RHCE Series: SMTP

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Configure a mail transfer agent (MTA) to accept inbound email from other systems.
Configure an MTA to forward (relay) email through a smart host.

[root@server1 postfix]# vim /etc/postfix/main.cf
[root@server1 postfix]# service postfix restart
Shutting down postfix:                                     [  OK  ]
Starting postfix:                                          [  OK  ]
[root@server1 postfix]# egrep 'myhostname|mydomain|inet_interfaces|mydestination' /etc/postfix/main.cf 
myhostname = server1.example.com
mydomain = example.com
inet_interfaces = localhost, $myhostname 
mydestination = $myhostname, localhost.$mydomain, localhost, $mydomain

Now that postfix is setup, let’s send mail.

[root@client1 ~]# mail [email protected]
Subject: test
Hello. This is a test.
.
EOT

Now to check the logs on the mail server and check the message.

Oct 28 00:33:19 server1 postfix/smtpd[4556]: connect from client1.example.com[192.168.1.11]
Oct 28 00:33:19 server1 postfix/smtpd[4556]: A312D4D42: client=client1.example.com[192.168.1.11]
Oct 28 00:33:19 server1 postfix/cleanup[4559]: A312D4D42: message-id=<20121028053319 .81b8f3fccc=".81b8f3fccc" client1.example.com="client1.example.com">
Oct 28 00:33:19 server1 postfix/qmgr[4554]: A312D4D42: from=, size=649, nrcpt=1 (queue active)
Oct 28 00:33:19 server1 postfix/smtpd[4556]: disconnect from client1.example.com[192.168.1.11]
Oct 28 00:33:20 server1 postfix/local[4560]: A312D4D42: to=, relay=local, delay=0.59, delays=0.24/0.22/0/0.14, dsn=2.0.0, status=sent (delivered to mailbox)
Oct 28 00:33:20 server1 postfix/qmgr[4554]: A312D4D42: removed


[root@server1 postfix]# mail
Heirloom Mail version 12.4 7/29/08.  Type ? for help.
"/var/spool/mail/root": 1 message 1 new
>N  1 root                  Sun Oct 28 00:33  21/793   "test"
& 1
Message  1:
From [email protected]  Sun Oct 28 00:33:20 2012
Return-Path: 
X-Original-To: [email protected]
Delivered-To: [email protected]
Date: Sun, 28 Oct 2012 00:33:19 -0500
To: [email protected]
Subject: test
User-Agent: Heirloom mailx 12.4 7/29/08
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
From: [email protected] (root)
Status: R

Hello. This is a test.

Now, let’s set up a mail relay to forward mail to client1.example.com

We need to add an entry called relayhost to /etc/postfix/main.cf on server1.example.com. Then restart postfix.

relayhost = client1.example.com</pre>




[root@server1 ~]# mail [email protected]
Subject: test 
this is a test.
.
EOT
[root@server1 ~]# tail -f /var/log/maillog 
Oct 28 00:45:37 server1 postfix/postfix-script[4797]: starting the Postfix mail system
Oct 28 00:45:37 server1 postfix/master[4798]: daemon started -- version 2.6.6, configuration /etc/postfix
Oct 28 00:45:37 server1 postfix/qmgr[4801]: 590394D43: from=<>, size=2479, nrcpt=1 (queue active)
Oct 28 00:45:42 server1 postfix/smtp[4803]: 590394D43: to=, relay=client1.example.com[192.168.1.11]:25, delay=856, delays=851/0.03/5/0.08, dsn=2.0.0, status=sent (250 2.0.0 Ok: queued as 5B1293FCCD)
Oct 28 00:45:42 server1 postfix/qmgr[4801]: 590394D43: removed
Oct 28 00:45:57 server1 postfix/pickup[4800]: 00CB44D43: uid=0 from=
Oct 28 00:45:57 server1 postfix/cleanup[4809]: 00CB44D43: message-id=<20121028054557 .00cb44d43=".00cb44d43" server1.example.com="server1.example.com">
Oct 28 00:45:57 server1 postfix/qmgr[4801]: 00CB44D43: from=, size=444, nrcpt=1 (queue active)
Oct 28 00:45:57 server1 postfix/smtp[4803]: 00CB44D43: to=, relay=client1.example.com[192.168.1.11]:25, delay=0.26, delays=0.21/0/0/0.04, dsn=2.0.0, status=sent (250 2.0.0 Ok: queued as 1B9B43FCCD)
Oct 28 00:45:57 server1 postfix/qmgr[4801]: 00CB44D43: removed


Oct 28 00:45:57 localhost postfix/smtpd[2980]: connect from unknown[192.168.1.1]
Oct 28 00:45:57 localhost postfix/smtpd[2980]: 1B9B43FCCD: client=unknown[192.168.1.1]
Oct 28 00:45:57 localhost postfix/cleanup[2984]: 1B9B43FCCD: message-id=<20121028054557 .00cb44d43=".00cb44d43" server1.example.com="server1.example.com">
Oct 28 00:45:57 localhost postfix/qmgr[2978]: 1B9B43FCCD: from=, size=628, nrcpt=1 (queue active)
Oct 28 00:45:57 localhost postfix/smtpd[2980]: disconnect from unknown[192.168.1.1]
Oct 28 00:45:57 localhost postfix/local[2985]: 1B9B43FCCD: to=, relay=local, delay=0.07, delays=0.04/0/0/0.03, dsn=2.0.0, status=sent (delivered to mailbox)
Oct 28 00:45:57 localhost postfix/qmgr[2978]: 1B9B43FCCD: removed

[root@client1 postfix]# mail
Heirloom Mail version 12.4 7/29/08.  Type ? for help.
"/var/spool/mail/root": 2 messages 2 new
>N  1 Mail Delivery System  Sun Oct 28 00:45  78/2739  "Undelivered Mail Returned to Sender"
 N  2 root                  Sun Oct 28 00:45  21/772   "test"
& 2
Message  2:
From [email protected]  Sun Oct 28 00:45:57 2012
Return-Path: 
X-Original-To: [email protected]
Delivered-To: [email protected]
Date: Sun, 28 Oct 2012 00:45:56 -0500
To: [email protected]
Subject: test
User-Agent: Heirloom mailx 12.4 7/29/08
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
From: [email protected] (root)
Status: R

this is a test.

Be sure to chkconfig postfix to ensure it will be persistent at boot and you’ll need to make sure that iptables will allow the smtp traffic as well.