mail -s and HELO weirdness on 10.4 server

boojummy

Registered
Hello everyone,

This is a G5 Xserve running 10.4.5 server.

I'm getting a little frustrated here. I seem to be unable to change the HELO that the "echo 'foo' | mail -s 'subject' 'foo@example.com" command gives out. No matter what I change, it always uses "[username]@localhost.localhost". Does anyone have any idea where this is coming from?

I've tried changing the hostname with "hostname -s". I've tried replacing "-AUTOMATIC-" in /etc/hostconfig with the correct hostname. And, on top of that, I've tried putting the hostname in the "Sharing" control panel-- which is weird in itself; it always wants to append ".local" to the hostname.

If you type "hostname" on the command line, you get the correct (new) hostname, but when you run "mail -s", you still get "[username]@localhost.localhost". Where is this hostname coming from?

This mail is going to a Postfix box on the other end, which rejects this mail because the HELO is not a FQDN. I could disable the FQDN check for HELOs, but that would open up a flood of spam to our mailservers, and I want to avoid that.

Any ideas?

Thanks,
-b
 
boojummy said:
Hello everyone,

This is a G5 Xserve running 10.4.5 server.

I'm getting a little frustrated here. I seem to be unable to change the HELO that the "echo 'foo' | mail -s 'subject' 'foo@example.com" command gives out. No matter what I change, it always uses "[username]@localhost.localhost". Does anyone have any idea where this is coming from?

I've tried changing the hostname with "hostname -s". I've tried replacing "-AUTOMATIC-" in /etc/hostconfig with the correct hostname. And, on top of that, I've tried putting the hostname in the "Sharing" control panel-- which is weird in itself; it always wants to append ".local" to the hostname.

If you type "hostname" on the command line, you get the correct (new) hostname, but when you run "mail -s", you still get "[username]@localhost.localhost". Where is this hostname coming from?
Any ideas?

Thanks,
-b

You can change url settings in the following file:

/usr/share/mailman/Mailman/mm_cfg.py

some other interest files for mail:

/private/etc/imapd.conf
/private/etc/cyrus.conf


Good luck, Kees
 
you need to specify from: user@domain.com in the mail command

read the mail man page.

boojummy said:
Hello everyone,

This is a G5 Xserve running 10.4.5 server.

I'm getting a little frustrated here. I seem to be unable to change the HELO that the "echo 'foo' | mail -s 'subject' 'foo@example.com" command gives out. No matter what I change, it always uses "[username]@localhost.localhost". Does anyone have any idea where this is coming from?

I've tried changing the hostname with "hostname -s". I've tried replacing "-AUTOMATIC-" in /etc/hostconfig with the correct hostname. And, on top of that, I've tried putting the hostname in the "Sharing" control panel-- which is weird in itself; it always wants to append ".local" to the hostname.

If you type "hostname" on the command line, you get the correct (new) hostname, but when you run "mail -s", you still get "[username]@localhost.localhost". Where is this hostname coming from?

This mail is going to a Postfix box on the other end, which rejects this mail because the HELO is not a FQDN. I could disable the FQDN check for HELOs, but that would open up a flood of spam to our mailservers, and I want to avoid that.

Any ideas?

Thanks,
-b
 
The man page for 'mail' says nothing about the problem boojummy asked about. If you're ever tempted to tell others to RTFM, you should do it first yourself to be sure the answer's there, and heck if you've done that much you might as well copy and paste the relevant bit into your reply. Otherwise you're not really being much help, are you?
 
Boojummy:

I had the same problem just now. The solution is to set postfix's hostname in /etc/postfix/main.cf. But instead of editing the file directly, use Server Admin.

> serveradmin settings mail:postfix:myhostname = "server.your.dns.domain"
> serveradmin settings mail:postfix:mydomain = "your.dns.domain"
 
bradyt said:
The man page for 'mail' says nothing about the problem boojummy asked about. If you're ever tempted to tell others to RTFM, you should do it first yourself to be sure the answer's there, and heck if you've done that much you might as well copy and paste the relevant bit into your reply. Otherwise you're not really being much help, are you?


If you are looking for 100% solutions by just typing it from the reply box, i am not sure this is the place to be. Most likely you will have to hire someone. Like some people say " a good deed does not go unpunished.

Good luck, Kees
 
Kees Buijs said:
If you are looking for 100% solutions by just typing it from the reply box, i am not sure this is the place to be. Most likely you will have to hire someone. Like some people say " a good deed does not go unpunished.

Good luck, Kees

Kees, I think you misunderstand me (possibly because it's the first time I've used this forum system and wasn't sure how to do the quoting etc).

My comment was directed at sourcehound's post: the first line is simply wrong, and the second amounts to "RTFM"... which clearly sourcehound hadn't actually done. I just wanted to point out that if you're going to make such assertive posts (including lots of credentials in your signature) then you'd better make sure you're right first.

Or alternatively, his post could have taken a softer tone like this:

I think you can specify the 'from' address in the mail command itself. Try looking in the man page for options like that.
 
BTW, if any of you are looking for the solution to this particular problem, it can be found by reading Postfix's documentation, NOT sendmail's.
 
bradyt said:
Kees, I think you misunderstand me (possibly because it's the first time I've used this forum system and wasn't sure how to do the quoting etc).

My comment was directed at sourcehound's post: the first line is simply wrong, and the second amounts to "RTFM"... which clearly sourcehound hadn't actually done. I just wanted to point out that if you're going to make such assertive posts (including lots of credentials in your signature) then you'd better make sure you're right first.

Or alternatively, his post could have taken a softer tone like this:

Of course anyone who post a reply should try to make it meaningfull and correct. But being to harsh on incorrect answers might cause anyone not to reply anymore and he might be the one knowing the solution for another problem.

After checking my own answer, i notice it was also not to the point, and it beats me why i gave that particular answer. I think i misquoted my own documentation on this problem.

I keep a log on how i solve problems, as i do not encouter them to often.


Good luck, Kees
 
Back
Top