 .En
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